Page 19 of Written in the Stars
“I’m sorry.” Darcy met Elle’s glare, the ferocity of which was softened by a glossy dampness that replaced her urge to see Elle tangled up in sheets with the desire to wrap her up in something soft, a blanket, or Darcy’s favorite duvet. How... utterly bizarre. Darcy cleared her throat. “I didn’t mean— It wasn’t my intention to be rude.” Or upset her.
Elle sniffed loudly and crossed her arms, gaze sharpening once more. “Yeah. Well, you were, so...”
Her voice trailed off. An unspoken question. Why?
This was the part Darcy had been dreading down to her bones: explaining herself. Her behavior on the date. Why she’d led Brendon to believe she had any intention of seeing Elle again.
Part of Darcy was tempted not to bother. Wasn’t an apology, a sincere one, enough?
Except if Darcy had any hope of salvaging her plan to get Brendon off her back, she’d have to share with Elle. Without an explanation, Elle had no reason not to go directly to Brendon and blab. Or at the very least, inadvertently contradict the carefully crafted picture Darcy had painted.
“Look.” Darcy took a step closer and uncrossed her arms, posture relaxing from the defensive stance she’d adopted during Elle’s outburst. “My brother is— I love him. But when he gets an idea in his head, he’s like a dog with a bone. And he has this idea, misconstrued as it is, that I should be looking forlove. That”—Darcy puffed out her cheeks, weighing the best words, the one’s with the lowest probability of raising Elle’s hackles—“I need to find my special someone. When a serious relationship is not on my radar. At the moment.”
When it would be on her radar,if, Darcy wasn’t sure.
Elle cocked her head, brow furrowing. “Why not?”
Something in her gut said Elle wouldn’t be appeased with a simplebecause. Darcy sighed. “I’m busy? I’m studying for my final FSA exam. Once I pass, I’ll have reached the highest designation awarded to actuaries by the governing body. The exams are rigorous and the pass rate is only forty percent. Studying takes up my scant amount of free time.”
“So you’re too busy right now? Tell him that.”
As if she hadn’t? “Brendon believes I should have a better work-life balance and he acts like it’s his calling in life to make sure I do.”
Elle shrugged. “He has a point.”
Darcy knew how it sounded—too busy for dating, for friends, for any semblance of a social life. Yes, it was true she didn’t have any friends in Seattleyet, but she was operating according toherschedule, not Brendon’s. “I don’t tellhimhow to runhisbusiness.”
“Tell him you’re just not interested.”
If only it were that easy. Darcy had tried and it never worked. Brendon knew her too well, knew exactly what buttons to press to get his way. Darcy didn’t feel like spilling to Elle that the reason Brendon pushed so hard was because he knew that once upon a time, shehadwanted a relationship, marriage, family, the whole nine yards. Having the rug yanked out from underher wasn’t something she’d been able to control, but how she chose to move on with the rest of her life was.
Darcy waved it off with a roll of her eyes and a scoff. “Easier said than done. You’ve met Brendon; he’s a romantic, obsessed with happily-ever-after. He keeps setting me up on these dates, and when I try to back out, he acts wounded, like I’m giving up too easily. Last night had less to do with you and more to do with me finally reaching the end of my rope. I had a headache and all I wanted was to go home. You were a... casualty. Wrong place at the wrong time.”
On a date with the wrong person.
Elle set her jaw. “Whatever. It’s not like you’re obligated to like me or anything.”
It had nothing to do with liking Elle, or not. Had Elle not been looking for love, had she been fine with something less serious and more temporary, Darcy wouldn’t have minded exploring what those heated glances could’ve led to. But Ellewaslooking for something serious and Darcy wasn’t, so there was no use wasting time onwhat-ifswhen they were inherently incompatible.
“I could’ve been nicer,” Darcy admitted.
“True.” Elle’s lips quirked, her smile brief, a sun breaking through clouds. “I’m still missing something. Why lie and tell Brendon you wanted to see me again when you clearly don’t?”
Not entirely true. Topic of conversation aside, talking with Elle wasn’t awful. Granted, it would’ve been better had she been wearing less clothing. In which case, Darcy would’ve been happy to see a lot more of Elle. Often.
“Again, product of poor timing.” Darcy lifted a shoulder andgave Elle a rueful smile. “Brendon came in here, guns blazing, talking about how I should sign up for speed dating and, to be honest, that sounds like my idea of hell. When my usual excuses—reasons—didn’t work, I told him I was seeing someone. But then he wondered why I’d agreed to go out with you if I was seeing someone else.”
Realization flickered in Elle’s eyes. “So you told him it was me you hit it off with.”
Darcy bit the edge of her lip and nodded.
For a moment, Elle was silent. Lips twisting to the side and brow furrowing, she finally asked, “What was your end game?”
“My what?”
“You know. How you saw this playing out. You tell Brendon we’re seeing each other and then what was supposed to happen? Didn’t you think he’d catch on eventually? Or, I don’t know, ask me about you?”
Darcy scratched the side of her neck. She’d made a gamble, yes. She should’ve known better, but Brendon had given her no choice but to think fast on her feet. As a consequence, her plan had been riddled with holes. It could’ve worked, but she’d been thwarted by Brendon’s absolute inability to keep his trap shut.
