Page 19 of Shameless
She let out a laugh and started on the second cup.
I held her hand and said, “Okay, so I want to know this Smith version of you first so when we meet with my parents and my sister, I’m not surprised about anything they might say.”
She rocked, and her eyes widened. “Oh God. Is this required?”
Something had changed, and I wished she would tell me what. “Why?”
“I called home last night,” she said, her eyes glassy. She blinked and met my gaze. “My parents still think of me as a complete failure as a human being.”
She’d used the same word a second time. She must have believed it.
“That makes no sense,” I said.
She pivoted and cupped my face. “Your sister told you yesterday. It’s true I barely passed high school. I was actively trying to fail at that point.”
If that had been active, then it wasn’t a true failure, not that she saw that.
“That’s not who you are now,” I said.
She stood and said, “I like that you believe that about me. Look, if you really want to see me at my worst, we’ll go there first.”
That was a start. If I understood her, then I would have a better argument, so I said, “Excellent. Then we’ll come back and then pop over so we can squash my sister-led lawsuit.”
She offered me a handshake. “So we have a deal?”
I wanted more than a deal, but that was a start. As I walked her to the door, I asked, “Should we shop for real estate before or after we get back?”
She kissed my cheek and said, “I’ll text Kelly to get started, and you two can talk today.”
“Then we have a deal.”
She turned around and faced me with one hand in the air. “One more condition.”
I’ll miss her when she’s gone. “What’s that?”
She sighed and said, “I need a list of what’s expected of me as your marquess or duchess. What exactly am I supposed to do, exactly?”
Good question. I nodded. “I can have that drawn up.”
Her eyes widened. “You don’t know?”
I’d never asked my mother for a full list of things she did. I shrugged. “Not exactly, but I can have the lawyer I hired provide the full list.”
She went through her shoes, avoiding her signature heels. “I’ll definitely need that to study.”
I stopped her and asked, “Study?”
She blushed but then grabbed a pair of flats. “Why, do you shirk whatever responsibilities you have?”
I flinched and said, “I don’t. You’ll see when we get home, but I pay for everything already even if my sister has no idea. I always do what I think is best for everyone. Let us make our own decisions, or at least me. I’m not that bad at choosing what’s best in my life.”
She tilted her head. “You are? You’ve been pretending since we met.”
Part of me wished we never had to part. I’d never been confused like this before. “I only stayed a butler when Charlie brought you home because of us.”
“You’d have left?”
I nodded quickly. “I’d have changed addresses as it was pretty clear Hope never liked having me around.”
