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“I do wish you’d stop calling me that,” Eleanor scowled.

“Your wish is my command, Your Royal Highness,” Danni said.

Eleanor groaned, resisting the urge to throw something at her. “You’re going to have to mind your manners,” she said. “Not to mention getting a bit of a wardrobe update.”

“There’s a wardrobe in the spare room,” Danni said. “There’s no bed, but there’s definitely a wardrobe.”

“Not what I meant.”

“Then what did you mean?”

Eleanor tapped her phone. “There’s a small gathering at the country club next week. I thought it would be a good occasion to make our public debut.”

“Debut?”

“Why not?” asked Eleanor. “There’s less chance of you embarrassing yourself if we’re just popping in for a glass of something. No sit-down conversations. It seems an ideal opportunity.”

And for once, Danni was the one lost for words.

Chapter Ten

Danni stood in the back room of the pub surrounded by drink crates and wrestling with the dress that Indi had thrust upon her. The thing had about a million tiny buttons and she was beginning to suspect that rich people just liked to make getting dressed as complicated as possible.

“This is ridiculous,” she grumbled, twisting around to reach a particularly stubborn button. “I could be at home, in my jeans, eating a perfectly good pasty. Instead, I’m squeezing myself into this… torture device.” She gestured at the dress, nearly topping over in the process.

Indi, who was perched on a stool watching all of this with great amusement, sipped at her drink. “You’ll survive,” she said.

Danni scowled. “You don’t know that.”

“You’ve faced down angry cows and had your hand up a sheep’s bum. I’m pretty sure you can handle a cocktail party, Dan.”

“That’s debatable,” Danni muttered. She groaned as she finally managed to do up the last button. “Living with Eleanor is driving me up the wall. She’s got rules about everything. I swear to God, if I leave my dirty boots by the door one more time, the woman’s going to have me hung, drawn, and quartered.”

“Sounds like she’s got your number,” Indi smirked. “And I thought you’d never met a woman that you couldn’t charm?”

Danni scoffed at this. “Eleanor’s immune. She got vaccinatedas a child or something.”

“Mmm-hmm,” said Indi, clearly unconvinced. She stood up and gave Danni an appraising look, straightening the dress on her shoulders a little. “Well, I hate to say it, but you actually look kind of posh.”

Tommy stuck his head around the door, took one look at Danni, snorted and muttered, “Bloody hell, miracles do happen.”

Indi smacked him on the arm.

Danni rolled her eyes and grabbed her jacket, which had seen better days and was currently covered in a fair sprinkling of hay. “I’m going. I just want to get this over with at this point.”

???

Eleanor was fixing her earrings in the small mirror by the back door when the door opened. “Finally,” she said, huffing and turning around. And then she nearly swallowed her tongue.

Danni stood in the doorway in the borrowed dress, and for the first time, she actually looked like she belonged at the country club. Her usual scruffy farm-wear was gone, replaced by elegant lines and fabric that actually fit her. A dark bottle-green color bringing out her dark eyes, her dark curls piled on top of head. Alright, her hair was still a little messy, but in a way that was… Eleanor swallowed… almost roguishly charming.

“You alright?” Danni asked, raising an eyebrow. “You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.”

Eleanor snapped herself out of it, straightening up. “You, um, you look… presentable.”

Danni smirked. “Careful, El. Any more enthusiasm and I might think you like having me around.”

“Just try not to embarrass me,” Eleanor snapped. “And don’t call me El.”