Page 51 of The Duke Who Saved Christmas
“Thank you,” Sylvie said after a moment in a soft voice. “For bringing me home. I do appreciate it.”
I licked my lips, suppressing a smile. “Is that because the car says it’s now below freezing out there?”
“Can’t you just accept my thank you with some grace?”
“No.”
She sighed and undid her seatbelt, letting it snap back to the holder, then grabbed her bag from the floor and got out of the car. I watched her as my smile crept onto my face, and it got harder to keep it under control when she made an emphatic show of slamming the door.
My poor car. It was taking a beating from her this evening.
She strolled around the front of the car, and my gaze followed every step she took, even when she was done with the car and kept walking towards the front of the house.
She didn’t look back at me once.
She had far more restraint than I did.
I pressed the button to wind down my window and rested my arm on the ledge, poking my head out. “Hey, Sylvie?”
Her steps faltered, and she finally turned to look at me. “What?”
I waved her over with my hand, and she pursed her lips, but she came back over to the car and stopped in front of me.
“What?” she repeated, looking at me with a mixture of amusement and annoyance.
She had a terrible poker face.
“Thanks for the waffles.”
She stilled momentarily, then tilted her head to the side and gave me a “Really?” kind of look. “Was that worth calling me back for?”
“I didn’t thank you earlier,” I reminded her with a grin.
She waved her hand dismissively and turned around, shaking her head. “Don’t think we’re friends now, Thomas Castleton.”
“If you’re going to use my full name, at least address me properly!”
Sylvie stopped by the front door and rested a hand against the column that held up the roof of the covered front porch. “Kiss my arse,Your Grace.”
“Well, since you asked nicely…”
“Oh, piss off!” She flipped her middle finger in my direction, fishing her keys out of her bag with her other hand. She only dropped her finger to open the front door, but she made sure to flash it in my direction one last time before she went inside.
I couldn’t help but fucking laugh. She was the pettiest of the petty, but it was hilarious because it was just so natural for her. She wasn’t trying to be petty—it just happened. Her flipping the bird at me was exactly the same as her karate chopping my elbow.
It was a spur of the moment action that reminded me perfectly of the spunky Sylvie I used to know.
She hadn’t changed a bit.
I waited for a second to make sure she was safely inside, then reversed to the front of the house in the little space I had. It took some manoeuvring since both Sylvie and her grandfather’s cars were in front of the house, but I just about managed it thanks to my reverse camera.
I drove down the driveway and headed away from the house, following the same roads I’d taken to get here. When I reached the turn off for town, I had to pause for a gritter truck to go past, then I turned in the opposite direction towards Castleton Manor.
The road had already been gritted, but I still drove a little slower than I usually would. The roads could be unpredictable and dangerous at the best of times, never mind in inclement weather.
By the time I reached the gates, snow was falling from the sky.
I used my fob to unlock the gates, then drove through them, making sure to hit the button to close them again as I rolled the car along the gravel. Happy that they were actually shut, I finished the drive up to the house and paused by the path to the garage.
