Arranged: An Array Series (Book #1)(16)

The spring breeze picked up and she seemed to be more suited to herself. Old Ava was kind and young, but the new Ava, the current one, was confident and dauntless. She reminded me of a little warrior, in her own way, fighting to be successful and make a good life for herself. After all she had been through, it impressed me. Most females would stay locked up in their houses, afraid to venture out after such distress.

A small luncheon waited for us when we got back. George and Ava argued over her options of returning to the castle through the whole meal. He would say it was for her protection, she would counter back about her father and being uprooted again. I watched her tuck a piece of hair behind her ear, reminding me that she did it often while playing cards—in my shirt. Sometimes that shirt would expose one of her shoulders; I closed my eyes briefly to snap myself out of it.

“I hope you both enjoyed yourselves today. I must get ready. Eve will be here soon,” Ava announced.

“For what?” George asked.

“I have an anniversary party to go to.”

“That sounds fun,” George stated, throwing his napkin down.

Ava looked at him, furrowing her brows. “You aren’t going.”

George looked at her innocently. “Of course we are. You wouldn’t keep your cousins here by themselves all night, would you?”

Ava let out a heavy sigh and glanced at me. “Can you dance?”

I nodded. “I can.”

“Good. Because you’ll be surrounded by dallying females, who’ll love nothing more than to line up and dance with the both of you.” She winked at me and threw her napkin at the back of George’s head. “Be ready by eight.”

“Should be fun,” George said, after Ava left the room. “More casual than what we’re used to.”

“More sheltered females,” I added.

“I’ve been able to dodge a few women in my time.”

“Several at one time?” I asked with a raised brow.

“How hard could it be?”

I laughed. “I’m going to love seeing this. By the end of the night, you’ll be running out of there, pulling your hair out.”





Chapter 5





Chapter 5





“Why didn’t you tell me that his attractive older brother came?” Eve chastised me in my room. “Are you trying to keep him to yourself for a particular reason?”

“I haven’t had a moment to myself. George has been following me like a lost puppy,” I retorted. George had always been in my space; that’s why he’d gotten a black eye when we were nine…and eleven.

Eve raised her eyebrows in amusement. “Nothing wrong with that.” I shook my head; she was impossible. Eve studied herself in my floor-length mirror, pressing her red dress against her body. “Do you think this shade goes well with my skin tone? I wish I had bought more than one dress.”

“You’ve asked me that question over a dozen times,” I replied with a chuckle. “Thankfully, Mr. Ryan had dresses already made, or you’d be wearing something in your closet tonight.”

Eve viewed herself at different angles in the mirror before sighing. “You didn’t tell me how handsome he was,” Eve pressed. “You kept that small detail to yourself when he was with you for a week.”

“Six days,” I corrected. Six short days.

Eve stepped into her silk dress, pulling it over her slim hips. “Ah, six days. Did anything else happen in those six days that you forgot to tell me?”

“I was engaged to his brother,” I choked out, forcing a laugh.

“Fake engaged,” she retorted, pulling her arms through the sheer long sleeves of her dress. “And I’m definitely not joking. One look from that man would make a girl go weak at the knees.”

“And I’ve never seen you so flabbergasted in my life,” I teased.

Eve peered over her shoulder, narrowing blue eyes at me. Pulling her curled hair away, she waited for me to lace the back of her gown. “I was busy observing.”

I walked over to her. “You were doing more than that.”

“Are you trying to provoke me, Ava Barlow?”

“Me? Darling, never. You are the epitome of style and feminine games,” I scoffed, beginning the tedious task of arranging the netted material.

“Getting what you want or don’t want is a game,” Eve retorted. “And since I play so well at it—”

“Don’t even think about it,” I cautioned, yanking at her laces to make my warning clear. She let out a small grunt. “Leave me out.”

“Of what?”

“Don’t play stupid. I don’t want any part of”—I waved my hand in the air—“whatever it is you’re planning.”

“You don’t have to do anything,” Eve said. “Lord Ashton will do it all for you.”

I groaned. “Oh Eve, please, leave the man be. I don’t want to be wrapped in an awkward conversation with him tonight.”

Eve turned to look at me. “Let’s make the delicious Lord Cranfield jealous.”

I closed my eyes, bridging my nose with my fingertips. “Just leave everything be. I have neither the patience nor the energy to deal with men tonight. I just want to go to this event, which you begged me to go to, then come home.”