Deliciously British Read online

  “Yes, of course,” Benjamin says with a dismissive tone. He doesn’t even bother to turn around, not even to say good morning. You’d think I was invisible. Since he got here before I did and he was on the phone, we haven’t exchanged a word so far. ‘Good morning’ would’ve been nice. “Coffee should be on its way and we have an amazing assortment of food. Obviously, I got you your favorite since I know how much you like smoked salmon,” Benjamin gushes. Seriously, you didn’t just take credit for ordering a stupid breakfast sandwich.

  Benjamin Renfrow—and it’s Benjamin, not Ben and certainly not Benji—is an interesting character. I can certainly relate to not wanting people to shorten your name to something that sounds totally uncool, but Benjamin takes it to the next level. I learned that lesson on my first day when he came down hard on a delivery guy who insisted on having his signature instead of mine for the very large and very expensive piece of art he dropped off.

  Benjamin is one of the senior art curators at Harrow Sloane Arts, one of the top commercial art galleries in the country. He takes care of a long list of very prolific artists and customers with deep pockets and he deals with a number of very successful art buyers—Ethan being one of them. Although Gemma is also a senior art buyer, she won’t be part of this meeting because she focuses on finding European talent. Esther Ramsey is another senior curator who works with Benjamin on tracking down the next big thing coming out of America before other prestigious galleries snag them.

  Benjamin is openly gay. The way he trips all over himself before a meeting with Ethan is what made me question which way Ethan swung. On my first day here, Benjamin practically jumped into Ethan’s arms when he came in for a meeting with my boss. Benjamin had been on vacation for a month and hadn’t had his shot of Mr. Gordimer in a long time. It’s true Ethan remained stoic when Benjamin hugged the heck out of him, but that doesn’t mean a thing. That scene planted the seed in my head that maybe the tall and handsome art buyer prefers men.

  Ethan takes a step back and returns to his seat. Benjamin pulls out a chair and plops himself to Ethan’s right. In that seat, he can easily have a conversation and continue to ignore me. Great. “Ah, yes, Delilah was just telling me about the delicious breakfast she ordered for the meeting,” Ethan says, pointing at me with his chin. Thank you.

  Deaf to the kind compliment, Benjamin keeps flapping his mouth. “Right. Well, I told her what to order.” Liar. Gemma did. “Since Delilah doesn’t have the wealth of experience I have, which inevitably means she doesn’t have my roster of important clients, she has a lot more time on her hands to take care of the small details while the rest of us handle much bigger things.”

  Have you ever heard of the expression ‘giving credit where it’s due,’ you nitwit?

  Ethan’s eyebrows hit his hairline so quickly, it’s hilarious. Obviously, Benjamin’s trite comment doesn’t sit well with him. He narrows his eyes and leans into Benjamin. “Perhaps, but sometimes the small details make all the difference. That’s the cornerstone of my successful business and I know for a fact that Mr. Walcott—the guy who signs your paychecks—lives by that rule. I’m certain Ashley would agree with me as well.” Booyah. That’s what I’m talking about. Go Ethan!

  Benjamin clears his throat. From where I’m standing I can see redness creep into his face. Is he embarrassed? I didn’t even know that was possible. “Yes, of course.” I’m certain it must’ve been excruciatingly painful for him to spit out these three words. “You’re right,” he adds. Wow. More? I might not survive this. Ethan is one of the lucky few Benjamin admirers. That’s the only reason why Benjamin would give him the upper hand and why he’s not being pigheaded about being right.

  I don’t have to tell you that Benjamin is full of himself. In fact, on some days, he’s a primo jerk. There are nine of us working at the gallery—all women except for Greg and him—and I get along fine with everyone else. Since Greg has been away since I got here, I’ve not had any dealings with him. I can’t imagine it’s anything like having to tiptoe around Benjamin’s delicate nature.

  He’s a hard pill to swallow. It has nothing to do with the fact that he’s gay. It has everything to do with the fact that he’s just bitchy and thrives on putting others down. I know I haven’t been here long, but I’ve never heard a gracious word slip from that man’s mouth. He has a very short fuse—and I mean super short—with everybody else, but he’s very quick to brown-nose Ashley Shilton, our boss, and Leighton Walcott, the owner of the gallery. Gemma has confirmed that he used to also be all honey-sweet with Samantha Walcott, the owner’s daughter who used to work here. She’s the reason why I have this job. I’m not really surprised. Benjamin would never bite the hand that feeds him. He much prefers giving everyone else hell… and he does it so well.

