Nicholas was right. Yvonne had no choice. “I’ll talk to Ruby about it.”

“She’s right here, isn’t she?” Nicholas addressed Ruby. “Dinner is next Friday. It’s at our family home in the mountains. Are you available? We’d love to have you join us.”

“Er,” Ruby glanced at Yvonne. “Sure. I can come.”

“Then it’s settled.” Nicholas looked over his shoulder toward his date. “I should get back to Jane. I’ll see you both at dinner. Mother will be so delighted to hear of your marriage.”

He flashed Yvonne a smile, his eyes gleaming wickedly. Yvonne’s stomach dropped. Nicholas knew. He’d made the connection between Yvonne’s marriage and the inheritance money. He was already scheming behind those eyes of his.

He was going to try to stop Yvonne from getting her inheritance.

Nicholas turned and walked away. As soon as he was out of earshot, Yvonne cursed.

“What’s the matter?” Ruby asked her.

“Nothing.” Yvonne didn’t want to stress Ruby out with the news that someone was threatening their marriage scheme right now. They were in a high enough pressure situation as it was. “I just wasn’t expecting to see him here.”

“Your brother? He didn’t seem so bad.”

“Trust me, he’s not the perfect gentleman he appears to be,” Yvonne said. “I’m sorry for putting you on the spot like that.”

“It’s fine. What’s this dinner, anyway?”

“Once a year, we have dinner at my family home. It’s just me, Nicholas, and my stepmother, Alice. It’s a bit of a trek, so we usually stay overnight. That’s all there is to it, really.”

Ruby frowned. “You only have dinner with your family once a year?”

“In case you couldn’t tell, we’re not particularly close. You’ll have to trust me when I say my family dynamics are… complicated. But now isn’t the time for all that. This is a wedding. We’re supposed to be enjoying ourselves.”

“I’m definitely enjoying myself. Dressing up, drinking champagne, meeting all these people. I’m having a great time. We should do this more often.”

“Isn’t this normal for you?” Yvonne asked. “You said yourself that your clients love to take you out and show you off.”

“That’s true. But this is different. It feels different, with you.” Ruby glanced down at her feet. “What I mean is, this doesn’t feel like work. I’m genuinely enjoying it. Being here, with you. Being your wife.”

Yvonne felt warmth rising within her. “And I’m enjoying having you as my wife.” She held out her arm to Ruby. “Let’s get back to playing happy couple.”

Ruby peered up at her. “Does playing happy couple involve dancing?”

Yvonne gave Ruby a stern look. “Under no circumstances.”

As Ruby took her arm again, Yvonne recalled Ruby’s earlier slip of the tongue. Surely it hadn’t meant anything. Ruby didn’t think about Yvonne that way.

Did she?

Chapter 18

Ruby lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling. She was glad to be home. She and Yvonne had remained at Madison and Blair’s reception until the last of the guests had left. In the end, Ruby had taken to the dance floor while Yvonne had watched from the sidelines.