Page 14 of Without Pride and Prejudice
“Fitz, thanks for coming on my honeymoon with me.” It was the best I could do to express how much this meant to me, how muchhemeant to me.
“It’s my pleasure.”
“Well, I should probably make this the best honeymoon ever, just in case I never get another. Which means I need to be the best Elizabeth ever, so you need to tell me if I have too much cleavage going on in these dresses.”
Fitz groaned, and I laughed. It was pretty much how our friendship went. And now, more than ever, I was thankful that Fitz was my very best friend. Especially when he said, “Monroe, this will not be your only honeymoon.”
“You don’t know that.”
Fitz stopped at a light and turned my way, owning me with his gaze in a way he never had before. “I promise you, this won’t be your only honeymoon.”
I opened my mouth to say he couldn’t promise something like that, but before I could utter a word, he said, “Trust me.”
I nodded because it was the only thing I could do. Something in his tone told me he spoke the truth. But how could he know that?
“Can you tell me if the groom will be cute?” I joked.
He gave me an impish grin before turning around. It was almost as if he knew this mystery man.
“Do you have someone in mind?” I couldn’t help but ask.
He said nothing, just drove on.
I sat back and pondered whom he had in mind to be so sure. Was he thinking? No ... it couldn’t be. Could it?
“I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look, or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun.”
FITZ
I KEPT STEALING GLANCES AT Monroe in the passenger seat, who, thankfully, was dressed again. She wore a form-fitting jumpsuit and jacket that showcased her perfectly shaped body. I’d talked her out of wearing one of the period dresses for our arrival. The dresses did indeed show off an ample amount of cleavage, but in my estimation, I wouldn’t change a thing. In fact, I couldn’t wait to see her in them again. She had no idea how much I’d wanted to pull over and show her exactly how handsome I thought she was when she, with no regard to my hidden feelings, had undressed in front of me like I was one of her girlfriends. Her smooth skin and the curve of her perfect body were almost the death of us. My eyes hadn’t been on the road like they should have, and I had to swerve to miss a car that had suddenly stopped in front of us.
Unfortunately, Monroe just thought it was funny she could distract me in such a manner.
I hadn’t realized I’d been so good at hiding my feelings for her that she hadn’t even known that I found her beautiful, or that changing in front of me would undo me in ways I didn’tknow were possible. Monroe was more than beautiful to me—she was intoxicating. And now that I was determined to cross the line of our friendship, I wanted her more than ever. Yet, the fact remained that I had my work cut out for me. If Monroe had not even an inkling about how I truly felt about her, we weren’t off to a good start. At least she seemed to be over that blighter, Tony. I had half a mind to find out what he’d done.
“We’re getting close.” Monroe squealed while reaching for my hand. Perhaps that was a good sign. She seemed to take well to this new aspect of our relationship. I curled my fingers around hers, hoping she would realize this was no casual gesture on my part.
She squeezed my hand and smiled at me, a question in her gorgeous eyes.
I wanted to answer her and tell her exactly how I felt, but I knew I needed to ease into it. This was a significant shift for us. And if she didn’t reciprocate my feelings, it had the potential to make this next week even more awkward than it already could be. Only my love for Monroe would have me acting the part of a fool, pretending to be Mr. Darcy. The most torturous part would be reciting Darcy’s love and admiration for Elizabeth to Monroe, when all I wanted was to make love to her myself, as Jane Austen would say. Except I didn’t mean it as innocently as Ms. Austen’s usage. But I would do my best to properly court Monroe. Never would I want her to think I was looking for a friends-with-benefits type situation.
“Oh. My. Gosh. Oh. My. Gosh.” Monroe jumped up and down in her seat. “Look!” She pointed at the large country estate behind the wrought iron gate. The house, with its Carolean architecture, stood majestically amidst meticulously manicured formal gardens and a stately wooded park. Admittedly, my estate wasn’t as grand, but I would like to think my gardens and park were more elegant.
“You know what happened here, right?”
“Didn’t the rules state we weren’t supposed to mention it?” I reminded her. Granted, I thought most of the rules were beyond ridiculous, especially the one that prohibited us from discussing any of the shows that had previously been filmed on location there.
“Oh fine, I won’t say what or who.” She waved her free hand in front of her face. “But just to be here and know what happened here is better than I could have ever imagined.You-know-who, king among men, walked the very ground here.”
“He’s not that amazing,” I countered, hoping she didn’t begin listing her 101 ways the man of her dreams was superior to all other men.
“Don’t worry. I won’t judge your acting skills against his.” She grinned. “But if you don’t give me some goose bumps when you tell me how much you ardently admire me, I might be a little, or a lot, disappointed.”
No pressure there. Give the woman I love goose bumps while using another man’s words. “I’ll do my best.”
“That’s all I ask.” She leaned over and pecked me on the cheek. This wasn’t unusual for Monroe. She was an affectionate woman, but now that I’d decided to open the door to my feelings, her soft, warm lips on my skin had me wanting to turn my head and capture those lips with my own. I would show her I was far superior to any character she’d watched or read about.
“Huh.” She paused, leaning on the console as if in a daze.
