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But Ken still squinted. “I thought you didn’t drink on duty.”
Gris clinked his glass against Ken’s, nearly sending Ken’s glass crashing to the ground again. But he kept the glass up, and with tentative hands, brought it to his lips.
“I’m done for the night. Tris will take the second half of the evening, he’s better with the raging drunks than I am. It’s his time in the ring. He can knock a man out with a single punch.”
Ken nodded solemnly. “Perhaps I should go talk to him.”
Gris shook his head but laughed again. “You’re fun when you’ve had a few.”
“Fun,” Ken frowned. “I don’t think I am.”
“No?” Gris asked, taking another sip as he leaned a casual hip on the desk.
“No,” Ken said as he stumbled his way over to the settee. “My friends are fun.”
“Your friends are donkeys’ asses.”
Ken quirked a half smile. “They are.”
“You, however, are a stand-up fellow, and I don’t say that about very many people.”
“Except for now. I’m not so stand-up at the moment,” Ken reasoned as he stared up at the ceiling, which somehow managed to spin. “I’m pretty sure I’m crooked.”
“Because you’re drunk?”
“Because I’m seated.”
Gris laughed again, doubling over as he raised his glass. “To stand-up men who are seated.”
Ken drank, though it didn’t seem like much of a toast. But then a thought occurred to him. “If I’m such a stand-up fellow, how come you don’t like me near Mirabelle?”
Gris paused. “Good things don’t come to people until they’ve worked for them. You might be able to just buy this club on a whim, something my family had to work toward for years, but when it comes to my sister, you’ll not just have her, you’ll put in the work.”
The work?He nodded. “That’s all right. I like work. What’s the point if you don’t earn it?”
Had that even made sense? He wasn’t certain. And was he making the sort of vow that he’d regret in the morning? He couldn’t put in any more thought than that, but he had the feeling that he’d turned some corner and all the plans he’d made were about to change.
Would he lose his friends? Probable. But what might he gain?
But he didn’t think on it anymore as Gris plucked the glass from his hand. “I think it’s time for you to sleep it off.”
That was an excellent idea. He began to sink down on the settee, but Gris was lifting him up and half dragging him toward the door. “Tris will tell your friends. I’ll see you find a proper bed.”
He didn’t ask where as he let Gris haul him out the door and toward a carriage.
* * *
Mirabelle lay in her bed,her legs fidgeting under the covers. She was too excited to sleep.
It had been like this all day in the carriage as well. She’d hardly been able to sit still as they rumbled toward London.
Ken had not ridden with them. Which she could acknowledge had likely been for the best. She would not have been able to keep from staring at him the entire ride. But still…
She could acknowledge the disappointment that had settled in her chest that he hadn’t wished to spend the day with her after he’d kissed her so sweetly.
Her very first kiss. And her second.
Even now, her hand traveled to her mouth, brushing along her lips as her eyes closed. The memory of his mouth touching hers…
