Page 55 of All For You
I’d badly misjudged a man again. The realization hit like a blow to the stomach. I felt ill that I’d let Darcy slip past my defenses, coil his way into my good graces, despite that I’d seen him clearly from the beginning.
He had shown meexactlywho he was the moment he’d walked into my life. The moment he’d seen me dancing and he’d openly made that rude comment.
And still…I’d let myself soften. I’d allowed myself to be flattered by his attention, warmed by the way he looked at me, touched by gestures that now felt grotesquely false. And now he’d gone and planted invidious doubts in Wills’s mind about Jane that had absolutely no foundation—to such an extent that Wills had been compelled to completely distance himself from her.
I wanted to believe in people, wanted to see the best side of them, but my hopefulness was blinding my good judgment. Why hadn’t I held on to my awful, real first impression? Why hadn’t I trusted myself? My instincts had been right. But I’d pushed them aside because—for a few foolish, fragile moments—I’d wanted to believe in something better.
In him.
I hated that most of all.
“No, I don’tshare your feelings. I can barely stand here talking to you. You have ruined the happiness of my sister. Your brother was clearly captivated by her, and you have persuaded him to send her away. Who knows when they’ll both find something real again?”
He flinched. Then he regained his usual certain demeanor. “I only told him to slow down. I had to speak up—I had no choice.My loyalty is to my brother. As I said, your sister showed no affection or unique preference for him, even in small ways.”
My anger at his callousness tightened around my throat like an invisible hand, stealing my breath one furious heartbeat at a time.
“How can you say that? You don’t know her. She cares for him deeply, but she’s shy and reserved. Can you not see that? What do you want for evidence? And after condemning her, you presume that tomorrow I’ll want to spend four hours traveling to meet you for dinner. We don’t even know each other. If you feel this way about my sister, how then can I trust what you feel or say about me?” Dazed, I shook my head, and tears threatened, hot and blinding. “I need some space. I’m not sure I want to see you again.”
He flinched, and his face set harder, his jaw pulsing with restraint. “Don’t worry on that score. I won’t trouble you.” His voice was flat and emotionless. Then he looked past me. “Oh my God, no.”
I turned to a flash of red. Harry the cameraman. Oh hell.
Had he caught all this? His deer-in-the-headlights expression indicated yes. Our whole exchange was going to be on TV. My stomach lurched with shame.
I ran inside to get my bag. To get as far away from Darcy as possible.
CHAPTER 26
Darcy
Iknocked on Wills’s bedroom.
“Don’t come in if you’re a monster,” came the annoyed reply. Annoyed had been his constant tone since we’d arrived back in London from the Amor Inn one week ago.
That was what Wills had used to say when we were kids.
I peered around the door into his bedroom, all deep blue-gray. He was in his dressing gown, leaning on his balcony and looking at the gorgeous views over the Thames—Big Ben, Westminster Bridge, and the Houses of Parliament.
“Oh,” he said, peering around. “Itisa monster.”
“Ha-ha. Since it’s Tom’s night off, how about tonight we go out to that new restaurant around the corner?”
“You and me sitting across from each other at a restaurant table? No way. In case you haven’t noticed, you’re not great company at the moment.”
“I’ll call some friends to join us, then.”
“What friends?” he asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Darcy, we don’t have any friends, because the few we had have been scared away by you being even grouchier than usual.”
I honestly didn’t have the energy to argue with him, and he might have been…right. “Okay, then.”
“Maybe you should make your delicious Wainwright chicken. A wonderful pairing with the mood that surrounds you these days.”
Even the mention of that dish reminded me of Lizzy. A pang shot straight through my heart.
