Girl Behind the Scandalous Reputation

Jordana and Oliver’s wedding day had been picture-perfect and she’d never seen her friend happier. Jordana’s beautiful face was still aglow as she chatted and smiled contentedly with her wedding guests.

‘I wanted to thank you for being such a good friend to my daughter, Miss Wild.’ The eleventh Duke of Greythorn surprised her as he stopped beside Lily’s chair.

‘Actually, Your Grace, it is I who feels blessed to have Jordana’s friendship.’ Lily smiled, completely thrown by the Duke’s open warmth when previously, she knew, he hadn’t approved of her at all.

‘Tristan has informed me of all that you have done for Jordana over the years, and I know that if your parents were alive today they would be very proud of the person you have become.’

Lily felt tears prick behind her eyes, and if she’d been standing she would have dropped into a curtsey in front of this stately gentleman. He seemed to sense her overpowering emotions and patted her hand, telling her to enjoy her evening, and Lily watched slightly dumbstruck as he returned to his seat at the head of the table.

‘Ladies and gentlemen.’ The MC spoke over the top of the band members tuning their instruments and drew her attention away from the Duke. ‘If I could please ask Earl and Countess Blackstone and their attendants Lord Tristan Garrett and Miss Lily Wild to take to the floor for the bridal waltz?’

The bridal waltz? Already?

Lily glanced around the room and noticed that Tristan had stopped conversing at a table in the opposite corner and was staring at her intently.

No way. She couldn’t dance with him. She smiled serenely as she quickly threaded a path through the cluster of guests milling around on her pre-planned escape to the toilets.

She had managed to avoid being alone with Tristan the whole day, and had already decided that there was no way she could dance with him tonight without giving away just how brokenhearted she felt.

The band struck up a quintessential love song and Lily fairly flew out of the room—and right into Tristan’s arms.

‘Going somewhere?’ he mocked.

Lily tried to steady her runaway heartbeat. ‘The bathroom.’

‘During the bridal waltz? I don’t think so.’

‘You can’t dictate to me any more, remember?’

‘No, but it’s your last official obligation for the day, and I didn’t take you for a shirker.’

Lily huffed out a breath and noticed the interested glances from the guests around them. ‘I’ll do it because it’s expected,’ she stated under her breath. ‘Not because you challenged me.’

Tristan smiled. ‘That’s my girl.’

Lily was about to correct him and say that she wasn’t his girl, but they were on the dance floor and he had already swept her into his arms.

She held herself so stiffly she felt like a mechanised doll, b

ut there was nothing she could do about that. She couldn’t relax, couldn’t look at him. Then she remembered an old childhood trick she’d used to employ when she was in an uncomfortable situation. Counting. Once, she remembered, she’d counted so high she’d made it to seven hundred and thirty-five!

‘You look exquisite today.’ Tristan’s eyes glittered down into hers and Lily quickly planted her gaze at a spot over his shoulder. One, two, three…

‘But then you look exquisite all the time.’

Nine, ten…

He swirled her suddenly, and she frowned as she had to grip him tighter to stop herself from falling. He was wearing a new cologne tonight and the hint of spice was doing horrible things to her equilibrium. Nineteen, twenty…

‘How’s Hamish?’

Lily looked at him. She knew why he was asking that. She had found out from Jordana in a fit of giggles last night that her ‘surprise’ was to be set up with any of Oliver’s three single cousins. Which was what Tristan had been so angrily referring to when they’d talked prior to dinner last night.

She hadn’t known about Jordana’s cunning plan then, and she knew Tristan’s ego had been bruised when Jordana had fooled him into believing that Lily had welcomed her attempts at matchmaking. Which she hadn’t. And she had apologised profusely to each of the men when she’d told them that actually she wasn’t available.

They’d been completely charming, and she’d wished things were different so she might have been in a better position to invite their interest. But of course she wasn’t. Her feelings for Tristan were too real and too raw for her to even attempt friendship with another man at this point.

Clearly Tristan’s ego was still affected, if the way he was studying her was any indication.