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“I sense judgment.”
“From the woman who let you tie her up and then begged you to smack her?” I gasped, shocked. “Never!” He laughed, shaking his head at me, so I went on. “He comes off the most immature, but I guess he’s grounded in some aspects.”
“Are you finished with your questions? Because we’ve been parked out here for at least five minutes. I’m sure the butler has told them we’ve arrived.”
He didn’t wait for me to answer before he opened the door, took my hand, and pulled me out.
The first thing I noticed was just how big the mansion was and how it looked more like a classic château than anything else. The front of it appeared to be made entirely of white stone. The second thing I noticed was it didn’t seem like this was just a family gathering, based on how many people were walking into the house, dressed way more elegantly than I was.
“This is just a dinner?”
“In the Darcy family, nothing is just a dinner.” He sighed, still holding my hand as we entered inside.
This was a bad idea.
This was a very bad idea.
I should have run away.
But I held on to his hand and followed him inside, going straight into the lion’s den, or the backyard. It felt like it stretched on for acres. There was a large pool close to the house, where a private orchestra played. It was exactly what you’d expect a rich people’s dinner to be. Servers going about with trays of champagne and appetizers, single men laughing loudly together in one corner of the pool, single women in another, while the married folk either danced or spoke among themselves.
“An hour tops and then we make our escape,” Theo whispered.
I leaned in. “I’ll hold you to it.”
“Theodore!” a woman with curly, light brown hair exclaimed. Her long green dress shimmered under the lighting in the backyard as she came up to Theo with her arms extended
.
“Hi, Mom,” Theo said as he gave her a hug and kissed both her cheeks.
Mom? What?
“You’re tired, sweetheart. You need to rest.” Her gaze drifted to me—well, our clasped hands—then to my face. “And who is this?”
“The reason I haven’t been sleeping.” Theo chuckled, and this time I really did smack him as I let go of his hand to shake hers.
“Hi ma’am. My name is Felicity. Felicity Harper.”
“Welcome, Felicity. Felicity Harper,” she repeated, and I didn’t realize how dumb it sounded to repeat my name like I was James Bond or something. Two minutes into being here, and I was already in the negatives.
“Please enjoy yourselves. Now that you are finally here, I can give my speech.” She petted Theo’s cheek. “Don’t leave too soon.”
I knew he was going to say something dirty, so I spoke for him. “He won’t. I’m looking forward to your speech.”
She nodded to us both before heading back to her guest.
“If you’re embarrassed when I tell her you’re the woman in my bed at night, how embarrassed will you be when my hand goes up that dress?” he whispered into my ear before turning to a guest who called to him.
“Just do it already, so we can leave in shame. I already feel out of place,” I said softly as his hand moved around my waist to hold me tighter.
“Just stay close, nod and smile, and before you know it, we’ll be out of here,” he said seriously as we moved toward the crowd.
I did a mental yawn at the sight of them, but where else was I going to go? Especially with the dirty looks I was getting from more than a few women. Jealousy written all over their faces. However, there were some women who didn’t seem to care at all, more interested in who I was than jealous over who I was with. I could hear them as we walked.
“Mr. Darcy, it’s a pleasure.”
I focused my attention to the four men, most of them around Theo’s age. All of them held either a cigar, which was so cliché it was almost comical, or a glass of champagne.
