Daydreamer
Chapter 14

Felix

“Woah? Is that… is that Lucy?”

I spun around to follow the direction of David’s gaze, and there she was.

“Looks like Piers is trying his arm,” David grumbled. “Sneaky bastard always gets in there before the rest of us. He’s got some sort of totty radar or something.”

Piers was indeed boxing Lucy in at the bar, the overbearing dickhead. I felt my blood pressure climb when he leaned right into her and said something close to her ear which cause her to giggle, some colour flooding her cheeks. The bar was heaving and as a result, boiling inside. All the other women I could see were wearing minimal clothing but not Lucy. Lucy was in a jumper dress – cream wool from her neck to just above her knees with sleeves that fell to cover her hands. Compared to the skimpy dresses on display in the bar it shouldn’t have been that sexy or eye-catching. But the wool skimmed close to her figure, showing off her curves in a way that was even more effective.

She was talking to Piers now, a bright smile lighting up her features. Her nose scrunched at his reply. I wasn’t close enough to see her freckles, but I was infuriated that Piers was. In fact, this whole situation was totally unacceptable. What on earth was Lucy doing out and about by herself? Where was shy Lucy who hid in my home office last week instead of mingling at a party? Why was that stupid sod Piers getting to see her freckles close up and not me?

Ignoring my colleagues, who were also now all watching Lucy, the shady bastards, I slammed my drink down on the table and pushed up from my seat. All I was really focused on at that stage was my anger. I probably should have taken a moment to ask myself if I had the right to be angry. Unfortunately, as with a lot of my dealings with this woman, rationality seemed to have deserted me. Plus I’d downed at least four shots already to celebrate closing on a piece of land just outside London.

“Piers,” I snapped as I pushed myself into a space next to them at the bar. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

Piers jerked in surprise at my words and turned his head to face me. My annoyance ratcheted up a notch when he didn’t drop his hand that was resting on the bar next to Lucy.

“Er…” he frowned at me. Piers and I had always got on pretty well. He was about my age and a hedge fund manager. We’d been out on the town fishing in the same waters for many years. He’d shagged a fair few of my exes and me his; it never caused an issue before. “Well, I’m talking to Lucy. Interesting girl.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “I bet.”

“Yes,” Piers said slowly. “Yes, she is. She was explaining to me about how she works. It’s fascinating really.”

My eyebrows went up. “Fascinating? Lucy’s work?”

Piers was looking at me like I was a little mad. “Yes, of course.”

What on earth had Lucy told Piers about the job she was doing, fairly incompetently, now? I didn’t think she was the type to stretch the truth.

“Well, you can continue to be fascinated from a safe distance, you oversexed prick.”

“Felix!” Lucy said, clearly annoyed, but I wasn’t going to be deterred. She’d thank me when I explained to her what an absolute dog this guy was.

Piers straightened from the bar, widening the distance between himself and Lucy so he could turn fully to me, but at the same time keeping his hand firmly in place next to her. I felt a burning sensation in my gut that I refused to term as jealousy. No, I was simply protecting Lucy from unwanted advances. Hetty would kill me otherwise.

“It’s not like you were staking a claim, Moretti,” Piers said as he looked between me and Lucy. “If I came to the pub with Lucy she wouldn’t be out of my sight. Seems like you took your eye off the ball, mate.”

“It’s not about staking any claims, you Neanderthal,” I said in a haughty tone. “I’m looking out for her is all. She’s like family, like a little sister.”

Piers’s eyebrows went up and then I saw the bastard suppress a small smirk. “Big brother, right,” he said, drawing out the last word and losing his battle with his damn smirk. “Okay, bro.” He lifted his hand away from the bar and held them both up in surrender. I felt that band around my chest loosen as he finally stepped away from Lucy. “Fascinating chat, babe,” he said to Lucy before turning back to me, that smirk still in place. “Good luck, big bro. Few sharks circling tonight worse than me, I’d say.”

