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A/N: Welcome to Someone Else, a 2017 Watty winner and now a Wattpad Paid Story! (I still can't believe I'm writing that.) This is book one of what has somehow become a three book series over the course of a few years. I hope you enjoy reading this novel as much as I enjoyed writing it :)

1

The repetitive drone of a booming bass and the tightly packed atmosphere of dance clubs never quite appealed to me, and I certainly hadn't expected the charity fundraiser I was at to turn into something like a Vegas nightclub, but I guess every party is doomed to resemble a frat house on a Friday night at some point. Instinctively, my feet pulled me in the direction of the nearest exit, and upon seeing a little sign that read "Roof Access" I knew where I could make my escape.

As I pulled back the door to my temporary getaway, the cool London breeze I was still trying to get used to sent a chill up my spine. I stepped through the doorway and tried to admire my little hideaway, but it was dim as the only light I could see by was emitting from the moon and the street lamps below. I felt around to the left of the door and located what the tips of my fingers were searching for; when I flipped up the switch, the scene before me came alive. Hundreds of small lights that were strung across the rooftop deck flickered on; they would have made even the most mundane setting feel slightly magical. Outdoor furniture was neatly placed to provide a cozy reprieve, and a soft glow completely illuminated the scene.

The moment the door shut behind me, all of the noise from the party vanished, and I felt like I could be myself again. I tread over to the edge of the roof to admire the view, wishing that it was just a little warmer so I could give my feet a moment of relief from the heels that clung to them. Once there, I set my drink down and gripped the ledge with both hands.

Another breeze picked up and ruffled the black chiffon dress that fell to my knees while simultaneously sweeping up the dark chestnut waves that barely grazed my shoulders for a little dance. I guess I should've been grateful that the bridesmaid dress I spent way too much money on was getting a second use.

Big Ben was less than a mile away, and I could see his face mocking me; it was only two minutes to midnight, and I knew there was no way I was leaving the party before three in the morning. I peeled my eyes away from the London landmark to try to focus on anything other than how I was going to bide my time. Before I knew it, Ben was chiming his big heart away, and I found myself closing my eyes and counting along in my head.

"You know, it's hard to see how lovely the city is with your eyes closed."

A deep English voice carried across the still night into my ears, and I turned to the source of the disturbance in my escape to see who had crashed my date with Ben. When I looked at the voice's owner, I found myself looking at someone who I was sure I'd seen before.

"Huh? Oh, right...it's a lovely city," I said.

He must've come up while Ben was clanging away. Intrigue and confusion began to mix on my face as I tried to place him in my memory. Dark curls and facial hair made for a stark contrast to his fair skin, and eyes that hosted a deep, dark blue hue stared right back at me. They were such a dark blue that they nearly looked black in the night that surrounded us.

"Have I met you before?" I poked around in my mind trying to match his features with someone I knew.

"I don't believe so. I came up here to get away from the crowd for a bit. I was here just last week for another event, but I didn't think anyone else knew about this space since it wasn't being used for the party. It's a shame, isn't it?"

Without waiting for a response, he turned back to admire the city laid out before us and set his drink next to mine.

The silence between us felt awkward, and I was no expert in small talk. I searched through the channels of my brain for something to say to break the hush.

"I came up here with the same intention, but I had no idea how nice it was." Smooth. I paused a moment before continuing. "This is the first time I've been here, or to any kind of event like this for that matter. I actually just moved here a few weeks ago." You're babbling. He doesn't know you or care that you just moved here. He's probably just some rich asshole looking to get laid.

The man let out a low chuckle. "Please don't take any offense, but I was fairly certain you weren't a natural born English girl with that accent."

"Accent? I'm not the one with an accent."

He turned to look at me and raised his eyebrows. I stared back into his dark eyes and studied his features, again trying to place him in my memory. He stood taller than me in my heels, probably just about six feet, and he was lean, but his body looked solid in a fitted white dress shirt and navy slacks. The first two buttons of his shirt were undone and his sleeves were rolled up, likely due to the elevated temperature down in the crowded party.

Now that he was out in the crisp night air, I was fairly certain I saw a fraction of a chill move through him. I kept my gaze on him and decided he looked older than me, though not by much, maybe by just a few years.

