Page 8 of First Impressions
“Jane, I’m going to go get you some ice to put on that. You shouldn’t walk on it until the doctor takes a look. We can reschedule the tour for another day,” Beth suggested.
“Oh no, Beth, I don’t want to set us behind. Why don’t you take them without me? I’ll call dad down to take a look and call the doctor.”
“I have a better idea,” said Charles. “Beth, I’ll get some ice and stay here with your sister; this way you can take Darcy here for the tour. I saw most everything yesterday anyway, so I won’t be missing much.”
Just when she thought her day could not possibly be any more trying, now she was going to have to spend the entire afternoonalonewith Mr. Intolerable.
“Are you sure, Jane? I can stay with you if you want. It’s really not a big deal to reschedule,” she tried to persuade her sister, sending her a pleading ‘don’t do this to me’look.
Unfortunately, Jane was so preoccupied with Charles’ attention to her ankle that she didn’t pick up on Beth’s distress. “No, it’s really ok, Beth. Charles will stay with me; you can take Mr. Darcy. I’d hate for this to set back the process.”
Jane hated to let anyone down, especially their father on something as important as this contract. At the moment, Beth’s aversion to Mr. Darcy was the last thing that would have crossed Jane’s mind.
“Alright, if you say so,” she replied, turning around to face her nemesis. “Mr. Darcy, if you wouldn’t mind, I would be very happy to give you a brief tour of our firm,” she said almost too politely, with a fake smile on her face.
Lord, help me.
At her statement, his eyebrows raised slightly as a challenge to her phrase that she was pleased to be stuck with him. After she confronted him the other night, he was beginning to see that there was no end to her gumption and determination. Many women would have pretended not to hear such unflattering terms, let alone rub them in his face, and then happily agree to endure his presence only a few days later;he was impressed.
“That would be very convenient, Miss Bennet. Thank you.” Turning briefly to Jane and Charles, he said, “I hope your ankle feels better.”
Convenient?What the hell does that mean? This man made her brain work overtime. Determined not to be defeated, she focused on her goals: giving him a tour of the firm and discreetly extracting information about his social schedule and relationship status for Mrs. DeBourgh. Too bad he didn’t just have a Facebook that she could check. What she definitely didnotwant to happen was to end up in a discussion about their confrontation the other night.
“Wonderful. Now, Mr. Intol—, I mean Mr. Darcy, if you’ll follow me, we can start on the third floor and work our way downstairs,” Beth began as she led him up the central staircase to the top floor, ignoring his puzzled look at her almost slip of the tongue.
“On this floor is my father’s office as well as Bill Collins’ and some conference rooms. It looks like my father must have taken the elevator down to Jane’s office already to wait with her for the doctor. Oh, and Bill is out on vacation until the end of the month.”
“Is he aware that your father is selling the firm? What is his relationship with your family?” Mr. Darcy bluntly asked.
“I’m not sure that my father has told him yet. His family and mine have been close for many years and I think my father promoted him to partner partly because of it. Not that he isn’t an excellent lawyer, but he’s not very good at managing or directing, so the firm would suffer severely if he were to be placed in charge. Unfortunately, he doesn’t realize that and I think he has somewhat expected to be the ‘heir’ of the firm for some time.” Beth was probably giving him too much information but she didn’t want there to be an opportunity for him to bring up what had happened at the Gala.
“Unlike you at the Gardiner Group,” Darcy mused, almost absentmindedly.
Beth’s step faltered as his seemingly informed comment about her position at Gardiner. “What do you mean?” she asked.
Darcy’s mouth thinned before he clarified, “Graduating college with honors, top of your class in your Master’s program, and then immediately hired by one of the best PR firms in the city…very impressive.” His voice didn’t sound impressed though, which was only a paltry concern to how much information he already knew about her.
Granted, it was all public or easily accessible information, but still,why would he have wanted to know it in the first place?
“Phil Gardiner is a good friend of the family,” she replied meekly, feeling like she needed to clarify that point.
“I know,” came his definitive response.How?As if hearing her thought, he continued, “When it comes to business, I do my research. However, unlike Collins, your promotions there have had nothing to do with your personal relationship to Gardiner, only the quality of your work.” Again, the words were complimentary, but the tone was unimpressed.
Was he just trying to make up for insulting me the other night?
“And yet, you don’t seem impressed,” Beth countered. She didn’t care who he was, either he meant it or he didn’t and she was determined to find out.
“It is impressive,” he reiterated, “but I’ve met a lot of people who have done a lot of ‘impressive’ things; the only thing I’ve found to impress me is when, no matter what you’ve accomplished, there is still the unquenchable desire to achieve more.”
“And you don’t see that in me?” The thought was even more insulting than his ‘intolerable’ comment. Her desire to do more was what she prided herself on.
Here, he shocked her by letting out a harsh, quick laugh, almost as though he were mocking her question. “I do feel an unquenchable desire when I see you,” he rasped, the fire in his eyes confirming just how much more that statement was meant to imply. And then, like every escaped emotion before it, it was gone. “What about your sister?”
Beth couldn’t breathe for a second after hearing his words; her whole body felt like it was on fire.Did he really just say that? Did he really just imply that he had an unquenchable need for her? Did she hear him correctly?Her mind was spinning and she was infuriated that he was so easily able to get underneath her skin, prompting her subsequent need to provoke him. “Which one?” Beth countered.
His brows drew together in confusion for a moment. “You have more than one?” His genuine interest expressed in the question seemed to surprise even himself because he shook his head and rephrased, “I meant what about Jane?”
“I thought you did your research, Mr. Darcy,” she taunted with a satisfied smile. “I have four sisters, including Jane. What are you wondering about her?” she asked, reveling in his discomposure.
