I turned to him, my mouth hanging open. “Youknowthat was your fault.”
“Oh, I know.” He was really laughing now. “Sorry, Andrea, at the meeting that morning, when I first started… it was terrible.”
I started to laugh too. “It was, wasn’t it? It was really bad.”
“Gerald was so freaked out that he told Bonnie he thought he might be having a stroke.”
“Astroke? Oh my God.”
“Ah, he was fine, just highly strung. Although Bonnie seems to have calmed him down a bit now.” He shook his head and chuckled. “You know, you did do it to me twice, though. Technically, that’s a habit.”
“I did not.”
“The art gallery. C’mon. You kind of threw yourself at me.” He glanced at me with his side-eye.
“That was an accident, and you know it.”
“Bonnie was convinced you were stalking me.”
“Stalkingyou?” I nudged him in the ribs with my elbow. “You should be so lucky.”
“Well, you can tell me some time what you were really doing there. I didn’t think it was on the off chance I’d be hanging out there stalking a cabinet minister.”
“Ah, soyou’rethe stalker here. You know that’s called projection, right?”
“Sure, Andrea. I suppose you didn’t roll on top of me in the lift, either?” He raised a brow and sneaked another look at me.
“Roll on top… are you serious? That was definitely, one hundred percent, all you.”
“Yeah.” He grinned. “That one was.”
We were still laughing when the château came back into view, sunlight flashing off its windows.
Just as the path started to climb, my sandal slid on the gravel, and Liam’s hand came around my arm and caught me like he’d been expecting it. His fingers tightened, then loosened just enough to hold me upright. It was fine. Nothing.
I laughed and tried to straighten, but his hand stayed where it was, warm against my elbow.
“Careful,” he said.
“Thanks.”
We stood there without moving, and his thumb moved once, barely.
I looked up at him. There was a small scar under his chin I’d never noticed.
He opened his mouth, then from the terrace came Dex’s voice, echoing across the lawn.
“Oi! Lovers’ stroll’s over, Roth. The horses beat you back.”
“Guess that’s our cue,” he said.
He dropped my arm, but his eyes stayed on my face.
“Guess it is.”
We turned and started the walk up the hill.
Technically, I was more prepared than I’d ever been for the evening’s events.
