My hand darted out to her waist and she flinched once then caught herself and smiled. I withdrew my hand, remembering we were still on tentative ground after last night.
I’d followed her home, hot on her too-high heels as she stomped through the mud back to my cottage. It was the earliest night I’d been home since she’d arrived. She’d gone straight to bed last night, a sad girl in a beautiful dress, before I’d stripped naked and crashed on the couch, a little bit drunk and a lot confused about how I felt about Cricket.
“All of the dresses are too small.”
“Just the right size too small.” I winked at her.
“Keir, good to see you—are you playing this morning?” My great-uncle and the Duke of Sveister tapped me on the shoulder as he passed.
I nodded. “Maybe next time.”
He grinned easily, eyes finally landing on Cricket’s small, curvy figure in her soft pink dress with tiny white flowers. My great-uncle’s smile faltered, eyes turning bright as he turned to fully take her in.
I moved in front of him, prepared to defend her from my uncle’s assault with his eyes on my Cricket. “This is Cricket, my date.”
“My name is Annastacia.” She thrust her hand around me, shaking my uncle’s.
“Quite a date you’ve got here, Keir. Do you play cricket too?”
She shook her head. “No, I'm afraid not. And Keir and I aren’t dating. I’m the new caretaker at Hopewell Cottage.”
Uncle raised his bushy eyebrows. “Caretaker? Keir isn’t that where you live?”
Keir shrugged. “Caretaker. Date. Whatever.”
“He only wishes.” Cricket laughed with my uncle.
“Well, I do like this one, Keir, I hope you keep her around for awhile.” Uncle turned, patting me on the back again. “And I do hope to see you on a horse. I’m sure you’d have beautiful form.”
Cricket’s face fell as he turned and walked away. “Ugh. Keep me around?”
“The royals are unbearable, what do you think I’ve been dealing with all of these years?” I finished the rest of my drink. “Now let’s make the next Bloody Mary less virginal, mmkay?”
She shook her head, laughing, then handed me her own half-finished drink. We walked out into the fresh air, a round of one of the day’s cricket matches already in play.
We hovered at the sidelines and a few official press crews snapped photos of us. I trained myself not to react, but I wanted to kick them all in the teeth for invading our privacy. “I usually don’t come to the televised matches, or if I do I hang back at the bar and watch it on screen.”
“I don’t mind.” Cricket, always the good sport, shrugged.
Then, one of the guys I’d gone to boarding school with trotted over on his horse. He still wore his cricket helmet, his horse snorting and agitated like he’d been pushed too hard in the field the last round.
“You may want to check your mare, she looks overheated.”
His eyes narrowed to mine, then cut over to Cricket. “Same for yours.” His eyes dropped to her cleavage and I saw red. “Dating peasant girls now, Madsen?”
I clenched my fists at my sides and grabbed his horse’s reins, hauling the mare to me and grasping her rider’s leg and taking him down to the ground.
I levelled a kick right to his abdomen. “Say it again and next time I’ll stomp on your balls.”
He groaned, writhing in the wet grass before he hissed something back at me and then turned and vomited at my feet.
“You almost ruined my fucking shoes too.” I was about to nail him then, the idea that he’d gotten a glimpse of what was mine was enough to take me to the brink of sanity. I couldn't be held culpable then.
“Keir—stop.” I felt her hands on my back. It was her touch that claimed me first.
I sucked in a breath through my nose, trying to calm myself as I realized the cameras were now trained on us and the match had stopped mid-play. “Let’s go for a walk.”
I nodded, allowing her to escort me away from the sidelines and a likely assault charge.
SIX
Anna
“Wanna go for a ride?” he asked as the crowd faded behind us and the horse stables came into view. “I can saddle up whichever one you want.”
The brush of Keir’s fingertips against my skin sent firecrackers splitting in every direction. A hot mix of feelings boiled over in my stomach every time he was nearby. He’d almost beaten one of his mate’s defending my honor—no one had ever defended me to the fists.
Stubborn thoughts were starting to creep into my mind about staying here beyond ninety days. I’d settled into a comforting routine, early mornings and late nights listening for Keir to come home from the club left me dragging by mid-day, but I’d spent hours cleaning up the cottage to the Queen’s level of expectation.