“Neither is dropping someone when they’re in a dead sleep!”
“I said I was sorry!” he barked.
She stuck out her tongue and grabbed her bags. “Aren’t we supposed to be dating? Doesn’t that mean you’re supposed to turn the charm on?”
Christian snickered. “I already have, sweetheart. What, you couldn’t tell?”
She mumbled something under her breath and slammed the door. “Stupid British men, dropping women and seducing them in gardens.”
“I’ll forgive you for your inability to complete actual sentences, considering I did just wake you out of a dead sleep. You’re not at your sarcastic best at this point.”
She sent him a chilly glare. He walked out of the line of fire and opened the door. It smelled like home. He had missed this house immensely. Kessen was sure to love it, considering her unhealthy obsession with his family’s heritage.
A smile began forming as Kessen took in the huge entry. “This is perfect.” Her voice held no previous disdain from being dropped. For some reason it made Christian pause to think, something he hadn’t been doing a lot of lately.
“Does it remind you of home?” he asked.
She turned around to face him. “Actually, it does. Does that seem weird to you?”
He shrugged. “No, I actually did have two purposes for bringing you here. First, you are absolutely obsessed with those stupid books about my family; and second, I knew you probably wanted to get away. We have been mauled by the paparazzi for the past two days. This is the place which came to mind. It’s famous, as you already know. But it’s also very cozy and has a crazy woodland feel to it.”
“It feels like a fairy tale,” she said, doing a little twirl. To say this girl was hard to figure out would be an understatement.
Kessen looked more awake now that she was walking around exploring. He could hear her “ooh” and “ahh” from the entry. He brought the rest of the luggage in and set out to find her.
It wasn’t hard to guess where she’d be. She was sitting in the sun room, which faced the garden where the famous wedding took place in the book series.
She must have sensed his presence, because she started talking.
“What was your childhood like? And please remember I’ve read all the books about your family. Though none of them included you—probably because that story’s yet to be written. Is any of it true? Before you answer, I also feel the need to remind you that you could crush all my dreams in one second by being too truthful.”
Christian let out a chuckle and joined her on the couch. “Actually, you’d be surprised to find out that most of the books are true. Naturally, the author adds details to make the situations more interesting. But the rumors of my family only marrying blue bloods or being oddly religious? All true.”
“Did your great-grandfather really marry the servant girl?” she asked pleadingly.
Christian felt ill. He didn’t want to be honest with her, because if he was honest, she would find out his great-grandfather did marry the servant girl, but then he cheated on her with a duchess from the ton and ended up sending the same servant girl to the countryside to live in a nunnery.
He decided to lie.
“They lived happily ever after.”
She beamed.
He felt better.
“I bet your childhood was amazing,” she said in a quiet voice. “Not that I’m saying mine wasn’t.”
“Of course,” he said agreeably.
“My father would probably disown me if he knew how much of a fantasy I actually lived in when I was small. I think it’s why I like books so much. I mean, how romantic is it to know your parents married for love, and that your aristocratic father left London to move to America with his wife?”
Christian didn’t say anything; he didn’t have to. They were sharing a moment, and he knew it would be ruined if he spoke. For reasons he didn’t have the energy to figure out, Kessen was being vulnerable. He would take what he could get.
It was exhausting, having to defend oneself against her constant stream of sarcasm.
“Were they happy?” he asked.
“My parents?”
He nodded.
“They were more than happy. They were something you would read about in romance novels. We did hospice during the last year so they could spend time together. He was such a good caretaker. I always told myself I would never marry, unless I could find a relationship like that.”
He winced. “And now you have to marry. I’m sorry.”
She brightened a bit. “No, it’s okay. I know you want to kill me most the time for speaking. But other than that, at least we have the whole physical attraction thing going for us.”
“You have no idea,” he moaned, putting his head in his hands.
She laughed. “Oh, I think I have some idea.”
He scooted away. “To prove my point, I’m going to put at least a good two feet of space between us, so your body heat doesn’t radiate anywhere near my vicinity.”
“If it’s too hot, stay out of the kitchen,” she snapped.
He rolled his eyes. “Oh, Kessen, the kitchen is exactly where I want to be.”
“I think that’s my cue to go to bed.”
“I think you’re right.” He held out his hand, and she took it. “Your bedroom is the first hall on the right. Breakfast is served at eight. Oh, and Kessen?”
She turned to look at him. “I have a surprise for you tomorrow morning.”
Kessen laughed. “Interesting.”
“I sure hope so.”
She winked and went up the stairs, leaving Christian feeling very alone. Her presence filled the room with so much warmth, it was hard for him to imagine going back to being without her. He was nearing dangerous territory with her. It was frightening how much he was beginning to like her for her personality. His life was hard enough being merely attracted to her; what was he going to do when he couldn’t have a normal day without her constant chatter?
Chapter Sixteen
Kessen didn’t even remember falling asleep. She grumbled when she looked down at her wrinkly clothes; apparently she was making a habit of falling asleep before she had time to change into more appropriate attire.
Her gaze darted around her large room in search of her suitcase. Her vision was fuzzy and sleepy, but she finally saw a flash of brown designer luggage by the door.
She tumbled out of bed and got ready.
By the time she reached the bottom of the stairs, she was struck with the realization that she would be getting married in six days now. It had a sobering effect on her, but looking around made her almost giddy for her marriage; it would mean she would inherit this wonderful house as well, after all, they would be married. Everything they owned would be shared unless there was some sort of evil Regency-style marriage contract she didn’t know about.