“I’m fine. Just a small headache. I need some fresh air.”
“Funny how wine is your medicine of choice.” Eva chuckled and appeared on the other side of me. “Anything you want to talk about?”
“Not really.”
“Since when have you never told us anything?”
Since I didn’t want to. “There’s nothing to tell,” I lied, sipping from my glass. “I have a headache.”
“And I’m a virgin,” Addy replied sarcastically. “It’s Miles, isn’t it?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“I told you!” She reached over behind me and nudged Eva. “You went too far putting him on our table!”
Eva stepped back and held her hands out. “How else am I supposed to talk to him? It’s about to turn into a rave in there!”
I sighed and faced her. “Look, if you like Miles, just say so.”
“Like Miles? Whatever gave you that idea?”
“Oh, Jesus!” Adelaide pinched the bridge of her nose. “Flirting at the garden centre. Inviting him tonight. Sitting him at our table instead of Gabi’s. Talking to him and only him all night.”
Eva frowned. “But I was—”
“I know that. She doesn’t!”
I looked between them both. “Know what?”
Addy crossed her arms, dangling her wine glass between her fingers, and gave her twin sister a very pointed look.
I was sure I’d seen their mum give that same look more than once.
“Fine. All right, I’ll explain myself.” Eva shifted from one foot to the other and looked at me. “Yes, I will admit that I do find Miles incredibly attractive, but you know that.”
I didn’t say anything.
“And I will admit that I did deliberately flirt with him a few days ago when we saw you in the garden centre,” she continued. “It really didn’t take me long to realise that it was a fruitless endeavour and a complete and utter waste of my very precious time.”
I went to say something when she held up one finger.
“It was pointless, Gabi, because I’m quite sure I could have thrown myself on top of him in nothing but nipple tassels and a suspender belt, and you would have been the only woman in the room as far as he was concerned.”
“I don’t understand,” I said quietly.
“He likes you,” Adelaide explained. “He was nothing but perfectly polite to us, yet he teased you like you’ve been friends your whole life. And, I don’t know. There was something in the way he looked at you.”
I looked between them, then shook my head. “No, there’s no way he—” I paused. “We’ve only just become friends, and I—”
“I flirted with him after that to see if you’d react,” Eva said, tilting her head with mischief in her eyes. “You were not happy with me, were you?”
“I—”
“And you were even less happy tonight when you saw me sitting next to him.”
I looked away. “I don’t know what exactly you’re trying to get me to say, but there’s nothing to confess.”
“Who said there was anything to confess? Gabi, a two-year-old with chocolate over their face could tell me they didn’t eat the last chocolate buttons, and I would believe them over you.”
“I’m not that bad a liar.”
Addy held out her hand and shook it from side to side.
Great.
“Gabs.” She took my hand between hers. “I wasn’t trying to upset you. I wanted to see if I could get him to admit he has feelings for you. I knew that dinner tonight was my best chance at getting to have a conversation with him, so I took it.”
“I told her if she wanted to see where things would go, to put you two on a table alone. Switch some name cards around, you know?” Adelaide rested her arm on Eva’s shoulder. “She didn’t listen.”
“Do you mind?” Eva side-eyed her for a second then turned back to me, squeezing my fingers. “And I’m afraid it was a big fat bloody bust, because the git wouldn’t tell me a damn thing.”
“I was right,” Adelaide mouthed, grinning.
I didn’t want to smile, but I couldn’t help it. “You’re such a bloody idiot. Why not just tell me if you knew I was bothered by it?”
“I didn’t think you wanted us to know. If you had feelings for him, I thought you might have told us.” She smiled sheepishly. “I thought I’d try my hand at playing Cupid.”
“Never, ever do it again.” I hugged her tightly, closing my eyes for a brief second. “Look, our… friendship is complicated. I… admit… I do have some feelings for him, but I have no intention of acting on them. No, no,” I said when she opened her mouth. “It’s for the best. It’s just a crush, and like all the others, it will pass.”
“Okay.” Addy wrapped her arm around my shoulders. “Has your headache gone, now, Your Highness? Can we go back inside? It’s so bloody cold out here my nipples could scratch a car door.”
I laughed, leaning my head against hers. “Nobody made you come out here.”
“Not true. Eva did.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Worst sister and friend ever.” She finished her martini and held up the empty glass. “Shut up and let’s get a drink. I think we all need one.”
Amen to that.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
My feet were killing me. I’d been forced to dance far more than any one person should be, and now I was paying the price.
The makeshift bar that had been set up in the ballroom that had seen countless weddings and parties over the year was my favourite place right now. Most of the tables had been moved so the floor was clear for dancing, and as lovely as that was, there was a severe lack of chairs right now.
So the barstools were looking pretty damn comfortable right now.
“Ah, Lady Gabriella. Take my seat, you look like you want to throw those shoes out of the nearest window.”
I smiled. “Thank you, Lord Nelson. That’s very kind of you.”
“Not at all.” He stood and offered me his seat.
I took it gratefully, and I told him as much.
The portly, dignified gentleman nodded his head in response. He’d been a member of The House of Lords as long as I could remember, and he always had a kind word for everyone who crossed him.
He’d even tried to set me up with his grandson once.
That hadn’t worked out.
“Would you like a drink? I was about to order another Port for myself before I head home. Too many birdie dances for me tonight.” He chuckled.
I couldn’t help but agree, and I did take him up on his offer of a drink. “It is a favourite of Lady Victoria, especially after a couple of glasses of wine.”
“Personally, I think she likes to see who falls over first.”
“Better leave before she gets the Cha Cha Slide on, then.”
He laughed a big old belly laugh that made me grin, then flagged down the bartender and ordered a white wine for me and another Port for him.
Judging by his rosy cheeks, I might have suggested he go home now if I were any less polite than I was.