“Oh good, I don’t have to worry about running into her again. I don’t think I’d be able to keep myself from curtsying a second time if we were inside a palace, and my American ego can’t handle that.”

Malcolm was still laughing as the car slowed, and he . . . Good lord, he just pulled right up to the gates of the palace.

When he said they’d drive there, she’d thought . . . Okay, maybe she hadn’t thought about it at all, but she definitely didn’t think they would just drive up to the actual gold-tipped ornate gates of actual Buckingham Palace like they belonged there.

But then, she supposed they did.

Vivian looked around, and there was a crowd of people standing by the gates, staring into Malcolm’s car. She kept herself—barely—from giving them a beauty pageant wave, and instead looked straight ahead. She couldn’t wipe the smile off her face, though.

Malcolm held up his badge to show the guards, and they glanced at it and waved him through.

“I can’t believe I was just in a car that drove into Buckingham Palace,” she said. “I didn’t take any pictures because I didn’t want to embarrass you, but please know I wanted to.”

He put his hand on hers and smiled at her.

“I’m honored by both parts of that sentence.” He lifted her hand and brushed it against his lips. “I’m glad you’re enjoying this.”

She really wanted to lean over and kiss him, but restrained herself. They were in the parking lot at Buckingham Palace; it didn’t seem to be quite the appropriate place for that. She squeezed his hand instead.

“Will there be scones?”

He laughed and turned off the car.

When they walked into the gleaming red, white, and gold state dining room, Vivian stopped and turned around in a circle, her eyes full of wonder.

“All state dinners are held here, as well as other formal dinners,” their guide said.

“Wow,” Vivian said. She looked overhead. “These chandeliers alone are worth this whole tour. And the ceiling! With the gold accents, it’s just stunning.”

Malcolm looked around and smiled.

“This place really is so awe-inspiring; it’s good for me to stop and remember that.”

She’d asked the guide in advance if she could take pictures and had taken a few in every room. He kept waiting for her to take a selfie with him, like she’d done in all of those places in London with her daughter, but she never did.

When they walked out to his car in the palace parking lot over an hour later, she beamed at him.

“Thank you. For arranging that, for letting me spend so much time there, for you and Geraldine answering all of my questions, for everything.” Her eyes crinkled, and her smile got sly. “I would kiss you right now for all of that, but I’ll wait until we’re a safe distance away from the palace.”

Before he could help himself, he glanced back toward the palace to see if anyone who knew him was around to hear that, and she laughed out loud.

“I love how tense you get at the mere suggestion of kissing in public. I seem to remember you were a little different on Christmas Eve.”

His cheeks got warm when he thought about how he’d kissed her at the party, in full view of anyone who had walked in the dining room.

“That was different. First, it was at a party. Second, there was mistletoe. Third, there was whatever that cocktail was that Julia concocted. There was no possible way for me not to kiss you under all of those circumstances.”

He brushed her cheek with his finger, and she smiled up at him.

“Why don’t we head over to your flat, so we have some privacy?” she said.

“That’s an excellent idea,” he said.

He couldn’t wait to be alone with her again, so of course it took far longer than usual for him to drive from the palace to his building. He sighed with relief when they finally pulled into the garage.

“Is it unusual to have parking in an apartment building in London?” she asked.

He lifted her suitcase out of the boot of his car.

“Somewhat, and I pay a premium for it,” he said. “But there are some days where I need to be able to drive to work.” He shrugged. “I was going to make a big thing about how my job is so important and that’s why I live here and pay a mint for parking, but really it’s because when my marriage split up and I bought this place, I wanted as many conveniences as possible.” He led her toward the elevator. “I took this place over another flat that Sarah liked much better, because it had parking, a dishwasher, and a really excellent takeaway curry place right downstairs. Now you know how truly lazy I am.”

She slid her arm through his as soon as they got in the elevator, and it took everything in his power not to pull her close.

“We all have our faults, but wanting parking in the building, a dishwasher, and easy access to good curry don’t seem like faults to me,” she said. “They just make you seem like someone who knows what he likes, that’s all.”

He looked down at her face, shining up at him.

“I know exactly what I like,” he said.

Her cheeks got pink, but she didn’t look away.

“So do I,” she said.

To hell with it, he could kiss her in this elevator. He should kiss her in this elevator.

Just as he was about to, the elevator doors opened. He glanced up to see his neighbor looking back at him. He nodded at his neighbor, whose name he’d managed never to discover in his five years living here, and his neighbor nodded back to him. He waited for Vivian to get off the elevator, then led her down the hall to his flat.

“I’m in here,” he said as he unlocked his front door. He opened the door for her, and she walked in.

“Wow. Oh wow,” she said as she entered his living room. He left her suitcase by the front door and followed her over to the floor-to-ceiling window in the room. “This is incredible,” she said.

He put his arm around her and smiled.

“Oh yeah. That was the other reason I took this flat, aside from the dishwasher and the parking.”

“And the curry,” she reminded him.

“Right, and the curry,” he said. “There was also this view.”

They stood there together looking out over London. The sun sparkled on the Thames as it wound its path in front of them, alongside landmarks he loved and hated, parts of the city he went to all the time, and parts he’d never visited.

“It’s gorgeous.” She leaned her head against his shoulder. “How do you not stay here all day, just watching?”

He laughed.

“Luckily for me, it’s often very dreary in London, so most of the time when I leave in the morning, I can barely even see the river. But this is another reason I’m pleased the sun was out for you today, so you can see this view in all of its splendor. I hope it’s still clear later tonight, when the whole city is lit up.”

She smiled up at him.

“Me too.”

He couldn’t believe he’d finally gotten her back to his flat. They were no longer in public, or on the grounds of his employer, the places they’d been almost the entire time they’d known each other. Even her hotel, as nice as it was, still wasn’t actually private. But here, he had her all to himself.