Royal Pain in the Ass (36 page)

“
Now, are you ready?
 
The car is waiting, as is Lord Raleigh.
”

“
Lord Raleigh?
 
Ethan
’
s mate?”
Gwen turned to me.
  “
What is going on here?
”

“
James set it up.
”
I sighed.
  “
He thinks Raleigh is an accepted member of society and will improve my image.
”

“He
’
ll be a prat like the rest of that lot.
”

“
Be nice Gwen.
 
I have to put up with him for an undetermined amount of time.
”

“I
’
m going to miss you.
  We
’
ll be stuck with Angelica again.
”
Gwen crossed her eyes and stuck out her tongue.
  “
Delightful.
”

I sighed.
  “
Gwen, you have my number, which is crazy because I don
’
t even know what it is.
”
I laughed.
  “And I
’
ve already gotten your drunken texts.
 
I expect plenty more while I
’
m gone.
  But I
’
ve got to get going.
” 
I made to grab my bags but Xavier had beaten me to it and already had all of them.
 

“
Come along, Juliet, we
’
ve got to get going.
”

I nodded.
  “
See you soon, Gwen.
”

“You better.  Don
’
t have too much drunken fun without me.
”

“
Wouldn
’
t dream about it.
”
I gave her one last hug and followed Xavier out.
 
I stopped in my tracks when I saw Raleigh.

He was wearing a slate grey shirt, black dress slacks, and polished black loafers.
 
His eyes popped with the grey of his shirt and contrasted nicely with the blonde of his hair.
  “It
’
s a pleasure to see you again Juliet,
”
Raleigh took my hand and laid a gentle kiss on it.
  “I can
’
t tell you how excited I am that your father permitted me to escort you to the country.
” 
I nodded.
 
He offered me his arm and I just stared at him.
  “
May I escort you to the car?
”

“Nah, I
’
m good.
”

“
Juliet, be polite.
”
Xavier scolded.
 
I rolled my eyes but took Raleigh
’
s arm.

“
Is something the matter?
”
Raleigh asked as he opened the car door for me.

“
Nope, everything is just peachy.
”

Raleigh climbed in after me and Xavier after him.
 
Raleigh thought it was a good idea to sit next to me.
 
It was a long ride in awkward silence.
 
Raleigh kept trying to start conversation with me, but I kept ignoring him.
 
I really didn
’
t want to talk to him and eventually I managed to fall asleep.
 
The next thing I knew I was being gently shaken awake.
 
I opened my eyes to see Raleigh and the first thing I did was throw a punch and scream.
  “WHAT THE HELL?”
I gasped scooting back until I was up against the car door.

“
Blimey, you can throw a punch,
”
Raleigh sighed rubbing his jaw.
  “
I was just trying to let you know we
’
re here.
”

I looked between him and Xavier and remember what was going on.
 
Xavier was trying to stifle a laugh with a cough, and managed to make it look legit.
  “
Right, sorry about that.
”
I replied feeling awkward.
 

“
Well, the arrangements are already being made.
 
Christine knows we
’
re here, as does Chad.
 
I need to find Lana.
 
Juliet, you are going to be meeting with a designer in a few hours to get your dress situated, until then, Raleigh, I do believe you
’
ve been here before.
 
Would you give her the tour?
”

“
What?
”
I asked giving Xavier an incredulous look.
 
He was going to leave me alone with him?

“
Of course, I haven
’
t seen Greg in ages.
  We
’
ll meet you up at the main house.
” 
Raleigh grabbed my hand and started leading me away.
 
I pulled my hand free and glared at him.
  “
Is there a problem?
”

“
Who said you could hold my hand?
”

“
This is a date,
”
Raleigh smiled.
 
It was a charming smile, but I
’
d seen smiles like that one too many times.

“
No, this is me having no choice.
 
A date implies mutual consent.
”

Raleigh
’
s smile changed and I think I saw the mask slipping.
 
