Chapter 9 : First Night

*Miles*

The first thing I noticed was that I was surrounded by the scent of lavender.

That was not what my room normally smelled like.

I opened my eyes and blinked at the light streaming in through the window. The sun had barely risen beyond the horizon. But I saw Dove moving around the room in search of something.

I pulled myself to sit up. She was yet to notice that I was up, her mind keeping her focused on whatever she was looking for.

“Good morning,” my rough voice filled the silence of the room.

She stopped in her tracks. Her head turned in my direction.

“Morning,” she squeaked. “I was making too much noise, wasn’t I?”

I shook my head. “No, you weren’t. I naturally wake up at six. But it seems you have been up for some time, haven’t you?”

Dove shrugged. “Yeah, I couldn’t sleep anymore. I guess it’s the new surroundings.”

“Or the fact that you are sharing a bed with a man you have known for barely two weeks. That could be it.”

A slight pink tint came over her cheeks. “Yeah, that could be it too.”

“Have breakfast with me,” I said without even thinking.

“What?”

“I think it would be good if we had breakfast before you leave for work. I only need a few minutes to get ready,” I said.

“Oh.” She bit down on her lip, a habit I observed she does when she was feeling nervous. “Okay, sure. We can have breakfast.”

I nodded, a smile tugging at my lips. “Let me just get ready, I will meet you downstairs.”

She nodded her head and started for the closet but then she stopped short and turned to face me. “How did you get up the stairs?”

I didn’t miss a beat. “Elevator.”

“You have one?”

I nodded. “It’s just around the corner. It’s often missed by most.”

She nodded slowly. “Okay, 'cause I had been wondering.”

“Okay.” My eyes drank her in fully. “You look nice, by the way. Blue seems to be your color.”

She wore a knee-length dress that hugged her torso just right and flowed all the way to just above the knee. The color made her look more vibrant and elevated her natural beauty. I was never one for clothes but with her, I noticed the slightest changes and I didn’t know what that was.

The blush returned to her face, and she looked away from my gaze sheepishly. “Thank you.”

She scurried into the closet and closed the door so she could finish getting ready.

I knew that I still made her nervous but last night we had been comfortable with each other. We joked and talked like two normal people and it felt good. She made me laugh and smile in ways that no one else had. Not even…

I didn’t want to think about her, and especially not compare her to Dove. They were two separate people and Dove was only for a passing moment. She was not someone who was meant to be there for a long time. She had a purpose to serve and that was it.

I could not get attached.

But she made it incredibly hard not to.

I reached for the phone by my bedside table and buzzed for Greta to have John come and help me get ready. I needed to keep the appearances up for as long as I could. No one could know the truth—not yet anyway. I still had much more to uncover. So many questions that I needed to get the answers to.

A knock came at my door not even a few seconds later.

“Come in, John.”

***

I sat across from Dove at the table while she ate her fruit bowl. I knew that she was small in size but it seemed to me like she didn’t eat much.

“Is that all you’re going to have?” I asked, watching the way her jaw clenched as she chewed, the movement hypnotic for some reason.

She looked up at me and then down at her bowl. “Yeah, why?”

“It doesn’t seem very filling.”

“I don’t normally eat breakfast.” She shrugged. “I’m usually running late when I get up and my stomach always feels a little funny when I do after.”

“So why are you eating?”

“Because you asked,” she said simply. “I didn’t want to be rude and decline. Besides, I still have quite some time before I have to head to the subway.”

“What?” I frowned. What did she mean by subway? “You don’t have a car?”

She shook her head. “I don’t need one, the public transport in New York is great. Having a car would be a waste.”

“And what if it rains? How will you get from your stop and your building? They are quite far apart from each other.”

“Um…an umbrella?” She poked at her fruit.

I frowned.

I didn’t like the idea of her just walking in the rain or the streets alone. Not to mention she gets off work every day at around six and she doesn’t need to be walking around when there are all kinds of creeps in the subway and all over the streets. She was a Scott now. The news would break soon enough and she will need to be more vigilant about where she goes.

“Let’s go get you a car today. What would you like? I’m quite favorable of the Aston Martin but the Rolls Royce does have a certain flare to it,” I offered.

Her eyes went wide and she dropped her fork. “No, absolutely not. I do not need you to buy me a car. I am happy to take the bus.”

“No wife of mine will take the bus. You are a Scott. What will the people say?”

“That I’m trying to save the planet by using public transport—I don’t know. I just know that I don’t want you to buy a car. You have done so much already. I don’t need a six-figure car added to my tally of debt,” she argued, her brows furrowed.

I opened my mouth to protest but she hopped out of her chair and grabbed her bag.

“Oh, would you look at that? I’m going to be late for work. Okay, bye. Have a great day at work.”

She raced out of the dining room like it was on fire. I heard her heels click against the marble until she was in the elevator.

I shook my head in utter disbelief.

