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could see the hollow of his throat framed by the V of his hoodie.
    The girl’s eyes narrowed. She’d been very heavy-handed with the eyeliner to begin with, and this made her eyes nearly disappear. “Robert, aren’t you going to introduce us?” she barked, but he was ignoring her, and before I knew what was going on, he’d crossed the remaining gravel in a couple of long-legged strides and enfolded me in a bear hug.
    My spinning brain noted three things: He had nice strong arms. He smelled delicious—not just aftershave, but that weirdly familiar smell you encounter once in a blue moon. He was also hugging me in a manner that suggested hugs had been taken before.
    I couldn’t help it. I squeezed him back and, to my amazement, I felt him lift me slightly off my feet.
    No man had ever attempted that, let alone managed it.
    “Robert!” From somewhere deep inside Robert’s shoulder I could hear Uggs marching on the gravel, and suddenly Robert disengaged and a cross face appeared between us.
    “I’m Catriona,” she snapped, and I pulled away with a start. “Catriona Learmont.”
    She shot out the hand that wasn’t carrying the dog, and I shook it vacantly, still reeling from the whoosh of hormones swooping round my chest.
    “This is Alice Nicholson, Fraser’s girlfriend,” Robert announced, at the same time that I said, “I’m Evie, Evie Nicholson.”
    Robert and I stared at each other. I knew I was blushing—the heat from my cheeks was the only warm part of my whole body.
    He took a step backward.
    “Oh, my God,” he said. “I’m so sorry, it was the coat—I’ve never seen a coat like that anywhere else, and I thought …” He squinted at me. “I assume Alice
is
your sister?”
    “Yes, she is! Happens all the time, honestly, don’t worry about it,” I babbled. “Quite a compliment, actually! Ha-ha! Sure it wouldn’t go down as well the other way round …”
    Catriona stared at me as if I were talking Welsh, then gave Robert one of those
Don’t make me say it
frowns Mum flashed at Dad when he tried to buy full-fat milk instead of skim in Waitrose.
    “You can’t just slope off when you’re the host, Robbie.” She turned back to me with a smile only slightly warmer than the wintry air. “Lovely to meet you, Alice, or Evie. But I have to drag Robert off, I’m afraid. We hadn’t finished discussing what he’s wearing to the ball!”
    “Yes, we had.” Robert raised his hands. “I thought I’d made it clear. No kilt. No sporran. Sorry. But no.”
    Her eyes narrowed.
    His eyes narrowed.
    Five excruciating seconds passed, during which I was literally frozen to the spot. I was about to make some random comment just to break the tension and get myself inside to thaw out, when Catriona grimaced and swung her braid like a scorpion’s tail.
    “You’re tired. So am I. We’ll talk tomorrow.
Good night
.”
    She beeped a Range Rover open, threw the obedient Jack Russell in, then leaped in herself, showing a lot of green leg. With a roar of the engine, she backed round, nearly clipping Max’s car, and set off down the drive in a squirt of gravel.
    Robert and I were left staring at her vanishing taillights.
    After a moment, he turned back to me and held out his hand. “Shall we start again? Robert McAndrew. Friend of Fraser’s. And Alice’s.”
    “Hello,” I said. “Evie Nicholson. Sister of Alice. Friend of Fraser. Hello.”
    Stop saying hello,
I told myself. But my brain had gone into slow motion, to save energy for the butterflies careering around my stomach. Good-looking man, glamorous castle, freezing cold, fancy dress ball—I didn’t know what to focus on first.
    Besides, it felt a bit awkward to go back to shaking hands after I’d been so recently pressed up against the soft bit of his neck.
    I wondered if Robert was feeling as jangly as I was, but he didn’t show any outward signs of it. In fact, he was moving straight into polite chitchat, as if the hug, the spat, and the