She giggles and clinks her lemonade with my champagne. “I like you, Charlotte Prescott,” she beams.
I smile. “Please… just call me Lottie. I’m trying to lose my surname for a while.”
She frowns. “You don’t like the name Prescott?”
I smile bashfully. “Yes, of course, just not everything that comes with it.”
“What do you mean?”
“My family have rigid rules.” I shrug. “That’s why I’ve moved to London. I just want to be Lottie for a while.”
She smiles. “That’s why I moved to London, too.”
“How did you and Julian meet?” I ask.
She smirks as her eyes seek him out. “I was his nanny.”
My eyes widen. “What?”
She nods. “Yep. Cliché, isn’t it?”
I bite my bottom lip, and I take a look Julian’s way. “So, he was your boss?”
“Uh-huh. I thought I was coming over here to work for a woman, and when he picked me up from the airport I nearly died.”
I make eye contact with Spencer at the bar, and he gives me a sexy wink. My stomach flips and I have to drag my eyes back to Bree.
“It was all forbidden attraction and fireworks. Anyway, that’s enough of me, let’s talk about you and Spencer.”
My face falls.
“Oh.” She frowns. “What’s that look?”
“Nothing.” I sigh.
“You can talk to me. I won’t say anything, I promise.”
I stare at her for a moment.
She crosses her finger over her chest. “I promise.”
I shrug. “I don’t know. His playboy ways are…” My voice trails off.
She offers an understanding nod. “I can imagine.”
“It does kind of make you wonder, you know?” I shrug.
She glances over at the four men over at the bar. “The thing is, Charlotte, when you date a thirty-seven-year-old man who has never been married before, he’s going to have some baggage with him.”
I look for Spencer and, once again, catch him watching me. My heart skips a beat and I turn back to Bree. “What was Julian’s baggage?”
“God, what wasn’t Julian’s baggage? It wouldn’t fit into this ballroom.” She smirks with an eye roll.
She, too, looks at Spencer, and she smiles watching him watching me. “The way Spencer looks at you…” She hesitates.
I wait for her to finish the sentence, but she doesn’t. “What?” I whisper.
“I haven’t seen him look at a woman the way he looks at you, ever.”
Hope blooms in my chest, and Spencer comes back to stand with us again.
“How handsome that Joshua Stanton is,” Bree says without missing a beat.
“He’s okay, I guess.” Spencer’s mischievous eyes find mine. “Not as handsome as me, though, is he, angel?” He links our pinky fingers together.
My heart skips a beat at him calling me angel in front of everyone.
“No, Spence.” I smile sarcastically and release my finger from his grip. “No man could ever be as handsome as you.”
Our eyes linger on each other, the air between us crackling.
Bree fans her face with her hand. “Good lord, the sexual tension between you two is ridiculous.”
I drop my head and chuckle, embarrassed that we just forgot she was here with us.
This man makes me giddy.
“A word, Charlotte,” Alexander demands, appearing from nowhere.
I turn, suddenly remembering that I’m here with him. Damn it, how could I forget that?
I fake a smile. “Of course.” I suddenly feel awkward. “Alex, please meet my friends Spencer and Brielle,” I say.
“We know each other,” Spencer says flatly.
Alex nods, and they glare at each other.
I frown at the obvious animosity between them.
This is awkward.
“I’ll see you later, Bree. It was lovely meeting you.” I’m in a fluster.
“You, too, Lottie. Come back and see us later.” Bree smiles warmly.
“I will!” I call over my shoulder as Alexander leads me through the ballroom, over to the wall at the back of the room.
“What are you doing talking with Spencer Jones?” he asks angrily.
I frown. “What does it matter to you?”
“Do you know who he is?”
I twist my lip in annoyance. “No, why don’t you tell me who you think he is?”
“He’s the biggest womaniser in all of London.”
“And how do you know that?”
“Everybody knows that, Charlotte. Take a look at the tabloids. Is Edward aware that you know him?” he whispers.
“He’s Brielle’s friend.” I roll my eyes. “I don’t even know him.”
He stares at me for a moment, trying to work out if I’m telling the truth.
“I’m not stupid, you know?” I add.
“I know you’re not.” He rubs my arm. “Just… whatever you do, don’t mess with him.”
“Why not?”
“Because you will be the next bit of town gossip.” He holds two fingers in the air. “Spencer Jones dates two women in the same day. Two.”
My heart drops but I smile on cue—that fake smile that has been ingrained in me through my years of schooling. The same fake smile that I wear when Edward is scolding me in public for someone I have talked to who he didn’t approve of.
“Alexander, I have no interest in Spencer Jones. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to the bathroom.”
“Of course. I’ll go sit down and wait for you over there.” He gestures over to the table we are sitting at.
“I’ll see you in a moment.”
I walk out through the foyer and into the bathroom. I push into a cubicle and sit on top of the closed toilet seat.
Regret, annoyance, and disappointment curse through me, all rolled into one stupid lead ball that sits in the base of my stomach.
Part of me wants to go home right now. My night is ruined, all because of one snide comment from Alex, even though I know he was only trying to be a good friend and look out for me.
I hate that Spencer has this reputation. I hate that everyone knows it, and I hate that I enjoy his company as much as I do.
His friends were so nice.
I exhale heavily as I try to come to grip with the reality of who Spencer is. No matter how honest he is, everyone has already made their judgements on his reputation. I don’t feel that the two sides of Spencer correlate at all, at least not in my mind.
I finish up in the bathroom; wash my hands, and I stare at my reflection in the mirror, giving myself a silent pep talk.
Go out there and finish the night. Just put the information to one side and process it tomorrow once you’re at home.
I reapply my gold lipstick.
I wish I was here with Spencer… and that nobody else knew who the hell he was.
Spencer
I stare at her from across the room. She’s sitting with him, laughing, talking, completely in her comfort zone with the table full of London’s aristocratic society. She’s one of them, and I can’t seem to connect the sweet, innocent girl I’m attracted to to the Charlotte Prescott she is.
I wish she wasn’t one of them, and just a normal girl from Nottingham instead.
“You can’t take your fucking eyes off her for a moment, can you?” Seb sighs.
I sip my beer. “Nope.”
“How is this going to go?” Masters frowns. “She isn’t allowed to be seen even talking to you. What exactly do you think is going to happen here, Spence?”
I roll my eyes and exhale heavily, choosing not to answer that particular question.
The music grows louder, and people flock to the dance floor now that the formalities are officially over.
I haven’t spoken one word to Charlotte since Alexander dragged her away from me.
My phone vibrates in my pocket, and I take it out to read the message. It’s from her.
Hi
I smile and text back.
Hi.
She replies.
Meet me at the bar?
“She’s texting me as we speak.” I smirk to my friends, and then, without thinking, I stand and make my way to the bar as she requested.
She appears beside me a moment later, and my heart flutters in my chest.
“Hello.” She smiles up at me, her face full of hope.
“I don’t like you here with him,” I tell her honestly.