“I—”
“Honestly, it’s the best one,” Eva said, cutting me off. She unlocked the door to our private residence. “I think you’ll choose that one. It’ll suit your complexion so well.”
“Does anyone—”
“And we raided all your shoes and found your favourite black heels so you know your feet won’t hurt.” Gabi steered me inside and shut the door behind us.
“Hello!” I shrugged them off and waved my hands. “Why am I dressing to intimidate other women? I’m only going to end up falling over these long skirts and making a fool of myself.”
Eva grinned. “Not this skirt. Will you just trust us, please?”
It was two against one. I was already resigning myself to the fact I was going to have to wear this dress, no matter what it looked like, because they’d already decided it for me.
They both turned and went up the stairs to the third floor, and I trudged along behind them.
How had this happened?
“So what’s it like living with Alex?” Gabi asked. “It’s a busy house.”
“No busier than the hotel, really.” I gripped the straps of my bag tightly. “Although I have somehow ended up joining a cross-stitching club at the local pub, and I’m not entirely sure how it happened.”
Eva laughed. “You? Cross-stitching? Now there’s something I’d like to see.”
“It’s surprisingly cathartic,” I replied. “I’ve only practiced stitching and then ended up in a very uncomfortable game of Snog, Marry, Kill, but it’s nice to get out of the house once in a while.”
Gabi stopped at the top and looked down at me. “You’re settling in up there, aren’t you? You’re finding new friends and all sorts!”
Eva gasped. “You’re going to leave me!”
“Oh, for goodness’ sake. Stop being so dramatic. I’m not leaving Arrow Woods. I have another four weeks tutoring Olympia—do you expect me to stay inside Bentley Manor and never leave?” I rolled my eyes.
“Well, no,” my sister said. “But you and Alex look awfully comfortable together.”
“I should hope so. I’m living in his house. It’d be quite awkward if we weren’t comfortable around one another.” I pushed past them both and headed down the hall to my bedroom.
“That’s not what she meant, and you know it,” Gabi said, following me. “Don’t tell me you’re getting feelings for my cousin!”
Oh, I was getting feelings all right.
Usually at two a.m. while I should be asleep.
I wasn’t about to share that little nugget, though.
“I have absolutely no romantic inclinations towards Alexander,” I said firmly, opening my bedroom door. “So you can discard any thoughts you may have that I do.”
“So if someone approaches you tonight, you’d be open to talking to them?” Eva asked with her eyebrows raised.
“I suppose I would.” I paused. “Why? What do you know that I don’t?”
“Timothy Hargreaves will be there,” Gabi said quickly, earning herself a shove from my sister. “Dad was meeting with him and Gregory when I met him after college this week, and he was asking after you. He wanted to know if you’d be there this weekend.”
I swallowed. Timothy Hargreaves was the next Earl of Devonshire, devastatingly handsome, and incredibly sweet. We’d only met a few times, and the last time we’d seen each other, we’d agreed to go out for a drink.
We never had, for various reasons.
He was also what my mother would refer to as “a real bloody catch.”
“What did you tell him?” I asked.
“I told him I wasn’t sure, but if you were going to go, I would be sure to pass on the message.” She pulled her phone out of the pocket of her dress—of course Gabriella’s dress had pockets—and held it out to me. “He gave me his number to pass on to you.”
“Oh.” I frowned at the phone.
Eva tilted her head. “What’s wrong? Are you not interested?”
“Oh, um, yes, I suppose. We did say the last time we saw each other that we would go for a drink, but it never happened.” I took Gabi’s phone and typed in the passcode, then reached for my own from my bag. “Caught me by surprise, that’s all.”
Gabi eyed me curiously. “Sorry,” she said slowly. “I should have mentioned it before now.”
“No. It’s—fine.” I tapped his number into my phone and added him as a contact. “Should I text him?”
Eva nodded enthusiastically. “Yes! Let him know you’ll be there, and you’d like to take him up on the offer for that drink!”
“I will be there with Alex, technically. Isn’t that a little rude and inappropriate?”
Gabi shrugged. “Perhaps, but you’re not there as anything more than friends. You said yourself that you’d agreed to spend most of the evening apart anyway.”
Yes.
We had, hadn’t we?
All right, then.
I opened a new text message and selected him as the recipient, then tapped out a quick message telling him Gabi had given me his number and that I would be at the gala tonight.