buckle her into her seat before coming around and folding himself into the driver’s side. A moment later they were cruising down the street. She leaned her head against the window and closed her eyes. In her imagination, they were on a date and were on their way home to make love. The idea of it was so raw that Darcy felt lust sear her nerve endings. She must have made a sound because Lucien asked her what she was thinking.
She answered without thought: “About you.”
When she realized what she’d said, she wanted to throw herself out of the moving car. What was wrong with her? It was for this reason that one should avoid drinking alcohol in excess. He was silent for the rest of the ride—he was probably afraid she was going to throw herself at him as soon as he helped her from the car.
She didn’t, though. Tempting as the idea was, she kept her hands and her thoughts to herself. They reached her apartment building just off of Times Square and despite her sour mood, she was happy to be home. She loved it here: the crowds, the lights, and the general chaos. It was what had attracted her to this section of the city; it was hard to feel lonely when there was so much around you. They climbed the stairs to the third floor. When they reached her apartment door, he seemed in almost a hurry to be free of her. If he were in such a rush, then why the hell had he driven her home? She felt the anger again, but tried to bank it because, regardless of what motivated him, he had seen her home safely. She unlocked her door and stepped inside. Lucien made no move to follow her in.
“Are you going to be okay?” Even his voice sounded strained. She felt the tears and hated herself for them.
“I’m fine. Thanks for the ride home.”
He silently studied her, his hands moving into the pockets of his trousers. She couldn’t read him, but she guessed he was trying to determine the shortest amount of time he needed to stay without looking rude. She was about to put him out of his misery when he reached for the door.
“See you tomorrow.”
He closed the door before she even had time to answer, the click of the door latch echoing like a gun blast in her quiet apartment. She leaned up against it and let the tears fall for being so fucking foolish when it came to Lucien.
Darcy wasn’t sure how she managed to avoid Lucien for the next week. She hadn’t asked him to interfere that night with Kevin, but he’d done so anyway, and now she suspected that he was avoiding her.
When he’d forwarded her an invitation to a function that she was to attend, her first thought was that he was asking her to go with him, but then sanity returned and she assumed she was to go in his place. She learned neither was true when she checked his calendar and saw he had the event penciled in. It was like a double slap in the face and because of it, she decided to take the rest of the day off and go shopping. She needed a dress, and even better, he wasn’t there to tell her she couldn’t. Childish, yes, but she wasn’t above it. She might even buy dinner and charge it back to him, because if he had a problem with that he’d be forced to suck it up and talk to her. She was smiling as she shut down her computer.
The annual restaurateur guild gala was a huge event every year and was the perfect opportunity for Darcy to meet the vendors that she was working with on a daily basis. Lucien had been tempted to ask Darcy to come with him, but things between them had been off ever since that night a week ago when he’d driven her home, so he’d asked one of his countless lady friends. He always prided himself on being an even-tempered person, but ever since Darcy had returned, he’d been acting like a complete lunatic.
He could be honest with himself and acknowledge that he was acting like a mental patient because despite everything that had happened between them, he still wanted Darcy as wildly as he had when they were teenagers. But being a contrary son of a bitch, every time he entertained the idea of going down that