Page 19 of Stuck

George snorted. “So, is anyone going to introduce me to this delightful creature?”

“Oh, yes, sorry,” I said. “This is Tam. Mary’s girlfriend.”

Mary hadn’t been out when she last saw George, but if he was surprised by the revelation, he didn’t show it. Perhaps he had finally matured in the years since I’d last seen him, because it was definitely something he would have commented on inappropriately before. Or perhaps he was only distracted, because then he said, “Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Tam, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to cut this short, because my date’s arrived.”

We all looked over to the woman who’d just walked in the door. She was pretty, with auburn hair and freckles so dark and profuse you could see them from across the room.

“Cute! Who is she?” I asked.

“Another Mary, as it happens—Mary King. We haven’t known each other long, but I like her.”

“Introduce me?” I asked. I hadn’t made many friends in London outside of work, so if George was here with a girlfriend, I saw no reason not to connect with both. I didn’t go so far as to invite them to join us, knowing my sister wouldn’t thank me for it, but a quick hello never went amiss.

Mary King looked understandably apprehensive as George approached with another woman, but once he explained who I was, she greeted me with a shy smile. Turned out, she’d not been in London long either, having lived with her aunt and uncle in California until a few months ago, and she jumped at the chance of making a new friend. I gave her my number and told her to give me a call.

“Ugh, that man,” my sister grunted when I returned to our table. “Still as insufferable as ever.”

“I liked him,” Tam said with a sniff. “He owned his own chaos. There’s a lot to be said for that.”

Mary looked at her with disgust. “You’re as bad as Lizzy. All we need now is for Jane to be here, excusing everything he ever did wrong as a misunderstanding, and we’ll be set.”

“Think yourself lucky that Lydia isn’t here to flirt with him,” I said then laughed at the face she pulled.

I stayed for three more cocktails and finally got home a little before seven, feeling distinctly fuzzy around the edges. My coat defied my attempt to hang it on the hook, sliding directly to the floor. I blew a raspberry at it and left it where it fell to wobble down the hall into the living room, where all the lights and the TV were on and my favourite sister was sitting cross-legged on the sofa.

She laughed when she saw me. “You look like you’ve had a fun afternoon.”

“It was Tam’s fault.”

“Ah, that explains a lot.”

I dropped down next to her on the sofa to give her a big hug. “Nice to have you home again. Did you have a good time?”

“The best. I really like him.”

“Yes, the bit where my saintly, overachieving sister bunked off her beloved job to follow him across the border for clandestine sex kind of gave that away.”

She blushed but didn’t refute it. “Thank you for covering for us.”

“Hmm. I’ll be a lot happier once Bingley’s put Darcy straight tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

I did not like the question she put into that word. “He can’t possibly be expecting me to keep pretending now he’s back.”

Jane shook her head slowly. “He’s not back. He’ll be in Scotland until Wednesday at least.”

“What?” I yelped, sitting up and twisting to look back at her in confusion. I was not sober enough for this.

Jane’s face was all scrunched up with worry and guilt. “I assumed you knew. We both did. I had to come back for work, but he’s got meetings booked for at least half this week and might end up staying until Friday.”

I opened my mouth to complain that he never told me that but closed it again when I realised he’d never specified a timeline. Bollocks. Still… “Not my problem. I refuse to carry on pretending. It’s beyond dumb.”

“I know it is, but Bingley’s really worried that Darcy’s going to be annoyed when he finds out he’s been lying⁠—”

“You think? No, enough is enough. If Bingley won’t tell him, then I will.”

“Please don’t,” Jane blurted, grabbing at my arm. “Not before Mr King’s gala on the twenty-fourth. All the investors from the other night will be there, and they all think you’re a couple.”