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Seb changes the subject. “How did you sleep?”
“Good,” I lie.
Sleep deprivation is nothing new when nightmares haunt you.
Seb clears his throat and shifts around nervously in his seat. “There’s something I want to ask you.”
Sounds ominous. Freddie’s jaw tenses, and he shoots Seb athis is a bad idealook. Whatever it is, he’s not happy about it.
“Okay,” I say, using the teapot to pour stiff Yorkshire Tea into a chintzy mug that looks like something a grandma would own. “What is it?”
“The Collingsbrook Ball is happening tonight,” Seb says. “I was wondering whether you’d like to be my date.”
Freddie drops his spoon into the porridge bowl and sends blobs of oats flying. “You don’t have to go.”
Collingsbrook… Why does that sound familiar? My stomach sinks as I realise where I’ve heard it before. Spencer attends every year. Before I broke up with him, he asked me to be his date. A rejection that tipped him over the edge and preceded our break-up.
From what I understand, the Collingsbrook annual event is an excuse for society’s most affluent to rub shoulders with each other and brag about their bank balances. As someone who thinks a polo is a minty sweet with a hole in the middle, it’s not a place I’ll fit in.
“It’s a masquerade ball,” Seb explains. “We’ll only need to make a quick appearance and leave.”
“What’ve I missed?” Callen strides in. His hair is wet, and he shakes it, spraying me like a wet dog. That fucker needs to be put down.
“The Collingsbrook ball,” Seb replies. “Tonight.”
“Is everyone invited?” Callen asks. Two slices of toast pop up, and he swipes them from the toaster. They should have been mine. He almost drops them because of the heat. Good, I hope they burn him. “Or is it a date?”
“You know what my parents are like,” Seb mumbles, then smiles apologetically. “It’ll be boring as hell, but if my parents don’t see me on a date soon, they’ll try to marry me off to someone called Beatrice.” Pippy is curled at Seb’s feet, growling at the mention of Beatrice’s name. “See? Even Pippy isn’t a fan.”
“I don’t know.” I shrug, opting to play it cool, despite my fingers tingling with excitement. Even if Seb’s hopeful gaze wasn’t impossible to say no to, heading to a country manor in a mask is too perfect a chance to miss. Spencer’s men will be there, and I could cross another name off my list. “Are you sure it’s safe?”
“Don’t worry, princess.” Callen’s eyes glint maliciously like sapphires. “No one will hurt you, although I’m not sure they let peasants inside.”
“I won’t leave your side all night,” Seb insists earnestly.
“What about your parents?” I ask. “Are they expecting me?”
“I may have told them already,” Seb says, beaming. No one can turn down a guy with dimples like that. “But I’ll make it worth your while.”
“What will I wear?” I ask.
“You have an outfit,” Freddie mumbles through gritted teeth. “Remember?”
Shit, how could I forget? Now his impractical purchase makes sense.
“Okay,” I say. “I guess I’m in.”
Seb jumps from his seat to kiss me and steals my breath away.
“Before you two ruin my breakfast…” Callen grimaces and breaks our moment. “Can we talk about work? Because while you two were slacking off yesterday, I was getting rid of our dead weight.”
“Seb and I are returning to London to tie up loose ends today,” Freddie says, studying Callen’s reaction closely. Does he sense it’s a bad idea to leave us alone, or is he torn about leaving me after what happened last time? “But we’ll be back before the party. The Collingsbrook manor is half an hour’s drive from here.”
Callen snorts. “So, I’m on babysitting duty again.”
I scowl. “I don’t know how many times I have to say that I don’t need a babysitter.”
Seb’s gaze shifts between us. Judging from his concerned expression, he still hasn’t told Freddie about my night with him and Callen. If he did, I doubt Freddie would leave us alone in a cottage in the middle of nowhere.
