Royal Bastard (Instantly Royal 1)

“Uh-huh,” Nick said, still facing Daisy, but his hot gaze was on Brooke. “And the way he always makes sure you get a seat with the best view of the mirror, so you don’t miss anything?”

Daisy’s head snapped up. “You’ve only met him once; how could you know if he even did that?”

Nick’s attention dropped to Daisy, all the heat gone. “But he does, doesn’t he?”

Instead of answering, Daisy finished off her pint, setting the now empty glass down on the rubber mat near the taps. Brooke hadn’t seen the confused, slightly lost look on her sister’s face since she’d woken up in hospital unable to hear. Sometimes the earth moved under one’s feet like that. Could be a big thing or something that seems small at the time but, in the end, the effect was the same, because all of a sudden nothing was as it had been.

Taking pity on her sister, Brooke handed over her half-filled pint. “You might as well admit it. Nick’s right.”

“So what do I do about it?” Daisy asked.

“Don’t look at me.” Nick shrugged. “I’m just an observant dude, not the Merry Matchmaker.”

Rolling her eyes at Nick over Daisy’s head, Brooke shook her head and then asked, “What do you want to do about it?”

Her sister looked up from her ale. “I don’t know.”

Right, then. Okay. That made things a wee bit more complicated. “Then let it play out; you don’t need to rush into anything.”

Daisy worried her bottom lip and glanced back over her shoulder at where Riley sat, his big laugh booming in the club as he raised his glass in a toast. “So you think this is just something new for him?”

“Define new.”

“The past fortnight?” her sister asked hopefully.

Nick choked on his cider at Daisy’s question in his obvious attempt not to laugh out loud. Glaring at the big prat over her sister’s head, she sent him a silent plea to shut up already. Then she snagged her pint away from her sister and took a long guzzle.

“A bit longer than that,” she said, setting the empty glass down.

“How long?” Daisy asked.

Now, this took some considering. When had the forest ranger started acting differently around Daisy? It was before she’d gotten sick. He’d visited her several times a week when she was in hospital. Brooke went back further. He’d been none too happy about her leaving Yorkshire for university. Before that? Realization lit up her memory like a torch on the moors on a moonless night.

“Do you remember when Riley punched out Dale Gover for calling you a slag?”

Daisy blinked several times in surprise. “In year nine?”

Brooke nodded. That had been the first time she’d noticed how Riley looked at her sister. That had been years before Daisy had lost her hearing, so that should settle any thoughts her sister might have about Riley just pitying her.

Daisy stared at her for a few more seconds before turning back toward the mirror and the view of Riley it provided. She and Nick followed suit, all of them in companionable silence to give her sister time to adjust to the shock of what she really should have seen years ago. How people could be so clueless about the world around them she had no idea—especially when it was someone as smart and usually observant as her sister. Together they watched as Riley waved off one of his mates, stood up, and made his way over to where the three of them stood at one end of the bar.

“Fancy another round?” Riley asked.

For once, Daisy looked flustered. “Actually, I think this one’s mine.”

“I couldn’t have you buying me mates’ pints.” He tucked a stray hair behind her ear. “I’ve got you.”

Daisy’s throat bobbed as she gulped, and instead of saying anything, she just nodded. Riley smiled down at her and went about the business of catching their dad’s eye, not an easy task, since business had picked up since they’d walked in.

Smiling to herself, Brooke didn’t mean to look over at Nick, but her gaze went there anyway. He held up his half-filled cider glass in toast and nodded her way.

A happy flutter exploded in her stomach, a dangerous sense of giddiness that she could get used to if she wasn’t careful. It was nice to have someone take her side in a debate for once. Comforting, really. And more than a little thrilling.

It had been a long time since she’d experienced that. The last time, in fact, had been back in Manchester, and that had ended beyond badly. So while she wanted nothing more than to tell him all that, she bit back the words and instead gave him a curt nod and turned away from Nick…Mr. Vane…the earl’s heir…the one leaving in a few months, if he’d even stay as long as he promised. In other words, Mr. Not For the Likes of Her.

Chapter Sixteen

Brooke had ditched him. Again. For the past three days—ever since they’d enlightened Daisy about Riley’s Texas-size crush on her—Brooke had been avoiding him like he was a big, cold glass of sweet tea and she was diabetic. Sure, he probably deserved it for putting his hand on her hip, but he’d given in to temptation when it arose, curious about if his body would react to her in the daylight the way it had the night before. Oh boy had it. He’d spent the last few days with various tour guides from the village showing him around Bowhaven and the moors and nights grinding his molars to powder in an effort to give her the space it seemed she wanted.