Love in London (Restless Hearts)

By: Hunter J. Keane

Love in London

Taylor James knows exactly what she wants. She is one year away from graduating from college and pursuing her dreams of becoming a career woman, living in a big city and working in a tall office building. She is determined not to let anything get in her way.

But life hasn’t always worked out according to plan for Taylor, and she’s still reeling from a family tragedy. When the opportunity arises to study in London for a semester, she moves in with her cousin, Cessy, hoping to learn more about the family she has never met. Taylor’s plan is tested when she meets a charming man and realizes that he’s more than just a random encounter.

Before long, she begins to fall for Dexter Sanders. He’s handsome and kind, funny and sweet. But when she learns the truth about his identity, she questions whether she is ready to give up her past dreams for an uncertain future. She loves Dexter, but she knows first-hand that love doesn’t always conquer all. Taylor must decide if she’s up for the fight and willing to take a chance on love.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

Kindle Edition

Copyright © 2014 by Hunter J. Keane

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

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Chicago

“Excuse me. Excuse me.”

The crowd closed in around me as I pushed my way onto the train. I was already five minutes late and I couldn’t afford to wait for the next train. “Sorry. Can I just squeeze past you?”

The man standing in front of me made an annoyed grunt that I took as a yes. I stepped around him, falling into the last empty seat.

My phone was blowing up with unread texts. Everyone wanted to know where I was. I was usually very punctual and my tardiness was causing mild panic.

Running late. Be there soon.

I chose to ignore the texts from Neil. Those would only make me upset and I was determined to have a good night.

My seatmate was a large, slightly intoxicated man that was mumbling curse words to himself. I was glad it was going to be a short ride.

I walked into the bar fifteen minutes late. My friends had managed to get a table near the front windows which had been pulled open to let in the summer air. They all started clapping and cheering as I approached the table.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m here.” I faked a curtsey.

“You need to work on that. I’m pretty sure the Queen will have you run out of town with a sloppy curtsey like that.” Camryn, my sassy friend with no filter, tossed her shiny dark hair over her shoulder.

“I’m not worried about meeting the Queen,” I said, pulling out the only empty chair at the table. “Where’s my drink?”

“Sangria.” Payton passed a drink to me with a smile. “To prepare us for our reunion in Spain.”

“We haven’t even left yet,” I reminded my twin. We had spent nearly every day together for the last twenty one years and she wasn’t handling our pending separation well.

I held up my glass, toasting my lifelong friends. In addition to Camryn and Payton, we were joined by Scottie and Olivia. The five of us had been friends since we were six-years-old. We had scattered a bit for college, but we still saw each other as frequently as possible. For the last three months, we had been inseparable.

Payton and I attended college in the city with Olivia. Scottie had taken an internship for the summer and was staying with Olivia. And Camryn, crazy Cam, had been couch surfing with various friends all summer. But our time together was about to end. I was so used to seeing some of these girls every day, and the others at least once per month, that it was hard to picture my life without them in it. I was fairly certain that the five of us would be sharing nursing home rooms in our old age.

“I can’t believe we will all be gone in less than a week.” Scottie was our quiet friend. She preferred to listen to our troubles rather than share her own. “You have to promise to email every day.”

“No way!” Camryn slammed down her empty glass. “I will be too busy hitting on French guys and eating crepes.”

“And going to class? And immersing yourself in French culture? And practicing the language?” Payton asked, laughing when Camryn stared at her blankly.

“This isn’t about education, Pay,” she said. “This is about finding a hot French guy to be the father of my babies.”

It was typical Camryn. She talked a big game, but we all knew that once she got to Paris her attitude would change. She hated being alone, not knowing anyone. Her first months of college had been torture for her. She had taken an athletic scholarship at a school five hours from home where she hadn’t known a single person. I remembered how I had received dozens of text messages in a single day from her.

Olivia had been abnormally quiet, but now she moaned. “I cannot believe that all of you are leaving me. This is so unfair.”

“We didn’t plan it, Livs. This just kind of happened.” I still felt a little guilty that all of us had made plans to study or live abroad for the next four months while Olivia would be left behind in Chicago.

It was our last year of college and we were all growing restless, ready to see the world. I was going to spend a semester studying in London and getting to know our dad’s family better. He had spent his childhood growing up in England before he had moved to the U.S. for college. I was going to use this opportunity to get to know uncles, aunts, and cousins that I had never even met.

Payton was less inclined to spend time with family and she was going to spend her semester in Rome, learning the language and eating gelato. She also claimed to be registered for some classes, but I was unconvinced. Of the two of us, she was the most likely to drop out of school to explore Europe.