Any other woman would have accepted my offer without a second thought but Dove was different. She was unlike any other woman I had ever met in my entire life. Whenever I thought she would go left she went right. I never knew what I would get with her and that was what intrigued me the most about her.

***

I leaned back in my chair and looked out at the skyline. This office had been mine for over ten years and I had grown used to the view. But after my conversation with Dove last night I had an entirely new perspective on a lot of things in my life.

‘Be grateful for the small things because they become big things when they are taken away.’

That line had stuck with me.

“Mr Scott.” Jennifer broke me out of my thoughts.

“Yes, Jen?” I looked up at her. She handed me a file and opened to the page that required my signature.

I signed the paper and handed it back to her. But when she lingered by my side I turned my gaze to her again. She wasn’t saying a word, her eyes cast down to her shoes.

“Okay then, out with it.”

She pursed her lips like she had tasted something bitter and horrid. “Why her?”

“Who are you speaking about?”

“Dove Andrews. I gave you many candidates to choose from. Some from reputable families and backgrounds but you chose a low-born woman who doesn’t know the difference between equality and equity.”

Jen had always been a fiery woman by nature and it was one of the many reasons I had hired her. She spoke her mind and didn’t hold back regardless of who you were.

I needed those kinds of people around me but here I had to disagree with her.

“Dove is a good person.”

“She smells like trouble. She could blow this whole thing for you.” There was something in her tone that made this all feel personal. She had only ever met Dove once but it felt like she had some kind of hatred toward her.

“She won’t. She has a lot riding on this.” Her mother was her whole world and she needed her healed. And besides, she had signed the contract and she knew what was expected of her.

“Are you sure that this is something that you want to be doing?”

“And why would I not want to be doing this? You know what is at stake here, Jennifer.”

She knew what this marriage meant for me. I needed my grandfather to sign off on this so I could get the company. I had sold my life to this business and it was only right that he gave it to me.

She opened her mouth to say something more but she was cut off by the opening of the door.

“You asshole!” Tony burst through the door like he owned the damn place. “You can’t just tell me you got married and leave it at that. I need more details. What happened to bachelors for life?”

I sighed. “Jen please give us a minute.”

She nodded her head stiffly and left my office.

“You are meant to be in Monaco.”

He settled into his chair and glared at me. “I thought you had been admitted into a psych ward when I got that message. How could I enjoy the sweet company of the European women when my friend had clearly gone into a fit of hysteria.”

I rolled my eyes. “Dramatic much?”

“Married,” he said with a straight face. “YOU TOLD ME YOU WERE MARRIED.”

I shrugged. “Marriage is normal.”

He leaned back in his chair. His eyes held mine in their death stare.

“Not for someone like you. Last I heard you had sworn off women altogether—why? I don’t know. But her sex can’t be that good that you want to marry her. Who is she anyway? Model? Actress? Long lost princess to an Asian dynasty? And why the hell was I not invited to the wedding? I was promised best man years ago.”

I could not believe that this was the man I had chosen to be my best friend. You would not even think that Tony was one of the most successful men in tech today. The man had grossed over 5 billion dollars in revenue from his three companies alone. Not to mention all the humanitarian work that he does.

“Are you done?” I asked, raising a brow at him.

He shook his head. “Not even close.”

I sighed and looked at my overly dramatic friend. “Will you let me explain before you blow a fucking artery?”

He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in his chair. “Go on then.”

So I told him everything from start to finish. I didn’t leave out a single detail and by the time I was done, he looked both amused and shocked.

“So you stalked the girl for months and pretended you didn’t know her and then offered to pay her mother’s medical bills and not only that but you moved her into your house—your sanctuary.”

“Not my house, but the penthouse.” The mansion was out of the city and was far less convenient for her to get to and from work. This was the better alternative.

I hated the city and had opted out of it years ago. But here I was back here again.

“And what about Tiff and the accident?”

My back stiffened at the mention of Tiffany. Years had passed but that night haunted me and plagued my mind. She should not have died. She had been a kind and good soul and I had been calloused and filled with hatred and anger.

“I am still on it but I just had to make sure that the company was secure. I will find out who caused that accident and make sure that they pay.” As I thought about that night, the memories coming back to me, I clenched my jaw.

He nodded slowly in understanding. “And the girl who saved you?”

I thought of that girl every single day. She had taken me out of the car before it burst into flames and got me to help. She had saved my life and I would be eternally grateful to her. I was in her debt and there was no amount of money that would ever be enough to repay what she had done for me.

“Still working on it.”

“Do you think you will ever find her?” Tony quizzed.

“I have no idea.” I had every hope that I would but the world was wide and it had been almost three years since this had taken place.

Whenever I thought of her face all I would see was a blur. The only thing that I could go on was the small pendant necklace that had been around her neck.

I didn’t know how long it would take me but I would find her again and thank her for all that she did for me. She gave me a second chance at life.