Dating the Duke (The Aristocrat Diaries 2)

“Do you still donate to the shelter? The basics?”

“Yep. They pay over there, then the girls give them a ticket, and they redeem it here. They can choose their colours, and they can upgrade things to something a bit less basic for a small fee here.”

“That sounds like it works really well.” I looked over at Alex. “He’s not a bad salesman, is he?”

George chuckled. “Sure isn’t. If he wasn’t the duke, I’d have him working for me. He could sell a storm to a fisherman, that one.” He stood up and tapped my shoulder. “You stay here for a bit, darlin’. We’ve got this. Go for a wander, if you want.”

“Thanks, George. I think I might.” I smiled after him, but my attention quickly fell to Alex, who was laughing at two older ladies who were cooing over the baby rabbit he was holding.

Was there anything he couldn’t do?

Ugh, no. I couldn’t think about those things. Our relationship was toeing the line as it was without me going and getting some stupid feelings that I had no business getting.

Well.

More of them.

Maybe.

I wasn’t entirely sure I knew how I felt about him. It was a big ol’ grey space, blurry and messy and maybe that was deliberate—if I kept it like that, I wouldn’t have to address it.

But the more I looked at him, the less blurry that line seemed.

So it was simple. I wasn’t going to look at him.

I was going to take that wander around George had suggested.

I picked up my bag and slung it over my shoulder so it hung across my body and set out. There were all kinds of stores here—I spied Maggie in a cart and waved, and Florence had a small table next door where she’d laid out a mix of her knitting and cross-stitching wares. She was serving an elderly gentleman, but she caught sight of me and tossed a wink my way, and I gave her the same small wave I’d just given Maggie.

Maggie’s cart was slammed with customers, so I had to visit another one of the food stalls. There were a few food trucks serving all sorts of food—fish and chips, hot dogs, burgers, all day breakfasts—one was serving pizza, so I got two slices and went to sit down at one of the nearby picnic tables.

This was cute.

Even with the clanging of the funfair behind as they added the finishing touches ready to test all the rides and stalls, this whole thing was cute. I loved the idea that there was an adoption drive for the shelter animals, and I just knew that if I went by, there would be three cats I wouldn’t see.

I also loved what George did for the shelter and for the rabbits Olympia had taken care of since they were born.

Huh.

Since they were born.

Alex’s condition for her getting a cat was that she had to be responsible enough to look after them, but I needed another three hands to count the number of times Olympia asked to visit the baby bunnies. The few times I’d taken her out there, she’d instantly rushed to Peter and immediately gotten stuck in to helping take care of them.

She’d proven herself responsible enough to care for an animal, and nobody had noticed.

I couldn’t say anything to Alex now. I was going to have to wait until later, maybe even tonight, to gently broach the subject with him. There wasn’t a chance I’d convince him to keep all three cats, but she’d clearly bonded with Phoebe the black cat.

Even though she shouldn’t have.

Heck, she was at home with Elizabeth. All three cats would be running riot through one of their bedrooms as I sat here.

I finished the pizza, threw the plate and napkin in the rubbish bin, and went back to musing. I stopped at Florence’s stall and bought a naughty cross-stitch as a birthday present for Eva and another for Gabi, just because. Another stall had little handmade signs, and I bought a couple of those, too.

I basically bought my way around the fair. Thankfully somebody had a stall with tote bags, and I was able to get one of those to put all my bits and pieces in.

Thank God.

My bag was not big enough for it all.

Alex glanced at the tote bag and gave me a wry smile. He opened his mouth to say something, but I held up one finger and gave him a very sharp, “Shh,” so he knew not to say a word.

Hey, I’d had fun.

“Have fun?” George asked when I approached the guinea pigs.

“Yes, thank you. I think I’m broke now.” I grinned. “But it’s my birthday in about a week, and I got my sister a couple of very inappropriate things.”

“You saw Florence, huh?”

I laughed, and that told him all he needed to know.