Page 52 of Always Yours

“You’re not from here,” Louisa says. “Your accent is very, um, thick.”

I am going to kill her. The way she saysthickis downright wicked. I glare at her as Dimitri says, “I grew up in Russia. Bilingual.”

“Oh wow!” Louisa says. “That’s one of the only languages I didn’t learn.”

“You speak more languages?”

Eliza nods. “We are both fluent in French, German, and Spanish.” Then she looks at me, and I shake my head violently. She presses her lips together as Dimitri’s gaze moves to me.

“Janie, it’s cool. I like getting to know you. Can you tell me why she wears fuzzy socks in the middle of a Tennessee summer?”

Eliza grins. “We lived in a barn—”

“Eliza, please don’t bore him with stuff that doesn’t matter.”

“Please do. It does matter. I want to know,” he says simply, and I press my lips together for a moment.

“We lived in a barn, and it was cold—a lot. I used to say I wanted fuzzy socks to keep warm, and it was one of the first things I bought when I left home.”

“You weren’t allowed to have them or something?”

I clear my throat. “No, we had a very strict dress code.”

“A home?”

“It was barely a home and more a Nazi camp,” Louisa seethes, rolling her eyes, and I can’t believe she just said that. “We had to wear dresses, even when it was cold.”

He makes a face. “A Nazi camp?”

My eyes widen at the pure embarrassment coursing through me, and I know Eliza sees it.

“Why do you call her Janie?” Eliza asks, and I throw my hands up.

“Okay. No one talk to him,” I announce, but no one listens to me. “You two go to the car!”

With an unstoppable and impossible grin, Dimitri explains. “Austen, with an E. Like Jane Austen. I assumed that’s who she was named after the first time I met her. She’s so much more than a Jane, so I call her Janie.”

“How incredibly cute,” Louisa gushes.

“It’s really not. It’s rather irritating and disrespectful,” I insist, but no one is listening to me.

Eliza beams. “We’re all named after Jane Austen characters, except Austen. She’s named after the literacy queen herself.”

“A name that fits her perfectly,” he muses, and I meet his gaze, which is a very bad idea. The fact that he is enjoying this is all over his face, amusement deep in those eyes, taunting me. “Well, I was actually about to head out, but I think I’ll wait a bit longer. Maybe I can learn more about this Nazi-type camp.”

Absolutely not. “No, you can leave.”

“Or we can ignore her,” Louisa says. “Since Austen is so bothered by the fact that you’re here and so are we.”

“I love ignoring her,” Eliza retorts.

“Really? It’s hard for me,” Dimitri says, that smirk on his face teasing me and making me want to smack it right off his gorgeous face.

“I will not be ignored, nor am I bothered,” I retort, meeting Eliza’s maddening gaze. “I am a little nervous you two will tell Peepaw, which can’t happen.”

Eliza holds up her hand. “I’m not telling anyone.”

“Nor I,” Louisa adds. “We wouldn’t want either of you to be in trouble.”

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