‘Since when?’ Niki asked, sidling up to Oliver and sliding an arm through his.
‘Since arriving.’
‘I doubt you’d know one end of a cow from another,’ she teased.
‘It’s not the cows I’m interested in.’
‘It’s more sheep,’ Bel found herself saying. She glanced around and noticed Tate had joined the little group and was watching her with a faint grin.
‘Excuse me?’ Oliver said while the others chuckled and made rude remarks about his being overly affectionate with sheep. ‘What, because my parents are from New Zealand? Is that what you’re trying to say?’
‘What? No,’ Bel stammered. How the hell was she supposed to know where his parents had come from? ‘I meant, out here, it’s more sheep than cattle.’
Oliver flounced away, taking Niki with him. It seemed Bel had unintentionally made fun of poor Oliver on a touchy subject.
‘That’s hilarious, Bel,’ Elijah said, still chuckling.
‘I didn’t mean …’ she started to explain, but he’d walked away.
‘He’ll be fine,’ Tate said lightly. ‘The sheep thing’s been a bit of an ongoing in-joke. Don’t worry about it. So, you’re the Bel that Larkin’s been talking about.’
Bel lifted a dubious eyebrow. She couldn’t think of any situation where Larkin would have been talking about her.
‘We went on a bit of a tour of the area earlier and she mentioned her cousin Bel in a number of stories.’
Bel smiled at that, although she would be surprised if Larkin had told any of these people the more normal childhood things they’d gotten up to. When Larkin would come into town to stay at Gran’s, she’d always reverted back to an ordinary country kid who liked going to the public pool to cool off and staying up late with Bel, giggling and planning their futures when they were supposed to be asleep.
‘That’s me,’ she said.
‘It’s nice to meet you,’ he said.
Bel went to remind him that they’d already met but was interrupted when Gigi walked up and placed a handon Tate’s arm, looking up at him with sultry eyes. ‘My drink’s empty.’
Bel resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the simpering female. It was so blatantly coy, surely men saw right through it?
‘Then allow me to remedy the situation. I’ll be right back,’ he said, taking Gigi’s empty champagne flute and turning away. He had the same suave, sophisticated air about him that Jax was famous for, and Bel found herself catching her breath.
‘I’ll come with you,’ Gigi said quickly, leaving Bel to stand by herself, feeling more than a little self-conscious. Thankfully, dinner was announced and the crowd began to migrate into the dining room. Much to her delight, as she carefully eased into her seat, Tate appeared beside her. She sent him a nervous smile, silently praying she wouldn’t make a fool of herself.
She’d sat in this room on numerous occasions growing up, mostly for important events like Christmas dinner and birthday celebrations. It was everything a stately Edwardian manor house dining room should be—opulent and rather posh. She’d always felt intimidated by the regal-looking room, but tonight, she was distracted by the man sitting beside her. They weren’t touching, but she swore she could feel his warmth radiating. She listened to the stories being told around the table—none of them having any great meaning to her, as they all related to places and people she didn’t know, but she wasn’t bored in the slightest. She was overly aware of every move Tate made. The tapping of a lean finger onthe table, the shifting of his body in his chair, a shuffle of his foot. Her gaze fell to the delicate way he held the shiny silver cutlery in his large hands.
‘Bel?’
She jumped, startled from her thoughts as she blinked up at her cousin.
‘You okay?’ Larkin asked, staring at her with no small degree of concern.
‘Yep. I’m fine. Everything’s fine,’ she stammered, scooting her chair back.
‘We’re all heading into the drawing room. You coming?’
‘Absolutely.’ Bel spoke with forced cheer to cover the fact she’d been lost in rather steamy thoughts.
Larkin hooked her arm through Bel’s as they left the dining room. ‘I know this is a lot,’ she said, lowering her voice, ‘but I really am glad you’re part of all this. It means a lot to me.’
It was easy to forget Larkin’s bridezilla tendencies in these moments, when Bel caught glimpses of the person she knew her cousin was deep down. ‘It’s going to be a beautiful wedding and you will be an utterly stunning bride.’
‘Oh, I know,’ Larkin said lightly.
