Dating Mr. Darcy - Kate O'Keeffe Page 0,50
horse?”
“Neither. It’s just you look like a Thoroughbred horse kinda guy. Not one of those workhorse types with the fluffy feet.”
He laughs. “Fluffy feet? You really don’t know anything about horses, do you?”
“I’m a city girl, loud and proud.”
“Isn’t everyone from Texas either a cowboy or a cowgirl?”
“Sure we are,” I reply with a laugh. “If this were 1813.”
“Which it is.”
“Right. I forgot.”
“Would you like to go for a short ride together?” he asks. “I think my horse would like to stretch her legs.”
I glance at Matty, the cameraman out of the corner of my eye. “I don’t want to go too fast.”
“We can go at this speed.”
I gesture at Matty and pull a face, hoping Sebastian gets my unspoken message that I would prefer not to be on film right now.
He looks up and says in a louder voice, “Tell me more about your grandmother’s embroidery. Did she really teach you all you know about the art?”
“I’m sorry, what now?”
“Your grandmother,” he repeats, shooting me a look. “You were telling me all about how she taught you to embroider.”
I tag on. “Oh, she did. She was an excellent embroiderer. She could do cross stitch and back stitch, and,” I pause. I’ve exhausted my knowledge of embroidery already and I’m only two stitches in. “All the stitches, really.”
“Any you especially like?”
“I like the double looped back flip over.”
Totally made up.
“My personal favorite, as well.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “You look more like the type to go for the double crosser stitch.” I shoot him a triumphant smile. I like the way I’ve made a conversation about my grandmother’s fictitious embroidery abilities into a swipe at Sebastian for not following through on our deal to send me home.
He chortles, and I know he’s caught onto my thread, if you’ll excuse the terrible pun. “Oh, Emma. The double crosser is not my preferred stitch at all. I prefer the hands tied stitch. It’s very tricky and hard to pull off.”
“That’s what they all say.” I eye the cameraman once more and note he’s still filming us. “What type of embroidery stitch do you like, Matty?” I ask him.
“Oh, I, ah, don’t know anything about it.”
“Perhaps we can teach you?” Sebastian suggests.
Matty lowers his camera. “You’re not meant to talk to me, guys. Just talk between yourselves, ‘kay?”
“So, you’re not into embroidery?” I ask.
“I’m sure it’s really interesting and all, but I kinda gotta do my job here.” He hoists his camera back into position, and points it back at us.
My plan is foiled. Of course they’re not going to stop filming the star of the show with one of the contestants, even if they’re talking about something as dull as embroidery. They’ll just edit that part out.
I guess I’ll have to hope I manage to stay atop Marilyn and not “entertain” the audience.
Sebastian and I ride slowly together. He’s considerably more at home on the back of his horse than I am on mine. But I’m putting on a good front, and getting into a groove with Marilyn.
“Do you have a job?” I ask him. “Other than being Mr. Darcy, of course.”
“I do. I work for a bank in the City.”
He works for a bank. A rich guy’s job, for sure.
“Which city?”
“It’s the name of the financial area in London. It’s simply known as the City.”
“Because there are so few cities in the world and everyone automatically knows what you’re talking about?”
He shoots me a sardonic grin. “I see Emma The Firecracker is back.”
I shrug. “Always.”
“Tell me about your job. You’ve got an activewear label called Timothy, is that right?”
I think of Matty filming us, and know I owe Sebastian a big thank you for raising my label on camera. “I sure do. I was wearing my label when I met you on the red carpet, you know.”
“I do recall you mentioning it. Something about sweat, I believe.”
I don’t miss a beat. “Timothy activewear wicks sweat away to keep you feeling dry as you work out. We’re only doing a women’s line right now, but once we launch a men’s line, I’ll be sure to send you some.”
“That would be wonderful. Why did you get into activewear? Are you especially sporty?”
I shake my head. “My friend Penny is. She’s the designer. She was sick of wearing clothes that didn’t fit right or felt uncomfortable. The passion she has for what she does is so infectious that the day she told me her plans, I knew I had to start the business