Camryn had gotten an internship with a designer in Paris. Her mother had some connections, and Cam wasn’t ashamed to use them. She had been designing and making her own clothes since we were just kids. I had always admired her laser-like focus and determination. Of all of us, she was the most likely to become rich and famous.

Scottie, quiet and smart Scottie, had already graduated. Ever the studious girl, she had taken summer classes all throughout college to graduate early. Her reward was a trip to Ireland to stay with her father. Her parents had divorced when we were kids and now her father was remarrying an Irish woman. They were happily in love, and Scottie had reluctantly agreed to spend a few months with her new family.

That left poor Olivia alone in Chicago. She was focused on getting into law school and didn’t want to be distracted with fancy trips abroad. At least, that’s what she had said when we were all making plans. Now, I could tell that she was beginning to regret her decision.

“I bought us something,” Olivia announced, plopping her oversized purse on the table.

“Us?” Camryn frowned. “I prefer solo gifts.”

“Still haven’t learned to share, Cam?” Payton teased, helping herself to some of my sangria. Her own glass had been empty for less than a minute.

Olivia pulled a book from her bag and set it on the table. “I got us a journal.”

“Why?” I asked, speaking before thinking as I always did.

“So we can write to each other!” Olivia smiled proudly. “We’ll take turns. You write an entry, then mail it to the next person. When you all get back in December, we’ll have a complete account of everyone’s trips.”

“Nobody writes in journals anymore,” Camryn said, eyeing it suspiciously. “Can’t we just email?”

Olivia shook her head. “That’s so impersonal. This is much more meaningful.”

“I think it’s a nice idea,” Scottie said, reaching for it. She flipped through the blank pages. “Emails just get buried in inboxes, but this is more permanent.”

“Also known as blackmail,” Camryn said. “Do I really need my sins recorded for posterity?”

“Yes!” we all said with a laugh.

She threw her hands in the air. “Fine. Have it your way. But I guarantee you that you are going to regret this.”

“If you die with no regrets, then you lived a really boring life,” Payton declared.

The waitress had returned with an extra-large pitcher of sangria and after our glasses were appropriately refilled, Scottie demanded a toast.

“What are we cheersing to?” Camryn asked, already slightly tipsy.

“To regrets,” said Payton.

“To hot foreign men!” Camryn chirped.

Scottie added shyly, “To friends.”

“To another lame semester,” Olivia lamented.

I cleared my throat and spoke louder than the others. “To us!”

“Ladies and gentlemen, we will be landing at Heathrow Airport in approximately twenty minutes. If you haven’t already done so, please place your chairs in an upright position and secure your tray tables. Flight attendants will be coming through to pick up any remaining items to be disposed. Local time upon landing will be 11:00 in the morning with a ground temperature of 21 degrees Celsius, or 70 degrees Fahrenheit. We hope you’ve enjoyed your flight adventure with us.”

I stretched and yawned loudly. The nearly eight hour flight had been relatively smooth. In my hurry to get ready for landing, my knee banged into my tray table and knocked a half-filled glass of water on the guy sitting next to me.

“Crap!” I hurriedly reached for my napkins. “I’m so sorry. But let’s be honest, I was bound to spill something on you. It’s surprising I made it this long.”

He laughed, a deep and rich chuckle that caused me to look at him for the first time. I instantly regretted not looking sooner.

“At least it wasn’t red wine,” he said, taking the stack of napkins from me. “Better let me do that.”

I realized that my hand had been moving precariously close to his lap. “Oh, right.”

He dabbed at the water on this pants and for some reason I couldn’t take my eyes away. Then I realized that he probably thought I was staring at his crotch.

“I really am sorry,” I said, eyes moving back to his face. He had a very nice face. “You can spill something on me in retaliation.”

His blue eyes sparkled. “I actually should be thanking you. I’ve been trying to think of a reason to talk to you since we took off in Chicago.”

“Really?” My jaw dropped open, surely making me look very attractive.

“I’m Dexter.” He held out his hand. “Dexter Sanders, but most people just call me Dex.”

I took his hand, hoping that my own weren’t too clammy. “Taylor James.”

“That’s a movie star name,” he said with a warm smile. “It suits you.”

“You’re probably just confusing it with James Taylor.” I was rewarded with another laugh. “Are you coming or going?”

“A little bit of both, actually.” He glanced out the window. “Dual citizenship makes that a hard question.”