He melted into the crowd, and I took his place next to Lucy at the bar just as I could see another one of these cocky city boys approaching. I crowded Lucy and gave the city boy a glare which sent him in the other direction. A small fist landed on my shoulder, and I looked back down at an infuriated Lucy. Her eyes were flashing with annoyance, and the colour in her cheeks was heightened. It was the first time I think I’d ever seen Lucy with make-up on. My mind blanked, and I said the first thing that came into it.

“Where are your freckles?” I mean, she looked beautiful, but my Lucy had freckles. I decided I wanted them back.

She blinked up at me like I was insane. Maybe I was.

“My freckles? Why are you asking about my freckles?”

“Your freckles are gone.”

“You were the one who wanted me to fit in at your office. To smarten up. Make-up is part of that.”

“I didn’t mean for you to cover up your freckles,” I said in a grumpy tone.

“Have you gone mad? And what the hell was that for with Piers?” she snapped. I gave her what I thought was a patient look and went for a patient tone to go with it. This might not have been the best policy as it only seemed to infuriate her further.

“Piers wants to sleep with you, Lucy. Guys like him are only after one thing.”

Lucy was so annoyed then that she actually growled. It was cute. I decided not to point that out to her – she looked murderous enough already.

“Felix,” she said in a low voice, vibrating with fury. “You’re unbearable, you know that? I can do what I like. I don’t need another big brother throwing his weight around.”

“I can’t have you taken advantage of. What would your mother say?”

“Oh my God!” she semi-shouted. “My mother would be the first to tell me to get on and have some fun. ‘Play the field’ is how she put it. ‘Have a few rides.’ And, my personal favourite, ‘Get out there and get proper seen to – do you the power of good’. My mother would have expected me to go home with Piers in a heartbeat. Why on earth do you think she encouraged me to leave Little Buckingham? Do you know how many single men there are back home, Felix?” I shook my head dumbly, still having trouble getting over the shock of Hetty telling her precious daughter to get proper seen to. “Zero. There are exactly zero. Emily married Pete, the last relatively attractive single man in the area. You remember Pete? Nice chap, but not exactly George Clooney. The vicar’s single, but he’s old enough to be my grandad, so that’s out.”

I blinked. “Is that why you came to London? To meet men?”

She sighed. “Not just men. I’ve never lived away from home before. Never even went away to uni. I wanted to get out there in the big smoke. And well, I needed to get used to… people and such. Why did you think I came here?”

“For the career opportunities.”

Lucy looked up at the ceiling as if she was seeking patience with me, which was totally the wrong way around. “What exactly did Mum say to you when she asked you for this job?”

“Well…” I rubbed the back of my neck. “She said you needed to get out of Little Buckingham.”

“Did she mention furthering my career? You think I want to work in property development or finance?”

“What was I supposed to think, Lucy?”

She sighed and looked down at her feet for a moment. “You really don’t know anything about me at all, do you?” she muttered in a dejected tone.

How much was I supposed to know about Lucy? I’d barely seen her for the last few years. I mean, I avoided going home like the plague, and the few times I’d met up with Mike it had been in London and had involved beers and shit-talking each other. Information about his little sister was not top of our agenda.

“Listen, Lucy Mayweather,” I said in my most commanding voice. “You will not be having any rides with anyone, and that includes bloody Piers.”

“Have you considered that maybe I can make my own decisions, you high-handed prick? Maybe I might want to have some fun after being cooped up in Little Buckingham for nearly three decades. Maybe Piers should be careful around me – huh?”

I frowned, then took Lucy by the hand and led her away from the bar and out into a large alcove near the exit, away from anyone who might be watching us. She took a step back but I followed her, leaning in with my arm on the wall above her head, and registering the sharp intake of breath she took at our proximity. She was still bristling with anger, but I could feel her attraction to me through the waves of fury. Colour crept up from her neck to her cheeks, and her chest rose and fell with her fast breathing.

“Do you want to sleep with Piers?” I asked, my voice low, my face so close to hers that our lips were almost touching.

