A Secret to Keep (16 page)

The pictures brought with them a flood of memories, but the one memory that stood out the most was the trip to London. She’d been on a few ‘business’ trips with him previous to the one to London. He would send her a plane ticket and she would arrive to find herself staying in a very nice, very exclusive hotel room adjacent to his and it was always the same. He would attend meetings during the day but the evenings were always reserved for her. He never failed making sure he planned for at least one or two day-trips for them to see the scenery or some memorable touristy stop. What impressed her most about him was the fact he never expected anything from her. She was a little shocked by it to say the least. How many wealthy men would send a girl a plane ticket, put them up in an expensive hotel for days and not expect to share their bed at night? Gates never did. He always made sure she was comfortable and at the end of the night, he would do the most gentlemanly thing. He would walk her to her door, give her a chaste kiss, always leaving her wanting more, and retire to his own room.

“Are you serious?” She was standing in the middle of the apartment she and Liyah were sharing at the time. She could see her overly eager and equally nosy roommate staring at her as she continued her phone conversation with Gates.

“Yes, I’m serious. Any minute now there will be a knock at the door.” As soon as he said it, she heard a knock on the front door. “It’s a messenger. It’s okay, Sloane. You can open the door.” She could hear his amused laugh through the receiver when she paused in silence.

“Gates, what’s going on?” Sloane walked over and opened the door. Balancing the phone between her shoulder and chin, she signed for the envelope the messenger held in his hands.

“What’s going on is I’m asking you to go with me to London…tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow, London, what?” Opening the envelope and taking out the ticket to New York, she scanned it and noticed the flight was supposed to leave in less than six hours. Liyah had perched her chin right above Sloane’s shoulder to get a bird’s eye view of the ticket and was trying her best to hear their conversation. She eventually plucked the paper out of Sloane’s hand to inspect it more closely. ‘I can’t believe this.’ Sloane mouthed the words to Liyah as she slowly sank down on the arm of the sofa.

“Look, I know it’s short notice and I don’t expect you to be able to pack for two weeks in London so quickly. You don’t have to worry about that because it’s already being taken care of. What I do need you to do is to pack an overnight bag and get on that flight to New York. Can you do that for me? If you can do that, I’ll handle the rest.” His nonchalant tone didn’t quite equal the excitement he’d incited in her.

“Gates, I don’t know. Two weeks in London? I don’t know what to say.” Sloane watched as Liyah glared at her with daggers in her eyes.

“You better say yes! What’s wrong with you?” Whispering loudly, Liyah smacked Sloane on the arm before heading to Sloane’s bedroom.

“See, even Liyah agrees with me.” Sloane listened to Gates laugh at Liyah’s half-hearted attempt to keep him from hearing her.

“Liyah, stop.” She shook her head as she listened to her friend opening and closing Sloane’s dresser drawers and closet to start packing her bag. “I guess she agrees with you in more ways than one. She’s packing my bag.”

“Good. Remind me to make sure I buy her something special.” She was still having a hard time putting everything together when he let her know he was going to be late for a meeting. “Hey, Evan’s here to put my head in a sling if I don’t hurry up, so I’ll expect you at my place tonight. I’ll see you later.”

“Gates-” She heard nothing but silence on the other end of the phone and contemplated calling him back. Could she really take off for two weeks to London?

“You better get a move on if we’re going to get you to the airport in time for your flight.” Sloane walked to the bedroom door to see Liyah continuously stuffing Sloane’s clothes in her overnight bag. “Oh, I can’t believe how lucky you are. Why couldn’t I have met him first? Oh, wait, I did meet him first and I ended up introducing him to you. Ay mi!”

“I am so…I can’t believe I’m going to London tomorrow.” Sloane squealed like a little girl, running over and falling back on the lavender and cream comforter on her bed. She couldn’t believe how lucky she was to have met someone like Gates. He was so generous, and it didn’t hurt he was unbelievably handsome, but that wasn’t even what captivated her the most. They had so much fun together and they could talk for hours about anything; and nothing at all. He was an amazing man and she was so thankful he wanted to spend as much time with her as she wanted to spend with him. “Liyah, I’m going to London tomorrow, eek!”

“Um hmm, you won’t be going anywhere if you don’t get up and get yourself together missy. Chop, chop. You’ve got an hour to get ready and get packed.” Sloane hopped up quickly after Liyah mentioned how little time she really had to get to the airport. She was so excited she almost ran out of the house without her ticket and passport. Luckily, Liyah, who was equally excited for her, made sure she had everything before she boarded the plane to New York. It was crazy. She was headed to the Big Apple with no idea where she was going. All she knew was Gates told her to get on the plane, but what was she supposed to do once the plane landed. Of course, she should have never worried. She was met in baggage claim by his driver, who knew exactly who she was, and led her to an awaiting car taking her directly to Gates’ building.

Once she arrived, she instantly felt stupid for doubting Gates. He had everything planned to a tee. The driver from the airport, the doorman who ushered her to the penthouse, even down to the sapphire and diamond necklace Gates presented to her once she was settled. She could get used to being pampered like this. He was unbelievable. He’d given her a tour of the penthouse he called home and she was amazed at how much space he had for just one person living there. It was much larger than the two-bedroom apartment she and Liyah shared. He could have guests over and never know they were there. They would have stayed up half the night talking, but since they had an eight-hour flight in the morning, Gates had shown her to ‘her’ room and excused himself for the night. She sank into the opulent bed outfitted in stark whites and creams and smiled at the thought of two glorious weeks in London with him and wondered if life could get any better.

