“I’ll be right down,” I said, though “right down” was relative since I was on the upper floor in the north wing, he was on the ground floor in the south, and the space in between was a lot.
“Excellent,” he drawled.
I decided not to say anything else, grabbed my evening bag, took one last look at myself in the mirror, touching the chignon at my nape crafted of fluffy curls, checking if I had lipstick on my teeth, and then I took off.
I ran into no staff, no Talyns and no cats on my way to the study.
The door was open.
I steadied myself so I wouldn’t do anything stupid, say faint or act like a bitch, before I rapped on the door.
“Yes?” Battle called.
I took a breath and walked in to see Battle behind the desk again, this time wearing a dinner jacket, a crisp white shirt and a bow tie.
One could say, he worked it.
Sublimely.
He had his glasses on, and behind them, his eyes were on me.
I immediately became unsteady.
He stood.
And I was unsteadier.
God, this man was something.
“And naturally, she excels at being tardy,” he murmured, his gaze gliding the length of me.
I stopped dead between the two wingbacks in front of his desk.
And I forgot about not acting like a bitch.
“I beg your pardon?” I snapped.
His gaze came to mine.
“It’s nearly seven,” he shared.
“I was under the impression you hit the parlor whenever you were ready.”
“But you’re expected by seven.”
“Well, please accept my deepest apologies, Your Grace,” I said snootily. “But it’s your fault, considering your mattresses and sheets are the foam and springs and Egyptian cotton versions of heaven, and they made me oversleep during my nap.”
After I said this, something lazy entered his eyes as he watched me, and since that caused something not lazy at all to happen between my legs, an inappropriate response, but clearly one he was going for with that look, I nearly threw my evening bag at him.
Because…
Right.
Now what kind of games was this man playing?
To curb that desire, I tucked my bag under my arm and bit out, “Shall we do this?”
He gestured to the chairs. “Allow us, this time, not to impersonate bickering MPs on the floor of Parliament and instead sit and do this like civilized people.”
