Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 76759 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76759 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
I stretch, wanting to close my eyes and sleep some more. It felt amazing.
But Rory is right. I’m not on my game, and I have to be. So I’m going to meet her and Brock for breakfast as she instructed.
I force myself to get up, and I stretch my arms above my head again, groaning. Then I pad into the bathroom, brush my teeth, and take a shower.
Once I’m dressed in jeans and a black-and-white-striped button-down, I run my fingers through my still damp hair. I kind of miss my long hair, but it will grow back. Admittedly, it’s a lot easier to deal with this way. It dries a lot more quickly.
I half expect to run into Brock and Rory as I leave my room, but then I check my watch and realize I’m a few minutes late.
Yup. The phone dings. A text from Rory.
Where are you? You’re
not oversleeping, are you?
I text her back quickly.
On my way.
I’m tempted to give her shit about breaking into my phone and setting the alarm, but I decide to be the bigger person—which is way easier in a well-rested state.
Once I reach the dining room in the hotel, I spot Brock and Rory at a table near the back. I head toward them.
“Wow,” Rory says. “You actually look refreshed. Please tell me my plan worked.”
“It did. I slept like a rock.” I stretch my arms above my head. “In fact, I’d like to go back and sleep some more.”
“You can’t,” Rory says. “Not until tonight. This should get you over that jet lag and onto London time.”
“How was your massage?” Brock asks.
“It was good. I’ve never had a massage before.”
“Neither have I,” he says.
“What?”
“I’m pretty sure I didn’t jumble up the words.”
“I just figured…”
“You just figured that with all the Steel money, we would do nothing but pamper ourselves on our time off.”
“Well…yeah.”
Brock chuckles. “It’s funny how you think I have all this time on my hands.”
“I know you guys work hard.”
“We do. But I’m thinking I may try a massage while we’re here.”
“You totally should,” I say. “This won’t be my last one.”
Brock grabs his phone. “Since you guys will be working today, maybe I’ll try to get one in.”
“Are you taking the girls sightseeing?” I ask.
“We saw a lot yesterday, and I think I deserve a little bit of a break. Actually, I’m sure I could convince Bree and Maddie to join me at the spa.”
“Maddie would probably like that,” Rory says.
“Oh, I almost forgot.” He looks to Rory. “Ennis Ainsley invited us again for tea at four p.m. today. Will you guys be done rehearsing by then?”
“Probably, if everything goes well.” She eyes me.
“Now that Jesse’s finally had a good night’s sleep, it’ll probably go well.” Brock glances at me. “Anyway, I’d love for you to come along. It’ll just be you and me, Donny and Callie, and Brianna and Maddie.”
She turns to me. “Yeah, I’d like to. Do you think we’ll be done by then, Jess?”
I mimic holding a cup with my pinky extended. “Sure. I won’t stand in the way of you getting the full high tea experience.”
Rory laughs. “Why don’t you come along? You think that would be okay, Brock?”
Brock shrugs. “Yeah, probably. I mean, he’s your brother. Maddie and Callie’ll be there.”
Brianna will also be there…
“I’m not sure high tea is my thing,” I say.
“Suit yourself,” Rory says, “but I’m sure he’d love to meet you. The fourth Pike sibling and all.”
I shake my head, rolling my eyes. “Why the hell would he want to meet me?”
“Because he’s a nice guy,” Rory says. “And you’ll get to experience high tea with a real English butler in an actual English mansion rather than in some restaurant. This is local color, Jess.”
I sigh. “Fine.”
I do enjoy a cup of tea, though the whole high tea experience isn’t something I thought I needed to have.
But I can’t avoid Brianna forever. This way, at least I’ll be with everyone else too—including her brother, who would probably grind me to a pulp if he knew what I’d done. I should have pummeled him for touching Callie—but at least she wasn’t twenty-two and a virgin.
As if our high school rivalry weren’t enough.
“When do we order?” I ask.
“We already ordered,” Rory says. “Classic English breakfast.”
“Which is…?”
“Eggs, ham, bangers—”
I cock my head. “Excuse me?”
“Sausages,” Brock laughs. “Plus roasted tomatoes and potatoes.”
“Sounds fine to me.”
“And coffee,” Brock adds. “Rory and I tried tea with our breakfast yesterday, and though it’s delicious, we both need our coffee.”
“Thank God.”
Our coffees come in a moment, and within another minute, our breakfasts are served. “You’ve got eggs sunny-side up,” the server says, pointing, “streaky bacon, sausage, blood pudding, baked beans, and roasted tomatoes.”
I take a bite of the bacon and then the sausage. Delicious. The roasted tomato is surprisingly good. It accents the other food nicely.