orry,\u201d she said softly.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, it\u2019s okay,\u201d I tell her. \u201cLet\u2019s try on these clothes.\u201d<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t think it was going to take as long as it did, but within the next couple of hours, we were finally finished with trying on the clothes she bought. She didn\u2019t just buy a few nice outfits, she bought a ton. There were bags more than when she initially came into the parlor. She had an entire car full of clothes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI couldn\u2019t decide,\u201d she stated with a sheepish smile after the hundredth blouse I tried on.<\/p>\n
After a while, I settled on a nice evening dress with a cardigan. The maid helped me do my hair so it flowed in even ringlets down my back and was pulled out of my face. She applied a little makeup, but not enough to make me look like a hussy; just enough to make my features pop and brighten my face a little more.<\/p>\n
I put some flats on for shoes, thankfully she also went shoe shopping, so I didn\u2019t have to worry about either. Once I was dressed, I took a look at myself in the mirror, feeling my stomach knot.<\/p>\n
I was still wrapping my head around the fact that I was having dinner with Gavin\u2019s mother\u2026 Donna Landry. From what I knew about her these last couple of days, she couldn\u2019t stand me. I could only imagine how this dinner was going to go. No amount of dresses and hair was ever going to make that woman like me, so I didn\u2019t understand why she would invite me to dinner with Gavin.<\/p>\n
As I met Gavin in the parlor, I noticed him before he noticed me. He was scrolling through his phone, seated on the couch. He wore a business suit like he was about to go to a business meeting, and I suddenly felt as if I wasn\u2019t dressed properly enough. Maybe I should have worn something fancier; this was a dinner with his mother after all.<\/p>\n
He looked tense as he stared at his phone and for a moment, I wondered if it had anything to do with Irene.<\/p>\n
I cleared my throat, getting his attention.<\/p>\n
His eyes shifted from his phone to me; there was a moment of pause in his expression. His eyes scanned my entire body, taking in my dress that hugged my figure, but was still classy enough for dinner at his mother\u2019s manor. Then his eyes found mine for a moment, his expression softened making my heart skip a beat.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you ready?\u201d I asked him. \u201cYou seem lost in thought.\u201d<\/p>\n
He swallowed before turning his phone screen off and standing. He shoved his phone into his pocket.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, we should get going. She hates it when people are late,\u201d he murmurs. \u201cShall we?\u201d<\/p>\n
I nod, watching him carefully. I wanted to ask him if he talked to Irene some, but I didn\u2019t want Matt to overhear. It would have been better if we had this conversation in the car. I expected either Taylor or Erik to drive us, so I was surprised when it ended up being Gavin the one to drive.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy are you driving us?\u201d I asked him as we pulled away from the villa.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you have a problem with my driving?\u201d he asked; he sounded dry, but I was starting to understand him well enough to know that he was teasing.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, but I thought driving places yourself was above you,\u201d I teased right back.<\/p>\n
\u201cI drove on our date, did I not?\u201d He countered. His brows raised.<\/p>\n
My cheeks were heated at the mention of our date; until now, it kind of felt like an elephant in the room.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was different,\u201d I said, ne<\/p>\n
going soft as I looked out the<\/p>\n
window. I felt him smirkingut<\/p>\n
even looking at him and for some<\/p>\n
reason, that annoyed me.<\/p>\n
I turned to look at him, narrowing my eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cGot something to say?\u201d I boldly asked.<\/p>\n
He shrugged.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you going to keep that attitud during dinner because gettingnoveldrama<\/p>\n
er to like you won\u2019t be eacPhe<\/p>\n
he<\/p>\n
me, that smirk never leaving his lips.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd why would I care if your mother liked me?\u201d I asked, folding my<\/p>\n
iOSS my chest. \u201cI don\u2019t<\/p>\n
$ me\u2026 she already do armed<\/p>\n
care if she like<\/p>\n
me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTonight will certainly be interesting,\u201d he muttered.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou find this funny, don\u2019t you?\u201d I asked him in disbelief.<\/p>\n
He shrugged one shoulder.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, maybe I do,\u201d he murmured. \u201cSo what?\u201d<\/p>\n
I opened my mouth to say something, but the sight of the manor caught my<\/p>\n
attention, and my entire body went cold.<\/p>\n
We were here.<\/p>\n
Sara is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland\u2019s breathtaking cold.<\/p>\n
We Built a Kingdom From Ashes That Still Remembered Love by Aila Frost 452 orry,\u201d she said softly. \u201cNo, it\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-shadow-slave-by-author-novelnozi-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21520","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21520"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21520\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}