Page 74 of The Duke Who Saved Christmas
With a mild huff, she strolled into the living room, picked up Beatrix, and plopped her down on the sofa next to me.
Beatrix, for her part, flopped onto her side with her tiny legs stretched out, pressed herself against my thigh, and snorted.
And fell asleep.
I eyed her. “Do I look like a pig pillow?”
“She seems to think so,” Nana replied, making her way to the radiator to warm her hands over it. “Is that a candy cane?”
I sucked on the sweetie. “No.”
“Don’t let your grandfather find out. He loves them.”
I pulled it out of my mouth with a little ‘pop.’ “How can he even eat them? He’s got no teeth! They’d crack his dentures.”
“He sucks them. Apparently, you can suck them until they disappear. Takes a while, though.”
“Huh. Like an erection.”
Nana’s lips threatened a smile. “Perhaps best not to use that analogy in front of him. You might traumatise him.”
I grinned, then bit a chunk off my candy cane. The ‘snap’ disturbed Beatrix who looked at me, snorted, and went right back to sleep again.
My grandmother’s eyes twinkled. “I think she likes you.”
Great.
That was just what I needed.
***
I pushed open the door to The Castleton Arms and looked around for Thomas. Why he couldn’t have just texted me the solution for the veil? Why did I have to come all the way into the village just to get that information?
Like I didn’t know.
If we met in person, I couldn’t avoid the inevitable conversation about how I’d gone in to kiss his cheek and ended up on his mouth.
God, he was infuriating.
So was tipsy Sylvie.
Tipsy Sylvie was a clumsy, blithering idiot.
Thankfully, Gramps had arrived home before I’d had to leave and had happily handed me his keys so I could drive here.
Unlike Tipsy Sylvie, Sober Sylvie was smart.
If I was driving, that meant I couldn’t drinkorfind myself in a car with Thomas again.
Win-win.
I caught sight of him at a corner table in the back, close enough to the fire to be warmed by it but just private enough. I hung my coat on the stand by the main door, keeping my scarf, hat, and gloves on my person until I tucked the latter in my bag on my way through the pub.
Thomas grinned when he saw me. “You didn’t walk here, did you?”
I held up the keys and jingled them. “Not this time.”
“Darn it.” A gentle laugh escaped him, and he stretched his foot out to push my chair. “Your seat, m’lady.”
