“Ha.” Sophia laughed as she tucked her room key into the pocket of her slacks. “Your evening with a brood of other people’s children will likely be infinitely more engaging than my com-pany tonight.”

Talia fixed her with a stern glare. “If it is, you’re doing something wrong.”

Then she closed the door before Sophia could respond.

Not that Sophia had anything witty to add. Talia was obviously a little taken with the lady of the castle, and nothing Sophia said would change her opinion. She wasn’t even sure she wanted to. Just because she didn’t believe in Santa Claus anymore didn’t mean she had to ruin it for the other kids. At times she might even envy the simple pleasure that came from the naiveté of believing in the best in people. Then again, other times she felt a prickling sort of anger at the privilege of holding such a worldview.

Thankfully, tonight she didn’t have the luxury of the time needed to vacillate between those two positions as she was staying directly across the street from the castle. She had barely stepped across the cobblestone street before a guard threw open an ornate gate. “Her Ladyship is waiting in the inner courtyard. Would you like someone to accompany you, ma’am?”

She blinked a few times and fought the urge to glance over her shoulder to confirm he hadn’t spoken those words to someone behind her.

“No.” She affected a demeanour closer to the woman she’d begin to play in earnest tomorrow. “I know my way around the castle.”

With a nod he stepped back into a little guard hut, and she strode on along the path she’d walked earlier in the day. Keeping her chin high, she didn’t even survey her surroundings. She was already bored with them. Feeling that way made it much easier to not be intimidated. Not that dinner alone with the beautiful daughter of a duke should intimidate her. Being a movie star meant she could be anyone she wanted.

Well, maybe not anyone just yet, but she was working on it, and if she kept her head and her focus, she’d be where she wanted soon. The reminder galvanised her resolve right up to the point where she turned into the central stone courtyard to find her host leaning casually against a pillar. A brilliant shock of warmth and colour amid the cold, grey confines, Vic wore a bright blue blouse with a white collar and pinstripes. Her blond hair fell free past her shoulders, and even at the distance of several yards her eyes sparked an almost luminous shade of cerulean.

“Good evening,” Vic said in a tone slightly lower than her business register, and Sophia’s mouth went so dry she nearly forgot her line.

“Same to you.”

“Shall we?” Vic nodded toward what Sophia had come to think of as the front door of the castle.