Can such a strange friendship turn into love? He never realized she was so lovely. She never noticed how charming he was. Miles Bridgerton and Vanessa Everleigh have known each for over a decade and both of them had never really given the other much...
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Dinner with mixed company was never, ever, ever, pleasant.
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Miles felt miserable at dinner. It was very evident that the seating arrangements were made with intentions of matchmaking, but certainly not the ones he had expected. He was seated between the two Hawkins sisters, who were not enjoyable company. Their father was the Earl of Westwood, so in turn, his daughters were the epitome of what Miles despised about the ton, pure artificial personalities.
He wished to be seated next to Vanessa, but he also applauded his mother for not outright forcing the match. She knew he was bothered by their pestering, so she decided to give him breathing room by separating them, but she definitely could have done a better job than Augusta and Caroline Hawkins. He supposed he should still be grateful that Kate put Vanessa in front of him. But it also made it all the more painful to see another man flirt with her.
Across from the table, Vanessa sat between Michael Smythe-Smith and Mary. It would have been better if Michael was an intolerable ass who Vanessa could have disliked, but he was the opposite. He was perfectly pleasant company, and Vanessa looked as if she enjoyed sitting next to him.
Miles was acquainted with Michael throughout university, he was one of the few men who encouraged him on his medical endeavors instead of putting him down for it. Michael's mother was a former governess, not exactly a lady of high class breeding. So, he knew that the rules of society weren't always to be strictly followed. After all, if his father, the Earl of Winstead, had valued propriety over love, then Michael would not have been born.
And truly, Miles appreciated Michael's openminded beliefs. Maybe he could even consider him a distant friend. Which meant that Miles knew him well enough to know that he would make an amiable husband. And from what he witnessed, Michael was clearly testing the waters with Vanessa.
Miles felt a tinge of jealousy(well, more than tinge), but what bothered him greater was that he knew Michael only looked at her because Miles paid attention to her first. Everyone knew that the surest way to ensure a debutante's success was for an eligible gentleman to pay her attention. And no one had paid attention to Vanessa in all these years, not until Miles came back to London.
And now, the son of an earl flirted with her as if she hadn't been a spinster for so many years. Michael made jokes, and she laughed. He asked her questions, and she entertained them. And he did not seem to mind her honesty and humour. He was not a pompous ass like the rest of the ton who always expected to hear what was proper.
God, he was jealous.
Miles wanted to be the one making her smile and laugh, but instead here he was, forced to answer the stupid questions that the Hawkins sisters asked.
"Mr. Bridgerton?" Beside him, Caroline asked.
"I apologize, what were you saying?" He had not been paying attention to her.
