The Grand Pact (The Grand Men #1)(64)

“You are.”

“Metaphorically speaking.”

“I guess we can fuck whoever we want.”

My heart pounds so hard I have to close my eyes to focus. Exclusive? Is that what he’s insinuating? Elliot wouldn’t mean that; he doesn’t do exclusive anything. “I don’t sleep with anyone I’m not in a relationship with, you know that.”

“You did Miller. And that random Ted guy.”

“Both of them I knew in some way. Miller became well… Miller. Ted is the exception.”

“And me, what am I? Because I’m sure I remember you riding your hand until you moaned my name the other night.”

“I’m in a coffee shop,” I whisper, shrinking down in my seat.

“What am I?”

“You’re Elliot.” I huff out. “You’re different.”

“Different how?”

“I don’t know. I know you better than any man I’ve been with.”

“So you’d sleep with me without being in a relationship with me?”

My brows draw in, heat spreading across my chest. “No.”

“No?” he asks, affronted.

I shake my head, trying to word it so that he understands. “It’s about the connection in that moment. The feelings. Not the relationship.”

“Okay. So I have to make you feel something.”

“You already have. Will you stop!” I hiss, looking behind me. “I’ll ring you later.”

“I like you like this. You’re giving me more than you realise.”

“Do you ever have a bad day?” I snap, hearing him laugh as I hang up.

The man is impossible.

Gathering my hair up off my shoulders, I spin it into a bun and tie it into place with a hair band. I finish my lunch and then head back to the office, where I try to get some work done, all while Elliot Montgomery’s words filter through my constantly running thoughts.





19





Lucy





Is there anything more embarrassing than being a tourist? Or at least looking like a tourist. I’m walking down Charles Street with my head down and my eyes glued to my phone. The pin I’m following tells me I’m close, and the anticipation of almost being at the house has an exciting ball of fire boiling in my stomach. I’m eager to see where Ralph lives. Where he and Elsie made their incredible memories.

Where I will now live.

I look up, and my brows pull in slightly, noticing that I need to cross the road. Checking both ways, I slip my phone into my pocket aimlessly and ogle the brownstone houses before me.

“Holy shit.”

I come to a stop on the pavement and look up at number 63 with my heart in my mouth.

I’m speechless.

All the expectations I had about Ralph’s home were wrong. So so wrong. This is like something straight out of a movie.

For starters, there are ten windows.

I count three floors, but like the other houses on the street, it’s raised with a door on the underside of the steps. I peek around at the little black iron gate and fencing that box the area in. There are two windows on the ground floor, and with the quirky little side door, it makes it look like there’s a tiny apartment under the house.

I store my questions away for later and hurry up the steps to the double-fronted door.

I knock and wait, looking around at the identical homes on the street.

The door swings open, and Ralph greets me with the warmest smile. “Lucy!”

“Hello.” I smile wide.

“Come on in, my dear.”

“Ralph, your home...” I step through the front door and swallow my words. Black-and-white chequered flooring carry my feet for three steps forward until my eyes catch on the entrance room, and I come to a stop.

“Probably wasted on me, after all these years,” Ralph tells me, drawing my eye back to him.

“Yeah,” I say with a shocked laugh. “My god, it’s beautiful. Nothing like what I imagined.”

“What did you imagine?”

“I don’t know. One up, one down.”

“Ah, no, no. You have four floors, and the apartment below us which is empty. Not much light down there.”

“The little door on the side of the steps?”

“Yes, it’s actually where the maids used to live,” he tells me, taking my coat. “Back in the day, of course. Most of them were turned into apartments or basements.”

“Wow.” I drop my bag down on the floor in the hallway and step into the entrance room. I cast my eyes up at the high ceilings, the coving and pillars. Intricate, unique designs that scream money. This place is beautiful. “This is your home!”

Ralph chuckles behind me as I continue under the arch and into what I’d have to call a sitting room. It’s all open plan, so I can already see the main living area beyond this one. Both have large open fireplaces.

“You have two living spaces. They seem so different but still so connected.”

“I have four living spaces, actually. Or should I say you do? This is the parlour floor as we call it—mostly for show. Let me show you the main living space.”

The main living space. Is he joking? I can’t even tell at this point. This is like discovering Elliot and Mason’s estates all over again. The girls are going to freak out.