Vi would have shaken her head to rid her mind of the fog he seemed to put her in, if she wasn't so hyper-aware of his eyes on her. Instead, she swallowed a larger sip of the bubbly to steady herself and then smiled. "I suppose so," she answered, trying her best to channel her mother's steely calm.
As a way to change the subject, she said, "You mentioned you've been moulding your estate for a while now, when did you settle here?" She looked away from his gaze to take in the grounds once more, using the opportunity to get out of her head and to try and forget the way his fingertips had felt on her thigh.