Page 102 of Broken Beyond Repair
“Shall we move inside?” Beatrice suggested to change the subject. “It’s chillier here than in New York.”
Leading the way into the entrance of the VIP lounge, they found a sofa just inside the automatic door which negated the need to go back through security. Beatrice found herself still under Sydney’s scrutinising glare as they sat. She turned away from it as she answered the question there was no getting away from.
“I didn’t think you’d mind if I sent it to Ali, and it’s not as though I could ask you. Anyway, it deserves to be read,” Beatrice replied. She wasn’t going to apologise for it. A change of subject was the best solution in situations like this. “I find myself in need of a PA yet again. You don’t know a good one, do you? I had this rather lovely one, but when I broke her heart she ran home to Scotland. That’s what she does when she’s been hurt.”
She allowed her gaze to fall back to Sydney’s eyes, which had softened.
“Now I’m here beside you,” Sydney said, clasping their hands together. “Youare my home, Beatrice, and I don’t intend on letting you out of my sight again. If you’re amenable to that, of course.”
“I don’t think there is anything I’ve been more amenable to. I can’t promise we’ll stay in the same place for long. We could be living in hotels, abroad for months at a time, or in a caravan in Wales, but I’d take a rabbit hutch, a chicken coop… even a horse box, as long as you’re in it,” Beatrice replied with a wink.
“Sounds perfect,” Sydney said, kissing the back of Beatrice’s hand.
“Speaking of which… where is the rabbit hutch?”
Sydney scowled. “If it wasn’t for that rabbit hutch, we would never have met. I flew down. I wanted to be here to greet you. Gertie may have perked up, just not enough to beat a plane. If we’re doing this, whatever this is, then I’m paying you back for Gertie’s repair.”
Beatrice opened her mouth to object, but Sydney beat her to it.
“No, no!” she said kindly. “When it was a bonus from employer to employee, I could take it. If we’re going to be something more, that changes things. I’m a famous writer now thanks toourbook, and I can afford to pay you back. I can’t believe how much they paid for your book advance. My percentage alone blew my mind.”
“I don’t mean this to sound like a brag, Sydney, but I’m not just anyone,” Beatrice said. “That’s the going rate for someone like me, and I will of course accept your payment if those are the terms of a relationship.”
“You know people will think I didn’t co-author your autobiography and that you put my name on it to help give me a leg up.”
“Sydney, if I’ve learnt anything, and I have, it seems from my own child, it’s that we can’t live our lives worried about what others think.”
“Wise words.”
“People who want to hate will hate. It doesn’t matter what you do. You and I, and those important to us, know your achievement. It was actually Alex who made me realise I couldn’t hide anymore; that it wasn’t worth hiding at the cost of being without you. He seems quite keen on the idea of us being together.”
“I had an inkling he knew about it. Maybe neither of us was as subtle as we’d hoped we’d been.”
“He saw us… that night. Only briefly, when we… you know…” Beatrice stuttered, then held her breath as Sydney leaned closer to her, placing her lips beside Beatrice’s ear.
“Oh, I remember. It’s all I’ve thought about for three months.”
Beatrice gasped in a breath at her confession. Her heart was racing, yet her lungs were free, if only she could remember how to use them. Was she cured already, or were the beta blockers still in effect?
“He also overheard you and Peter talking,” she said when she regained her breath. “He knows everything.” Her lips twitched into a smile as she spoke. Despite withholding the truth about his father, she was relieved Alex knew.
Sydney nodded and leaned back against the sofa. “He told me when he left.”
Of course he did; the two of them were as thick as thieves. She could see they were going to outnumber her in the future.
“I hear there may be an invitation to an awards ceremony in the States?” Sydney said.
Beatrice arched a brow. “You want to be my plus one? Are you ready for the heat?”
“More than ready,” Sydney answered with a firm nod.
One side of Beatrice’s mouth curled up in delight as Sydney squeezed her hand. “Me too.”
“I adore the heat. In fact, I recall a sizzling summer in which I wore a bikini a little more often than I should have.”
“Oh.” Beatrice’s lips stretched wider. “I remember, Sydney. That’s allI’vethought about for the past three months.”
A black Mercedes Sprinter with the airport’s logo emblazoned on the side pulled up outside, catching Beatrice’s attention. A middle-aged man in a chauffeurs suit and hat popped his head into the reception area a minute later.
