Page 31 of First Impressions
If she remembered any of this in the morning, she knew she would regret that comment. The look on Darcy’s face, the shock, the hurt from her direct shot to his pride wasn’t something she would soon forget. If George hadn’t grabbed her hand and led her off to the dance floor, she would have apologized and asked for forgiveness; she didn’t know what actually happened between them and for her to judge him without knowing his side of the story was beneath her. She’d add that to her list of regrets to dwell on later – that and the amount of alcohol she had consumed.
It was a good thing George was a good dancer because her inebriation was really starting to affect her coordination. She smiled and laughed at his jokes, not that she could remember what they were. She let herself succumb to the fuzzynumbness of the alcohol, let it cloud the rest of her emotions; they could beat her up tomorrow.
As the music picked up again, they were joined by Char and Lydia, forcing George to let her go as they all danced in a group. Everyone had had enough drinks by now that the dance floor was lively and everyone was having a good time. Every so often, she caught a glimpse of Darcy dancing closely with Anne; she laughed as she caught his stare because it made her want to cry. She tried not to search him out too often because he always seemed to be watching her, no matter when or where she looked.
As George got tipsier, he kept grabbing for Beth, pulling her to him to dance with her, much to the annoyance of Lydia who was practically throwing herself at him. Beth didn’t want to dance with him again though. She was tired of dealing with men, and he was getting a little too touchy for her liking. Char saved her though, pulling her away claiming that she had been promised a dance too. Finally, George gave up and gave Lydia the attention she had been begging for; at some point, they must have left the dance floor because Beth twirled around and they were gone.
“Are you ok?” Char yelled over the music.
“Yeah. Just drunk, very drunk.” Beth giggled helplessly. “I should leave soon. I’ve done enough things to regret for one night; can’t add puking on the dance floor to the list.”
“What happened?”
Beth tried to remember, but it was starting to hurt her head, or maybe that was her heart. “Couldn’t tell ya, to be honest. If I remember in the morning, I’ll let you know.”
“Man, you are toast.” Char laughed at her as the band started their final set, a few slow numbers to close out the night. Beth watched as Bill came up to Char and asked her for a final dance, a small blush spreading on her cheeks. Beth sent her a questioning stare before Char’s focus was drawn elsewhere.
Yeah, she really should head up to her room before she forgot how to get there. Or how to walk. Ok, she may have exaggerated her drunkenness; she wasn’t nauseous or slurring her words, definitely intoxicated, but not wasted. She turnedaround to leave the dance floor too quickly and the whole room began to spin. Thankfully, there was a solid male unmoving in front of her to grab on to.
Thankfully?
Her hands steadied herself on his chest as she looked up to meet his eyes.
“I told you not to have any more.” His eyes a hard mixture of concern and frustration.
“I know.” She was too tired to play games with him anymore tonight. At the resignation in her voice, his expression and tone softened.
“Dance with me.” His hand came up to move a stray curl back behind her left ear. “Please.”
The ‘please’ was so soft that if she hadn’t seen his mouth move, she wouldn’t have thought he said it. Transfixed by his tenderness, she just gave a small nod as he led her to the corner of the dance floor.
He didn’t say a word as the song played. Beth felt everything around her fade away until there was only him and she couldn’t take her eyes away from his. He held her far too close for anyone to consider it a polite dance between acquaintances, but she couldn’t find it in her to care. She hadn’t even realized the song had ended until their trance was broken by George’s approach.
Completely ignoring Darcy, he put his face right next to hers and tried, and failed, to whisper, “Beth, I’ve lost Lydia. Well, she might have just gone with your parents. Can you help me find my room? This place is huge.” His breath reeked of alcohol.
Now George was very drunk, and Beth had no intention of going anywhere with him. A quick glance at Darcy showed the rage that had infused his body.
“I’m sure if you ask at the front desk they’ll be happy to show you to your room.” Beth tried to diffuse the situation, but George wasn’t having it.
“But I need you to show me.” He leaned in right next to her ear and continued, “And then I can show you a few things too.” His hand shot out and barely touched her ass before she saw a fist fly and George lying on his back on the ground.
Chapter Twenty-One
This couldn’t be happening.
Thankfully most of the guests had left and it was predominantly hotel staff in the room starting to clean up, but there were still witnesses to William Darcy, the CEO of Fitz Corp and one of the most powerful men in the world, punch George Wickham in the face.
What were they going to say? What was going to happen when her mom found out? And Mrs. DeBourgh? What was he thinking?
She felt like she was going to pass out. Or vomit. Or both.
She crouched down next to George and pushed the hair off of his face, assessing the damage.
“George? Are you ok?” His eyes began to blink open as he grunted.
“Did he just punch me? Fuck, my face hurts.”
Beth looked up to confront Darcy but he was gone.What the hell.
