Page 4 of Stuck

“Define inappropriate.”

“Well, he asked me when I was going to put a ring on it.”

I grinned. “What did you tell him?”

As I’d expected, the tips of Bingley’s ears pinked with embarrassment. “I said soon. Sorry, I panicked.”

“Don’t worry, I don’t think it was legally binding.”

He let out a self-deprecating huff. “Why can’t he ask me about farming? Or he could ask you—you probably have more knowledge about this technology in your little finger than King has ever had. He might learn a thing or two.”

I slid my hands around his arm and squeezed reassuringly as I led him back towards the main event room. “Because he’s a dinosaur who cares more about money than the environment and needs to see a tame little woman on your arm before he’ll trust your moral fibre.”

Bingley grimaced in acknowledgement and held the door open for me.

The room was loud, filled with the booming voices of over-lubricated and over-confident businesspeople and the quieter chatter of their plus-ones. There was no music—another reason the event felt aggressively corporate. Neither was there a typical seating area, the organisers having opted for tall tables and bar stools to promote the kind of mingling that guaranteed an event like this was successful.

As we crossed the room to rejoin King and a handful of other investors we’d been schmoozing with all night, Bingley put his hand over mine on his arm. “Thank you for putting up with this nonsense.”

I gave him a one-shouldered shrug. “Don’t worry about it. You warned me he wanted to see arm candy not IQ.”

He was clearly ashamed of the attitude King and his colleagues were espousing and frustrated not to be challenging it, but I didn’t hold it against him. There were plenty of men in our field, him included, who recognised that women were of equal intellectual worth. Sadly, King was not one of them.

I could have let it be known that I had a master’s in Agricultural Engineering, but that wasn’t the sort of help Bingley needed. My mission tonight was to convince King that Hydro Crops was a sound investment simply because its CEO was able to maintain a stable heteronormative relationship. And apart from the fugly dress, I was pretty sure I was nailing it.

Until he arrived.

“Damn it,” Bingley muttered under his breath.

“What’s wrong?” I whispered.

“Darcy’s here.”

“Who?” I followed his gaze to the main entrance. I had to assume he was referring to the man in a flawlessly tailored three-piece suit, standing at the double doors, scanning the room looking for someone. He was ridiculously tall and, I couldn’t help noticing, ridiculously good-looking. He wore no tie but had left the top two buttons of his crisp white dress shirt undone, perfecting the look. Bingley might not want him here, but I sure as shortcake didn’t object.

Bingley’s voice was strained as he whispered, “Fitzwilliam Darcy. He’s Hydro Crops’s main backer.”

“And… you don’t like him?”

“What? No, he’s one of my closest friends.”

I peered at him. “Are you sure? It doesn’t seem like you’re too pleased to see him.”

“It’s not that, it’s… He wasn’t supposed to be here. I didn’t think he was flying back until tomorrow. Listen, Eliz⁠—”

“Oh good, Darcy’s here,” King said, waving the newcomer over. Darcy acknowledged him with a nod and set out immediately towards us. Bingley began fidgeting, visibly agitated by his approach.

“What are you so worried about?” I asked quietly.

He didn’t have time to explain before his friend reached us, but it wasn’t long until I realised the issue. I struggled to suppress a grin when, after Darcy had greeted everyone else in our group, he turned his eyes expectantly on me—and Bingley just stood there, face flaming red, mouth opening and closing as though he’d forgotten what words were.

I couldn’t blame him. We were about to get royally busted.

“And you are?” Darcy said to me, nothing awkward about him at all. He was a solid wall of intensity, unapologetically owning every fragment of the space he took up. And he took up a lot of it.

“Elizabeth Bennet,” I answered, holding out my hand.

He took it, completely swamping mine in his, and raised one eyebrow as he waited for the explanation I hadn’t given him. I peeled my eyes away from the outrageously sexy expression and looked to Bingley with a raised eyebrow of my own. This was delicious. I couldn’t wait to see him squirm his way around our little secret.