“I–I maybe I do,” she stuttered out, her voice hoarse now. Anger coursed through me, and I felt my jaw clench. “B–b–but that would be my choice. You’re not the boss of me.”

“Aren’t I?” I replied, my voice dropping even lower now.

“N–no, n–n–not here. Not outside work. You can’t tell me what to do.” She was breathless now, and her pupils were so dilated that only a thin rim of blue was evident around them. She shivered as my mouth moved to the shell of her ear.

“See I think I am the boss of you. I think that’s what you need.” At this point, I had definitely lost my handle on self-control. It was the smell of her shampoo, those goddamn freckles trying to show through the makeup, the rapid rise and fall of her chest, plus the alcohol coursing through my system, lowering my inhibitions.

“I think you’ve come here to drive me out of my mind so that I’ll remind you of that. Remind you who your boss really is.” My mouth moved from her ear to her neck, and I grazed her soft skin below her ear with my lips. Her pulse was flickering frantically in her neck as she let out a small sound from the back of her throat. I could feel the anger morph into confused excitement as my mouth moved to her delicate jawline, and another small shiver went through her. When I reached the corner of her mouth, I spoke again, this time against her lips. “You’re not going to be doing anything with dickheads like Piers. Isn’t that right, baby?”

“W–what,” she whispered, our lips now a hair’s breadth apart.

“Be a good girl and say, yes Felix,” I said against her lips.

“Yes, Felix,” she breathed. I smiled slowly then my mouth covered hers. She jerked slightly in shock, separating our connection and stared up at me for a moment with wide eyes. God, what was I doing? This was completely out of order. I was out of my drunken mind.

“Christ, sorry Lu⁠—”

It was her turn to cut me off this time. Both her hands came up to frame my face then into my hair as she pulled me back down to her level. Her soft mouth sealed over mine, and she let out a small moan, which flipped the switch on any control my lust-addled mind had been exerting over my body. My arms closed around her, one wrapping around her back with my hand splaying between her shoulder blades so I could pull her body into mine, the other low on her waist to do the same. Everything about her was small and soft and unbearably delicate, but also raw and intoxicating. It was a lethal combination. I could taste the sweet cocktail that prick Piers had probably bought her mixed with unique Lucy.

“Woah! Now I get it.” Will’s shouting broke through into my fuzzy brain, and I managed to pull back from the kiss. Lucy had clearly been so swept up in the moment that she hadn’t even heard Will, despite his obnoxious shouting. Her eyes were still closed, and she leaned forward to follow my retreat. I almost smiled, but then I remembered bloody Will was standing right next to us. His finger was up now, pointing between us. “Family friend, my arse. Why didn’t you just say you were fucking her, man?”

Lucy’s eyes had blinked open, and I felt her body go rigid. When I glanced at her shocked face, I saw the colour drain out of it.

“Fuck off, Brent,” I snapped, grabbing Lucy’s hand and pulling her away from the alcove, pausing only to nab her coat off the bar stool beside her. As usual, Lucy tripped, and I caught her just before she went down, hauled her up against me and then pushed our way through the crowd and out of the bar.

When we got to the exit, I let her go, but only to shake out her coat and bundle her into it. She still seemed too dazed to fully function. I texted Frank, and then I pulled Lucy outside onto the pavement. She only had to shiver once, and I was done for. I put my arms around her and pulled her into me so that her face was in my chest, and she was practically inside my coat as well as her own. Her small hands were pressed against me, and she looked up at me as I kept her in the circle of my arms.

“Er… what’s happening, Felix?” she whispered.

“You kissed me, that’s what’s happening.”

She blinked once, opened her mouth to speak, shut it again, then shook her head as if to clear it.

“Are you angry with me for kissing you?” she said, her voice both tentative and confused. I couldn’t really blame her, but I did smile despite still feeling fucking furious with Will.

“No, love. I’m not angry with you. Brent can go fuck himself, but you’ve done nothing wrong.”