My head tilted in surprise. “You don’t have much of an accent.”

“Depends who you ask.” He paused to throw the napkins and my empty cup into the trash receptacle that was rolling by. “My mother was from England and my father lived there a bit before they got married, but they moved to the States right before I was born. We split our time between the two while I was growing up.”

“A man with two homes,” I said philosophically. “Where do you live now?”

“Chicago. My company just opened an office in London and it’s requiring me to spend quite a bit of time there.” His smile faded just a little. “I’m sure I will get used to it.”

“What kind of work do you do?”

Dexter’s cheek twitched and he said, “Consulting.”

“What kind of consulting?”

He said, “Software.”

“Interesting.” Since I knew nothing about software consulting, I decided to change the topic. “I’m still in school. Decided to start my senior year by studying abroad.”

“Let me guess, you picked London because you already know the language?”

My eyes narrowed. “Are you implying that I’m not smart enough to learn another language?”

“Whoa.” He threw his hands into a defensive position. “I was just making a joke. I assume that in addition to being breathtakingly beautiful, you are also highly intelligent.”

“Nice recovery.” I grinned. “I was just teasing. You aren’t far from the truth. Actually, my father is originally from here and I wanted to spend some time getting to know his side of the family better.”

“Ah.” He nodded understandingly. “That could be good.”

“Or it could be a disaster.”

He laughed. “Only if your family is like mine.”

“I figure there must be a reason why my father moved away.” I pointed out the window. “Looks like we are getting close.”

“How often have you been to London?”

“First time.”

His eyes lit up. “A virgin!”

Even though I knew the context of what he meant, I blushed. “I’m a little nervous.”

“Everyone is their first time,” he said, going along with the joke. “You’ll do just fine. It’s a bit scary, especially because it’s so big, but you’ll get the hang of it.”

“Thanks for your vote of confidence.”

The noise in the cabin kicked up as we began our descent and we both sat in silence. Occasionally, I glanced out of the corner of my eyes to stare at him. A couple of times, I even caught him staring back.

Once we had landed and were taxing to the gate, I reached for my phone and noticed Dexter doing the same. I had wisely signed up for an international plan since I knew the girls would be incessantly trying to reach me. Better to plan ahead than be stuck with a thousand dollar phone bill.

“I couldn’t help but notice you have a phone,” Dexter said, pointing.

“Yeah, I’m one of the cool kids.”

“Any chance you would be willing to give me your number?” He gave me his best innocent look. “I swear I’m not a serial killer.”

“Well, since you swear…” I rattled off my number.

It was time for our row to leave the plane and Dexter helped me get my bag from the overhead compartment.

“Did you check a bag?” he asked as we stepped onto the jet bridge.

“Two, actually.” I hung my head shamefully. “I have a lot of shoes.”

“Don’t we all.” He gestured for me to lead the way. “Looks like we’ll get to spend a little more time together.”

I shot him a smile over my shoulder. “Must be your lucky day.”

Baggage claim was packed with weary, crabby travelers. I was glad I was with Dexter, a total goofball. We made bets about which luggage belonged to which traveler.

“That pink one definitely belongs to that guy with the long beard,” he said quietly in my ear, without a hint of sarcasm.

“Right.” I jabbed him in the ribs with my elbow. “If you don’t take this seriously, you’re never going to win.”

“I don’t think we ever determined what the prize is for winning.” His eyes scanned my face slowly, his smile growing.

I took a half-step back. “When I win, you can buy me a drink.”

“Deal.”

We both laughed when a sorority girl grabbed the pink suitcase. It was not nearly as exciting as if Dexter’s guess had been right.

“There’s mine,” he said, pointing to a predictably boring black bag.

He lifted it from the conveyor easily. I assumed that he would take off now that he had his luggage, but he stayed by my side.

“Let me guess, that trunk is yours?” He pointed to something that looked like it might be holding a dead body.

“No, but I wish I had one of those. Just think of all the shoes you could fit in that thing.” I pretended to swoon. “Wait. There I am!”

Dexter helped me grab my larger suitcase while I went after the smaller one.

“Yellow?” he said, giving me a judgmental look. “It’s like you really are a ray of sunshine.”

‘It was easy to spot, wasn’t it?” Which was pretty much the only good reason to buy bright yellow luggage. “Thanks for lending me your manly muscles.”

“Let me know when I can have them back,” he said, pretending to flex a weak muscle. In reality, his arms were quite chiseled. “How are you getting into the city?”

“Cessy said I should take the express train?” I tried to remember what the exact directions had been.

