Breaking Point (Drew Ashley 1) (12 page)

"And you're telling us this, because?" I asked.

"Well, I've told him that you'll go on a blind date with him," my mum said as she flitted around the kitchen.

"You did what?" I asked in disbelief.

"No need to panic. I think you'll really like him. He's the whole package if you ask me. And he drives a Jaguar."

"I don't care if he flies an aeroplane. A blind date is so embarrassing, especially when I didn't ask to be set up on one."

"Well, you'll have to go because, like I said, he's my boss' son. My boss is the chief executive of Reed Housing Group, in case you've forgotten. And it won't reflect very well on me if you stand his son up."

I looked at Jazz. She looked like she was trying to hold back laughter. I failed to see the funny side of this. I sat down at the table and watched my mum get dinner ready, while talking a million words a minute. It'd been an hour, and already, she'd exhausted me.

***

I should have gotten to church in time on Sunday, considering I now lived in London and didn't have as far to travel now, but I slept through my alarm. Visions had tormented me for the better part of the night. They were along the same lines as the ones I'd had on Friday: Kale and Travis running from something. It was pretty disturbing, and the best thing to do, the only way to keep my sanity, was to just ignore them.

I dragged myself through the getting ready process then went to catch the bus, mortified at the fact that I was going to church late and looking a mess.

I decided not to look for Jazz and Destiny when I got to church. I let an usher show me to a seat in the overflow hall where I belonged with the other eight latecomers. We had to make do with watching the service on a big screen.

I felt a sense of peace as I listened to Pastor Eddie who was in his element today. He was adorable, if a little old school. He told us after the worship session that he hoped none of us was in a hurry. I braced myself for a long sermon.

He announced that he was going to talk about marriage. I flipped the pages of my Bible to Ephesians as he started to read from a predictable verse in chapter five. As always, it was a hilarious sermon, but the message wasn't lost. The relationship between a husband and wife was supposed to be a symbol of the relationship between Christ and the church.

I wondered if I would ever find a man that would be willing to die for me if push came to shove. I wondered if Pastor Eddie would really die for his wife.

"Single people," Pastor Eddie boomed, just when we all thought the talk was over. "I don't like all this aimless dating that I see going on."

His voice was naturally scarily loud. I wondered why his microphone was always turned up so loud.

"When I was a lad," he said. "If a young man went to see a young woman, everyone knew that he intended to marry her. There was none of the games that you play today."

I giggled. C'mon now. No games? Men and women had always played games with each other.

"In the beginning," Pastor boomed on, "when God introduced Adam and Eve, they didn't date aimlessly. They didn't have any transition period. They didn't even get engaged. They were just married. But that was before the Fall. Today, it's important to get to know someone before making that vital life-changing, destiny-altering step into marriage. But have a focus. You don't have to kiss ten frogs before you get the prince. You can tell God to lead you directly to the prince."

I grinned. Kale was definitely a prince, I should think. As for Harvey. Frog. I'd only known him a few short weeks and already I'd seen him out with two different women. As for Travis, he was worse than a frog. How about a lizard?

At the end of the service, the overflow hall filled up. It was where the tea and coffee was served, and where people mingled. I went to get a coffee.

"Sugar?" Destiny asked. She sometimes served on the coffee stand.

"Yes, just one."

Destiny poured a sachet of sugar into a cup of coffee. She gave it a quick stir then handed it over.

I accepted it gratefully. "Thanks. No cakes today?"

"No, sorry. Only biscuits."

I took a Jammie Dodger and was about to return to my seat, when a tall guy caught my eye. I almost dropped my coffee. It was Harvey. What was he doing here?

He was talking to Maggie Brown, a one-woman follow-up squad. I knew because she had followed me up rather aggressively for weeks until she saw me nicely embedded into the church.

I continued my walk to my seat, trying to ignore the thumping of my heart. I barely knew this guy. I really shouldn't be reacting this way to seeing him.

I sat down and dipped my biscuit into my coffee absently, as I tracked Harvey's movement around the room. Maggie took him to get a drink, then introduced him to a few people. He had an easy smile on his face, but I could tell he was feeling a little overwhelmed. Maggie was overwhelming.

Harvey's eyes scanned the room when Maggie paused to take a sip out of her plastic cup. His gaze collided with mine from across the room, making me almost jump. I averted my eyes.

What was I doing, staring at a stranger? And why hadn't I taken the time to look nice today? Okay, I was late, but I could have thrown on a better outfit and packed my makeup to do on the bus.

Harvey was still looking at me, I could see him from the corner of my eye, probably taking in my dishevelment and wondering whether all British girls had an aversion to style.

I looked down into my coffee. Bits of my Jammie Dodger were floating around in it. Ugh! That was the price you paid for dunking. I couldn't drink it anymore. I put my cup of coffee on a nearby table.

Jazz entered the hall just then. She skipped over, looking perfect as she always did. "The singles group are going to Nandos for lunch. Are you coming?"

"Nah, I'll pass."

"Why?"

"I'm not really looking to meet someone."

"The singles group is not for hooking up with each other. It's for doing fun things together as singles." She sat beside me, pushing her hair back. "But I suppose people can get together if they're so inclined."

"Well, I'm not going looking like this."

"I thought you're not looking to meet anyone," she pointed out. "So why does your appearance matter?"

"Because I like to look good regardless."

"Destiny's coming. I thought she'd be the hard one to persuade," Jazz said, standing. "I'm going to get her. You have three minutes to change your mind."

