The Problem With Pretending by Hart Emma

Author:Hart, Emma
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Emma Hart
Published: 2023-05-14T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE – GRACE

Panties on Fire

William stared at me for what felt like an age. I was sure I was going to hurl—my stomach was churning at a rate of knots, and the lump in my throat was nothing but a bundle of nervousness that was going to stop me breathing soon enough.

Although, that might have been a blessing just then.

“Do you think you can make it to the fire without hurting yourself?” William asked after a moment. “I think it’s about to go out, and this sounds like it could take a while.”

I blinked. “That—that’s your response?”

“You complain a lot when you’re cold, and I’d rather you not get so cold you almost set yourself on fire like you did earlier. Especially with the power out,” he explained. “Well?”

“As long as no table legs get in my way,” I muttered.

He stepped forwards and grabbed my hand, wrapping his cold, large fingers around mine, and pulled me after him towards the fire and the seating area. The fire was desperately trying to hold onto the last bits of its fuel worth burning, and the flames licked up sporadically when it found a remnant of the wood to catch on.

“Sit down,” he instructed, releasing my hand to drop to his knees in front of the fire.

Unwilling to argue, I did as I was told and sat down.

He reached to the fire tools at the side and stoked what was left, then added some kindling from the bucket, followed by another, larger log. The fire was hot enough that it didn’t need too much persuasion to get going, and within seconds, the room was filled with the satisfying sounds of crackling and popping as the flames took over.

“Lady Grace Montgomery-Brown, huh?” William asked, looking into the fire. “Which means your dad is…”

“The Earl of Loxford,” I replied softly.

“And that’s how we’ve met before.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “We were really young, weren’t we?”

“You have to believe me when I say I didn’t recognise you at the coffee shop. I wouldn’t have known until your mum told me earlier.”

“No, I believe you—wait, Mum told you?” He looked up at me, his brows furrowed. “She knows?”

“She recognised me.” I twisted my hands in my lap. “Apparently, she was best friends with my mum before she died, and I look a lot like her, so…” I shrugged. “She said we spent a lot of time together when we were kids, then you all moved away, and we lost contact.”

“I vaguely remember that. Well, I remember moving, and never seeing a friend again. We were what… ten?”

“Eight, I think.” I linked my fingers together before I scrubbed off my own skin with all the handwringing I was doing. “So, twenty years ago.”

“That’s so strange. Freya said she recognised you, too, but I never put all that together.”

“Neither did I. I knew you were familiar to me, and I recognised your mum when you introduced us, but I couldn’t place any of you. Then

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