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The earl whirled around in the s “Is that what you think?”

“It’s what I k

now” Not that his mama had ever spelled it out that way, but Nick had put the letters together all on his own

“There’s more to the story than you realize,” the earl said, his voice as hard as the stone lining the hunting butt “But this isn’t the place for that discussion”

“Don’t worry about it,” Nick shot back, his own te “I know the only reason I’m here is because you didn’t have any other choice We’re not family Not really”

If he didn’t know any better, he’d call the look that crossed the earl’s face hurt, but he did know better This was the saed for his mama to lose the man she loved for reasons Nick never understood and for him to be a bastard without a father but a title that didn’t mean shit to him The earl opened his mouth, but before any words could coht

…

Dallinger Park was total chaos Between the hts and cas Brooke couldn’t put a nalare before retreating to the east wing, and the villagers hanging around to see if they’d get chosen to be an extra in the big zo ball scene, it was a e crush of people inside the great hall, the noise, and the nuarden had her twitchy

Nick was near Queen Victoria’s fireplace talking to his ive-and-take between the for eetting to see another side to Nick For someone who presented himself to the world as if he was all laid-back char that there wason Really, if he was as lazy as he tried to appear, would he have fixed Mr Darcy’s kennel (Megan had told half the village about it once and the other half of the village twice), Paul’s fish fryer, and the flue for the fireplace he stood in front of right now, giving her an a with Mace?

As if he could hear her question without her even uttering a word, he turned and looked at her and then started walking directly for her, sending a lightning bolt of awareness right through her

Nick didn’t bother to stop when he got close, just slid his pal theet out of here”

“We can’t leave” No matter how lovely that sounded

“What good is being the heir to an earldoet us out of this ress out the doors and to her little car, where he held open the driver’s side door “Come on Takea one-eyed zo problem”

She didn’t have any plan in nition—she just drove, trying to ignore the way hisher of how her pillows had sht She’d sniffed that pillow a lot—too rooman to ever admit out loud

They ended up at the Bowhaven Forest, which al Dr Freud Serious hikers mostly left it alone, but there was a tree-lined path dotted with huge hand-carved wooden foxes, frogs, bats, and owls that didn’t require hiking boots That’s where she took Nick, hoping the beauty of the walk could keep her distracted enough that she didn’t give in to the growing urge to pull hiht If the path had been deserted, she ht have, but as it was, they talked about his inventions and her plans to run for village council as they walked past the fas and the couples on blankets taking in the last war here with hiuy, not the earl’s heir and the earl’s secretary Looking up at the sunrays peeking through the branches, she realized that this was about as relaxed and happy as she’d been outside of her faie It was almost as if that part of her life had never happened God, wouldn’t that be a dream