“Rafe Mungo Bartholomew Sterling!” Poppy cried. “If you kiss her, I will kill you. Her lipstick is not to be ruined, you bloody caveman.”
“Also, I’m standing right here,” Zach said in amused disgust. “Your guys’ PDA is well out of hand.”
“I think we have to stay,” I whispered as I watched his pupils dilate. “Your speech, remember?”
“I barely remember my own name,” he whispered back.
“Honestly, Rafe.” The posh accent cut into our bubble and I turned my head to see Rafe’s mum frowning at us from next to Poppy. “Unhand poor Clara before you dishevel her completely.”
“Oh, let the young people have their fun,” Granny Sterling said as she approached on the arm of the earl who was looking almost as handsome as his son, both in their black tie.
The earl chuckled. “I think letting them have their fun might cause a bit of stir, Mum,” he said. “If it’s the kind of fun I think my son has in mind.”
“Daddy! Ew!” Poppy objected.
“Lord Sterling,” Mia Hardcastle interrupted, and we both turned to her and Lady Clare Harding, who were both smiling at us from a few feet away. “We’ve got the speeches now.” She turned to me. “Hi, Clara,” she said softly.
“Yes, do hurry up, Rafe,” Clare Harding said through her smile. “I’m sure you can ruin Clara’s make-up quite thoroughly after we’ve finished.” She winked at me and my face flooded withheat.
Mia, Claire and I had grown closer since working together on the Sterling Foundation. I knew that Mia used to be even more withdrawn than me, but sometimes that was difficult to believe. “Mind if I borrow your Rafe? We’ve got the speeches now.”
“Of course,” I said to her, smiling back. I would have moved to hug her, but Rafe’s arms were still locked around me.
I looked up at him. “You might have to let me go,” I whispered.
“Never,” he whispered back and my eyes started to sting.
“Oh balls,” Poppy said when she looked back at us after hugging Mia. “Not the eyeliner!”
“Honestly, Rafe,” Lady Sterling said. “Do bugger off. You’re keeping Mia and Clare waiting.” She turned to Mia and Clare. “I’m so sorry, darlings.”
“It’s fine,” Mia said in an amused voice.
Rafe sighed, eyes still locked with mine as if there was nobody else in the room. “I have to go.”
“Okay,” I whispered.
“Okay,” he whispered back, then kissed the corner of my mouth before he let me go.
“Don’t let her out of your sight,” he said to his dad, who walked over to me and took my arm.
“Of course not,” the earl replied as if affronted that there was even a small possibility he might leave me. I suppressed an eye roll. All the Sterling men were incredibly overprotective; however, after a lifetime of the men in my family being anything but protective, I admit it didn’t annoy me as much as it should have.
“Come on, darling,” Lady Sterling said warmly after giving me the required cheek kisses. “Let’s find ourtable. Your friend Lily is there already, talking to the prime minister about educational reform. I’m not overly sure she’s safe to be left.”
“Oh balls,” I muttered as we hurried across the room. Lily was a goddamn liability. I was distracted as we walked through the crowd, but the earl’s voice was enough to refocus me back on him.
“My son loves you, you know,” he said, slowing us slightly so that we were out of earshot of the others. I looked up at him. He was staring across the room at the podium where Rafe was preparing to speak.
“I-I love him too.” I cleared my throat. Ugh, that bloody stutter creeping in again. It was rarer now, but there was an edge to the earl that brought it out.
He brought us to a stop a few feet from the table and looked down at me with his head tilted to the side. “I intimidate you, don’t I?”
I bit my lip. I didn’t want to insult him, but somehow I knew he would be able to tell if I lied. “Yes,” I whispered.
“You’re cautious. You’ve had to be.”
I nodded slowly.
