Page 18 of Third Time is the Charm (Passion and Perseverance #3)

“I’ll think about it, but as different as he seems, all I tried to do for months was get him to open up to me,” she admitted painfully.

“And that was when he at least had some sort of positive feelings for me, and he couldn’t do it then; I don’t think I have any more hopes to get up about that type of conversation happening now. ”

Jane just nodded, even though she looked like she wanted to say something else, to push the conversation further, but she didn’t.

Beth looked over her shoulder at the clock; it was almost twelve-thirty. Jane needed to go to bed and it was a pretty safe bet that Darcy had made it up to his room by now that the coast would be clear.

“Ok, I’m going to go; you need to get some rest before tomorrow,” she said, hugging her sister.

“Ok. I’m sorry, Beth.”

“I told you, there’s nothing to be sorry for,” she said giving Jane a reassuring smile.

“Ok, I’ll see you in the morning. Hair and makeup starts at eleven in here,” Jane reminded her.

“I will be there. Goodnight, Jane. Love you,” Beth replied, heading toward the door.

“Night, love you.”

Beth shut the door quietly behind her, knowing that her mother could hear drama from a mile away, which meant that she would definitely hear doors opening and closing just a few feet down from her room.

She tried to walk as quietly as she could down the hallway, figuring that most of her family was sound asleep by now in preparation for the big day tomorrow. Her feet picked up their pace as she got closer to her room, trying to make it back without running into anyone – or anyone in particular.

After all this time, she should just assume that she would always have the worst luck when it comes to Darcy.

She rounded the last corner of the hallway with a glance over her shoulder to make sure that no one was behind her – for no reason, especially since it caused her to run straight into the hard chest of the specific man whom she was running from.

Beth grunted as her hands came up out of instinct to rest on the hot wall of male that she was pressed up against. Surprisingly, she felt no urgency, no further instinct to extricate herself from him, even though she’d just been talking with Jane about how much he had hurt her.

Her eyes closed for a split second, just breathing in the moment; she would hate her body later for craving the familiar fire of his embrace.

With a sigh, she looked up to meet his gaze, finding those molten chocolate eyes that she’d lost herself in staring back at her.

“We have to stop meeting like this,” he said hoarsely with a smirk.

Beth couldn’t help herself, she started to giggle.

Not just because he – Darcy , of all people – had made a joke, but mostly because the ridiculousness of this situation had finally broken the dam of emotions within her; hurt, pain, anxiety, confusion, humor, comfort, love – they all came bursting out, first in a giggle that just escalated into full-blown laughter.

Her fingers curled into his shirt as she ducked her head, the laughs coming uncontrollably from inside of her.

All day, she’d tried her best to stay away from one singular person.

All day. What are the chances that walking back to her room at almost one in the morning would put him directly in her path?

She laughed, not caring that Darcy was looking at her with an expression mixed with confusion and the desire to join in.

At the point where she felt tears collecting in her eyes, she felt his chest rumble a few times against hers.

“Beth, are you ok?” he finally asked.

At first, all she could do was nod, trying to calm the humor that was wracking her body. As the laughter finally died down, she managed to say, “Yes, I’m fine. Sorry.” The apology bringing another chuckle out of her.

This was ridiculous.

Her gaze met his again, and she bit her lip trying to forcibly stop the shudders going through her body.

His eyebrows raised at her, questioning the validity of her statement.

Whether it was the wine, the time, or the emotional stress of the day, Beth wasn’t sure, but it was that moment when she truly realized where she was – in the hallway, alone with Darcy; her body pressed flush up against his, his hands a firm presence on her waist, initially to steady her, now…

Every breath she took, she felt her sensitive breasts gently rubbing against his chest, and that familiar urgent ache between her thighs only overshadowed by the hard pressure of his erection pressing against her.

She sucked in a breath, feeling like the air in the room was disappearing.

His eyes flared, and she knew that breathing had been a mistake.

Beth watched in slow, yet inevitable motion as his head dropped, his lips touching hers.

The first contact was surprisingly gentle, his lips softly pressing against hers, almost as if he were waiting for her to pull back.

In that moment, she wanted to forget everything that had happened; she wanted to forget everything that would happen after this moment.

In that moment, all she wanted was to feel him.

All she wanted was to know that she could feel again.

Her hands gripped his pressed shirt harder, pulling him against her as her mouth parted, her tongue tracing the line of his lips. Whatever restraint he’d been practicing vanished with her provocation. His mouth opened and devoured her, tasting every recess of her mouth like it was the first time.