It was still a smile but it looked less practiced.
  “
All right then, may I escort you?
”

“
You can show me around, but I don
’
t want any funny business.
”

Raleigh couldn
’
t hide his laugh.
  “
You are so cute when you
’
re being indignant.
”

“
Getting me pissed is a bad way to win me over.
”
I growled.

“
Maybe I like it
.”

“
Then you’re an idiot.”

“
Maybe
,
but you’re still amusing.
 
Come on, I
’
ll show you to Greg
’s place.
”

I liked Greg
’
s house.
 
It had the lived in appeal that I loved.
 
Unlike Eastgate estate where everything looked too formal.
 
This house really looked like someone lived in it.
 
My favorite part of the place was the massive black lab that leaped on me and began ferociously licking my face.
 

I pushed him off of me and called him over.
  “
Who is this charming prince?
”
I asked as I stroked him behind the ears.

“
Sorry about that,
”
a boy with shaggy brown hair apologized and pulled the dog away from me.
 

“It
’
s alright, he makes me miss my Loki back home.
” 
I felt a pang of guilt.
 
This was the longest I
’
d been gone since I
’
d gotten Loki, I hadn
’
t called anyone since I
’
d been here.
  I
’
d pretty much fallen off the face of the earth.

“Loki?”

“
I have a German Shepherd back home.
  I miss
him
. 
This one here is a sweetheart.
”

“
Yeah, he just loves everyone,
”
the boy chortled.
  “
Harvey sit.
”
The dog sat and I smiled.
  “I
’
m Greg.”
He offered me a hand, I went to shake it, but he bowed and laid a gentle kiss on mine instead.
  “
Raleigh, it
’
s been too long.
”

“
Yeah, I know mate.
 
How
’
ve you been?
”

“
Great, you must be Juliet?
”

“Yes, I am.”
I felt awkward as I watched the two of them exchanges glances and have a silent conversation in front of me.
  “
And we use our words so no one feels left out?
”
I muttered under my breath.

“
I was actually just about to head up to the main house.
 
Have you seen Christine yet?
”

“
No, I miss that girl.
”

“Let
’
s head up there then.
”

I heard a squeal and braced for Christine
’
s hug.  “
Juliet!
  I
’
m so glad you could come!
”

“I
’
ve missed you!
”

“
Me too.
 
How has everything been?
” 
Christine pulled me away from the boys.
  “
Are you here with Raleigh?
”

“Yeah,”
I sighed, rolling my eyes.

“
Why do you say it that way?
 
Raleigh is a good guy.
”

 
Christine shook her head and we went back over to the boys and chatted for what felt like hours until Xavier came and found us.
 “
Pleasure to see you Christine, Greg.
 
Juliet, it
’
s time for your fitting.
  I
’
m afraid I have to steal her away.
”

I happily followed him.
  “
Thank you for saving me.
”
I whispered.
 
Xavier smiled and gave me a sideways glance.
 

“
I knew you didn
’
t want to be around Raleigh, but I had little other choice.
 
It would look suspicious if I followed the two of your around, so I gave you space.
 
I did make good use of my time, however.
  I
’
ve had this dress designed for you, it might need slight alterations.
 
I hope you like it.
”

“
You picked out my dress?
”

“
I had it designed for you.
”

“
Thanks.
 
How long have you known about this?
”

“
Long enough.
”

“
Okay, show me the dress.
” 
I was led to a room with a man who introduced himself as Paolo and had a thick accent that I couldn
’
t place.
 
It was French and something else.

“
Zis is vat you vanted I do believe?
” 

My jaw dropped. 
It was a shimmery material that changed color in the light.
 
It started a deep crimson at the top and darkened as it went down to a deep burgundy.
 
It was gorgeous, it went over one shoulder, my tattooed shoulder.
 
It had black and gold designs stitched into the dress.
 
The bodice was corset inspired and it flared out a little at the bottom.
 
It had a sort of kick to it and I loved it.