She shivered at the endearment, and I didn’t think it had anything to do with the cold. Warm satisfaction flooded through me, and I pulled her small body closer to mine. After kissing Lucy and holding her in my arms, all my stupid reasons for not doing this sooner were rapidly melting away. So what if Hetty and Mike thought I was taking advantage? I’d prove to them otherwise. So what if it was inappropriate behaviour with a subordinate? I’d sort it out with HR myself. So what if I had a talent for fucking up relationships? I’d just have to do better with Lucy. Frank pulled up then, and I grabbed Lucy’s hand.

“Come on,” I muttered, pulling her to the car and then opening the door for her, indicating she should get in first.

“Hi, Frank,” Lucy said, giving him a small wave. “How are the grandkids?”

Frank smiled at her. “Lucy, this is a surprise.” He glanced at me, a hint of disapproval in his expression, before turning back to Lucy.

“Ha! For me too,” muttered Lucy.

“I’ll take you home first, then,” said Frank.

“Oh,” Lucy said as we pulled away from the curb. She sounded disappointed. I was still holding her hand, and she gave it a squeeze before she moved to whisper in my ear. “Isn’t your home closer?”

“Yes.”

Her face had that adorably confused expression again as she looked up at me and I just couldn’t help it. Despite the waves of disapproval coming off Frank, I kissed her. It was brief, hard and claiming. When I pulled back, her face was flushed as she blinked up at me. She paused for a moment and then squared her jaw, a look of determination replacing the confused expression from before.

“I think I want to come home with you,” she whispered. Then, seeming to lose her nerve, she bit her lip, and her eyes slid to the side. I used the opportunity to kiss her cheek and then moved to whisper in her ear.

“You should probably be the one to tell Frank that. He clearly thinks I’m kidnapping you as it is.”

“Right,” she whispered back, then louder. “Er… Frank, actually we’re going to Felix’s so… um, just go there. Er… please?”

“It’s no bother to take you back to your place, love,” Frank said in a firm tone, and I smiled but controlled the urge to roll my eyes. What Frank didn’t do was alter his direction. I remembered how far Lucy’s house was from the office and wondered how she got to work every day. Did she take the tube at night and walk back after dark? My smile dropped as I imagined her walking home from the tube in the dark at night, freezing and totally vulnerable. How had I not taken an interest in this before? What if she’d been attacked? I tightened my arm around her as a few different scenarios flew through my mind.

“Well, that’s kind, but I just really want to go to Felix’s place,” Lucy was trying to make her tone as firm as possible, but it wasn’t quite having the effect I was sure she was going for.

“I’m sure you’re best off getting home,” said Frank. As much as the old bastard was annoying me, I also had to suppress a laugh. Clearly, he did not approve of Lucy being with me. I couldn’t say I blamed him. Frank had driven me home with a fair amount of women over the years and rarely twice.

I knew I had some sort of deep-seated commitment issues, but I had a very good reason for that, and for the last few years all the women I dated, even if only briefly, knew the score. Some of the models and actresses were just happy with the extra publicity anyway, so there was often a symbiosis to the relationship – not particularly romantic, but I wasn’t disappointing anyone. I always made it clear where I stood on commitment, usually before I’d even kissed them and definitely before they agreed to come home with me to make sure there were no expectations on either side. Funnily enough, the thought of having that conversation with Lucy made me feel vaguely ill. With her, I realised, I had all sorts of expectations, not least that no other man touched her ever again. Quite the demand for someone I’d only kissed twice. Frank still hadn’t changed direction, the stubborn sod.

“Frank, we’re going back to mine,” I put in, raising my voice just slightly. I caught his eye in the rear-view mirror, and he frowned at me. I raised one eyebrow, daring him to contradict a direct order. He made a low, disapproving noise in the back of his throat.

“Right, well, if you’re sure, Lucy,” he said finally. Lucy relaxed against me, her nose buried into my side, and my chest swelled as she inhaled.

“Totally,” she said in a soft voice.