Total pages in book: 132
Estimated words: 128742 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 644(@200wpm)___ 515(@250wpm)___ 429(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128742 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 644(@200wpm)___ 515(@250wpm)___ 429(@300wpm)
“Shall we head off then?” He glances at me.
“Sure, let’s— ” My gaze snags on a flash of color among the greenery. “Actually, wait. Just one more thing,” I tell him before dashing off.
I steal a handful of pink and orange flowers from a nearby bush and carry them to the grave of the duchess. Bending down, I carefully lay them on the weathered stone. I don’t know what propels me. Maybe the fact that she lost so much. That we spent the afternoon combing through her private words. It feels wrong to trample through the family’s dead without some gesture of appreciation.
As I stand with muddy prints on the knees of my jeans, Nate holds out a dark red flower I hadn’t noticed him pick.
My heartbeat accelerates.
“What’s this for?” I squeak, trying to talk through the surprised lump in my throat.
“Reminds me of your hair.” He twirls the short stem between his long, callused fingers. “And I felt like it.”
I bite my lip. Hard.
This is the guy who doesn’t do romance.
Our fingers brush as I accept the flower from him, and my pulse kicks up another notch. Avoiding his eyes, I duck my head and smell the delicate petals.
“Abbey,” he starts. Voice low.
I swallow. “Hmm?”
The distance between us has closed by inches, and when I look up, his face is hovering over me with dark come-hither bedroom eyes. The intensity is almost too much. I’m so hypnotized, in fact, that I barely notice we’re getting closer and that my eyelids are drifting shut, until my phone buzzes in my pocket with such insistence that someone had better be dying.
We jerk apart as I pull my phone out to read the text.
Jamie: You’re meeting with Lord Benjamin Tulley tomorrow afternoon.
“Holy shit,” I blurt out.
That startles Nate. “What’s wrong?”
“No. Wow. I can’t believe he did it. Jamie got me a meeting with Lord Tulley for my research.”
“Ah. All right.” His hands slip into his pockets again. “Shall we go?”
He turns away to head back to his bike.
I stare after him, uncertain. Talk about whiplash. I’m not sure I understand what was about to happen before Jamie’s text, except that I’m nearly breathless when I type a reply.
Me: Thank you! I owe you.
How’d you manage that?
Jamie: You’re welcome, and yes, you do. He’s a lad from school. Several years ahead of me but we’ve met a few times. Friends of friends. Try not to embarrass me, darling.
He follows that with a winking emoji.
Bless that boy.
It’s good to have friends in high places. Particularly ones whose interruptions stop you—no, save you—from making the incredibly stupid mistake of kissing someone else’s boyfriend.
19
AS I HEAT UP DINNER LEFTOVERS LATER THAT EVENING, I TRY TO stave off nausea thinking about all the ways I could make an ass of myself in front of Lord Tulley. Adding to the queasiness is my anxiety over Nate as my mind keeps replaying the incident at the museum.
I think he was about to kiss me.
No. I know he was.
And if he had, I think I would’ve kissed him back.
All right, fine. I know I would’ve kissed him back.
Which is very, very concerning, because that’s not me. I’m not that girl. I don’t tread on other women’s territory, and I’m ashamed of myself for almost going there. At the same time, my clueless heart won’t stop skipping like a giddy schoolgirl every time I imagine Nate’s mouth on mine.
Speaking of mouths I want on mine, Jack walks into the kitchen. In a red hoodie and faded jeans, he stands beside me and just scowls. He’s clearly pissed about something yet refuses to voice it.
“Use your words,” I urge.
He ignores my teasing grin. “You went to Surrey today.”
“I did. I was checking out a museum my professor pointed me to.”
The microwave beeps. I open the door to pull out my plate of steaming pad Thai. We ordered it yesterday from another one of Lee’s hidden finds. I swear, that boy knows all the best restaurants in this city.
“You went with Nate?”
“Yeah. So?”
There’s a suspicious silence behind me.
“How’d he manage to fit you and Yvonne on that bike?”
The bite to his voice gives me pause. I slowly face him. “What’s that for?”
“Hmm? What?” He plays dumb as we stand at opposite sides of the counter. “I just didn’t know you two were such good friends.”
“We’re not.” I frown. “Why do you look so mad? He gave me a ride to another museum. Nothing more.”
“That’s not why I’m mad.”
“So you are mad. All right. Let’s hear it.”
Jack crosses his arms over his chest. “If you’re going to be gone for hours, you need to call someone and let them know.”
My mouth falls open. “I’m sorry—what?”
“You can’t just take off gallivanting around the countryside without letting anybody know where you’re going. That shit’s dangerous, Abbs.”
My anger fades. Now I’m trying not to laugh at him. His expression is cloudy with disapproval, and he has this tough-guy warrior stance going on that’s sort of hot and adorable at the same time.