  Ethan readies himself to speak, but it’s my boss’ turn to make her grand entrance. Ashley sashays into the conference room and stands right next to me to express her remorse. Her delicate perfume with undertones of gardenia tickles my nose. I absolutely love her designer scent. “Oh, my God, I thought that conference call was going to go on forever.” She laughs. “Ethan, I apologize profusely for making you wait like this. Esther just ran to the loo—the poor girl thought she was going to burst from sitting on that call for so long. She’s on this ginger and green tea cleanse. Oh, well, that’s possibly more than you need to know about her.” Ashley laughs aloud and Ethan joins her. “Once she relieves her bladder, she’ll come running.”

  Ethan jumps to his feet and eats up the space that separates him from my boss. “Ashley, I appreciate the sentiment, but I’ve been in this business way too long not to know how it works. Not to mention that dealing with different time zones only adds to the complexity of our profession,” he says, grabbing her shoulders and dropping a Euro kiss on each cheek. Almost as quickly as he approached her, he steps back and breaks their embrace. I can’t help but notice how he had his hands on me for much longer than that earlier. Lucky me. “As I was telling Benjamin, I could sit here all day as long as Delilah entertains me. And may I say she was doing a smashing job at it.” His eyes shift from Ashley’s and lock into mine. I feel myself flush so hard I’m sure there’s no hiding it.

  “Isn’t she adorable?” Ashley smiles at me.

  “That she is.” I’m really trying my darnedest not to read too much into Ethan’s answer, but the way he’s looking at me right now is making me weak in the knees again.

  “She’s been a superstar since she arrived here. At this rate she’ll move from an apprentice curator to a full-fledged one in no time. Our clients absolutely love dealing with her and everyone falls under the spell of that charming accent.” Ashley beams proudly.

  “She was the right choice, then?” Ethan says, winking at me.

  Ashley brings both hands to her chest and nods emphatically. “Unequivocally.”

  “Wow, Ashley.” Since Benjamin entered the room, this is the first time I’ve spoken. “You’re going to make me blush.” I’m not sure how that can remotely be possible considering I’m pretty sure I’m already beet red.

  “Nonsense. You deserve these accolades and you know it. You’ve only done stellar work since your first day here.” This isn’t the first time Ashley has praised me like this, but I have to be honest, I relish the moment every time she does it. Ashley is the complete opposite of Benjamin—I’m sure you’ve figured that out by now. She’s such a warm and supportive boss. Along with my other coworkers she’s made this monumental transition in my life much easier for me. Her constant encouragement gives me wings. “Delilah, bravo on the delicious-looking breakfast spread,” she says, pulling her eyes away from mine and shifting them to the back of the room.

  “Thank you so much.”

  “Well, I can’t wait to sink my teeth into that food. I’ve survived all morning on a measly banana. Can I bother you to grab a few bottles of water in the kitchen? For some reason I’m dying of thirst this morning. It must be from all that talking.”

  �
�Not at all, Ashley. I’ll be right back,” I say. I turn to face Ethan. I figure it’s now or never if I want to say goodbye to him. I’m pretty sure by the time I get back, they’ll already be knee deep in their meeting. “Well…” I hesitate. The last thing I want is for Ashley and Benjamin to know is how flustered I get around Ethan. I take a second to compose myself before continuing. “It was great seeing you again, Ethan.”

  “Thank you for keeping me company, Delilah. I’ll drop by your desk to let you know how I liked my smoked salmon sandwich.” He winks. His comment surprises me.

  “Oh, okay. I guess I’ll see you later then.”

  “Absolutely.”

  Yeah. I flash him a shy smile before turning on my heel.

  “God, I needed to get out of there before I melted,” I say to myself as I head to the kitchen. In many ways I’m grateful to be able to escape. Between Ashley’s flattering remarks, Ethan’s intense gaze and his general drool-worthiness, I need some time to come back down from the cloud I’ve been riding. I run to grab half a dozen bottles of water that I stuff in a bag to make them easier for me to carry. On my way back to the conference room, Gemma approaches with a young guy in tow.

