And now, she was going to get a real look at who Darcy was.
… all right, so she knew – on a personal, one-to-one level – who Darcy was, now. But thewhy. Where did she come from? What made her this way? Now, she’d be able to see beyond a surface level.
Even if she had no intention of using it against Darcy the way she once might have, she still thought it was useful information to have. Therefore, no reason to overthink it.
Juliet straightened her spine. Besides, she’d dealt with Harrison for over a decade. She’d all-but lost her relationship with her mother. She’d been torn apart by critics. She’d been put into social situations with all different kinds of people, with very intense pressure put on her.
She could spenda daypreparing for a Christmas party.
With that, she climbed into Darcy’s truck, settling into the seat as she sharply closed the door.
Darcy offered her an almostshysmile. Fascinating. And… adorable. “Hey.”
All right. Seeing that Darcy felt a little out of her depth made Juliet feel a lot more certain of herself, however that scale worked.
Juliet mimicked in the same tone, “Hey.”
Her lips twitched up into a real smile. It was always better to know that Darcy felt more out of depth than she did; it put her at ease. Like she had the semblance of a little more control somehow. She looked around, taking in Darcy’s truck. Darcy had been inhercar and had glanced around – though, Juliet’s Mercedes was immaculate, so there really hadn’t been anything for Darcy to see – so turnabout was fair play. It was at least two decades old but it was clean. There were a couple pieces of crumpled up paper from Darcy’s notebook, the one she loved to handwrite her music thoughts and plans in, on the floor near her feet, and one in the cup holder. And a guitar pick that hung froma string dangled from the rearview. “Nice to see you haven’t let fame go to your head.”
“Oh, whatever, Miss Luxury Vehicle.” Her normal Darcy was back.
After a few more seconds of Darcy tapping her thumbs against the steering wheel, Juliet slowly lifted her eyebrows, gesturing out the window. “Are we going to sit here until people on the sidewalk notice us, or…?”
“Right.” Darcy put the truck in gear, flipping on the blinker. “If you want to pick the music, my phone’s right there,” she nodded toward the middle console.
Juliet moved far too quickly to feign any sort of indifference. But they were musicians; sheabsolutelywanted to get her hands on Darcy’s music. Look at her playlists. See how she organized her library.
Darcy chuckled at her, allowing Juliet to aim the phone at her face to unlock it.
There wasn’t any music playing – she had to wonder if Darcy had driven here too buried in her own thoughts to think to turn it on – so she reached forward to connect the cord that was plugged into the cassette tape player, frowning at it in amusement. “This is why people update their vehicles, Darcy.”
“I’ve had that tape aux cord thing for years. It works great.”
She shook her head, but plugged it in.
Immediately, she was greeted by herself.
She whipped around to look at Darcy. Whose cheeks were pink as she gripped the steering wheel tightly, and didnotlook back at her.
Glancing down at her phone, she realized that the volume wasn’t coming from any sort of playlist, but from the last piece of media that had been playing. Which was obviously a video from her last show.
She watched herself on stage, listened to herself spill over the car speakers, and felt herself smile wider than the Cheshire Cat.
Juliet didn’t have any idea the last time she’d felt so… so utterlydelighted.
She shook Darcy’s phone at her. “You were watching videos of me.”
She didn’t ask, she stated. There was no denial Darcy could possibly make.
“So?” Was all Darcy said, her bottom lip poking into a pout. “It’s basically market research. I’m going on my tour in just over a month, like you said.”
Market research. Yeah,right.
Whether Darcy had been watching her because she genuinely was a fan of her music – which Juliet knew was true – or because she’d wanted to physicallywatchher during the nights they didn’t spend together, it didn’t matter.
Juliet was happy about it.
She couldn’t possibly describe the feeling that had settled over her, surpassing and wiping out her excitement about the soundtrack, when she’d wondered if Darcy had someone else in her bed. Dark and jealous in a way she’d never felt before.
