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Home of the Prior Family

Lounging out as he was, stretched out across the sofa, book in hand, leaning against pillows, feet propped up on the other end of the couch, Nicholas was comfortable. Of course that comfort wouldn't last long as there had been a ringing of the bell and that meant someone was here. No doubt another person coming to his house to make wedding plans. Why his house? Weren't they supposed to go to the girls house to make the plans? Then again I suppose Camellia would've sent them off to his house just to bother him, and with the cover of 'wanting to ensure that her husband enjoyed their wedding just as much as her'. Bleh. Frowning at not hearing a door open, Nicholas stood. Where were the servants? Weren't they supposed to get the door? Make sure people knew that Nicholas 'wasn't home'? Sighing he shut the book and swung his legs off the couch before rising. He supposed he had to hurry to the door now, so running though the hall towards the door he stopped and then pulled open the door expecting to see someone waiting there nervously. Instead he spotted the figure of a lady walking off. She seemed familiar and in no time at all his mind placed her somewhat familiar sight. "Brooke?" He called out a slight smirk tugging at his lips. Now what on earth was she doing here? Taking a moment to reflect on his appearance he wished he hadn't run, no doubt his hair looked a mess of curls now and the shirt was no doubt wrinkled from him having been laying out. He probably looked sloppy.

Watching her curiously, Nicholas found himself taking in more of her appearance, her hair looked a little bit more wild than it had in the shop. If that was possible. Either way she looked a bit nervous. Ha. Understatement of the century. She looked very nervous. Why? He didn't really know. Clearing his throat slightly he nodded, his lips turning up in a smile at her comment and watching her eyes drift down to his chest before she seemed to realize what she was doing and looked back up at his eyes. "I've always tried hard to look the part of pompous noble as well as fit into that role." He remarked teasingly before looking at her hands at the pad of paper and the pen. "Were you planning on coming here to ask if you could draw me? Many have said I have the structure of a god." He chuckled slightly before stepping back in the doorway and gesturing for her to come inside. Normally he didn't flirt so openly with young ladies, but with Brooke? Well he found he enjoyed seeing her blush. Hell he especially enjoyed seeing her blush. Not only was it amusing but the rise of color always sent a bit of pleasure through him, as though he was proud of being able to make an impact on her that would make her blush.

Why was she here? Not that it was entirely unwelcomed. Alright, partly it was unwelcomed. Mostly because she'd managed to make him want to be around her before at the shop and he couldn't afford to think like that. To allow himself to think like that. Which was why he had raced out of the shop like that. Sure it may have been a bit of cowardly move, but could you really blame him? After all here was a guy about to get married and for a moment, back in that small shop he had been thinking about what it would be like to kiss the seamstress girl. He'd been considering kissing a girl of lower class. Oh the scandal. So naturally he'd had to flee. Anyone would've fled. Anyone save for Nesley of course.

Ah, there it was, the bright flush of her blood rushing to her skin as her sympathetic nervous system kicked into overdrive. It definitely was a pretty sight, her skin rosy with embarrassment and her long light lashes with that wild mass of blonde hair? Yes, Brooke was very pretty. Not to mention she was slender and petite, the oversized dress however made Nicholas a little upset. Having just realized now about how the dress hung off her shoulders slightly he realized that her dressing style could be enough to provoke lesser men into animalistic behaviors. Not that her dress should do that, but men had done worse with less before. Shaking his head he pushed those thoughts of worry out of his mind, she could no doubt take care of herself. No doubt she had someone to take care of her need be, too. After all she may have been of lower class but she was still a beautiful woman and no doubt had a few suitors waiting on her. "That's because I make it look easy." He winked at her before she blushed and stammered about his wedding suit. Ahh so she was here for wedding details after all, and here he had been hoping for something at least a bit exciting. Oh well.

