Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 92411 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92411 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
“You look—”
“No need for compliments when there’s no one to overhear,” I interrupt, crossing the room. I need to remind myself that we’re not actually a real couple. But the closer I get to Ben, the thicker the air seems. I stand in front of him, lift my hands, and adjust his tie slightly.
“You look beautiful,” he says, his voice low. The timbre vibrates across my skin. I feel a blush blooming on my cheeks.
I brush my fingertips across his jaw because I can’t not touch him. His Adam’s apple bobs when he swallows. “Thank you,” I reply. “I like your suit.”
There isn’t an item of clothing in existence that would stop Ben looking like a god, so giving him any kind of compliment is almost ridiculous—an understatement. Nothing could convey quite how incredible he looks. It’s like saying there are seven days in a week. It’s true, but it doesn’t say enough. It doesn’t mention that those days are stuffed full of sunshine and sapphire-blue skies. That they’re spent splayed on a blanket, watching boats go by and making daisy chains, dreaming about who you might become when you’re grown.
“My tie straight?” he asks, his eyebrow raised.
I reach up to his hair and push a stray strand back. “I think you’ll do.”
He grins that boyish grin I’ve only seen from him once before. “Let’s go.” He holds out his hand.
I slide my palm against his, and the buzz is unmistakable. Does he feel it too? I glance up, and his brows are knitted together like he’s trying to work out a complex math problem.
“If we get a question we haven’t rehearsed, then we stick as closely to the truth as possible,” he says. “Just like you suggested. Okay?”
I exhale. “Agreed. I just hope the discussion is about hotels and business and not our relationship.”
“It seems the two are inextricably linked.” Almost like a yogi’s chant, the guttural vibrations of his grumbling somehow relax me.
We meet Nick at the top of the stairs.
“You’re here,” he says, stating the obvious. “How are things going?”
“We met the duke and duchess briefly.”
Nick nods. “Excellent.” He turns and watches an elegant woman come toward us. “Here’s Elizabeth, my wife.” Her hair is swept up and she’s wearing flat shoes and a bright-red lip. She looks like she lives here and doesn’t seem to have any of my nerves, but then again, I suppose I’m hiding more than she is.
Ben and Elizabeth obviously know each other, but Nick introduces us and we exchange air kisses.
“How are you feeling?” He glances at our joined hands. “Good? You make a handsome couple, if I do say so myself.”
“Stop,” Ben says. He tugs my hand and we take the sweeping staircase down. Grant appears from nowhere to meet us at the bottom with a tray of champagne.
We didn’t live in a mansion and have holidays in Europe when I was young, but we weren’t poor—or I never felt it until right now. Even being toured around Ben’s house didn’t intimidate me. But the kind of life that involves a butler who appears out of nowhere with drinks is slightly intimidating.
“His Grace is out on the terrace,” Grant says. “At the end of the corridor, on your right.”
The terrace is covered in roses of every color and size, growing over the pergola at one end and in pots and raised beds at the other. We’re not the first to arrive. There are three other couples standing on the far end, the duke and duchess waiting by the door for people to arrive.
The duchess is wearing a soft-pink skater-style dress with a string of pearls and her hair up in a chignon. At least I feel like I’m suitably dressed. The duke’s in a navy suit that looks like Ben’s, so that’s another tick in the box, although Ben’s sartorial suitability was never really in question.
We’re all so dressed up for dinner, and we’re not even going out. But this is obviously normal for them. I can’t help but wonder if this is normal for Ben too. He says he doesn’t come from money, but is this a life he’s become comfortable with? Does he throw lavish dinner parties or go hunting for the weekend often? He doesn’t seem the type, but I don’t know him very well.
“Tuesday is such a beautiful name,” the duchess says as Ben drops my hand.
My knees fizz with nerves at the loss of his support. Even if I were actually engaged to Ben, I’d still be a little nervous. Life with Jed in New York was incredibly glamorous at times, but I’ve never had dinner in a stately home with actual nobility.
“It’s so unusual.” Her eyes are sparkling and full of interest.
My name gets me plenty of attention and not always in a good way. There are a lot of snobs in New York—mainly Jed’s friends and work colleagues—who used to love to make snide put-downs about my name. I’m fully attuned to backhanded compliments, but this isn’t one. The duchess is being completely authentic.