"I should've introduced myself, I'm—" He had begun to speak, but realization clicked in my head, and I cut him off.

"I know who you are," I began slowly, "you're Jude Anderson." I suddenly became very aware of myself and how I looked and the flush that was building in my cheeks.

He let out a soft laugh, "Right you are. I'm quite glad you said it before me, actually. It's always awkward when someone doesn't know who I am, and I try everything in my power to not sound like a conceited prick, just to inevitably come off like a pompous arsehole or unintentionally make the other person feel badly for not recognizing me. Basically, everyone loses."

It was my turn to laugh, and although my insides were a bundle of nerves, I managed to respond. "I'm glad I could save you and myself some embarrassment. I'm Elle, Elle Robinson." I extended my hand out to him.

The moment our skin made contact, I felt an ease wash over me, and even though I was shaking hands with one of London's prized actors of the screen and stage, the bundle of nerves that was residing within my stomach only seconds before untangled itself and settled down. When we released hands, I couldn't fight my body from slightly shaking as another chill whipped through the air.

"Do you want to go take a seat? There are some space heaters over there I could turn on. They're practically everywhere in London, even now during the summer."

I nodded my head and allowed Jude to lead the way. He had a strong, confident walk about him; one that also held a note of effortlessness. I'd seen him walk that way plenty of times in movies.

Jude ignited a small space heater that was positioned between two couches. We sat down opposite of each other, and when our eyes met, I raised my glass to him.

"Cheers."

I gulped down the rest of my drink and felt a pleasant warmth flood my body. I was unsure of what to attribute it to; the alcohol rushing into my veins, the heat radiating from the flames within the space heater, or the handsome dark haired man sitting across from me were all potential catalysts. As the last bit of alcohol slipped down my throat, my face contorted into a less than pleasant twist.

Jude noticed. "Not a fan of your drink, are you? What was it?"

"Gin and tonic."

Jude pointed to his own glass. "Same here, though I quite like it. Why did you order it if you despise it so much?"

"Seemed appropriate."

He smiled at me and set his drink down. "If you don't mind me asking, what brought you here?"

"To this party, or to London?"

"The party."

"My roommate. She's my best friend from back in the States, and she moved out here with me. I have a job at a publishing company, and she has one in event planning. The fact that she didn't utilize this outdoor space makes me question her party planning abilities."

"You moved out here for a job?" he asked.

"Yep."

Jude leaned forward, slightly squinted his eyes, and looked directly into mine. He held my gaze, searching for something, before he spoke again. "That doesn't sound very convincing."

"I've known you for less than ten minutes. I'd hardly say that's enough time for me to begin divulging everything there is to know about my life."

He sat back in his seat without taking his eyes off me. Then, no more than a split second later, his lips released a small sigh. "Well, you know, you could search my name on the internet and find out everything you want to know about me."

"Okay, but I'm not a public figure. I don't have the outgoing personality required for that. If you'd like, I won't go searching for any specific information on you. How about you tell me something about you, and then I'll return the favor? We can make a little game out of it."

A smile played on Jude's lips before he downed the rest of his drink. "Okay, Elle, I'll start. I turned thirty a few months ago."

"I'm in my mid-twenties." He didn't seem completely satisfied with that answer, but he kept going.

"I was born in Dublin, but I grew up in the English countryside in Bibury."

"I was born in the US, and besides a vacation with my sister, I've spent every minute of my life up until about two weeks ago in Massachusetts," I paused for a moment before adding, "Massachusetts is on the East Coast, by the way."

"Hey now, I know where it is. They do teach us world geography here. I moved to London for acting school, and when I was lucky enough to have my career start off quickly, I stayed."

"I recently moved to London to work for a publishing comp—"

"No, no, no. I already knew that. You can't use that one again."

I let out an audible sigh. "Fine. I studied literature in college."

"Really? You're not going to follow up with why you moved to London?" While Jude was attempting to feign annoyance, I could see that playful smile hiding behind his lips.

"Jude, the game would be no fun if I just gave you what you wanted in the first five minutes."

