Page 59 of First Impressions
“Beth…”She heard her name like a whisper on the wind. A shiver went up her spine, but she knew it was just from the breeze. Blinking her eyes open, she drank her fill of the scenery with one last look, knowing that she really needed to find Phil and Mrs. Grace. Eyes downcast, she turned back around to face the house.
“Beth.”
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Oh,God.It wasn’t the wind. It was him. Darcy was here, in front of her, not bothering to hide the concern in his eyes. She knew her eyes were wide and her mouth had fallen open, but she couldn’t help but stare. Her mind was torn between wanting to believe that he wasn’t real and needing to believe that he was. He was dressed casually like he had been when she’d run into him in the rose garden at the DeBourgh estate; the look turned her on beyond belief, mostly because she knew that not many people saw him so exposed.
“Mr. Darcy,” came her breathy response.Nice, way to sound desperate.She was sure she looked just as pathetic too. She had on a pair of white skinny jeans with a loose summer blouse and a pair of boat-shoes; her hair was up in a simple ponytail and she had no makeup on which made it clear that she hadn’t been sleeping well; there had been bags underneath her eyes for days - not her most attractive look, that’s for sure.
Her body was drawn to him, every muscle aching from being held captive in place when all it wanted to do was run to him and kiss him; her breasts became heavy and her core tingled at the thought. Her heart screamed to apologize to him, to beg him to forgive her pride, to tell him that she loved him and did want to marry him.
In spite of all of that, some part of her kept her in place, kept her calm; she’d ruined her chance and she would respect his wish not to mention the proposal again.
“I’m so sorry,”If he only knew how much.“I didn’t realize you would be here. We scheduled the tour a while ago and I missed the email this morning saying that it needed to be rescheduled.” Beth knew she was rambling but she couldn’t stop. “Mrs. Grace was wonderful and said that it was ok for us to still stay for the tour because you weren’t home but now that you’re here, I’ll just go find Phil and we’ll go.” She ducked her head, embarrassed to be in this situation - intruding in his home just days after she’d refused his offer of marriage andtold him to leave her alone; she began to walk towards the side of the house, not trusting herself to stand there any longer.
How things had changed.Then she had stormed off because she was overwhelmed with anger, now she walked away because she was overflowing with love.
“Beth, wait.” He’d reached out and grasped her arm as she had walked by, just like the night they had first met at the Gala after he had called her ‘tolerable.’How things had stayed the same;just that slight touch still had the ability to quicken her already racing heart, to ignite the flame of desire, burning even brighter now that she knew the passion that existed between the two of them.
He quickly let go as soon as she paused mid-step, turning back to face him.
She looked at him quizzically, waiting for him to say something else and noticing that he looked very odd.Was he nervous? Was that even possible?He looked down at the ground, his fingers fidgeting with themselves before one hand came up to run his fingers through his beautifully disheveled hair. He wasn’t even holding eye contact with her anymore. This was not like the Darcy she knew; this wasn’t the cool, reserved, all-powerful man that she’d expected to see.
When he finally met her eyes again, she could see the uncertainty, the pain, but yet the small glimmer of hope in them.Did he still love her?
“There’s no need to apologize,” he managed to begin. “Of course you are always welcome here.”
“I, umm, thank you,” she replied, not sure where this was going but knowing that the longer she stayed, the more painful it would be when she left.
“I didn’t expect to be back so early, but my sister was done with class early today so we made it up here in good time.” She wasn’t sure why he felt like he had to justify his coming back early to his own home to her but she couldn’t find the words to question him. “Georgie is around here somewhere. Would you like to meet her?”
This was so unlike Darcy, asking her to do things instead of just telling her. And then the way he was looking at her with such hope in his eyes made it impossible for her tosay no, not that she wanted to say no, but she knew it would have been the smarter answer to give.
“I mean, of course. I’d love to meet her.” She gave him a small smile just as they both heard a conversation approaching them from the side of the house. Beth turned her head just has Mrs. Grace, Phil, and Georgiana appeared.
“Oh, Mr. William, there you are!” exclaimed Mrs. Grace. “We’ve been looking all over. I didn’t realize you would be back so soon or I would have rescheduled their tour.”
“Oh, please, Mrs. Grace,” Georgiana interjected, “I’ve been dying to meet Miss Bennet!” With a tremulous smile, the beautiful young girl came over to her and extended her hand. “I’m Georgiana, but you can call me Georgie if you want. It’s so nice to meet you. My brother has told me so many good things.”
“He has?” Beth couldn’t stop the question from coming out or hide the surprise in her tone. She recovered very quickly with a smile and a laugh and continued, “It’s lovely to meet you. I’ve heard nothing but good things about you as well and please, you can call me Beth.” She smiled at Georgie again, struck by how genuinely kind and innocent the girl seemed for being in her early twenties; her emotions, the excitement of meeting her and Phil, her love for her brother, her happiness, were written clear as day on her face; she had no mask, no shield - it was so completely opposite of her brother that if they didn’t look so similar, Beth would have struggled to believe that they were related.
Mr. Darcy leaned over to whisper something to Mrs. Grace as Beth glanced at Phil briefly. The surprise on realizing that Beth knew the owner of the house, hadn’t quite disappeared from his face as she gave him an apologetic smile.
“Would you like to stay for lunch?” Darcy asked. Even though she knew the question was meant for her, he looked at Phil as he asked, probably afraid she would come up with an excuse for them to leave again. “The chef is just making something simple, but it would give you the opportunity to taste something of his in case you want to use him for an event here in the future. I also would like to speak to you about PRfor Fitz Corp; I think the current firm that we are using could be doing a better job and I’d appreciate your opinion.”
Smooth.Leave it to Darcy to legitimize the request with a business opportunity.
“I, ahh, of course. That would be excellent. Thank you very much,” Phil stuttered his response, stunned by the opportunity to have Fitz Corp as a prospective client.
“Awesome! But please don’t let there be too much work talk while we eat,” Georgiana pleaded with her brother as she linked her arm through Beth’s. “He’s so boring when he talks about work,” she whispered to Beth as they walked towards the house.
“I know what you mean; he always seems so cool and collected to me,” Beth laughed and shot Darcy a glance, knowing that he was listening to their conversation. His eyes glared at her, knowing that she was purposely teasing him, having experienced him at his most passionate. “Don’t worry, we can always just talk among ourselves if they don’t seem too entertaining,” she finished with a wink to Georgiana.
As they walked into the dining room, Beth felt her phone buzzing through her purse. She quickly pulled it out and saw that Jane was calling - probably just to check in and see how the day was going. She silenced the call and put her phone back as they sat down at the table - Phil and Darcy at either end, Georgiana on one side and Beth on the other.
“Have you had a lot of interest in the house being used for an event venue?” Phil asked Darcy.
“Not that much,” he caught Beth’s eye for a moment before continuing, “I’ve actually only offered it to a very select number of firms, mostly good friends of the family, just to see how it goes. We’ve obviously held business functions here for Fitz over the years and a few special occasions for friends, but I only reached out a few months ago with the offer to open it up more publicly.”
