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I sighed. “How are you not annoyed? I was so frustrated when I found out your grandparents are who they are, yet you don’t seem bothered at all.”
“Well,” he said slowly. “No. Not really.”
“Why not? I’d feel much better if you’d just yell at me for lying.”
“Would you?”
“No, probably not, but I’ve already lied enough, so one more doesn’t seem so bad.”
He laughed, pulling me into his side and tucking me against his body. I hated that I wasn’t pushing him away, but it was so comfortable and honestly, he gave really good hugs, and I kind of needed a hug right now.
“It’s not bad. Well, it might be to others, but I’m more amused about it than anything. How many cover stories you’ve had to come up with that went right over my head, how quickly you did it… I’m a little impressed,” he admitted. “And have to know if you’re really studying what you say you are.”
“That’s not a lie. I really am researching the aristocracy and slavery and how relevant they are to modern-day British society.”
“And what’s your conclusion?”
“For the latter? Not very relevant at all, to be honest. People are much more interested in the past than the present. We’re quite useless to society as a whole.”
“You’re exactly the kind of person to give us all a reality check,” he teased. “But I don’t disagree, although that is a conversation best had with my grandfather. He’ll give you a good debate, even if he agrees.”
“Oh, no. He scares me a little. Is he going to be angry? Are we going to have to come clean about our true relationship?”
William blew out a breath. “Well, that depends who knows.”
“Your mum knows. She figured it out.”
“Which means my dad knows, and Freya and James will have to know the truth. What about your grandmother? Does she know? Is she likely to tell anyone?”
“No, and no. She’s not exactly a fan of the aristocracy herself.”
“Is that not your dad’s mum coming?”
“No, my mum’s mum.” I paused. “I understand that makes even less sense, but honestly, I’ve long stopped trying to make sense of Granny.”
“I’m going to pretend I understand any of that and smile and nod,” he replied, fighting back laughter. “What about Carmen and Vincent?”
“Vincent is a teenage boy I only really speak to when it involves us pissing off his mother, and all Carmen knows about my life is my address, and I’m not even sure she remembers that entirely.”
“So we’re pretty safe there. What if she mentions it to your dad?”
I shrugged. “I’m twenty-eight. I don’t need his permission to date anyone, so it doesn’t matter. I’ll just tell him what we told your mum to begin with and he’ll move on. It’s not like we’re close.”
“I’m sorry, Grace.”
“Good. I was happy until you walked into me and ruined my life.”
He dropped his head back, laughing. “You walked into me!”
“Fine, but I didn’t ruin your life the way you did mine.”
“I don’t know, I might now hold every woman I meet to the standard of your superior wit and acting skills.”
“Don’t be so ridiculous.” I slapped his thigh. “Like there’s anyone out there who could compare.”
He looked down at me with his lips curved to one side. “Well, I didn’t want to say it, but…”
I went to swat him again, but he captured my wrist with his hand, wrapping his fingers around it gently. Electricity fizzled up my forearm, and I drew in a deep breath when he leant in closer to me.
