My Five Night Fling by Maci Dillon
KASSIDY
Too exhausted to make sense of anything, I take a bottle of water from the fridge, flick off the lights, and curl into my freshly made bed, where I am sure to fall asleep in minutes.
Only the minutes turn into hours, and I’m more awake now than I had been before we ordered dinner. I could blame the strange bed, but I travel too much without complaint for that to be a thing.
I miss him. Picking up my phone, my finger hovers over his name. Resisting, I place the phone face down on the side table until I can no longer stand the deafening silence.
“Hey, Siri,” I speak from the darkness, waking my phone. “Play music on Spotify.”
Immediately, my last playlist begins to play, the one I was listening to when trying to sleep on the flight from Prague to London six days ago. I reduce the volume and change sides, kicking off the blanket and twisting one foot out from under the sheet. Almost comfortable enough to relax, I puff up the pillows beneath my head and put another between my thighs like a cuddle buddy. I wind my arm around another and crush it to me.
My eyelids are heavy, and my thoughts a blur as sleep pulls me closer.
Until my phone beeps and vibrates loudly on the table, launching me six inches off the bed in fright.
Jarett: I hate that I’m missing you in my bed.
Ahhh, and therein lies the problem for both of us.
Six nights in London. Four spent with Jarett. How the hell can four nights in a man’s arms make one night without him sleepless, restless, and lonely?
At what point in less than a week could we possibly have reached a place where we hate to sleep without the other?
The following day, I focus on creating a new life for myself. I explore new areas of the neighborhood, find a new favorite place to get an early morning coffee fix, and check out a few of the nearby gyms. Until I decide on a gym to call home, I’ll stick with morning runs on the streets of Shoreditch, which are full of life and artistic inspiration.
I find a fresh food market on my run where I visit and acquire a good haul of food to cook at home. No longer on vacation means regular home-cooked meals, exercise regime, hobbies, and friends.
I’ve been speaking with Miah, Raven, and Chloe daily and waiting patiently for the email to arrive from Mr. Gabe Lugreno, so I know what to expect when we meet. In the meantime, I extensively research all his projects to date, including business acquisitions, partnerships, and every possible detail which is publicly available and recorded online.
Tuesday evening, I visit some of his hotels and competitors to acquaint myself with their design and atmosphere. Focusing on my purpose and the reason I’m still in London helps to keep my mind free of Jarett. It doesn’t always work, but it helps.
Kinda.
Okay, not really.
Yep, not at all.
I often wonder what he’s doing and how he’s spending his nights. He checks in with me at least once I day, but I always end up saying I’m busy tying up loose ends for clients back home. It’s not a lie, but I could fit in a visit with him any time.
After the way he left on Monday night, I figured some space between us would be best. Of course, we’ll be seeing each other on Saturday at Sophia’s birthday party. Secretly, I’m more excited to see Jarett than anything else.
Tomorrow is Friday, the day Sophia is helping to find an outfit for her special evening and introducing me to her click of gal pals. It will be great to meet some new people because I’m desperately missing my tribe. Trying not to think too much about what I miss the most, I reroute my thoughts to all the fun and adventures that lay ahead.
But all I see is Jarett.
I hadn’t heard from Sophia since the first night in my new apartment, so I tap out a quick text to confirm where I should meet her on Friday.
Her response was short and sweet.
Sophia: At yours at 10 a.m.
Not long after, I’m sitting in a café in the burrows reading a book. An actual paperback I picked up from an indie bookstore on my way. Reading fiction of any kind is something I haven’t done in so long, I wasn’t sure it would hold my attention.
I’m fully invested until I receive a text message.
Jarett: You’re looking as beautiful as ever. What are you reading?
Quickly, I spin around in my chair, looking every which way for the man I dream about night and day but haven’t seen for two and a half days. But who’s counting, right?
Seconds later, he walks into the café with a dazzling smile and a buoyant attitude. Coming to stand at my booth, he gestures to the seat opposite me. “May I?”
“Of course.” When he sits, I have to tie my tongue to refrain from word vomiting on him. Ever since I arrived in London, he’s been there for me to share everything with, and these past sixty-something hours have been hectic and every new experience I imagine telling Jarett when I get home in the evenings.
“I’ve missed you.” I smile at him, my entire body relaxing with his presence.
“Really? Because I was starting to think you were flipping me off. I was beginning to get a complex.”
“Is that why you took up stalking lonely single women reading books in cafés?”
A devilish smile spreads across his face, his stubble darker and thicker than I’d seen before. He’s a little dark under the eyes too.
“One of the reasons,” he answers cheekily.
He looks around the café. The décor is bold bohemian which suits me to a tee, though quite different from his usual surroundings. “This is the first café I stopped at when I moved over this way,” he tells me. “How strange that I’d find you here. Kind of reminds me how much we have in common.”
His bottom lip twitches as he tries to hold back a grin. “You like the bold color, cluttered ornaments, and mismatched patterns too?”
I pick him more for the serious, sleek, and clean-cut style.
“You forget I’m an artist these past few days?”
I laugh. “Never. Have you been doing any artistic things?”
“During my lonely evenings, I set up a drawing room in the third guest room of the apartment. Bought some new tools of the trade and colors I feel accentuate my muse.”
His muse.
“Excellent, and is your muse happy with the work you’ve created thus far?” The words taste bitter on my tongue, and the jealousy that laces each one doesn’t go unnoticed.
Silently he keeps me waiting, an unreadable look on his face. “Green looks good on you, Kassidy.”
Ugh. Wiseass.
I scoff, my face growing redder by the second. “Whatever gets you off,” I tease.
He rolls his eyes and stands. “I stopped by my muse’s place on the way here actually, but there was no answer. Imagine my surprise when I found her in my favorite coffee joint reading romance.”
With that said, he strides confidently to the counter to place an order. My eyes follow him, my mind spinning.
I’m his muse.
Wait? How did he know I’m reading romance?
I look at the cover, a man and woman in a tender embrace. Hmm, wherever he was when he messaged, he must have been close enough to see it.
Glancing over at him, he points in my direction, and the waitress scribbles down his order, throwing me a polite smile.
“What did you say to her?” I demand as he joins me again.
“I ordered us both a coffee. By the sounds of it, you’ve been a little light on the caffeine lately.”
My eyebrows arch in surprise at his observation. “Plus, I told her whenever you come in to make sure they add an extra shot of espresso to your order.”
I chuckle. “You’re obnoxious sometimes. And how did you know I was reading a romance book?”
Jarett shrugs. “Good guess.”
Our coffee orders arrive, and we continue chatting with a healthy dose of banter.
“Why did you stop by my place, anyway?” I question, remembering what he said earlier.
“It’s get-together night at the speakeasy, and I wanted to make sure you remembered.”
Nope, I didn’t remember. That means I’ve been here for a full week and, I glance at my phone, a half day. Wow, so much has changed in my life in such a short time.
“It would’ve completely escaped me, so thank you for that. Are you sure you want me to tag along?”
“I wouldn’t call it tagging along, Kassidy. Unless you’re opposed to going, I expect you to be joining us. You’re part of our world now, too, and as you’re a local to boot, it should be front and center on your calendar commitments.”
“Is that so?”
This guy. He drives every part of me completely bonkers with lust. He’s sweet, sensitive, bossy, and funny.
What more could an Aussie girl want?
