Page 33 of Second Chances (Passion and Perseverance #2)

Chapter Sixteen

Beth moved slowly into consciousness, surfacing from the pleasure-induced coma that she had drifted off into.

She peered up to find Darcy’s molten chocolate eyes staring back down at her; he’d been watching her sleep for some time.

She blinked a few times, wondering when she had dozed off, as the last thing she remembered was the red-orange sunset out the window; that must have been some time ago because the night sky was completely dark, only illuminated by the twinkling lights of the city skyline.

“I hope I didn’t drool on you,” she said groggily, looking back up at him.

He laughed and kissed her forehead.

“No, you weren’t asleep for that long,” he assured her.

“Oh, good,” Beth replied as her stomach grumbled loudly.

“You have, however, been doing that for a few minutes now, so I think it’s about time that I feed you.”

“I’m too tired to eat,” Beth protested, burying her forehead into the welcoming crook in his shoulder.

She felt him smile against her hair just before he began to move, pulling his arm out from behind her, standing up to adjust his pants.

“I’ll go order us some food,” he said, watching Beth as she dramatically collapsed fully down onto the couch, closing her eyes again. Darcy laughed, “You’re going to eat something. I’ll be back.”

“Thanks for the warning,” she mumbled as he walked out of the living room.

Distantly, she heard him in his office, on the phone with room service, before the urge to doze off again won her over.

“Time to eat, sleepyhead.”

Beth heard Darcy’s voice, drawing her out of her slumber, just as she began to smell the delicious scent of dinner being placed on the coffee table in front of her .

“What time is it?” she asked, moaning as she propped herself up on the couch.

“Almost nine.”

“That’s it?”

She felt like she had been sleeping all night, but her exhaustion made sense; she’d only dozed for a few hours, probably because of the emotional wreck of a day that she had had.

Crossing her legs on the couch, she pulled a blanket over them, covering the opening in her dress since she wasn’t quite sure where her underwear had ended up.

She glanced around seeing if she could spot them, but the only thing she saw was Darcy’s satisfied smirk before he asked,

“Looking for something?”

“Nope,” she retorted, unwilling to give him that satisfaction.

He chuckled at her response and began to remove the lids off of the plates of food that he had sent up.

Holy pasta.

“Are we carb-loading for something?” Beth asked, jokingly, as she stared at the five different types of pasta sitting on the table in front of her.

“Well, you looked like you could use some calories. Have you even eaten at all today?”

Beth had to stop and think about it; she hadn’t eaten before running out to meet Jane and then, after her breakdown at the apartment, she had come right back here. So, no, she hadn’t eaten all day. No wonder she was completely drained.

“No, I didn’t get a chance,” she replied quietly, knowing that her answer wasn’t going to make Darcy happy, especially because he would blame himself.

She peered up at him from underneath her eyelids, watching frustration come over his face.

“So, did Charles say how the wedding plans were going?” Beth asked, trying to distract him, as she helped herself to heaping portions of both the Fettuccini Alfredo and Penne Vodka.

“Not really. Something about still trying to decide on a venue, but I wasn’t paying that much attention to him. ”

“Oh interesting, Jane hasn’t mentioned the venue yet.

I’m glad she found her dress, though. Regardless of everything else that happened, I’m glad that I was there.

Otherwise, she probably would have wound up with something far too gaudy; you should have seen the things my mom picked out,” Beth said with a laugh.

“Your mother does have interesting taste,” Darcy replied, politely, before the two of them broke out laughing.

“Yeah, well, you just wait; before we left she was already insisting that I would need a dress covered in beading and lace to make up for my lack of natural beauty,” Beth said wryly, stopping short as she realized that she had just alluded to their wedding. Maybe. Possibly. Hopefully.

Darcy caught the significance, too. Neither of them had mentioned marriage or even their potential engagement since the night of Charles and Jane’s engagement party.

Not that they both didn’t believe that that was where their relationship was heading, but they were already moving so fast, with so many hurdles to overcome, that that discussion had been quietly tucked to the wayside.

Beth caught him watching her intently, waiting to see what else she might say on the subject.

Heat suffused in her cheeks as she continued to chew her bite of pasta, frantically trying to think of what to say.

There’s been enough deep conversations for one day, Beth. Keep it light.

“You’re gorgeous, Beth,” Darcy said, looking at her intently, turning her cheeks an even deeper shade of red.