They kissed like they’d been trapped in the desert the past four months and were now just given their first drink of spring water.

The dormant fire of desire erupted inside of her, burning through her veins into every cell of her body.

This is what she wanted to feel.

She returned his fire; her fingers coming up threading themselves through his hair, pressing him even closer to her.

His arms moved further, locking around her back, ensuring that there was no part of their bodies that weren’t touching.

Beth moaned into his mouth, the ache inside of her begging him to ease it.

She felt the hardness of his erection crushed into her stomach, craving the same release that she was.

Their tongues dueled, each trying to pull more from the kiss that they’d been starved of for so long.

For once in the past however many months, her mind was blissfully blank, absorbed completely in the pleasure of his kiss, the magic of his embrace.

She melted completely against him, her body ironically finally feeling like it could lean on someone else for support.

Her desire for him, peacefully sedated inside her in Boston, had been shocked back to life by his presence, flaring even stronger than before, if that was possible.

Beth felt her body completely relax against him, against the familiar fire that was consuming her. She moaned again with the relief of knowing that she was home.

He was home.

The thought jarred her – and he felt it. Beth pulled back, stepping out of his embrace, her hand coming up to cover her mouth, shocked at how easily she’d fallen right back into his spell.

“Beth,” he groaned her name, his hand running roughly through his hair. “God, I’m sorry.”

Her eyes widened at the words. An apology? She couldn’t process this, she needed to get away from him. Her feet began to inch towards the door to her room.

The look in his eyes was tortured regret. “Please, don’t... Fuck, I’m sorry. I just couldn’t stop myself.” He huffed, knowing how poor of an excuse that sounded like. “I’m so sorry, Beth. I shouldn’t have kissed you like that.”

She nodded her head, trying to shuffle around him, forcing herself to do so calmly. “It’s fine. I just… I should go. Goodnight, Darcy.”

His jaw clenched, anger bubbling to the surface of his face where she could see that her words were not what he wanted to hear. “Beth, I need to talk to you. Please.”

An apology. A please.

This couldn’t be happening; this couldn’t be real.

She couldn’t fall for this again.

Her head began to shake frantically. “No… no, I can’t. I can’t, Darcy,” she mumbled hysterically. “Not again, I can’t. This… everything… it’s always on your terms. I have to go.”

She couldn’t – not now; it was all too much.

Beth turned to bolt for her door, suffocated by the emotions fighting for control in his presence.

“Beth, wait, please,” Darcy pleaded as his hand came out to grab her arm. She came to a halt, the déjà vu crashing over her – his hand on her arm at the Gala, wanting to explain his ‘barely tolerable’ comment. Who could have known this is where that had her end up?

She looked down at where his hand was on her, except this time, it wasn’t Darcy who took his hand back, it was she who pulled her arm out of his grasp, tears now running down her cheeks.

“Why can’t you just leave me alone?” she asked softly, her voice filled with pain; her words were almost an exact recording of those that he’d said to her outside of her father’s office.

Darcy looked like she’d struck him, his arm dropping to his side, as his head gave her a brief nod, agonizing regret written all over his face.

“I’m sorry, Beth. Goodnight.” The deep tenor of his voice rumbled through her, the sadness in it reverberating throughout the hall.

Beth turned and unlocked her door, escaping to the haven of her room. She collapsed onto her bed, letting the tears fall freely. Her phone buzzed and startled her, for a brief second her heart sped up wondering if it was Darcy reaching out.

It was Colin.

- Hope this doesn’t wake you, but I can’t wait to see you… Just finished packing my dancing shoes ;)

Beth smiled slightly through her teary eyes and then, holding her phone, punched the pillow next to her in frustration when all of the anticipation pulsing through her came to a screeching halt as soon as the stupid pile of broken hopes inside her chest realized it wasn’t Darcy.

Beth groaned, the tears coming in droves now.

Her breathing became labored as exhaustion amplified her distress – all thoughts of Col or responding to him suffocated from her mind at the memory of the kiss she’d just shared with the man she shouldn’t want.

Why had she let it happen? How could she?

They were dumb questions to ask because she knew exactly why. She missed Darcy and she still wanted him.

Which was why she needed to stay away from him.

It didn’t matter what he had to say or that Jane thought she should talk to him; she would only end up with her heart broken, again.

Everything was always on his terms.

First, he wanted to kiss her, then he wanted to talk to her. Every situation, every choice, was always on his terms – just like before.

And if she let it continue, she’d be right back where she was – hanging onto his every careless word, hoping they’d, at some point, turn sweet again – ignoring the truth that that point would never come.