“I don’t think you can if you take the train. Take the kitten, I mean. Amtrak wouldn’t allow it.”
“Well then, I have no worries.” She mumbled something that might have been, “You don’t either.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Darcy took a deep breath and stepped closer. “I wanted to talk to you. I couldn’t find you this morning, and it’s been a bit hectic here…”
Elizabeth shook her head. “There’s nothing to talk about. Like I said, no worries.”
With no other hay bales close at hand, Darcy knelt in front of her and gripped the hayloft ladder for balance. He sought her eyes but she kept them focused on the kitten. “I’m not worried,” he said. “I’m just— Look. About what happened, I don’t do that. I don’t casually sleep around.”
She finally looked at him. “What happened between us was wrong on so many levels, and there are too many cheap excuses for it. Drugs, drink, abandonment, pain, heartache. I don’t want to talk about it. I don’t want to remember it. I want to forget it ever happened. Okay?”
“Excuse me?”
“We just made out. It’s not like we had sex or a mind meld or something. It was a lapse in judgment.”
Darcy’s eyes widened.A lapse in judgment?Whatever he’d been expecting, it hadn’t been that.
“That’s it, then? Move on and forget it?”
She nodded and leaned over, putting the kitten on the barn floor. “Honestly, I can barely remember most of it.”
“Fine.” He closed his eyes and nodded.
“Fine,” she replied, and walked out the door.
Except it wasn’t fine at all.
CHAPTER FOUR
“Dammit, Sara! Why are these boxes here? They were supposed to be shipped to the recipients, not to me.”
Darcy’s executive assistant gulped. “I’m sorry. I…I must have misunderstood. I thought I’d sent them all to the right places.” She bent over her computer and pulled up the account as Darcy began checking the mailing labels. “It looks as though the De Bourghs’ gifts were sent correctly to their place in Rosings. And the Fitzwilliams, Staffords, and the Watsons…”
Darcy straightened and crossed his arms over his chest. “Apparently, only the Bingleys’ and the Hursts’ gifts are here.” He sighed.
“Mr. Darcy, I thought you were spending the holidays with them like last year,” Sara sputtered. “When you went skiing? I mean, I know that’s no excuse, but I guess I was confused.”
He looked at his assistant. She was biting her lip, a worried expression on her face, which completely spoiled the cheery intention of her red Christmas sweater and silver bell earrings. He was screwed. It wasn’t her fault. Well, actually, it was completely her fault, but it wasn’t the end of the world. And he was no Ebenezer Scrooge. It just meant he’d have to drop off the gifts himself. Today. On Christmas Eve. The office was closing at noon, giving the staff a three-and-a-half day holiday weekend. He’d have to drive to Bingley’s place.
Before she’d left for her sister’s house in Vermont, Mrs. Reynolds had stocked up the refrigerator and left him various reminders urginghim to get out of the house and kiss someone on New Year’s Eve. He knew she’d be almost as nauseated as he would if his lips ever touched any part of Caroline Bingley, so he would ensure it was a quick stop at the Bingleys’ home. Very quick. In and out.
“Sir?”
He gave Sara a tight smile. “Don’t worry about it. I have to stop by Bingley’s place anyway,” he lied.
“Are you certain?” She nervously twisted her blonde hair. “I’d be happy to…to figure it out. Mr. Bingley is such a nice man.”
Darcy nodded.And you, like every other woman of my acquaintance, would like to know him better. Too bad he’s taken.
“I’ve got it covered. Go finish your own shopping. And have a wonderful Christmas.”Somebody should. A thought came to him suddenly. “I hope you found your gift. On your desk?”
Sara gave him a wide smile. “It’s wrapped beautifully, sir. And thank you for remembering my mother. I hope you don’t mind that she made you more baklava.”
“I’ll make sure to share it this time. I liked it a little too much last year.” He smiled back. “Now, head off. You have family waiting.”