“Thank you,” she murmured shyly, before continuing her story, “Well, Jane, obviously, does not need any of that fluff but, I swear, actually, if Caro hadn’t been there, I’m not sure that my mom would have been convinced,” Beth continued, looking over to catch Darcy’s reaction as she redirected their conversation away from speculation about their future.

She saw his mouth thin as he took another bite of food. He didn’t seem too affected. No. He seemed like he was trying to remain unaffected; she caught just a glimmer of unrest in him before continuing .

“I said that the more embellished dress just wasn’t Jane’s style, but it was Caro who played it off to my mom that it was actually taking away from Jane’s natural beauty, which you know how my mother is so proud of that.

So, that, combined with it coming from an outside source, not me, is what saved Jane.

Of course, a minute later my mom was totally on board that the simpler, classic dress is what Jane needed,” Beth finished her story, laughing at how her mother could be so easily convinced by someone else, but if it had been Beth to suggest it, well there would have been a completely different outcome today, that is for sure.

“She is very good at manipulating people,” Darcy said.

He tried to make it sound light, but there was an edge, a harshness in his tone that took Beth aback.

It was as if he wanted to say more, to explain what his tone implied, but he held back.

She thought that it wasn’t uncommon to dislike a friend’s sibling, especially if the two siblings didn’t get along.

Beth was pretty sure that at one point, all of Lydia’s friends had hated Jane because Lydia constantly complained that Jane was always getting all the attention.

Whether it was that, or something else, she was curious and wanted to respond, to question his cryptic words, wondering if Darcy had a problem with Caroline Bingley.

Before she could finish her bite to get those words out, though, he interrupted her thoughts.

“I want to take you somewhere.”

Beth took a moment to register his statement. Her sleep-addled mind struggled to stay focused on any one thing.

“Ahh… right now? Where do you want to go?” Beth responded, slightly confused.

“No, I want to take you somewhere for a long weekend sometime in the next few weeks,” he stated, shaking his head. “If that’s ok with you,” he added quickly at the end, realizing that he hadn’t given her much of a choice.

“Well, Jane’s bridal shower is the next weekend and I have a bunch of stuff to help prepare for that, and then the following weekend I have a work event,” she answered. “I mean, you could always just escort me to another work gig.”

Too soon, Beth. Too soon .

His eyes darted to hers, relief settling in them when he saw the twinkle in her eyes that her last statement was made in jest.

“When you check your work schedule this week, text me the date of your next free weekend, so I can plan something.”

“Ok,” Beth looked at him, eyes wide. “So, where are we going to go?”

“It’s a surprise,” he said with a playful smile on his face. “That is if you are available.”

“I don’t think it will be a problem.”

A weekend away with Darcy, just the two of them.

Even though the details hadn’t been nailed down, the thought alone set her stomach aflutter.

Even though they were together here, there was work, and family, and friends so close that it seemed every time they tried to do something together, or spend the day together, something or someone got in the way.

“Great.”

“How will I know what to bring if you don’t tell me where we are going?” She couldn’t help herself from asking, always trying to know everything.

He wasn’t going to be fooled that easily though. “I’ll let you know in advance what to bring, don’t you worry.”

“Fine,” she huffed, playfully, picking up her plate to take it into the kitchen.

As she rinsed it off in the sink, she felt Darcy come up behind her, his arm snaking around her stomach to pull her back against him.

“Sometimes, being surprised can be fun, you know,” he whispered in her ear, biting the soft skin of her earlobe.

“Mmm, we’ll see about that. I’m going to get ready for bed.” Setting her plate in the sink, she turned to kiss him before sliding out of his embrace and sauntering into the bedroom.

Beth sighed as she finally, climbed under the sheets, relaxing into the unbelievable softness of the mattress. Unlocking her phone, she decided to text Jane while waiting for Darcy to join her in bed.

- Hey, thanks again for everything earlier. I think everything is going to be ok. : )

She waited for Jane’s response, fighting against her exhaustion to keep her eyes open.

After a few minutes with no word from Jane, she gave up, plugging her phone in and laying it on the nightstand, not wanting to take the risk of dropping it on her face if she dozed off.

Turning to Darcy’s side, she waited, but her consciousness only lasted another minute before sleep overcame her.

Vaguely she felt the bed dip and Darcy kiss her forehead later when he finally came to bed for the night.