He held out his hands to her and she placed hers in them. ‘We can hear the music from up here.’ He drew her into the circle of his arms and they moved in time with the romantic ballad. ‘You’ll have to forgive me if I crush your toes.’
‘I don’t think there’s much chance of that.’
There was more chance of him crushing her heart. But she didn’t want to think about that now.
She breathed in the familiar smell of him, the citrus and leather scent that never failed to intoxicate her senses. ‘This is nice...’ She swayed in his arms, tipsy on champagne and his company.
‘Mmm...’ His breath stirred the hair on top of her head and a shiver coursed down her spine. ‘I might have to rethink my bias against weddings. This one has been better than any I’ve been to before.’
Ruby glanced up at him. ‘How many have you been to? Apart from your parents’, I mean.’
‘A few, but they bored me to tears.’
‘Are the couples still together?’
‘Only one.’
‘Oh...’
There was a beat or two of silence, broken only by the music drifting upstairs.
Lucas stopped dancing and looked down at her. ‘When will you be leaving for London?’
Something in Ruby’s stomach tilted sideways. Of course. She would be leaving this bubble of happiness sooner rather than later. Lucas was selling Rothwell Park. They couldn’t stay here together for ever. She was not in some fairy tale romance with him. She was in a fling and it had a timeline.
‘I—I’m not sure. We have another wedding in Gloucester in a couple of weeks, but...’ She didn’t know how to finish the sentence without betraying her feelings for him. Without betraying her fragile hopes that he’d return them.
Lucas held her slightly aloft, his expression inscrutable. ‘I’ve been thinking about what happens next.’ His hands gave hers a light squeeze. ‘Between us.’
Ruby swallowed, and her heart skipped a beat or two. ‘I have to go back to London, and you’re selling Rothwell Park, so...’
He drew in a long breath and let go of her hands as the same time as he released a stream of air. ‘Yes, well, about the sale...’
‘You’ve changed your mind?’
His brows snapped together and his jaw locked tight. ‘No. The sale is going ahead.’
‘Oh...’ Her chest deflated on a sigh.
‘Why are you so fixated on this place? I told you before it’s a white elephant to me. A burden I want to offload as soon as I can.’
‘And I’ve toldyoubefore it’s the only home I ever knew as a child,’ Ruby said. ‘It was the first place I truly felt safe. I hate the thought of never being able to come back here.’
He moved to stand behind his desk, as if he wanted to put a barrier between them. ‘I’m sure you’ll be able to come back here. Jack Livingstone is planning on turning it into a boutique hotel. You might even get mate’s rates if your friend Harper asks nicely. Don’t they have some sort of history?’
Ruby stared at him blankly. ‘Jack Livingstone?He’sthe buyer?’
‘Yes. He has a chain of boutique hotels.’
‘I know who he is.’ She swallowed again and asked, ‘Am I allowed to tell Harper, or is this news confidential?’
He gave a loose shrug of indifference. ‘Do what you like. It makes no difference now. I signed the contract electronically this morning. It actually worked in my favour when Delphine brought her wedding forward. It meant I could wrap things up a little faster.’
Ruby couldn’t seem to get her head wrapped around the fact that Lucas no longer owned his family estate. And nor could she understand how cool and detached he was being about it. Surely he feltsomethingabout leaving his childhood home behind?
‘So, when do you plan to move out?’
‘I’m also going to London soon.’