Page 86 of Love You
Fifteen minutes ticked by while he contemplated his next move. He was just about to drive away when he saw her emerge from the shadows. All five-feet-whatever in pink fuzzy slippers and a nightshirt that said,SAVE THE CHUBBY UNICORN.
She opened the door, slid in, and said, “I don’t want to hash this out now . . . or ever. Go home and go to sleep.”
Yep, he was screwed.
* * *
Darcy started to get out of the Jeep when Win took her arm. “Don’t,” she warned.
“Bullshit! We’re talking about this.” He rested his back against the driver’s door, his mile-wide chest heaving, his large, capable hands moving in the air. Sex on a stick.
“No, we’re not.” She was probably acting childish but she didn’t care. “Where’s Madison?”
“The hotel. I dropped her off after dinner. You should’ve come, Darcy, instead of leaving me holding the bag.”
It had been a cruddy thing to do, especially because she wanted the promotion as badly as Win wanted his house, not to mention the acknowledgment of being able to land a big account. But she’d also wanted to save her dignity and watching Madison make a play for Win while she treated Darcy like the hired help . . . well, it was humiliating.
“She has no interest in doing business with me, only you.” She glared at him. “And my gut tells me she wants to do a lot more than business. Unless you already took care of that?”
He drilled her with a look. “So, automatically you think the worst of me? That’s just great, Darcy.”
“Look, I really don’t want to talk about this.” She huffed out a breath. “It was a long day and we have to do it all over again tomorrow. Though I don’t know why I’m even participating. You two are great all on your own.”
“Give it a rest. This is business, nothing more. You’re acting like a jealous high schooler so cut the crap.” His bark took her aback. Win never shouted. In the year she’d known him, she’d never even seen him angry. It made her defensive.
“You didn’t even act like you wanted me around.”
“What are you talking about? The bike ride? I know you didn’t like it last time and I didn’t want to put you through it again. I was trying to be considerate. If you noticed I didn’t change one of your damn plans. We kept right to the stupid schedule.”
“Thanks for being so sensitive.” She rolled her eyes because it was more civilized than punching him.
“You really think I wanted to be alone with Madison?”
She turned away from him and stared out the passenger window. “Not on purpose because I know you’d never intentionally hurt me. You’re a good person, Win, just emotionally stunted. I knew that from the beginning and I don’t blame you.”
“Thanks, I appreciate that.” His voice was thick with sarcasm. “It’s really heroic of you.”
They sat, filling the cab with silence until Win asked, “You can’t truly believe anything happened between Madison and me?”
She hitched her shoulders, trying to appear indifferent. “Why not? Beautiful women are your thing. And you and I”—she waved her hand between them—“that was just sex, you helping out a friend. It was fun but I never expected . .. wanted . . . it to last.”
“That’s a shitty thing to say.” He actually sounded wounded. She suspected it was a shock to his system to hear a woman say she didn’t want him. “And for the record, I considered you a hell of a lot more than a friend. I’ve got plenty of those. You were . . . different.”
Different. She’d always been different.
Darcy grabbed the handle on the door and started to open it. She couldn’t deal with this now. She had too much on the line, including her self-respect. It was just supposed to have been sex. A good time. But somewhere along the way, the lines had blurred and this thing between them had become much more. Win had become too important. Her feelings for him too strong. And if she let him, he could break her heart.
“I’m leaving now and tomorrow we can go back to being coworkers. I’d say ‘friends’ but you already haveplentyof those. You’re free, so you and Madison can go crazy if you want. No hard feelings.”
He got out and followed her up the path to her grandmother’s house. “You are not breaking up with me.”
She spun around, nearly tripping over her slippers. “Don’t worry, you can tell everyone it was you. No one would believe it’s me anyway.”
“Give me a break, Darcy. You’re acting ridiculous.”
No, she was doing what any sane woman would do: She was protecting herself.
“I’m letting you off the hook.” She put her hands on her hips. “We had some good laughs, now it’s time to get real. This thing between us was never meant to go anywhere. You, of all people, know that. Don’t worry about it, Win, we’re all good.”
