Page 10 of The Bad Wedding Date

“Regular city hero, huh?”

“On occasion.”

“That’s it, isn’t it? You’re like a well-suited vigilante, bringing his own laws to the city and wandering around with a smile and a swagger because no one else knows a damn thing about any of it.”

Despite my smile, the muscles in my jaw twitched. “I wish my life was that exciting.”

“Yeah,” she sighed, the weight of it making her toned shoulders relax. “Me, too.” Her face fell, and the disappointment there made it hard to control my small smile. I wanted to fucking laugh and grin again. Maybe shewasreadable. I just wasn’t translating it as well as I usually did with others because I found her so adorable.

“What happened back there? Did you forget where the wedding was?” I asked, already knowing the answer. This was where she was meant to be. This was always where she was meant to go. I just hadn’t been able to give her that nudge on the bus without giving myself away.

“I lost track of time and my surroundings. I hadn’t realised where we were.”

“Sounds like you were having too much fun.”

“Something like that,” she admitted with a small smile of her own before her brows creased together. “What did you mean before? About me almost letting you go?”

I shrugged. “Just fooling around.”

“Oh.”

Her attention drifted to The Savoy Hotel behind me, and her face slipped again. She’d become a mixture of highs and lows that had rolled together to be one big ball of anxiety, obviously not knowing how to feel from one minute to the next.

It was time to make my move.

“I should get going.”

She nodded. “Me, too.”

“Good luck today.”

“Thanks, Fraser. It’s been nice.”

“Don’t mention it.”

With a tip of my head, I turned and began walking down the street, acting as though I had someplace else to be. I made a point to check my watch before I tucked my hands back in my pockets and made my way to The Savoy Hotel’s entrance, the famous gold statue and international flags hovering above. I passed a string of Bentleys, Aston Martins, and one Porsche before the doorman nodded in greeting, welcoming me, and I hit the famous revolving doors. I glided through into the hotel foyer as though I owned it. The black and white floor gleamed beneath my feet, the sound of rich women’s heels echoing across it unmissable as I glanced towards the concierge on my right. The fresh smell of an abundance of floral displays mixed with classic British design hit me, and I pulled in a deep breath in preparation for what was to come. A day surrounded by old money, new money, and most depressing of all, fake money. But it took less than a minute for my smile to rise when I heard Charlotte’s voice behind me again.

“You havegotto be kidding me!” she cried.

Perfect.

I had her.

Exactly where I needed her.

Not even my enemies could have wiped the smile off my face when I spun back around to see her again.

3

Charlotte

“You’restayinghere?”

“Are you following me?” he countered.

I stared at him with my mouth open, unable to respond.

He huffed out a barely-there laugh. “Oh, I see. This is where the wedding of the year is. It’s a classy place. Little obvious for my liking, but I’m not the one getting married.”

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