"Well if you're going to be talking about my wedding with me we might as well go into the foyer." Turning he headed down the hallway, expecting her to follow him and shut the door once she had come inside. After all he may have had some feelings for this Brooke girl, but that wouldn't mean that he was suddenly cured of the way he was raised. Nope, he was still very much the man he was raised to be. Selfish and quite arrogant. At her comment about her book he paused, stepped back, took the book out of her hands and then proceded to the Foyer. Once there he sat back down in one of the chairs, flipping through the pages, he'd already looked at the design she had it open to. It was nice. Suitable for the wedding. Now though he was merely admiring her other drawings and patterns. Flipping through the book as though he owned it or something. With his chin he nodded towards the couch in Brooke's direction, "Please, take a seat. Relax." He paused at a drawing of a wedding dress, some designs and instantly was curious. Who's dress was this?

Holding onto the book when Brooke tried to snatch it from him, he drew her closer to him so they were both holding the book and only inches apart. Nicholas pouted slightly, "That wasn't very nice. And after calling me a girl for running away, which you also tried to do. Had I not opened my door and stopped you by calling out your name, you would've fled. No room to judge there, Brooke." Smirking slightly he smiled slightly his eyes falling back to the wedding dress design, from her reaction that left one assumption. She'd designed it for herself. It was a pretty dress, no doubt made of rich fabrics. Something that she probably thought she would only be able to dream about. Well he supposed it depended on whom she married, sure he assumed she was in lower class, but if she joined the royal guard she would be able to afford that dream dress of hers with little effort. Smiling slightly he nodded, "And if you didn't want the designs to be seen by me, you should've drawn the designs for my tux in another book. Obviously I'm going to look through them all." Rolling his eyes slightly he smirked at her, finding her anger rather endearing. After all when she got angry her nose wrinkled a bit and she looked almost adorable in a way. Almost. Of course he'd seen plenty of attractive women in his lifetime....Nicholas knew Brooke was pretty. He could handle pretty women. Although Brooke seemed to be rather inexperienced with social interactions and well she seemed quite easily flustered, especially around him.

"Is that your wedding dress? It's lovely. Although it pales in comparison to the bride." Smirking at her, still being close to her he chuckled, "And you think I was taught to be the way I am? I learned it on my own, had I been taught, my lovely brother would be far easier to deal with." Chuckling he sighed and then let go of the book, and took her hand lightly in his to keep her from falling over with her use of force as she had been trying to pry it from him. Of course he'd been careful enough so that none of the pages crinkled or ripped. He wasn't that cruel to have damaged something that she cared about so immensely. Although being this close to her the temptation to kiss her was incredibly strong. Not that he could act upon it. If he did that and his parents walked in? Or one of the servants or something? Ha. His whole act of being madly in love with Camellia would burn to the ground in flames. He'd spent years making that cover and he wouldn't risk it falling apart now because of a girl. Some silly seamstress girl that had flashed that stupid coy smile his way making him think she had some sort of secret or something. With those bright eyes of hers that seemed to trap him. No sir. Not because of some girl.

"Oh yes, right. Walking. Either way you were fleeing the scene." Smirking at her he chuckled as she puffed up a bit, like she was getting ready to yell at him or something. Instead she merely objected to what he had said, "Oh? It's not yours? Who's is it then? I've never seen that dress before, and with the fabrics you have written down? It's obvious that it would be a dress for either nobles or royal guard members." Not that he was trying to be rude, but she should know better than to negate what he had figured out. "And I say such things because I'm being honest. Complimenting you." Shrugging his shoulders in a nonchalant sort of way as though it really wasn't that far out of the loop, as though he did stuff like this every day. Which he sort of did. He was born and bred to please others and complimenting people was part of that, although usually his compliments were blatant lies or half truths. Stuff like that. With Brooke they were full truths, she was pretty. Still her dress bothered him. She was a seamstress. Why didn't she just alter the dress so it fit her properly? Surely she would be able to do that without really having to take much time? Or was it that she didn't want to? Perhaps. Still it was the kind of thing that bothered him unconsciously and when she leaned forward he was instantly curious as to what she was going to do.

