I appreciate her pointing that out quickly, lest I realise I was accidentally lusting over a cousin.
‘And no, Tigs, no wife as of yet,’ he tells her.
‘The burden of being an earl,’ she replies. ‘Having to find the perfect good girl and… oh, excuse me, I’ve just spotted a fitty I need to go and sink these dagger nails into, before someone else does. Catch you both later.’
Oh, shit, she’s leaving me alone with him. She’s leaving me alone with the bloody earl.
‘Your cousin is fun,’ he says with a Prince Charming smile – I’m surprised his teeth don’t sparkle and make a little ding noise as he does it.
‘She’s great,’ I reply, finding myself changing my accent, stripping out the Yorkshire charm that I have (unlike the rest of my family), instead going for some kind of newsreader-style RP that makes me sound closer to my family than I actually am.
‘Do I detect a slight hint of an accent?’ he asks curiously. ‘Have you worked abroad? Canada, perhaps? I’m picking up on something.’
A thinly veiled cover-up of Headingley’s finest.
‘Oh, I’ve been all over,’ I reply. ‘You know how it is.’
‘I do indeed,’ he says. ‘Tiggy and I are the same age – not that any of us are allowed to disclose such a classified number – and suddenly everyone is always telling me it’s about time I settled down.’
‘Oh, me too,’ I reply. ‘Especially with Seph tying the knot.’
‘That just means you’ll have your pick of the bachelors,’ he points out.
‘Well, there is that,’ I say with a smile.
God, he’s beautiful. Ethan is broad, muscular and rugged, but the things that make Beau attractive are completely different qualities. He’s more subtle, more refined, with more beautiful features. I suppose it just depends what you’re into. I always thought I was more into the Ethan type but, I don’t know, now that I’m here, chatting to an actual earl – maybe a Beau is for me. Plus, as much as I want Ethan – or think I do anyway – that just can’t happen. I need to get that out of my head and crushing on someone new could be the cure I need. Actually, that’s a great idea, because if I throw all my energy into crushing on someone else – someone I could actually date without causing a forest fireor a landslide – then it will keep things between me and Ethan strictly business and I won’t go slipping into old habits…
‘We shall have to look out for one another at this wedding – single solidarity,’ he tells me.
‘I’d like that,’ I reply with a smile.
He’s almost too beautiful to look at, I have to avert my eyes, but it’s as I glance sideways that I notice who Tiggy is talking to, the fitty she – what was it? – wanted to get her dagger nails into. Shit, it’s Ethan. Oh, God, he’s just her type too.
‘I, ahem, I need to step away, and assist Tiggy with something, briefly,’ I say, almost every word sounding like not quite the right one.
‘Of course, go ahead,’ he says. ‘I’ll see you later, I’m sure.’
‘Absolutely,’ I tell him.
I walk off slowly, as sexily as I can, until I’m out of his line of sight and then I do the most unladylike run back over to where Tiggy and Ethan are chatting.
‘Hey,’ I say, rocking up to them, trying to play it cool, although I can’t quite hide how out of breath I am.
‘Lana, Lana, Lana,’ Tiggy says, waggling her index finger at me. ‘You kept lovely Ethan here a secret, didn’t you?’
‘I, er…’
‘You know Lana,’ Ethan tells her. ‘She doesn’t like to make a big deal out of things.’
‘No, I know,’ Tiggy replies seriously. ‘Nor do I.’
She gives me a look – one that says she’s dying to know more.
‘Well, I need to go and get a top-up, but I look forward to hearing more about the two of you later.’
‘Of course,’ Ethan tells her. ‘See you later.’
Okay, so I know that once we have a private moment together I can tell Tiggy that Ethan isn’twith mewith me (although the thought of the two of them getting it on really does make me want to jump overboard), and I think she already knows I have abit of a crush on Beau, so she probably already knows that things aren’t as they seem.
