Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 129951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
“I can tell,” he replied.
“And Glastonbury,” I added.
“I could tell that too.”
“Though, I vow right on this spot never to sell a love potion to Chelsea.”
For a moment, he just stood there, looking amazing.
Then he burst out laughing.
And let me tell you, that made him exponentially more amazing.
Good God.
I’d never seen him laugh.
I’d never even heard him laugh.
I didn’t even think I’d heard him chuckle.
It was incredible.
It looked it and it sounded it.
There was a purr to it, naturally, but mostly it was deep, rich, luxurious humor.
I fell in love with it instantly.
When he stopped laughing, his brown eyes were so warm and gentle, I wondered how I ever thought them condescending and haughty.
But he said, “With that, I’ll leave you to your sleep.”
And now I was instantly bummed.
But I said, “Okay.”
He walked to the door, but turned at it and shared, “Along with your highly accessible narrative of the tangled mess that led to Elizabeth signing Mary’s death warrant, my favorite parts of that book were your descriptions of Christopher fucking Bess stupid.”
My lips parted.
“Very imaginative,” he murmured appreciatively. Then, “Goodnight, Vivi.”
“’Night,” I choked out.
He gave me that lazy look again, and then he was gone.
I stared at the door, wondering if I’d just had an orgasm, or was about to have one.
“He’s the single best flirt in history,” I said to the door.
This was terribly true.
And terribly annoying.
Because I had a feeling he actually was into me.
So now, it was also terribly frustrating.
CHAPTER 10
THE DISCOVERY
I swam out of sleep on Saturday morning to what appeared to be a misty day in England and the understanding my slumbering self was the entertainment of a green-eyed Persian, a round-faced ginger, and a blue-eyed ragdoll.
Snowball was making her status clear by resting curled up on the pillows I wasn’t using, those green eyes gazing at me through wisps of her fur.
Gingerface advanced immediately upon me regaining consciousness and cuddled.
Baby Blue just sat there and stared at me.
“Does Battle let you hog the bed like you did last night?” I asked Baby Blue.
She blinked.
I took that as a yes, but I sensed she was lying.
I fell to my back and turned my head to see the smart screen told me it was seven oh seven.
I then looked up at the canopy above me.
When I did this, Baby Blue made her approach, laid on my chest and added her purr to Gingerface’s.
I stroked them both.
Thankfully, yesterday had been an uneventful day.
I did not faint, trip, or get tripped.
I did not experience any paranormal activity.
I did not have to engage in trading verbal barbs with anybody.
In fact, both Prue and Chassie came out to the studio with me, and with their help, I was able to finish organizing and cataloging everything before noon. We ate a spot of lunch there, then I looked it up and talked them into going with me to a town not that far away where we could buy crates and separators so I could tidy things away and get cracking.
Prue was all in for this, and shockingly, so was Chassie.
So off we went.
We came back and they helped me tidy.
Then they left and I finally got started reading.
With papers dated 1887.
1887!
Again, I was in my personal Nirvana.
I also began work on the Talyn family tree.
I’d programmed an alarm on my phone (smartening up), so I had plenty of time to get back to the house, go to my room, fluff my hair and refresh my makeup and perfume, and I was down in the plum parlor by six forty.
Dinner went off without a hitch.
There was no tablecloth or candelabra, and we were back to a three-course meal. Chelsea was subdued. Courtney brought seaside souvenirs she lugged into the dining room and passed around (mine was a famous motto ware puzzle jug, it was very cool, and I was touched).
We ended the night in the billiards room with Battle flirting brazenly as he tried (and failed, not his fault, I was hopeless) to teach me snooker with Prue giggling, Chastity almost laughing, Chelsea fuming, and Tempie finally getting up and wiping the floor in a set against Rally.
When the night was over, Battle walked me to my room again, but without Chelsea trailing.
Whether it was for that reason or not that he left me at my door with a chaste kiss on my cheek, I didn’t know.
But that was what he did.
My first kiss from Battle Talyn.
On my cheek.
Ugh.
Suffice it to say, yesterday, he was working, I was working, and as such, I had not had the time to corner him to find out what was happening between him and me.
I wasn’t sure that day would be the day either, because I intended to work, Battle shared he had some morning meetings, but after that, they were “taking the horses out,” and being a gal who didn’t grow up with horses in stables, I wasn’t sure if that was an all-afternoon activity or not.