Sloane continued to watch Brayden fumbling with the top of the box as she reminisced about that trip being a defining point in their relationship. Up until then, they were content with being friends, spending time together and sharing a few kisses here and there. However, things changed between them when, not more than a few days into their two-week stay, they finally consummated the relationship. It was like a fairy tale. When they arrived in London, Sloane realized they weren’t staying in a hotel, but a flat.

“So, this is your place?” She stood looking around the beautifully decorated apartment. It was spacious and reminded her of his penthouse in New York. The architecture was intricate and so impressive that she could only stare in amazement. It was impressive like his penthouse, but the color palate was a little different. The living room walls were painted a navy blue accented by stark white ceilings and four inch white crown molding. There were black and white pictures of what had to be his sister and her family in black frames intricately placed on the walls. She noticed a few of him with his nieces and nephew as well. Everything was in its perfect place.

“Yes. I hate hotels. I usually stay in them if it’s a short trip, but for places I know I’ll be in longer than a week or so, I either rent a house or I own a place like this.”

“Wow.”

“This place gets a lot more use than the others. My sister Bailey and her husband Sam use it when they want to get away and come into the city.” The place was every bit as luxurious as his penthouse in New York and he’d made her feel right at home. Of course, the first few days, she was left alone during the day since he had meetings, but she’d found plenty of things to do. If she weren’t taking a walk in the park, she would have the driver Gates hired take her sightseeing; or wander around Piccadilly Circus. She didn’t do too much because she did want to see a lot of things with Gates and she’d been given the task to pick out the things they had to see before they left.

On the fifth day into the trip, she and Gates woke early, had breakfast and headed out. Instead of using the driver, they decided to take the tube to Waterloo and take a day trip out to Stonehenge. It was amazing how the countryside seemed to go on forever around these huge stones and how they were so strategically placed in the middle of nowhere. The man was gorgeous in the expensive tailored suits he wore, but she secretly loved how relaxed Gates looked in a simple pair of jeans and a button down. Everything he wore fit his body perfectly, but his carefree relaxed attitude on the days they spent together made him the most attractive to her. By the end of the day, they were walking hand in hand. Arriving back at the flat, Gates surprised Sloane and once she emerged from her shower, he had dinner delivered and set up with a table full of candles and flowers.

“Gates, this is beautiful.” She took in the sight of the calla lilies, which he’d discovered were her favorite; and the smell of the vanilla scented candles as she sat in the chair he pulled out for her.

“You deserve something special.” She’d pulled her mass of curls up and away from her face and her eyes sparkled.

“This entire trip has been special. Thank you.”

Once they finished dinner, they retired to the den area to sit and talk. Soft music played in the background and for a second, Sloane sat with her eyes closed and listened to the strains of the music wafting through the air. Sighing, she opened her eyes to find him staring at her.

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh, nothing’s wrong. Actually, everything is right. This is perfect. You’ve thought of everything. This night was, well, this whole day was magical. You have to understand something.”

“What’s that?”

“I’m not used to this. Most guys don’t go this far to impress me. I think my last date’s idea of a romantic evening was warming up leftover pizza and turning on an old George Michael CD.” Sloane giggled as Gates laughed at her admission.

“I’m sorry. You’re serious aren’t you?” She watched him desperately trying to recover from laughing at her.

“I’m serious. It’s bad when a man just knows he’s being romantic by turning on a song about a guy cheating on his girlfriend.” Her thoughts momentarily drifted back to her date wanting to dance in the middle of his living room to
Careless Whisper
.

“I’m sure he thought it was a nice song to dance to at the time.” Gates continued, struggling to keep a straight face and failing miserably.

“Stop laughing at me. It was horrible.”

“I promise, I’m not laughing at you. I can’t believe that. Not that anything is wrong with George Michael, but I think you’re worth a helluva lot more than a night of leftovers and 80’s music.” He pushed a stray curl from her face and she watched the edges of his mouth curve upwards.

“Thanks. I appreciate that. By the way, did I thank you for everything?” She’d arrived in London with nothing but her carry on, but once she opened the closet in her room; she found a whole new wardrobe he’d bought for her.

“Yeah, I think you did a couple of times today.” Before he could say anything else, she moved to snuggle into the crook of his arm. “What’re you thinking about?”

“About how lucky of a girl I am to be here in your arms.”

Peering down into her upturned face, he lowered his head and kissed her softly. As he was about to pull back from the kiss, Sloane moved to face him and snaked her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her. She could tell he was a little taken aback by her sudden movement.

“Ah, Sloane, we should probably…I don’t want you to do something you really don’t want to do,” Gates stammered once their lips parted.

A little stunned by his abrupt stop to their make out session, Sloane wondered if maybe Gates didn’t have the same feelings for her as she was starting to have for him. “Is something wrong? I mean, we’ve been spending time together for months and for some reason it seems like you don’t want me. Maybe I’m getting mixed signals, but I thought you were attracted to me?” Pulling back from his embrace, she stared into his captivating eyes.

“Sloane, of course I’m attracted to you. Believe me, I’m finding it harder and harder to resist you, but I never wanted this…this relationship to be about sex. I truly enjoy spending time with you and I never wanted you to think you owed me anything or that I was expecting anything from you. You’re too special for that.”

“So you are attracted to me?” She bit her lower lip, relieved she hadn’t been getting the wrong message.

“Highly. I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but there have been many nights when I left you and headed straight for a cold shower. Not that they work, but it’s worth a shot.” She reveled in the sincerity reflecting in his gaze.

“Hmmm, somehow I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that tonight.” Pressing herself against him, she leaned in to kiss him again.

“Are you sure about this?” he whispered, pulling back briefly and she could feel his appreciative stare sweep across her face and seductively stop on her lips.

“Yes.” Garnering his full attention, she could see her same wanton longing reflecting in his gaze and her heartbeat pounded in her ears.