“I . . . um . . .” What excuse would explain her finding me with my backside cocked in the air and head buried in the settee?
Something glinted between the cushions. I held the hairpin aloft as if it were a brilliant prize. “I was looking for this.”
“You probably shouldn’t do that when there are so many suitors about. You look quite silly.” She closed the door with a quiet click. Her dark hair swayed as she scanned the room. “Where’s the last one?”
“He . . . um . . . he left.”
She glanced over her shoulder toward the door. “That’s strange. I didn’t see him in the hallway.”
Stupid bloody fae prince with his stupid bloody disappearing act. “He went through the gardens.”
Keelynn’s skirtsswishedwhen she bustled over and dropped onto the settee. “Tell me all about him. Spare no detail. Was he charming? I’ll bet he was charming. He was so handsome as well. By far the most handsome of all our visitors today. Probably one of the most handsome men I’ve seen. Besides Robert, of course.”
Bloody Robert.
If the two terrible men were standing side by side, there’d be no contest. Robert was handsome in a generic, safe way. Rían possessed an air of danger that left a woman breathless. Not that I’d ever admit as much aloud.
“I’m afraid he was another pillock,” I said, glancing toward the glass doors, hoping the cursed prince was still lurking about so he could hear exactly what I thought of him.
A chuckle lifted on a phantom breeze, leaving my arms covered in gooseflesh.
“A pillock?” Keelynn let go of my hand to give my shoulder a playful smack. “Surely you jest.”
“I’m afraid not. He was a pillock without an ounce of charm, and if I never saw him again, it’d be too soon.”
Something moved outside on the patio.
I glanced over to find Rían standing there, still pretending to be a Vellanian ambassador, one hand on his hip, the other tucked behind his back, golden sunlight crowning his dark curls.
My damned breathing caught.
Keelynn elbowed me in the ribs. “I heard that,” she whispered with a delighted giggle.
“Pardon the interruption.” Rían strolled into the room. “On my way out, I saw some flowers in the garden that made me think of Lady Aveen, and I had to bring them to her.”
Keelynn-the-traitor swooned.
“You must be Lady Keelynn.” He bowed his head. “It is truly a pleasure to meet the woman Aveen holds so dear.”
“The pleasure is mine, ambassador,” Keelynn tittered.
I bit my tongue to keep from telling him to take his flowers and stuff them up his—
From behind his back, Rían withdrew a fistful of purple and pink fuchsia tied with a blue silk ribbon. The flowers shouldn’t have bloomed until summertime. When he held the bouquet toward me, I couldn’t bring myself to take them.
Keelynn rammed her toe into my ankle. “Wasn’t that sweet of the ambassador?”
“Oh yes. So very sweet. I really appreciate you digging up flowers from the garden I’ve spent my entire life cultivating. And now that the roots are gone, they’ll wither and die.” They were gorgeous. The moment he left, I was putting them in a vase and setting them in my bedroom.
Keelynn rolled her eyes. “Don’t listen to her. She loves them. They’re her favorite, you know.”
His head swung toward me, a smile dancing on his lips. “I didn’t know that. Isn’t that a coincidence? Some might even say it was fate.”
“Those people would be fools,” I told him, lifting my chin in dismissal. He had already wasted enough of my day.
Catching my hand, Rían pressed a kiss to the pulse at my wrist. “Then I am a fool, Aveen. But I’d like to be your fool, if you’ll have me.”
Keelynn giggled. “Oh, ambassador, you are a delight. You simply must come to my birthday ball on Saturday night.”