“After some of our phone conversations this week, I half expected to have my notch on your bedpost pre-etched already.”
Felix ran a hand over the back of his neck. “I didn’t want you to think I was parading you around. Didn’t want to assume you’d want people to know we were seeing each other.”
The corners of Thea’s mouth tipped up. “And are we?” Her blue eyes drilled into him. “Seeing each other, I mean?”
He’d pinned his hopes on it. “I rather hoped we were.”
“Then move my bags to your penthouse and stop worrying about my reputation. Nobody cares who I am.”
Felix smiled.Hecared. That she’d arrived in her usualjeans, boots, and casual shirt had tickled his funny bone. True, she’d polished their leather, and her trousers were clean and as deliciously tight as always. But he loved that she hadn’t given a thought to impressing him.
He’d already taken care of her wardrobe for the gala. With a little help from his fashion contacts and Gemma, Felix bought Thea a beautiful, one-of-a-kind, haute couture dress. He’d promised her as much on the doorstep at her farm. Fingers crossed, she didn’t freak out when she saw it.
“I’ll have someone move your bags.”
“Thank you. Now, please, can you order me something to eat? I only had a bowl of Cheerios this morning.”
Felix motioned to the waiter and ordered his favourite dishes. The restaurant at the Sentinel was his pride and joy. Although it had allowed him to escape London for a while, The Rusty Plough was hardly the same.
Before long, the waiter brought them a platter of freshly shucked oysters and some delicately sliced sea bass in a tart vinaigrette.
Thea tucked in with abandon, tearing off pieces of her soft roll to dip into the sauce. The corners of Felix’s mouth lifted. Adrienne had controlled every morsel she ate. She’d known the calorific value of everything that ever passed her lips. She’d forbidden bread to even enter their kitchen.
“Felix!” a voice rang out through the hum of the restaurant. A woman was heading straight towards them in a flurry of red curls and even redder lipstick. Ginny.
She stopped at their table, and Felix stood. With a flourish, the woman kissed the air next to his cheeks. “How are you, darling? Ready for tonight? Nick says we all need to be on our best behaviour to bring Crichton over the line. How’s Lucas? Still suffering in the country? It must be so boring for him, stuck in the middle of nowhere.”
Thea’s eyes were on him, and a patch of perspiration sprang up at the base of his back. What would she make of Adrienne’s best friend? He’d known they would meet but hoped it would be at the party later when everyone had to be on their best behaviour. Ginny was his ex-wife’s most ardent supporter, and she took every opportunity to tell Felix he should give their marriage another chance.
“Not at all. He’s having a wonderful time.”
“Well, I feel sorry foryou, then. It must be quite a change from life at the Sentinel. Tell me, do they have running water in your little village?” The tinkle of her laugh grated against his ears.
Felix’s eyes tightened, and he cleared his throat. “I live in a town, not a village. You make it sound like a camping site. Ginny, I’d like to introduce you to a friend of mine, Thea Fox.”
Ginny’s gaze drifted over to Thea, and after the smallest straightening of her shoulders, she smiled. At least, Felix thought it was a smile.
“Oh,” she said, like a deflating balloon.
“Thea, this is Lady Ginny Foster-Grant, the wife of the Walsh Group’s CFO.”
Thea stood and shook her hand. Ginny gave her a bland smile before running her eyes over Thea’s jeans and boots.
“How quaint,” she said before turning back to Felix. “Darling, I wish you wouldn’t use my full name when you introduce me. I know my family is old, but it makes me sound like I was around when Henry the Eighth was busy chopping heads off.”
Thea snorted a laugh, and Ginny turned back to her, brows drawn. “Thea who, again?” She barely disguised a sneer.
The hairs on the back of Felix’s neck prickled. He opened his mouth to reintroduce them, but Thea sat down and took a mouthful of her wine.
“Fox. Of the Suffolk Foxes. You probably haven’t heard ofus, but we go back a long way too. I think my grandmother traced our family back to Camelot and King Arthur’s court. My great, great, great uncle Bruce sat at the round table. Rubbed shoulders with Sir Lancelot.”
Ginny’s mouth gaped open, but Thea continued. “AndIlive in a little village. But I can happily report that we have running water. And we recently retired our windmill. We’ve begun buying flour from the shops now. It’s been quite liberating.”
A tiny bubble of laughter escaped Felix’s lips, but Ginny only stared at Thea, her red-stained lips pinching tight together. A sudden icy chill settled in the air. No point in slowly peeling off the band-aid.
“Ginny, Thea is my guest this weekend. She’ll attend the party with me later.”
Thea picked up the rest of her roll from her plate and stuffed it into her mouth, chewing with a smile.
