Page 88 of Second Chances
“Yes, boss,” Darcy replied, returning her smile, “so, is there anything that you want me to do?”
“Hmmm…” She paused for a moment. “Well, I can think of a few things…” she finished seductively, knowing that he caught her drift, and matched the fire burning in her eyes.
“Now that, I’d be happy to do,” he said hoarsely, the heat of desire searing through both of them.
His gaze held hers as he leaned over and captured her lips, relishing the moan that she released as her mouth opened to welcome him inside.
And that effectively put an end to any and all thoughts of plots, ploys, and pushy ex-girlfriends for the rest of the night.
Chapter Twenty-Six
~Jane,please call me ASAP.
Beth texted her sister furiously. She’d maintained her composure, her game-face,allweek. She pretended like there was nothing wrong; she’d gone out of her way to make sure that Caroline didn’t suspect anything.
It had killed her.
Every smile, every nod, every laugh and attempt at camaraderie had felt like a knife twisting inside of her. Every email and phone call, excitedly reassuring Caroline of the success that her exhibition would be left the acid taste of bile in her mouth; thank God she’d always had a coffee on hand otherwise she might have vomited. Behind the mask, she was aching to give this woman a piece of her mind, and maybe, a piece of her fist.
But she couldn’t. Not yet.
Every instance, every communication, Beth asked herself if all of this was worth it, if trying to outsmart her was worth it becauseGod,it would be so much easier just to call the police and put an end to this. It would be so much easier to solve this problem, but at what expense? The resulting cascade of complications, she knew, would be much more painful than one week of suffering.
She wasn’t kidding herself, though. Of course, her and Darcy’s plan was chosen specifically for those reasons, however, over this past week, Beth realized that they weren’t her sole motivator.
She wanted to win.
Beth guiltily locked up this motivation deep down inside of her, embarrassed at the selfishness of the thought, but, it was the truth. She wanted to win Darcy. It didn’t matter that he was already hers, that he’d picked her time and again. Beth felt the competition that always inherently exists with your significant other’s ex - or at least that’s what she told herself. Yes, Caroline was gorgeous and talented, and probably had more in common with Darcy, but Beth was going to win him, and not by getting a restraining order and taking the easy way out. They were going to outsmart her.
Together.
Then, she would have the satisfaction of knowing that in spite of everything that Caroline thought she has going for herself, Darcy not only chose someone else, but that they both played a role in ending whatever grand plan she thinks she’s too smart to lose.
It was a ridiculous and childish feeling, to want to best someone like that, but she couldn’t help herself, after everything that Caroline had done.
Which was another thing that had her on edge.
There had been nothing this whole week. Yes, standard communication from Caroline, but nothing from theCrazy Bitch.At first, Beth had been on edge, expecting every email to be more threats, every knock to bring more ominous gifts and letters, but there had been nothing. After the first day, she broke down to Darcy, afraid that she had done something to give herself away at the party, afraid that Caroline knew she had caught on to her scheme, but then Caro continued to email and call as if nothing had happened. By Wednesday, Beth determined there could only be two reasons why she’d received no more demands.
Ok, three reasons, but she sincerely doubted it was because Caro had just decided to give up on Darcy.
That left two other options. Either Caroline was so preoccupied with her exhibit that she was taking a short break from tormenting her and Darcy.
Or
She was plotting something else - moving on to the next stage of her plan since it was obvious that Beth wasn’t cooperating with anything that her emails and letters had ordered.
That’s what she was afraid of.
Beth tried to tell herself that it wasdefinitelybecause of the exhibit; that Caro had been out of the country for so long that the stress and anxiety of making her work a success, especially if she was facing financial difficulty, would completely consume all of her efforts. It would be a natural assumption for most people, but Caroline wascrazy,and Beth couldn’t shake the thought that there was more going on beneath the surface.
As much as she had made an effort to be overly nice and responsive to Caroline, sometimes, she feared that Caroline had done the exact same to her. Looking back at all their previous encounters before she had known who Caroline truly was, Beth remembered all the little looks, smiles, and gestures that, at the time, had been inconsequential to her, but now she could see the deceitfulness, the calculating confidence behind them all. Now, every smile and compliment that Caroline had given her this past week glistened with that same subtle deviousness, as though she was just waiting for the next phase in her plan to unfold.
Maybe you were just imagining it.
That was also possibly true. How did that saying go? “To a hammer, the whole world is a nail.” Well, maybe she was so paranoid that Caroline was just about to confront her, or hurt her, or kidnap her,or who knows, that her mind was creating these distinctions where none actually existed.
Beth shook her head. None of that really mattered right now. Right now, it was Saturday, the day of Caroline’s exhibit, and she hadn’t heard a word from Jane last night. She hadn’t expected Jane to call her last night, especially if Charles had stayed late, because she knew that Jane was respecting her request to keep this from him for now.