What happened next? He wouldn't have expected that in a million years. She slapped him! He'd never been slapped by a woman before. Never been slapped by a man for that matter either, but still! She had slapped him? No it wasn't too painful, and it didn't have a lot of force behind it, but still it was the action that counted. His eyes widened as he looked over at her and then she just plopped right down on the couch a few feet away from him. As though it was nothing! Did she go around slapping men all the time? Just like walking down the street slapping people as she passed? Somehow he didn't think so. So why had she slapped him? Because he had looked at her book without her permission? Huh. That meant that the dress was most certainly designed for her. Alright. Well then, she had just made the first move. Game on, sweetheart. Looking over he cleared his throat taking the shocked expression off his face and nodding, "Yes, back to work." When she flipped back to the design he looked over and then frowned craning in his neck and making it obvious he was uncomfortable. "Hmmm I need to see it again, and better." Moving closer to her so he was sitting right next to her he nodded and looked at the book in her hands, at the drawing. "I like it," He nodded trailing off as though he had more to say on the subject. He didn't, he honestly thought it was good. Hell he didn't really care all that much what he wore. So long as it made him look good, and this would make him look good. Actually, lesbehonest....he could make anything look good. He just trailed off because he wanted to see her reaction, see just what she would do to want to hear more about his opinion. An opinion he didn't have. Thankfully all those years of stuffy parties, hours spent around all those other nobles? Nicholas was basically a fool proof actor. To see though him would be nearly impossible.

Nicholas had to resist smiling as she huffed out a breath of air in frustration and her hair blew out around her. Running her slender fingers through the mass of hair he smiled at her and nodded, "Oh yes, You're right. I should most definitely care more." He paused then and looked around, scanning the room for people, as though people were hiding in the room or something. Oddly enough the house seemed to be deserted. Perhaps his parents were at a party and he had forgotten? Perhaps all the servants were taking a day off? No. Both options were ridiculous. Chances were that his mother had gone out shopping with a few trusted servants and his father had gone over to a Nobels house to smoke cigars and play a few hands of poker while drinking around the table. No doubt the few servants at the house were in the kitchens taking a well deserved break. Either way he was certain that no one would come barging into the room at any moment. Nesley was most likely brooding in his room, out in the gardens, or prowling the town. Either way there was no one to get in the way of anything that Nicholas wanted to do at that moment. Which made this moment the perfect moment to talk to Brooke, make her a confident. Problem was.....could he do it? He'd never told another soul this information. Of course, Nesley knew. His brother was many things but dull was not one of them. No, unfortunately for him Nesley was very smart and intuitive, especially when it came to Nicholas. Try as he might, try as either of them might the two brothers were actually fairly skilled at reading one another. Made it impossible to keep secrets from one another, not to mention that when they fought things tended to get rather heated rather quickly. Still, Brooke was a secret. Nesley had no idea about Brooke.

So Brooke would be the perfect person to tell. After all who would she tell? He didn't really think she would tell anyone if he told her. It wasn't like she had anything to gain. Just because he felt attracted to her? She probably hated him, after all he was a Noble, no doubt she resented that, resented that he was arrogant and hadn't worked a day in his life. Besides....this was just hormonal lust, right? It would pass, the more time he spent with her. He just had to spend more time with her, befriend her. Prove to himself that this was nothing more than just hormones that made him feel the way he did around her. Looking back at her, back into those pools of dark blue that would become bright piercing violet at the center. Framed by her long blonde lashes? Yeah it was easy enough to get lost in her eyes, not to mention that the scent that seemed to surround her was enticing as well. Made his eyes flicker to her lips for the smallest of microseconds before going back to her eyes. Leaning in closer to her, he practically eliminated any space between them, giving her only a few centimeters between them. His voice was soft and hushed as he spoke to her, as if telling her a secret of the utmost importance. The highest of secrets. "I might care, if I was marrying someone I actually loved." He said softly before pulling back and shrugging. Smiling at her he rose to his feet, acting as though the moment of confession had never happened. "So are you thirsty? My mother makes the best pink lemonade." As a man secure in his masculinity and confidence he could admit freely to drinking and liking pink lemonade.