“Cessy?”

I checked my phone to make sure I had read her text correctly. “My cousin. She lives in the city. That’s actually where I’m going to be staying.”

“A flat in the city? Very swanky. Most college kids stay in university housing.”

“Well her roommate just up and left about a month ago, so she needed someone to move in. The timing worked out well.” Her text did indeed tell me to take the express train.

“I’m headed to the train as well.” Dexter threw his bag over his shoulder and took the handle of one of my suitcases.

“You don’t have to do that,” I said, not used to having someone being so helpful. “I’m sure I can get it myself.”

He shook his head in annoyance. “Would you please just let me woo you? How else am I going to convince you to go on a date with me?”

“Sorry.” I unsuccessfully fought a smile. “You’re doing a wonderful job so far.”

“You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.” He started to weave his way through the crowd of people still waiting for their baggage. “Just wait until I open a car door for you.”

Dexter walked swiftly and confidently in the direction of the train despite being weighed down. I had to hurry to keep up. He waited patiently while I bought my train ticket and then helped me load my bags into the luggage hold.

“These are nice trains,” I said, surprised.

“Slightly fancier than the El, huh?” He pointed to a nearby seat. “Take the window.”

“You’re really working hard for this date.” I slid into the seat. “I probably should’ve let you know that all you really had to do was promise me food. I’m a sucker for a free meal.”

“That’s only because you’ve never eaten here.” He made a painful wince. “You’ll change your tune soon enough.”

I frowned. “That bad?”

“Meh. It won’t make you sick or anything, but it’s nothing to write home about.”

His words immediately made me think of the journal I had tucked into my purse. Then I started to wonder if I should write about meeting Dexter. Was that the type of information Olivia had hoped we would share? Or would it only be journal-worthy if I had hooked up with him in the tiny airplane bathroom?

“How long does it take to get into the city?” I asked as the train began to move.

My phone buzzed as a new text came in.

“About thirty minutes.” He shifted in his seat and his knee brushed again mine. “I’m just glad they don’t serve beverages on this ride. My pants are just now beginning to dry.”

“Dirty!” I said with the appropriate amount of sass. “I thought you were a gentlemen.”

“Beautiful, smart, and a dirty sense of humor. I think I’m in love.”

I feigned seriousness when I said, “But you haven’t tasted my cooking. Or heard me sing in the shower.”

“Already planning our morning-after breakfast and shower? You move fast.”

My phone buzzed again and this time I glanced at it to see who was trying to reach me. When I saw Neil’s name, I groaned.

“Paranoid mother?” Dexter guessed when he saw my reaction.

“No.” I hit ignore. “Clingy ex.”

“Ah.”

I instantly regretted telling him. We were less than ten minutes out of the city which meant he had plenty of time to dig into the story.

“Messy breakup?”

“Not exactly.” The truth was that the breakup had been clean. It was the aftermath that was ghastly. “He’s just having a hard time letting go.”

Neil and I had met on the very first day of orientation the week before classes started for our freshman year. We had been the best of friends ever since. But then, about six months ago, we decided to try being more than friends. At first, it had been great. We already got along so well and had a lot in common. But after a few months, I realized that I just wasn’t interested in him that way. We were missing that special spark. So I’d sat him down and told him how I felt, asked if we could go back to being friends.

At first, he’d been completely understanding. But after we tried to be friends for about a week, he changed his mind. For the last month, he had been calling and texting me excessively. When I answered, we fought. If I ignored him, it just made him angrier. My trip could not have come at a better time. An ocean between us should be enough space to help him get over it. At least, that’s what I said when I finished telling Dexter the whole story.

“You just didn’t love him?” he asked as if he didn’t quite believe it could be that simple. “Was he bad in bed?”

“It wasn’t about that.” It was hard to explain to other people. Even the girls couldn’t understand. Payton had already been planning our wedding. “My friends think I’m just being difficult. Which is absurd, really, because my life would be a lot easier if I would just want to be with Neil. I already know he’s a good guy. I’ve already seen his bad moods and witnessed his annoying habits.”

Now that I was talking about it out loud, I was more certain than ever that I had made the right decision.

“Maybe that was the real problem,” Dexter said. “No mystery. No excitement.”

“No passion,” I said definitively.

We both got quiet, letting that proclamation hang in the air. Dexter stared hard at me, his blue eyes indecipherably intense. As I stared back, I thought again about his subtle, but decisive, attractiveness. Every feature was perfectly chiseled, but he played it down with rough stubble and messy hair.