  “Coffee and juices are here,” she announces.

  “Great timing,” I cheer. “Since I have to take these bottles of water to Ashley, I’ll lead the way,” I say, lifting the canvas bag I’m holding to eye level.

  “Don’t worry about it. I’ll take care of it, Delilah. I need to ask Ashley an urgent question before she locks herself up in that room for half the day. She’s not coming out of there before lunch, and I absolutely need an answer before then. Why don’t you give me those bottles? I’ll take the delivery guy to the conference room. That way I can kill two birds with one stone.”

  Crap. “Sure,” I respond, doing my best not to sound too disappointed. This has nothing to do with my desire to help quench my boss’ thirst. It has everything to do with the fact that I was hoping to see Ethan. Of course, I don’t let Gemma know any of that. “It makes total sense,” I answer, folding my lips up in what I hope is a smile as I hand over the bottles of water. “I have a million things to do, anyways,” I add. I do in fact have a full day ahead of me, but one extra minute with Ethan wouldn’t hurt one bit. I guess I’ll have to wait until he’s done with his meeting.

  CHAPTER 2

  Ethan

  The meeting barely kicked off before Benjamin launched into another one of his speeches about modernism in the art world today. I thought I was going to have to suffer through another dreadful session of academic-level wordiness since he used the same type of rhetoric on Monday when I came in, but lucky for me Hong Kong was calling. Constance, Ashley’s assistant—aka my savior—interrupted us to let her know the American buyer they were speaking to had a few more urgent questions. Apparently, he has this high roller interested in dropping quite a lot of money on British art. It always blows my mind how much money the elite in China has to invest in anything their hearts desire.

  After extensively apologizing, Ashley took the call. Since it made sense for her to talk to this guy from the conference room—because it also involves Esther and Benjamin—I offered to step out for a few minutes to give them some privacy. There’s no point in me sitting there idle when I can get some work done.

  Ashley offered her office as a refuge, but I much prefer to stand in the corridor to see if I catch a glimpse of the delicious American with the sexy accent I’m so smitten with. I attempt to check a few messages, but my mind wanders. Delilah is particularly charming today. Honestly, she’s always so well put together, but today she looks absolutely smashing. Good Lord, the way that woman sways her wide hips should come with a warning. Walking behind her while she led me to the conference room with my eyes glued to her fine ass was an excruciating exercise in self-restraint. The only thing I wanted to do was reach out and grope her luscious butt, squeezing it hard until she moaned.

  What I’d give to spend an evening on top of, behind, inside, and beneath that luscious woman. It goes without saying that I’ve already pictured my cock inside her mouth. It’s been one of my recurring dreams since the first day I met her. Sue me. I’m a guy… and she’s all woman. Fuck. I barely hold back a groan at the imagery. I guess my salacious thoughts explain why I have been sporting a stiffy since I laid eyes on her.

  That flashback alone is all my cock needs to grow by a few centimeters. My erection is pressing so hard against the zipper of my suit trousers, it’s nearly insupportable. I shift from one leg to another, seeking relief, but it’s to no avail. I haven’t reacted this quickly or this strongly to a woman before. I’ve lusted many times over a stranger, but this is very different. It’s completely primal. I could fight it, but why bother? I don’t question it. Instead, I intend on doing something about it.

  From the way Benjamin barged in on us right before the meeting, it’s clear it’s going to be tricky to get to know the American newcomer better at her workplace. If I intend on seducing her, I need to whisk her away to a more private setting.

  I’ve kept a polite distance for three weeks now, but it ends today. I’m not walking out of this gallery without securing her number.

  I’m leaning against a wall not too far from the conference room. From this vantage point, I’m sure I’ll see her walk by. I hope it happens before the meeting resumes.

  I lower my eyes back to my screen and force myself to focus on something other than Delilah when a familiar voice calls out my name. “Ethan, mate.” I look up and smile at Greg. “How are you?” He’s already extending his hand.