Of course. He should've known she wouldn't drop the situation. No, that would've been asking too much of her to just relax and let the situation have been. So instead of going to get the pink lemonade like he had been planning, Nicholas ducked down towards the floor, picking up the book that had fallen at her feet and frowning slightly, one of the pages had wrinkled a bit. Smoothing out the corner of the page the best he could with his hand he didn't look up at her as she spoke, instead waiting a few moments till her questions were done and then looking up he almost stepped back, she had moved closer than he had thought and he swallowed a bit nervously. Why was it that her proximity made his heart clench up a bit? His palms seemed a little sweaty too, as though nervous. But he was Nicholas Edward Prior, dammit! He didn't let girls make him Nervous! And he certainly as hell didn't get sweaty palms!

Sighing in exasperation he ran a hand though the curls atop his head and then his eyes rolled slightly, looking up at the ceiling and around the room before falling back on her and looking onto those two-toned eyes of hers. "Alright. I told you because I can't trust anyone and you're well......." He couldn't say 'who would you tell' or 'no one would believe you'....that would sound rude. Even he realized that, so instead he opted for, "Well you're one of the few people who treats me like a person, if not the only person who does that. I was kind of thinking we could be-" He paused and then spoke the next word slowly as though testing it out on his tongue, "Friends." At the silence that followed he cleared his throat and shifted his weight awkwardly. This was awkward. No wonder he was having sweaty palms friendless. This friend making thing was awkward.

'Do people usually ask to be friends'. At those words Nicholas almost smacked himself in the face. He would've welcomed another slap from her right then and there. Of course people didn't ask to be friends! What had he been thinking. Great now she would deem him an awkward loser. And he was not an awkward loser. He was a Prior! Hell he was the Prior! And here he was groveling to be someone's friend. Oh great. If Nesley ever got word of this he'd never hear the end of it. His mind started spinning into thoughts of self shame and then suddenly they all stopped as he was pulled from the recesses of his mind by something taking hold of his hands. No. Not something. A someone. Eyes moving from the lamp behind her head and over her shoulder, Nicholas looked down at their hands, her fingers wrapped around his and oddly enough he had a different idea. The idea of intertwining his fingers with hers. That was ludicrous thought. As if she would ever allow that to happen. Ha. She'd slapped him for merely looking at her sketchbook!

Still her words got through to him and he smiled slightly, "You don't have to make it seem like I just made you princess or something." He teased lightly and then bit his lip and nodded, clearing his throat. Why was he doing that so often around her? Because he found that if he didn't his throat felt dry and like he needed water. Like it was closing up on him or something. Smiling slightly he nodded at her and then licked his lips, "So....Pink lemonade? And I do like the design." He knew that it wasn't exactly what she wanted, as she wanted enthusiasm over it.....but he couldn't do that. After all that suit to him was like picking out the coffin you wanted to be buried in. How could she expect him to jump for joy at it? No doubt Camellia felt the same way about her wedding dress. Still while he had offered to get them drinks he made no move to step away from her. To let go of her hand and leave the room to go retrieve the drinks. Instead he just stood there, looking down at her into her lovely two-toned eyes. Those irises that were a lovely mixture of blue and violet. Standing there his entire body was very aware of her. Aware of her breathing and how her lips were slightly parted, just the smallest little space between them, how her lashes almost reached up to her eyebrows in their length. How his breathing seemed to hitch.

Yes, he was aware of it all. He was also incredibly aware of the fact of how little space there was, how his one hand was still holding the book and how part of him wanted to just close the space between them. Hormones. They were thinking for him again. Right? That's all it was. Silly hormones that were reacting because this girl was pretty and nice and intriguing, and she smelled good.....not to mention that she was honest and always spoke what was on her mind. Or the fact that her voice had a way of lingering in the air slightly. Or the fact that even after he had raced out of the shop he found himself thinking about her...reminded about her. Certainly with the idea that he had even looked forward to hopefully seeing her again. Oh yeah. That was all just hormones. Yup. Hormones.

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