"And where exactly are you going, Your Ladyship?â
Meryl turned around and frowned over her sunglasses at her butler. Usually she hated when she was called that, but she knew he was only doing it to tease her.
"Pierce, Iâm telling you, Iâm not gonna meet this prissy Duke of Rich-Men-"
"Richmond." He corrected her.
"-I know what I said. Anyway I donât give a shit about that guy. All he ever does is preen in front of the cameras and flaunt his money and cars."
"So what, youâre just going to run off before he gets here?" He crossed his arms.
"You know me so well, Pierce. You can have Viola come up with some bullshit excuse on how I was suddenly and very urgently called abroad for a couple of days, or maybe had to spend a night at the hospital because I was allergic to his high level of pretentiousness."
She looked back and flashed him a shit-eating grin. âYou can show him around the garage if heâs insistent on staying. Heâll satisfy himself looking at the vehicles and forget why he even came here.â
Her grin grew wider and she stopped at the main entrance to shout back at him. âJust have someone keep an eye on him to make sure heâs not actually âsatisfyingâ himself with the cars! Canât have the pompous dickhead make a mess of my babies.â
A low, gravely voice spoke up behind her. âOh, Her Ladyship shouldnât have to worry Her head over Her cars being seduced. This âpompous dickheadâ has brought his own.â
She froze and then very slowly turned to face the owner of the voice. She just hoped the large sunglasses managed to hide at least a part of her mortified expression, though they couldnât help conceal the bright pink blush.
"M-my good Duke. You have arrived early I seeâŚ"
Colin kept a perfectly neutral expression, though his green eyes were aflame. âItâs a good thing I did. Any later and I might have missed Your Ladyshipâs hasty departure to the hospital. I apologize for my mere presence having such a grievous effect on Your health.â
She swallowed and slowly shook her head, forcing herself to take off the sunglasses. âI think Iâm⌠gonna be alright. Shall we- shall we head on inside?â