“Hey! What are all those tiny white dots?” Tess asked.
I glanced over at the photo she flashed in my direction. “The sheep,” I said. “And some cattle, probably. They sort of wander up the hillside to graze.”
Tess sighed dreamily. “I want to be a sheep that gets to graze on a hillside by a castle.”
I snorted. “Tell me about it. Then I wouldn’t have to worry about paying my bills.”
“Or employees that don’t turn up on time,” Tess muttered.
“Or keeping Weston’s calendar.” Or his wind farm project. Or the summer festival. Or the way my heart flip-flopped when he looked at me too long across the dinner table. I wouldn’t have to worry about all the new and strange feelings that had cropped up in the past couple of weeks.
“Or arguing with my landlord over the rent increase on my salon!” Tess continued as I fought off the heat of a blush. “We could eat piles of Scottish grass, and I wouldn’t have to drag myself to the gym because no one can tell if my ass is saggy if I’m covered in wool.”
I burst out laughing as Tess wriggled her toes in her mud mask. That was the thing about Tess. It didn’t matter what kind of day I was having—good, bad, or in between—she never failed to fill it with joy.
“What the hell is that?” Tess asked, showing me a closeup of a scruffy horse mane.
“Bonnie,” I muttered.
“The horse that beat you up? That tiny thing?”
My jaw dropped. “She’s a demon, okay? And you had to be there. I was literally fighting for my life. The thing wanted to trample me dead and gnaw on my bones.”
Tess choked on her champagne, cackling until she was winded. “It’s like…the size…of a four-year-old.”
“And has the strength of an enraged bull,” I said. “Trust me. Bonnie thinks she owns the property and has no chill. Fences don’t stop her. Milo doesn’t scare her. So now I give her a wide berth.”
Tess pinched her lips together with her fingers, trying to keep herself from giggling. “Aww, she wants to be a lap pony. Why not just take her inside and let her sprawl out in front of the fire?”
I shook my head. “Because she’d try to take over the place like the queen she thinks she is. I can’t handle that.”
“Ah, Bonnie, you adorable little menace!” Tess said affectionately.
“You wouldn’t be saying that if you met her,” I muttered. “You’d be afraid for your life!”
Tess lit up. “I want to meet her. I think you should totally introduce me to your demon pony.”
“Well, maybe one day Lord Kincaid will see fit to let me invite you to the estate,” I joked.
Tess pursed her lips, giving me a knowing look.
“What?” I asked.
“Lord Kincaid?”
“What?” I said again.
“Oh, nothing.” She handed me my phone back and put her champagne glass down, leaning over to inspect her feet. “I think I’m sufficiently coated. If Cole doesn’t think I’m as smooth as butter in July, I’ll eat a snail. What’s next on our list?”
“Actually eating snails?” I suggested.
Tess barked a laugh. “Don’t even joke about that. Getting the full Paris experience doesn’t have to mean gettingthatexperience.”
“Well, what does the bride-to-be want to do?” I asked. Weston had prearranged some luxurious activities for the weekend: A Michelin-star meal at Le Cinq. Sunset drinks at the lounge at Le Tout-Paris. A private cruise along the Seine. A perfume-making workshop and shopping along Saint-Germain-de-Pres. But he’d also left ample time in the schedule for whatever sightseeing Tess wanted to squeeze in.
“Personally, I’m thinking we should drive around the Arc de Triomphe while belting out Spice Girls,” she said. “You think Weston would approve?”
I bit my lip, imagining the wry grin that would curl up the side of his face when I told him. “I think he’ll be very amused to learn how you spent his money.”
