Heaven And Hell novel Chapter 46

Oh, joy.

As quickly as she hid her glower, though, she recovered and beamed at me.

"No," I told Anthony, including the others at the table. "He and I loathed each other. Like, we literally wanted to rip each other's limbs off after that disastrous date of ours."

Anthony gave a throaty laugh, his eyes crinkling in amusement. "You and your terms. It certainly is refreshing to talk to an American like you. So, shall we say...blunt?"

"Michael thinks so too," I said, smiling foolishly and fondly.

Saying this, I saw Anthony become quiet while Natalie and Kimberly looked at him. Then he gave the most charming grin I'd ever seen in my life. His smile was the only one that could be compared to Michael's, actually.

"It's nice talking to him," he said after a beat of silence. "But really, do tell us more about this hate-turned-to-love relationship of yours with Sterling."

Smart dude. He could change topics like changing the channel on the TV. I admired that, but still, I wanted to press him. There seemed to be something going on between him and Michael.

Well, not now. I just met the guy.

And so, I began telling the three of them, including the six other people at our table (I had no choice but to add them, because they were all straining to hear the conversation anyway). It left Anthony laughing, Kimberly touched -- because she thought it was very sweet -- and the other elegant guests to think that the aloof Michael Cutting and I were a match made in heaven.

Only Natalie gave a fake smile that didn't even reach her eyes, even if she tried her best to do it. I swear, I saw her sky blue depths blazing like fire.

I was having so much fun that I couldn't even stop talking about how Michael was so caring and sweet to me. That made the others -- including dear old Natalie; excluding Kimberly, since she was in her own happy world -- to look at me dubiously.

"What?" I asked, not getting a single thing about the looks they were giving me.

They went silent.

Natalie took this as an opportunity to speak again. "Ah..." she told me, that sly, catlike smile creeping into the corners of her plush lips. "Well, that's certainly something to behold." She shrugged. "It's not that much of a shock, yeah, but it's thoroughly beguiling."

I was confused. What now?

She looked me in the eye with her light-coloured eyes, then whispered, "You have to make sure you get a good hold on him, Keller."

I stared at her, furrowing my eyebrows. "What do you mean by that?"

Everyone was obviously trying hard not to look at the both of us. Even Lord and Lady Rigby did their best to amuse themselves rather than pry on our conversation.

I tried to ignore her words, but it kept coming back to my mind no matter how hard I tried pushing it away.

Right now, she was talking with everybody else at the table, oblivious to my distress and Kimberly was busy talking to her dad on her phone.

I was pretty much alone inside my own mind at the moment -- but I was wrong, because I could feel someone staring at me.

I lifted my eyes to see where that feeling came from, and saw Anthony gazing at me with deep blue eyes. He was sitting beside his sister, who was on my right. I thought he was about to say something, but he shook his head a little. What he did, though, was give me a tiny smile that meant to comfort me, I guessed.

I blinked at him and looked away, not wanting to see his sympathy for me.

I didn't know if he was sincerely nice, or a plastic like Natalie, so I was pretty much confused. That annoying thought was gone though, when I saw that Michael was walked into the tent, looking totally handsome in his suit. He smiled when he caught my eye but I only looked away from him, blinking back something pricking my eyes. Tears.

I risked looking at him again although I saw that he was in a new conversation with Lady Rigby, who was known to be very talkative. He kind of looked pained, but tried to be polite by not running away from the countess. I looked at him for a long time, waiting for him to tell Lady Rigby that he'd love to stay and chat but couldn't because I was waiting for him -- but he didn't. He just stayed in place, politely making small talk with the pudgy woman.

Taking that as a sign, I excused myself from the table.

"Where are you going?" Kimberly asked, shutting her phone. Her hazel eyes were wide, curious and concerned.