Our back and forth continued and I learned many little things about him, like that his family owns farmland in Ireland and that his brother and sister are both already married, even though they're younger than him.

Jude got me to admit that I broke my arm when I was little during a soccer game and that one of the hardest things about moving was being away from our family's dog, Lucky. After a particularly embarrassing story from Jude, our laughter was interrupted by the door to the party below swinging open.

"There you are! I've been looking all over for you. Have you lost your phone or something? And what are you doing up here? We were told it was off limits." My lovely roommate, best friend, and London's newest party planner was looking at me with daggers in her olive colored eyes. She was a tiny little thing with long dirty blonde hair, and at that moment she looked positively livid. I reached over to look at my phone and saw three missed calls and a slew of texts from her.

"Sorry, Lily. The door was unlocked, so I thought it was okay, and I must have let time get away from me while I was talking to Jude."

At that point, Jude turned around to greet Lily.

"Whoa. You're Jude Anderson."

"You Americans are great at that." Jude let out a little laugh before looking to me and smiling. "Well, Lily, I'm sorry to have stolen Elle away from you tonight."

"No, no. Trust me, it's fine. I was busy all night anyway. Elle, I just called for a cab. Want to meet me out front in five?" Lily asked.

"Sure thing, Lil."

She turned away from us to retreat back downstairs. I looked over at Big Ben just as he began to strike to signal that it was three in the morning.

"Well, Jude, before you joined me up here I had no idea how I was going to spend the three hours I knew I was going to be stuck at this party, but you've made it quite the enjoyable experience." I smiled at him while his eyes never left mine.

"I can't believe we were out here for so long. Here, let me switch off that heater."

The moment Jude turned off the heat I could feel the drop in temperature. I shivered in my seat as I reached for my empty glass, and when I looked up, Jude was standing in front of me with his hand outstretched. I took it, and he helped pull me up.

"Thanks." The warmth of Jude's hand on mine spread across my body and momentarily made me forget about the chill in the air.

As we walked to the door, I wondered if this would be the last time I would see him. Jude grabbed the handle and followed me down to the bar where we set our glasses.

"Elle, I'd like to walk you out, but I need to grab my jacket. Do you mind waiting a minute?"

Maybe this wouldn't be it, maybe I was about to make my first real friend in London. I shook my head and Jude carried himself over to the table he had occupied earlier in the night. I watched him slip his navy jacket on top of his shirt and turn around to walk back to me. When he approached me, he held out his arm for me to take.

"Shall we?" he asked.

"Whoa there, someone has turned into quite the gentleman with the addition of that jacket."

"Oh, did I forget to mention? My publicist put a spell on it that prevents me from acting like a jerk on red carpets."

Neither of us could keep a straight face; I had smiled and laughed more that night than I had in nearly a year.

As we made our way outside, there was a single cab containing an extremely exhausted looking Lily slumped against the window.

"How're you getting home?" I asked Jude.

"I'm such a down to earth celebrity that I drove myself. Can you believe that? I'm parked around the corner." The smile Jude wore was infectious, and I felt like for the first time since moving to London I was genuinely enjoying myself.

"How noble of you to exert yourself like a mere commoner and be your own chauffeur. Though I do think the magic in your jacket might be wearing thin given your response."

Jude turned to face me and grabbed both of my shoulders as he spoke. "Elle, I don't think I've ever spoken to someone for so long and still not gotten the answer I was looking for." For nearly the entire night, he had worn a smile on his lips, but his face then displayed a more serious expression than I'd seen from him. "I don't want this to be the last time I see you."

I also didn't want it to be the last time I saw Jude, but in a moment that felt like a dangerous cocktail of emotions, all I could manage was, "Okay."

Jude and I exchanged numbers. He walked me to the cab, opened the door, and kissed me on the cheek before turning to walk towards his own car.

I turned to Lily, who had nearly fallen asleep and was peacefully resting against the window, and after giving the cab driver our address, I let my own eyelids fall shut for the journey back to our flat, Jude's smile at the forefront of my mind.

A/N: And that's chapter one in the books! (Get it? 😉) Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it and will let me know what you think by voting and/or commenting on each chapter. Please swipe for more! :)

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