AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I could do that. As long as the duchess wasn’t around, I felt as though I could breathe. Hugo was a whole other matter, but I was pretty sure I was done with him now. He’d done his part that he needed to, saved my ass, and there was no reason for him to spend any time at all with me.
Ever since he’d told me that I was attractive, I’d felt weird.
Not a bad weird. A good weird. Because I was obviously insanely attracted to him, even though he irritated me, but I didn’t… dislike him.
That was the worst part.
It would be easier to brush him off if I couldn’t stand his company, but I could.
I wasn’t exactly mad about having to spend time with him. He was nice to look at, after all, and no matter how annoyed I got by him, it wasn’t the worst thing in the world.
And, you know.
Maybe I had overreacted a little the first time we’d met.
Not that I planned to tell Hugo that, lest he get the wrong idea.
I pulled the plug in the tub and got out, wrapping a huge towel around me. I was going to have to ask Nora where she got these from—they were the biggest, fluffiest things in the world, and it felt as though I was being dried by a cloud.
I wandered into the bedroom and picked up my phone. I had a missed call from Cam, and I sat on the edge of the bed as I called her back.
“Soph?” she answered, although she sounded like she wasn’t quite there.
“Cam, are you all right? I can barely hear you. Do you have signal?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“Does that mean you’re coming home tomorrow?” Please, please, please.
Silence.
“Cam. What’s wrong?”
“G—Grandma died this afternoon.”
Oh.
Oh, no.
“Oh, Cam. I’m so sorry.” I closed my eyes.
She sniffed. “Thanks. I… I have to stay. Until the funeral.”
“Of course you do.”
“I won’t be back until…” She cleared her throat. “Two days before the party. I’ll leave the morning after.”
Yep.
That was about right.
“Soph? I’m really sorry to stick you with this. I’ll pay you more for it, but I just can’t leave my mum to deal with it and—”
“Cam, it’s all right.” It was not all right. I was in so much fucking trouble. “I’ve got it handled, okay? Don’t worry about it.” She should have been worrying about it. “I’ll explain everything and I’m sure they’ll understand.”
“I’m so sorry.” Her voice was thick, and I could tell that she’d been crying. “I’m going to send you my login stuff in case you need anything, all right? And I’ll be here if you have any questions. You can just ask me, and I’ll do whatever I can to help you.”
“I know. But it’s fine, all right? I’ve got this.”
