“Mm.” I take a drink of water and fidget with the glass. “What have you been up to, Auggie? I know about this guy.” I nod at James. James shrugs, waving me off.
“We just returned from America,” Auggie says, glancing fondly at Thomas across the table.
“Yeah. We went on a holiday with my family. It was great,” Thomas explains. “Off to the Pacific Northwest on an island getaway for a few days.”
“Sounds terrific,” I say.
“Did you do any sailing?” Edward asks. “While you were there?”
My fake date’s got to be trolling me. A surreptitious glance over reveals Edward’s entirely deadpan and all polite-seeming as he looks at Auggie. Not even a strand of hair is out of place.
Meanwhile, Auggie nods. “A little, yes. We couldn’t miss the opportunity.”
I make my best effort to smile and pray that no one segues over to me and recent escapades.
“Do you remember that time we all went sailing, Auggie?” Edward asks. “You were a teenager, I think.”
Auggie nods. “That was a fun time. With my parents.” He glances at me. “Have you tried sailing?”
“Mm, yes, more the passenger kind where there’s an actual crew to deal with the sails…” I offer.
Maybe I can hope that Auggie and Thomas didn’t hear about my yacht debacle with Stef on their vacation. It was all the news in Europe, but let’s hope it stayed on this side of the Atlantic. Although Mamma said the yacht accident made world headlines, there’s always space for wishful thinking.
“Bad luck about the yacht,” Auggie offers sympathetically.
So much for that hypothesis.
I just nod while I try to think of a good response. Not that Auggie’s judging me, but I’m trying to get away from these kinds of associations. Worse, it reminds me of Stef right then, about the first night I met him, when he said bad luck about the news to me about Aidan. It feels like an eternity ago.
Meanwhile, Edward’s sprung into action after a glance at me. “I’d love to hear more about your holidays,” he encourages Auggie and Thomas after James makes his excuses to leave. Following James’ path, I see Frankie arrive, sitting further down the long table with James. Thomas and Auggie start to tell us about their time away.
Before too long, dinner is served, and I keep looking up at Edward from my plate. It’s like my flirting mojo slunk off and died somewhere. I’m trying my best to rally. I have some more wine.
So far, Edward leads the conversation, and I’m feeling a bit too much like a sullen teenager. We’ve discussed our meal, the weather, design consultancy, and a little about business too. Ordinarily, I would be thrilled to pieces about a party. Especially for James’ birthday and all the effort that’s been put into the event at the castle.
“Don’t worry, my dancing is way better than my conversation skills tonight,” I assure him easily.
“Unfortunately for me, I’m a terrible dancer,” Edward admits, chuckling. “I’m up for dancing regardless.”
“Excellent.” I consider him over what’s left of my meal, a few salad leaves and some venison I couldn’t quite finish because the portions were quite generous. Even high protein and all that, I’m stuffed, especially if we’re meant to dance. I need a chance to digest. Some people linger over their meal, waiting for the bar and dance floor in the nearby ballroom to open up. “Maybe we can get some fresh air? Do you know where we might find some, if we’re allowed?”
“Yes and yes. This way.”
We rise and soon make our way out to a nearby patio, and the fresh air restores me, along with a moment of quiet. My shoulders ease. I didn’t realize till now how loud the tall-ceilinged room was, now that I’m away from it. Drawing in a deep breath, Edward catches my eye and gives a wry smile.
“How are you holding up?” he asks.
“Shit. Am I that terrible?” I peer at him with rising alarm. James is going to be so annoyed if he thinks I didn’t even try on this fake date with Edward, especially as the first two fake dates with Martin and Douglas went down in flames, and then I stomped on the ashes.
“No, no, not at all,” Edward says quickly, startled. “I only thought that you’ve been through a great deal recently, though I don’t know many details from James.”
I give him a wry smile. “Yeah. Sort of. I mean, I get why I’m looking for some dating cover. But why would you want to be seen with me? My reputation versus your reputation, et cetera.”
He arches an eyebrow. “Theodor, aside from being a prince, you’re a very attractive man. And an interesting one. I was looking for a change from my clubs and relatives with some more… youthful perspectives.”
“Are you in the House of Lords or something?” I ask curiously, soaking in the compliment because I’m shameless for attention. “Too many aging perspectives?”
Edward laughs. “No. I’m in a lot of business meetings, generally, as I have several businesses. It goes with the territory. And it would probably do me some good in the business world to show I’m not an utter workaholic. And a complete coin- and stamp-collecting eccentric.” He gives me a meaningful look.
