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Lia was impressed by his audacity. She’d met the man all of five minutes ago.
“I have to sit with Mum and Daddy.”
“Ah, of course. I’ll just sit over there with those lovely young ladies,” he said, which was once again the exact opposite of what she wanted him to do. “Enjoy your dinner.”
He left her with a wave and sat at the very same table as Jane, Rani and Georgy—Rani and Jane on his left, Georgy on his right.
August leaned over and whispered something in Georgy’s ear. She laughed and whispered something back. Rani moved her chair closer. Jane took off her glasses. The flirting had begun.
He glanced once Lia’s way and gave her that winking smile again.
Augustine Bowman.
Trouble with a capitalT.
CHAPTER THREE
Dinner went as well as could be expected considering Lia was trussed up so tightly in her grandmother’s vintage corsetshe had to pray before every bite that there’d be room for it when it landed. People were much thinner in the past. Probably because of war rationing.
As Lia picked at her food, she kept one eye on the other tables. She wanted this party to be over yesterday, but even she had to admit to herself that everyone had mostly behaved themselves. The sense of dread slowly released its stranglehold on her heart. Even her father had been good so far—proof miracles did occasionally happen.
“Daddy,” Lia said as her father poured her a glass of chardonnay. “Why did you invite Mr. Bowman to the party? Are you two friends?”
“We run into each other at the auctions. I scooped up...somethinghe wanted. Told him I was ‘sorry not sorry’—”
“Daddy, don’teveruse internetspeak in my presence again.”
“Sorry, darling. Anyway, I felt bad for beating him to the prize, so I asked him to the party as a peace offering.”
“And to show off how rich you are?” she teased.
“How lucky I am.” He kissed her cheek, and Lia managed a smile. “He’s a nice enough lad, but keep an eye on him. He might very well try to steal your graduation gift. You know, since I stole it out from under him first.”
Lia glanced over at August Bowman and found he was already looking at her. How could she keep an eye on him when he was already keeping an eye on her?
Her father stood up and clinked his wineglass with his fork. The room fell silent.
Oh God. The toast. Not the toast. Lia picked up her glass and drank deeply. Not enough chardonnay in the world.
“Thank you all so much for coming to Lia’s graduation party tonight,” he began. Nothing good ever came of her father giving toasts. She scanned the room for the closest emergency exit. “Lia hates me right now for throwing her such a large party when she would have been happy with an extra chocolate biscuit at tea and a gentle pat on the back.”
“Yes, why couldn’t we do that?” she asked. That scored a laugh from the room.
“Because I’m a monster,” her father said. “Just ask your brothers.”
Another laugh.
“I’m not joking,” her father said to the assembled guests. “They caught Lia’s mum and I shagging in the kitchen and for some reason took offense to that.”
“Toast over!” Lia called out.
“I’ll make it quick, I promise. And no stories about shagging your mum. Other than that one,” he said, shuffling through his notecards. “No, wait, there’s one more.”
Lia gently banged her head on the table. Mum patted her back to comfort her. It didn’t work.
The toast continued.
“Lia,” her father said, “was conceived on our wedding night.”
