Page 14 of First Impressions (Passion and Perseverance #1)

Chapter Eleven

Beth was never one to back down from a challenge, but she had to admit that taking the day to work from home was a welcome relief.

As Jane had suggested, she called her dad that morning and said she was going to stay home with her sister to help Jane recover and make sure she was taking it easy by not putting too much pressure on her ankle.

She made Jane breakfast and forced her to stay on the couch and off her feet even though she said her ankle was feeling much better this morning.

Trying her best not to continue to think about the incident that had kept her up all night and invaded her dreams, she got right to work.

She first sent a quick email off to Phil, just checking in and letting him know that everything was going well at the firm and that she would keep him posted with any details on the DeBourgh account.

She knew she didn’t really have to check in, that Phil trusted her to get the job done right, but she always felt an internal obligation to keep him in the loop.

With that sent, she touched base with some of the vendors for Longbourne’s Charity Ball to make sure everything was on schedule.

Even though she was a publicist by trade, she had been moonlighting as the event planner for Longbourne for almost seven years now.

She had to admit that she enjoyed the details and the organization slightly more than she enjoyed actually attending the parties that she planned.

She also composed a few PR pieces to send to local media as well as some social media posts to promote the charity event.

All in all, it didn’t take very long since she’d been doing these tasks for the firm for the past several years.

She enjoyed working with her father on certain things, but she didn’t know how Jane could work for him.

Beth was far too independent and determined to make her own mark to ever have considered working at the family firm, in spite of how many times it was proposed.

After a blessed two hours of mind-numbing distraction, Beth was forced to redirect her thoughts to the one man who had previously dominated them.

Bringing up a new email to be sent directly to Mrs. DeBourgh, Beth distilled all of the information - or lack thereof - that she had learned the day before.

Mrs. DeBourgh,

Please see below some of my preliminary findings on the topic we discussed earlier this week:

· Mr. D. to be in town for the rest of the summer - but wants to leave as soon as his commitments are completed

· Mr. D. heading to Singapore by the end of the year

· Mr. D. does not appear to be in a relationship at this time, however, this question wasn’t posed directly to him

· Mr. D. only social engagement is the Longbourne Charity Ball in 2 weeks

I will endeavor to continue my accumulation of details surrounding his stay. If there is anything else I can do for you, please advise.

Kind regards,

Beth Bennet

Sent. She was tempted to include a postscript asking if Mrs. DeBourgh had any idea if Darcy was bipolar, but she decided against it.

Maybe he had schizophrenia, THAT would explain his erratic actions.

She laughed to herself as she closed her laptop and headed to the kitchen to make them salad for lunch.

“What’s so funny?” Jane asked from the couch.

“Just thinking that maybe Mr. Darcy has some sort of psychological disorder to explain his contradictory actions.”

“Oh Beth, I don’t think that’s it.” Unsurprisingly, Jane began her defense of Mr. Darcy since she was programmed to always think the best of everyone. “I think he likes you, he just doesn’t know how to show it. He’s all business, all the time - kind of like you.”

“Hey! Whose side are you on here? Plus, I was just kidding - for the most part - about the mental disorder,” Beth retorted.

“You know what I mean. It’s even the same for me.

When you don’t spend a lot of time pursuing romantic relationships or even acknowledging those feelings, it’s hard to convey them properly,” Jane said, setting down her book and hobbling out to the kitchen.

“I thought about what you said last night, about me, and not being more encouraging or reciprocating of Charles’ feelings and you were right.

I just don’t do this a lot, and I’ve definitely never felt like this before. ”

“But that’s a good thing! Don’t let it scare you.”

“I know, but I didn’t bring this up to talk about me. I thought about it and maybe Mr. Darcy is having a similar problem. He likes you but he doesn’t know how to pursue you.” Jane sat on one of the bar stools at the counter as Beth finished up their salads.

“Except for the fact that he thinks I’m just ‘tolerable.’” Beth put Jane’s apple and walnut salad in front of her and began to eat her own.

“Well, yes, I haven’t quite figured out how that fits in yet, but maybe he’s just not good with words, maybe it meant something different to him,” she concluded as she began to eat.

