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Face full-bloom pink, Darby pretended fascination with her chicken salad, raking her fork through the half-eaten entree. “No one.”
Clearly she regretted having mentioned the name.
“No one?” He wasn’t buying that. “Then why bring him up?”
“You insisted upon another name, and I knew you wouldn’t quit until I gave you one.”
“And Trey Nix—” what kind of name was Trey Nix, anyway? “—was the person who popped into your head?”
“It’s just a name.”
Uh-huh.
“Interesting.”
Her gaze lifted to his. “What’s so interesting?”
“That you mention a sworn enemy and then a guy.” Pink blotches spread across her throat and Blake’s suspicions rose. “Were you in a love triangle with Mandy and what’s-his-name?”
“A love triangle?” She laughed. “You’re crazy.”
But the half-strangled way she said the words hinted that he’d hit the nail over the head.
“Besides I never said Mandy was my sworn enemy.”
“No?” Good thing Darby had wanted to go into medicine and not acting. Not even the most gullible bloke would buy the bull she was attempting to feed him. Not liking how his fries weighed heavily in his stomach, he waited until her gaze met his. “Who was she?”
Better still, who was Trey Nix, and what had he meant to Darby?
Setting her fork next to her plate, she arranged the utensil on the tray. “For the first fifteen years of my life Mandy was my best friend.”
Best friend? Now, there was a twist Blake hadn’t seen coming.
The cafeteria wasn’t crowded, or particularly noisy, but he had to strain to hear her next words.
“But that was before.”
“Before what?”
She shook her head. “Let’s change the subject. I’ve had enough of the past for one night, and no amount of poking or prodding from you is going to get me to say more, so let it go.”
She dug into her salad with gusto. She’d been playing with her food all evening. He doubted she was even hungry. But apparently she didn’t want to talk about Mandy and was sending a loud message for him to back off.
Her tone had switched to Darby bossy. The tone she used when he’d pushed as far as she would allow him to push.
Fine—he’d let the topic of Mandy go. For now.
“At least tell me what you expect of me this weekend.”
She paused mid-bite. Startled eyes lifted to his. “What do you mean? I told you what I expected. Just pretend you’re madly in love with me—as if I’m the greatest thing that’s ever happened to you and you can’t live without me.”
“Okay,” he said slowly, taking measure of the panic in her eyes and wondering at his own rising panic at her words. “I can do that.”
In many ways, meeting Darby was the best thing to ever happen to him.
“How long have we been dating?”
She blinked at him, as if he’d spoken in an alien tongue. “Pardon?”
