Page 16 of Her Kensington
5
Summer
Before I know it,we’re packing up the small amount of luggage we have ready to head to London. The whole week has been incredible but we haven’t done much. Between Harrison’s almost constant phone calls and emails from work and my jet lag, we’ve pretty much just stayed in the villa and made the most of the peace and quiet—when his phone wasn’t ringing, of course.
I’m a little disappointed that we weren’t able to explore even a tiny bit of Greece, but on the other hand, I do feel like we’ve achieved what we came here to do. I know Harrison so much better and thankfully I haven’t discovered that I’ve made the biggest mistake of my life by marrying him. Yes, it seems that he’s a bit of a neat freak, whereas I’m a slob, and he has these slightly irritating habits of drinking whatever’s in the fridge straight from the carton and leaving the toilet seat up. I think I’ve got used to living with Ireland and not my dad and brothers.
Butterflies kickstart in my stomach as I hear his footsteps head to where I’m making the most of our last few minutes with this view. When I turn to look towards him, I’m immediately distracted from my anxiety of leaving this place for my new home, because he’s wearing something I’ve never seen before—jeans and a t-shirt. I stare with my mouth hanging open, I can’t help it. The thin black cotton hugs his broad shoulders and shows off the definition of his chest and stomach perfectly. My eyes drop to the dark denim hanging low on his hips and hugging his thick thighs. If I wasn’t already totally in love with him, I think I’d have fallen just looking at him right now.
“Everything okay?” he asks, sounding a little unsure of the situation as he lifts his hand and runs it through his hair, ruining what was his perfect styling and turning it into a rough mess that perfectly fits his current look.
Unable to respond, I jump to my feet and run at him. Thankfully, he realizes what I’m about to do and catches me when I launch myself at him and wrap both my arms and legs around his waist. I slam my lips against his and put all my feelings for him into my kiss. I try to express everything he’s given me, not just his love, but my confidence, how I feel about myself when we’re together, and he looks at me like I’m the most beautiful person in the world.
“What was that about? Not that I’m complaining,” he asks when I eventually pull away and he lowers me back to the ground.
“You look hot.” Heat creeps onto my cheeks, but I’m starting to learn to be honest with my feelings about Harrison. “I’ve only ever seen you in suits…or nothing,” I add when he raises an eyebrow.
“I’ve worn shorts this week.”
“That’s not the same. I was starting to think you didn’t own any casual clothes.”
“I work a lot so I don’t usually get to wear them. Something I intend to change now I’ve got you, especially if you react like that to me dressing down. Come on, we need to get moving—the car’s outside.”
Smoothing down the fabric of one of the dresses I found waiting for me in the walk-in wardrobe, I follow behind him before sliding my feet into my flip-flops and looking back, committing our honeymoon to my memory one last time. My hands tremble and I feel a little sick at what I’m about to do. Go to my new home and meet my new family. Being in this little sanctuary helped me push some of my worries aside, but now, as we leave, they hit me full force once again.
“We can come back one day if you want,” Harrison calls out from the front door when he hears my sigh.
“I’d like that.” I follow behind him to the waiting car and whatever my future might hold for me in London.
* * *
Comingto a stop in the middle of the parking lot when Harrison walks up to a ridiculous car, my eyes almost bug out of my head.
“What’s wrong?” he asks, turning back to see where I’ve gone.
“You could have told me you were James Bond, you know.” I can’t help but laugh as I run my eyes over the sleek lines of his gunmetal grey Aston Martin.
“I wish,” he says with a laugh as his eyes drop to my legs. “That would get me all the women.”
Shaking my head at him, I follow towards his car, taking in its beauty. I’ve never been overly interested in cars—as long as they drive, I’m happy, but even I can admit this is pretty nice.
Being a gentleman, he opens the door for me and the scent of new car immediately hits me before I lower myself to the softest leather my ass has ever had the pleasure of sitting on.
It’s only a few minutes later when Harrison joins me. Thankfully, his presence means the small confines of the car are less suffocating. I’m trying not to show him how scared I am about what the rest of the day holds. He looks hot as shit, sitting behind the wheel, and it only gets better when he slides a pair of aviator glasses on.
“How were you single before meeting me?” I seriously have no idea how he didn’t have women practically tearing his clothes off.
“I worked a lot,” he says. It seems to be his answer for everything.
“She really did a number on you, didn’t she?” I hate to bring up his ex again, especially when I’ve already got enough to worry about, but I’m dying to know the whole truth about their relationship. It’s going to tell me a lot about the person he is, the husband he is.
“Yes, she did. Are you ready to see your new home?” I know he’s just trying to change the subject and I’m happy to allow it, for now.
“Can’t wait,” I say, adding as much excitement into my tone as possible. In truth, I’m scared shitless. I might believe that I’m making the right decision, that Harrison is the one for me, but moving halfway around the world and starting my life over once again isn’t what I expected to be doing. The thought of being introduced to his parents as his wife has my entire body trembling.
“It’s going to be okay, you know?” His soft words and the warmth of his palm resting on my thigh drag me from my thoughts. “We can do this at your pace.”
I nod, although he’s concentrating on driving so he probably doesn’t see. I try to focus on keeping my breathing steady and taking in everything around me as Harrison maneuvers his fancy car through the London traffic.