“I guess it’s possible, but I just don’t think it’s probable. It’s much more likely that he has some sort of mental disorder,” Beth joked as her sister shook her head.

After they finished eating, Jane hobbled back into the living room, grabbed her book, and told Beth she was going to take a hot shower. Beth finished cleaning up the dishes, her mind wandering over what her sister had said about Mr. Darcy.

Aside from their kiss, she could have sworn that there was no way he liked her; he barely acknowledged her and when he did, it was in a very condescending and cold way.

Not that he was an especially warm person in general, but he certainly wouldn’t be treating her worse than he treated most other people.

And then, there was that kiss. She let down her guard and allowed herself to relive it, moment by moment; the way he had gripped her, forcing almost every part of them into contact, the light play of his fingers at her sides a stark contrast to how intensely he was kissing her.

Her body began to warm as the memories flooded her until she heard a sharp knock at the door .

Assuming it must be either her mother or father coming to check on Jane, since they were the only other people with keys to their building, Beth walked over to the door not bothering to look through the peephole and opened it.

“Good afternoon, Miss Bennet.”

Beth stood, dumbstruck, as she processed that it was Mr. Darcy standing in her doorway holding a very large bouquet of pink tulips.

The sight was almost comical – the softness of the pink flowers, set starkly against the hard, handsome man holding them.

Even though he looked like he hadn’t slept well, he was still the most beautiful man Beth had ever seen.

As always, he was impeccably dressed in a tailored black suit and grey tie.

His dark brown hair parted, with every strand fixed perfectly into place, his mouth in a straight line, with no perceptible facial expression.

She hadn’t realized she was staring so intently with her mouth gaping open until his eyebrows started to raise in question.

“How did you get in here?” She winced, realizing that was not the greeting she was going for.

Unfazed by her bluntness, he smiled deviously and nonchalantly responded, “I own the building.”

Of course, he did.

“I’m sorry, I’m being rude. Would you care to come in? How can I help you?” Beth opened the door wider and stepped to the side.

Again, a pained expression passed over his face before it was suppressed and with a slight nod, he stepped into their apartment.

“I apologize for intruding. Charles sent me to deliver these flowers and a letter to Jane. He insisted that it needed to be done in person.” Darcy handed the tulips, which there must have been at least two dozen, over to Beth.

“Oh. That’s very nice of him and nice of you to agree to bring them.”

“I didn’t think you would be here.”

Again, with the ambiguously insulting statements. Beth wasn’t sure if he saw her presence as a good or a bad thing. Why couldn’t he just say what he meant ?

“Well, let me just put these in water and I’ll pass them on to Jane. She’s in the shower at the moment.” Beth walked into the kitchen, grabbed two vases from the cabinet and split the flowers between them.

“He also sent this note.” Darcy set the envelope down on the counter, Jane written on the outside.

Beth picked up the envelope, gave Mr. Intolerable a pointed look, and opened it right in front of him.

What was she doing?

She would never have opened something addressed to Jane, not that Jane would care, but in that moment, all she wanted was to see that man’s impenetrable reserve crack and have some sort of emotional response to her.

She glanced up at him from underneath her lashes; she had definitely surprised him.

He didn’t say anything as she opened the envelope, but his eyes widened in shock and his mouth had parted slightly.

Watching his mouth derailed her thoughts right back to the moment before he kissed her, remembering what that mouth was capable of.

His mouth closed, his lips set in a grim line, that slight movement jarring her from her memories as she quickly raised her eyes to meet his gaze.

His eyes were a molten chocolate as he leveled her with a disapproving stare, clearly struggling to restrain himself from taking the envelope back and scolding her.

Well, this is fun.

Unrelenting, Beth raised her eyebrows at him, daring him to make a comment. When he continued to just stare, she smirked and pulled the note out of the envelope to read it.

“Miss Bennet, I believe Charles intended that for Jane to read,” is what he said. ‘I’m going to have to spank you if don’t set it down,’ is what he looked like he meant.

“Have you read it?” she countered, deliberately trying to provoke him.

“That is not the point,” he ground out.