Page 14 of The Grand Mistletoe Assembly
Nancy snorted.
Pippa ignored him. “I won’t be caught. Besides, with the two of you at my side, what could go wrong?” They’d been friends for eons.
Jeremy arched his brow. “What if you do get caught? A man like Dare is not to be trifled with, much less taken advantage of. It is my duty, as a friend, to caution you against such things.”
“Your only duty is to help me succeed in my dreams,” Pippa countered.
“Your dream is to be kissed by Dare?” Jeremy asked.
“My dream is to be kissed. Given his reputation, Lord Dare is likely to be the most discreet. Plus, he is handsome.”
Jeremy snorted. “The man’s entire reputation is based on indiscretion.”
“His known indiscretions. How many women do you believe he has kissed who never reached the gossip columns? A kiss is nothing to him,” Pippa said.
“I thought you women placed sentimental value on your first kiss.”
“On the kiss, yes,” Nancy chimed in. “Not the man.”
“Nevertheless, one kiss is oftentimes all it takes for a woman to get ideas.”
Nancy shot him a curious look. “What ideas?”
“Marriage. Reform. True love.”
Pippa laughed. “Well, since I’m the one stealing the kiss, I suppose I’ll have to guard against Dare developing such flighty notions.”
Nancy grinned.
“I can’t believe we are even having this discussion,” Jeremy groused.
“It’s not a discussion. It’s a plan in the making,” Pippa said.
“A terrible plan.” Jeremy let out a long-suffering sigh. “How can I be of service?”
Pippa chuckled.
Nancy, however, did not. “As long as you don’t enliven the punch again this year. Last year, three drunken brawls broke out because of that, and Pippa fell into a bush filled with thorns. My brother scolded us for ages.”
“Will he be attending this year?” Pippa’s most treasured pastime was making sport of Nicholas Byrne, the Earl of Chatteris. The stuffiest noble in England.
“Of course,” Nancy said with a note of frustration. “Haven’t you noticed, ever since last year’s antics, he’s accompanied us to all of our events?”
True.
Not that Pippa minded.
“I won’t enliven the punch,” Jeremy promised.
“Just my glass,” Nancy said with a smirk.
Pippa nodded. “And mine.”
“As you wish.” Jeremy directed his attention back to his paper. “Just don’t send Chatteris to me when he discovers your shenanigans.”
Pippa thought of the waistcoat she’d embroidered for the earl and smiled. She was anticipating his attendance just as she was looking forward to her first kiss. In fact, she had been dreaming of her first kiss since her sixteenth birthday. Quite literally, in fact. Although, in her dreams, she could never make out the face of the boy who had stolen the kiss. Be that as it may, she’d thought her first kiss would be captured by a gentleman in her first Season. She had thought wrong.
Her mother’s diaries suddenly came to mind.