  Greg Bamrick is another curator at Harrow Sloane Arts. Where Benjamin closes potential buyers with his savvy knowledge of art and his sophisticated talk, Greg is one hundred percent charm and charisma. Ashley attributes his ability to sell so much on the fact that he’s a lady-killer and women can’t resist him. I disagree. Greg will never be mistaken for a model. He’s the definition of your ultimate smooth operator. He disarms his victims—I mean potential buyers—to find a way into their purse and ultimately to their credit card. Needless to say the majority of his clients are rich women.

  I push myself off of the wall and take a step forward to greet him. God, is he ever tanned. “Greg. I haven’t seen you in weeks. Where have you been, mate? From your dark complexion, I can only assume you were away on vacation.” I don’t think I’ve seen him since Delilah started.

  “I was.” He beams, shaking my hand enthusiastically.

  “Well, that explains it. Where to?”

  “Brazil. Three weeks basking in the sun. I went with my best mate David. We landed in Rio, but he hooked up with a hot babe who lured us to Bahia. Ethan, it’s like freaking paradise,” he says.

  “Wow. Is Bahia far from Rio de Janeiro?” I ask. Brazil is one place I long to visit.

  “It’s twenty-two hours north via car. Lucky for us, Rafaela had a set of wheels,” he sneers. “It’s quite far from the capital, but well worth the trip. They have the most incredible beaches I’ve ever seen. In my opinion, not even Thailand comes close.”

  “That sounds like a dream.”

  “It is. We found out while we were there that Bahia is where Brazilians go on holiday. The best beaches and places to stay are a well-kept secret. It’s this little hidden gem amid tropical greenery. You just have to know where to look. Without Rafaela, David and I would have been another pair of clueless tourists. I didn’t do a thing other than eat, drink and work on my tan.” Greg pulls open the top of his shirt as proof.

  “So it was more of a relaxing vacation,” I conclude.

  Greg takes a step forward. “Well, almost.” He winks at me. “The women there are delicious. David was set with Rafaela, aka his holiday shag. I, on the other hand, was single as can be. Let me tell you, Brazilian women are fucking wild. It’s impossible to resist them.” He says that last part in a rather low voice.

  “Of course. Brazilian women are legendary for their beauty and curvaceous bodies.”
r />   “They’re absolutely gorgeous. Lucky for me there were a few who were more on the slender side.”

  “Right.” I give him a quick nod. Don’t be fooled. I totally disagree with him. Slender women don’t hold a candle next to a full-figured beauty. I’m just not in the mood to contradict him. Instead, I change subject. “This is your first day back?”

  “It is indeed. I’m headed to the kitchen to grab my second cup of coffee of the day to jolt some energy back into my body. I’m still severely jetlagged.”

  “I bet you are. You traveled from the other side of the planet. How long is that flight anyways?”

  “Eleven hours. I slept the whole way back.”

  “Wow. I don’t blame you.” I chuckle.

  “As exhausting as it is, I’d do it again in a heartbeat. The women are that worth it. Everything else is just a perk.”

  Note to self. Must put Brazil on my travel plans.

  “You’re here for a meeting with Ashley and a few other musketeers?” Greg asks, changing subject. “I hear something big is coming down the pike?” He flashes me a complicit grin. I’m sure it’s an important meeting—why else would Ashley ask me to come back when I was here a few days ago and so much can be done via phone or email?—but it seems he’s privy to a few more details than I am.

  Ah, the inevitable office gossip. “I am. They had to take an urgent call so I’m just passing time in the corridor waiting for them to be done. I’m keeping myself busy by answering a few messages.” Well, that was the plan, but Delilah derailed my efforts.

  Greg’s eyes shift from side to side. He turns around and looks towards the front of the gallery. It’s as if he wants to make sure no one else is in earshot. “Have you met the new girl?” He asks.

  “Delilah or Katrina?”

  “I quite like the Canadian girl. I think we connected.” Right. “I can already tell she’s into me.” Whatever. “She’s a bit too much on the athletic side for me, but I’d rock her world for one night.” I hope Katrina has more sense than that. “I’m talking about the American with the funny accent.” I beg your pardon? Her accent is absolutely charming. “I was surprised to see her this morning when I arrived. I totally forgot we had someone taking over Samantha’s spot for the summer while she’s exploring the American art scene in New York City. It’s good to be the owner’s little girl.” Greg smirks. “She just had to snap her fingers and voila, Daddy dearest found a replacement.”