I decided to go to the ladies to check just how bad I looked. When I got there, I wished I hadn't. I looked even worse than I'd thought. No makeup, wild hair. Not good.

When I got back to the overflow hall, Jazz and Destiny were waiting for me. "I've just met the most amazing guy," Destiny breathed, grabbing my arm.

"Really?" I asked.

Jazz laughed. "He's taken."

"He's not. I checked his ring finger," Destiny said.

"What does he look like?" I asked. I couldn't wait to see this guy. He must be something because Destiny had never talked about a guy before.

"He's tall with this gorgeous skin that makes him look like a chai latte, and these eyes that you could just drown in." Destiny was fanning herself with her hand.

I was stunned. "Wowzers!"

Jazz laughed. "Drew, she's talking about Harvey."

Now I was even more shocked. "Really?"

"Oh." Destiny looked disappointed. "That was Harvey? Drew's man?"

I glared at her. "Harvey's not my man."

"Then why do you stress about him all the time?" Destiny asked.

"I don't."

"Sexy as sin is how you described him, if I recall correctly."

"Did I say that?" I asked.

"Yes, and I happen to agree," Destiny said with a groan. "God, You shouldn't be making men that look like that!"

"He's all yours if you want him," I told her. I looked at Jazz. "What do you mean he's taken?" Did she have knowledge of a girlfriend he might have? Or even worse, was he a ring-ditching married man? Maybe that was his wife in the Italian restaurant that time!

"Taken by you," Jazz said giggling.

"For your information, there is nothing whatsoever going on between me and Harvey," I protested primly. "As a matter of fact, it's Kale I've been seeing."

"Harvey sent her flowers," Destiny told Jazz. "And they climbed a mountain together."

"A hill," I corrected. "In The Parks."

"Really now?" Jazz asked. "Sounds like I've missed a lot these past few weeks." She waved to someone behind me.

I turned and saw that it was Harvey. Great, now I had to wave and smile, like I was happy to see him.

"He's coming over," Destiny said, grabbing Jazz's hand.

"Where are you going?" I asked, as they started walking away.

"I don't want to talk to a man that gorgeous," Destiny said. "I'm keeping my distance."

They scurried away, leaving me to face Harvey on my own.

He came over and smiled at me. "Hi Drew," he said in his deep American drawl.

"Hi. What a surprise to see you here."

"Yeah, church was interesting."

"It was. If you're looking for a church in London, I recommend Life Church."

Harvey lifted a plastic cup to his lips and took a brief swig. "Nah, I'm not looking for a church. I was just looking to track you down."

"Track me down?"

"Yeah, I kinda took one of those leaflets that fell out of your purse that time when you dropped it."

"That's how you found my church?"

"Yeah."

I laughed.

"Why's that funny?" he asked, although he was looking slightly sheepish.

"Nothing. Are you religious?"

"No, I think religion causes more problems than it's worth, but I'm open minded." He gave me a quizzical look. "Just how religious are you?"

"Why?"

"Because I'd like to get to know you."

I was taken aback. I tried to think of something to say in reply to that bizarre statement. Bizarre because it was totally out of the blue. Or maybe I was reading too much into it. I gave him a careful look. "Why?"

"I just want to. I haven't figured it out yet. A part of me doesn't want to figure it out."

I almost rolled my eyes. Okay, he was gorgeous, but if he thought he could just traipse into my life, he was mistaken. If he wanted to be like Travis and waste another six years of my life he was in for a surprise. And if he thought I was interested in someone who just wanted to date me without a
purpose
, an aim, a—

"You look annoyed," Harvey said, interrupting my internal rant.

"Huh?" I quickly forced a smile. "No."

"Hey, if you don't want me to get to know you that's fine. I'm not going to torture you into telling me about yourself." Harvey flashed his dangerously appealing smile. "You just go ahead and be Fort Knox."

"Okay, I'll tell you about myself," I said seriously, picking up my bag and chucking my Bible inside. "Lesson number one: I don't like to be 'tracked down.' It makes me feel like I'm being stalked."

Harvey nodded solemnly like I'd just entrusted him with the access code to Buckingham Palace. I got the feeling he was mocking me. "Leaving?" he asked, looking at my bag.

"Yeah."

"I'll walk out with you."

Harvey led the way out of the hall. I took a deep breath once his back was turned. Just being around him was made me feel all funny. It wasn't a good feeling.

"There's a reason I tracked you down," Harvey said, holding the door to the hallway for me. "You promised to take me sightseeing."

"Did I promise?" I asked. "When?"

"Last week in The Parks. I start work soon, so we need to get started. Only if your boyfriend doesn't mind, of course."

I frowned. "I don't have a boyfriend."

"Well, you're always with that guy," Harvey said, his eyes flicking over me lazily. "Kale, I think his name is. Forgive me for jumping to conclusions."

I pursed my lips, plucking up the courage to ask him about his different women. "Uh, do you have a girlfriend?"

"No."

"What about the woman you were with in the Italian Restaurant?" Gosh, I felt stupid!

Harvey's brows lifted.

I forced a nonchalant expression. "I'm just asking because I don't want to take another woman's man sightseeing. Well, not unless she doesn't mind. But why can't she just take you? Unless…she's from America too? Your wife, perhaps?"

Harvey was frowning now. An amused frown.

Ground please just open, now!

"That was the professor I've been covering for at Oxford University," he said. "She's returning from sick leave early so my contract at Oxford is ending. We met for a quick update, but she dressed up because she was meeting her fiancé afterwards."

"Oh," I said weakly. I couldn't meet his gaze now; sure his eyes would mock me.