he had if he had had someone who loved him at his side? Would he have been content with a simpler life? And would it have mattered? In her heart she always believed that had they stayed together, regardless of where they ended up, they would have been happy.
But reality had shattered their fairy tale: the prince had staggered off into the sunset and the princess had stayed in her tower—no happily-ever-after for either of them.
Every morning for a week, Darcy arrived at work with the hopes that that day would be the day the old Lucien would appear and would say more to her than her name: his form of greeting in the morning. And every day she was disappointed. It hurt that he wasn’t even curious enough about her to ask how she’d been for the past fourteen years. She was tempted to walk into his office and bridge the gap herself, but to do that she would need to tell him everything that had happened after he left. She’d have to share her painful secret.
To relive that pain, when he seemed perfectly content with the distance between them, was not something she was prepared to do. Despite the harshness of her current reality, it didn’t keep her from having dreams where Lucien pined for her as she had for him.
After work she decided to treat herself to dinner at a restaurant she’d heard Tara talking about. It was a small Italian place and the line to get in was ridiculous, but because she was eating alone, they found a spot for her in a dark corner. She was feasting on the best chicken marsala she had ever tasted when she heard a bit of a commotion coming from the entrance and looked up to see Lucien. He wasn’t alone. Did she know he was coming here tonight? She mentally went through his calendar and no, there was nothing scheduled for this evening.
The woman he was with was—of course—gorgeous and knew it too. Her body had curves in all the right places and her curly brown hair hung halfway down her back. Lucien had changed into a black suit with a mist-green shirt and tie. She understood why people looked—the pair was stunning: the kind of elegant beauty rarely seen in real life.
She turned her eyes down. Watching him was too painful—a nasty reality check, but one she really needed. When she looked at Lucien she saw the boy he had been—that boy she had a chance with—but he wasn’t that boy anymore. He was so far out of her league it was almost comical that she could still harbor hopes.
Fifteen years earlier . . .
“I’ve been looking all over for you. What are you doing down here?”
Darcy turned to see Lucien walking down the hill in that way of his. He was only sixteen and yet he moved with such confidence.
“Just thinking.”
“Under your tree, I see,” he said with a smile.
“Yeah, I like this tree. I feel almost at peace here.”
He turned serious before he reached for her hand. “I heard about the other girls teasing you. You aren’t upset about that, are you? They’re just jealous.”
“I know, because for some reason you hang with me and not them.”
“That’s not what I was talking about. They’re jealous because you’re funny and smart.” He moved closer to her and reached for her other hand. “They’re jealous because when you enter a room, I can’t keep my eyes off of you.”
“Afraid I’ll trip and embarrass myself?”
He cradled her cheek in his palm, his thumb brushing over her cheekbone. “Afraid I’ll embarrass myself with trying to get to you before anyone else does. They’re jealous, Darcy, because you are beautiful.”
“Have you had your eye exam lately? I think there might be a problem.”
“Shut up. I’m going to kiss you now.”
“I still won’t be any good.”
He flashed her a grin. “We’ll learn together.”
Before she could speak another word, his lips sealed over hers. He didn’t take the kiss deep—he just brushed his lips lightly over hers—but it was the most amazing kiss ever.
“That wasn’t so bad, was it?” he asked when he stepped away from her.
Her eyes were not yet open because she was still savoring the tingling her lips were doing. “No, not bad at all.”
“Darcy?”
She opened her eyes to see Lucien looking very serious. “You’re mine,” he said.
“I know.”
“Miss, would you like another glass of wine?”
Darcy looked up at the waiter, a little embarrassed to have been caught daydreaming.