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The bite to his voice gives me pause. I slowly face him. “What’s that for?”
“Hmm? What?” He plays dumb as we stand at opposite sides of the counter. “I just didn’t know you two were such good friends.”
“We’re not.” I frown. “Why do you look so mad? He gave me a ride to another museum. Nothing more.”
“That’s not why I’m mad.”
“So youaremad. All right. Let’s hear it.”
Jack crosses his arms over his chest. “If you’re going to be gone for hours, you need to call someone and let them know.”
My mouth falls open. “I’m sorry—what?”
“You can’t just take off gallivanting around the countryside without letting anybody know where you’re going. That shit’s dangerous, Abbs.”
My anger fades. Now I’m trying not to laugh at him. His expression is cloudy with disapproval, and he has this tough-guy warrior stance going on that’s sort of hot and adorable at the same time.
“Lee was worried,” Jack finishes, awkwardly dropping his arms to his sides.
“Lee, huh? That’s funny, because he didn’t call me all evening. And when I texted him on my way home, he seemed more put off that I couldn’t stop at the off-licence to pick up wine.” I raise my eyebrows in challenge. “Didn’t get a call from you either. You know, if you were so worried.”
That gets me a glare. “Just keep us in the loop next time,” he mutters before stalking out of the kitchen.
Then, just because I’m a smart-ass jerk, I set my plate on thecounter and reach for my phone. I open the texting app that everyone in this country seems to prefer and start a new chat with Jack. It isn’t until his profile image pops up that I realize he and I have never texted each other outside the group chat for all the roommates.
Jack’s profile is a picture of him and a young blond I assume is his sister, Shannon, judging by the resemblance between them. I click on it and type a new message.
Me: After dinner, I might take a walk to the café down the street to pick up some muffins for tomorrow morning. Just in case you come downstairs and find me missing. When I get back, I’ll likely take a shower, so if my room is empty, it means I’m in the bathroom. No need to call the police. I repeat, don’t call the police.
I get a middle finger emoji in response.
Laughing to myself, I send back a kissy face and then eat my dinner.
Later, while Jack and Jamie are at a rugby match and the pub, respectively, Lee stations himself in my bedroom so we can hammer out a “game plan” for my meeting with Lord Tulley tomorrow. I swear, Lee is more excited for this meeting than I am. He flings dresses at me with the verve of a major league pitcher, bouncing with enthusiasm.
“You need something sophisticated but flirty,” Lee is saying, holding yet another garment in front of me.
“Why flirty?”
His features contort. “Babe, I’m not explaining the bits and bobs to you.”
“I’m not trying to marry into the family. This is just a school assignment.”
He whips another reject at the discard pile on my bed. Just about everything I own has been judged too hideous to be seen in public.
“What’s that face?” He studies my reflection in the mirror.
“Huh? No face.”
“Mm-hmm. So then you’renotdoubting my fashion expertise?”
“Not at all.”
I’m not sure which of us is worse at this.
“Abbey. Luv. If you want to go poking around in this lad’s family skeletons, you’ve got to ingratiate yourself to his masculine instincts.”
“I’m sorry?”
