‘Of course. And they are?’
‘I want you to take Felix with you. You’ll need a right-hand man and he’s worked hard at learning the farming side of the business.’
‘And that’s the one part of it I haven’t got much experience in.’ Practically and business-wise, it made sense. Except for one thing. ‘But if the point of the exercise is to get Lady Flaxstone away from any potential scandal—’ She broke off as the earl raised his eyebrows.
They’d never actually said that in the proposal. They’d hinted at it, sure, and Jasper had implied it in his tone and expression, but they’d never said it. Jasper had never even confirmed that he’d told Tori the whole sordid story.
‘I think my son will find that his mother is stronger than he thinks. My other son, however...’ He sighed. ‘Felix has never had to experience that kind of media scrutiny before. And I’m fairly sure he has no desire to now. For his sake, I’d like him somewhere less...obvious for a while. Besides which, I want him to get to know all the corners of our estate business. After all, if Jasper refuses to come home for good...’ He shrugged, but he’d said enough.
The earl was grooming Felix to take Jasper’s place if Jasper refused it.
And he wanted her to help. He was offering her the best opportunity of her professional career and, oh, but she wanted it.
But she knew Jasper would never forgive her if she took it. For taking his father’s side over his. Choosing Felix’s well-being over Jasper’s. For ruining the plan they’d worked so hard to develop together.
And as evidenced, Jasper wasn’t the forgiving kind.
But then, Jasper wouldn’t be here much longer. Would he?
‘I need...may I take a little time to think about it?’
The earl gave her an amused look and she suspected that he somehow knew exactly what the situation was between her and Jasper. Knew exactly what he was asking her to do.
Damn him.
‘Of course,’ he said. ‘Enjoy the party tonight, but let me know your decision before you leave—for the Moorside, I understand? We can call it my Christmas present.’
* * *
The whole downstairs of Flaxstone Hall was a hive of activity. Jasper weaved his way through caterers, waiting staff, event planners moving decorated trees taller than him, and a few family members who’d arrived early and would stay for the duration.
He needed to find Tori.
She’d been weirdly absent all afternoon—finally Mrs Rawkins had told him that the earl had dragged her off to his office, but after that it seemed no one had seen her at all. She hadn’t been at her cottage when he’d knocked, either.
But she must be back there by now, surely, if she had any hope of being ready for the party on time.
Jasper was already dressed in his dinner jacket and bow tie, ready for the festivities. And for a drink, actually. But first, Tori.
‘Jasper?’ The voice caught him just as he was about to exit the front door, and it made him wince. He turned slowly, to face the half-brother he’d been pretending didn’t exist for five long years, even since his return.
‘Felix.’
His search for Tori—including a long ramble through the woods in case she’d gone for a walk—had given him plenty of time to think. About Tori, about his parents—and about Felix.
He’d thought about Tori, and how she’d stayed away from the Moorside, from her family, for so long after Tyler’s death, because it hurt too much to be there. Was that why he’d stayed away? He’d concluded it was only part of it.
Mostly, he’d stayed away because he’d been too angry not to.
But after his conversation with his mother that morning, some of that anger had started to ebb away. Not all of it, not by a long way. And he still wanted to protect his mother, and the family reputation, from any media fallout after his father’s announcement.
The only real thing that had changed was that he knew now he couldn’t go on blaming Felix for something that had happened before his birth, or for not sharing a secret he knew could blow up their whole lives.
What would I have done in his place?
That was the question that had made him think the most. Would he have done things differently in Felix’s place? In fact, in Felix’s place, discovering his whole life had been a lie, would he have thought about how his friend was affected at all? Probably not.
Maybe the real problem was that he didn’t know where to direct his anger, now he knew the real story behind it all.
‘Mrs Rawkins said you were looking for Tori?’ Felix asked, eyeing Jasper cautiously, as if waiting for him to explode. Jasper couldn’t entirely blame him.
He really needed to talk to Felix. Maybe see if there was anything left of their friendship they could salvage.
But after he’d talked to Tori.
‘Yes. Have you seen her?’
‘Your mother gave her a room in the main house for the night, to get ready for the party. She’s up in the Yellow Room, if you want her.’
Felix turned to go away, and Jasper found himself suddenly eager to make him stay.
‘Thank you,’ he called belatedly.
Felix looked back, a bemused smile on his face. ‘You’re welcome.’
Civility. That was a start, right? It was something.
And now he needed to talk to Tori.
He needed to know why she’d closed herself off to him again that morning. Whether she honestly expected him to just leave again like last time, as if their time together had never happened.
Because he couldn’t.
Not now, not when he knew her. Not when he’d finally got her to lower those walls the whole way and let him in. Not when he knew, at last, how spectacular the woman waiting behind them was.
Because he’d realised something else out on his walk.
Flaxstone was where he belonged. And maybe, just maybe, Tori might belong there with him.
He just had to find a way to tell her that, to convince her of it, without her throwing those defensive walls back up again.
* * *
Tori reached behind her to tug up the zip of her evening dress, and failed to get it past about halfway. Wriggling the dress up a little, she stretched further, until her shoulder popped, trying to see the tiny silver zipper in the mirror, her head twisted almost all the way around.
Still no dice.
Sighing, she allowed her body to return to its more normal position and concluded that this was simply not a dress for one person. She’d have to sneak down to the kitchens with a wrap over her and find someone there to help her with it, once she’d finished perfecting her hair and make-up.
Or not. A knock at the door let her reconsider, and when she opened it a crack to see Jasper on the other side, looking handsome and irresistible in his dinner jacket, her heart thumped against her chest.
This was perfect. He could help her do up her dress—or undo it first, if he liked. There was still time, right? As long as she kept protecting her heart, made it clear this was just a festive fling, just sex and nothing more, what harm could one more night do?
But even as she smiled at him and opened the door, another part of her brain was already arguing back.
I can’t lead him on. I can’t let him think there’s something between us—even if it is just sex—not without telling him about his father’s offer. Not without admitting I’m thinking about taking it.
‘You look beautiful,’ he said, his gaze scanning her dress, her heels, her dark hair pinned back from her face before falling around her shoulders. He’d never seen her so dressed up, she realised.
‘You scrub up reasonably well too, I suppose,’ she replied, with a smirk. She needed to keep things light, familiar. He was already looking a little wary—not that she could blame him after the way she’d hurried him out of her cottage, and her bed, tha
t morning.
Tori knew she was being unfair, inconsistent, not letting him know where he stood. And she hated it, probably as much as he did. But she didn’t know where either of them stood.
Or where they’d be if she took the job his father had just offered her.
Would he leave without another word, as he’d done last time? Or would he argue with her, the way Tyler had when she’d made the decision to leave the Moorside, trying to wear her down with threats and promises and accusations?
She couldn’t think about it now.
Focus on tonight. Focus on the party. Worry about tomorrow tomorrow. It’ll be here soon enough.
‘I could do with your help, actually.’ She turned her bare back towards him, motioning towards the zip, but he made no move to fasten it.