Dating Mr. Darcy - Kate O'Keeffe Page 0,2

“Sure. No problem.”

“Good. My assistant will come and get you when we’re ready for you to go. When you exit the car onto the red carpet at the ranch, please remember to smile. You need to be open and friendly towards him. He’s Mr. Darcy, and it’s your job to impress him as well as you can.”

Well, if that doesn’t make me feel like the little woman who should know her place, I don’t know what will.

I nod, knitting my brows together to show how serious I am about this. “Smile. Friendly. Impress. Got it.”

She writes something on her clipboard, and I’m dying to know what it is. Obedient? Impertinent? No way is Mr. Darcy going to go for this one?

Not that I care.

I’m not here for the guy.

“And Miss Emma?” she says, eyeing me once more. “That mobile you tried so dexterously to slip under your posterior when I walked in needs to be handed in before you get into the car. Need I remind you, no devices of any kind are allowed.”

I shoot her a weak smile. Totally busted.

She turns on her heel and clomps out of the small room, leaving me alone with my now very warm phone. I abandon my message and instead dial Penny’s number.

She answers almost immediately, and I can just imagine her sitting in our office (okay, her garage, if you’ve got to be nitpicky), waiting to hear from me. “Em. How are you? Are you nervous? What are you wearing? Are you ready for this?”

“So many questions, Penn.”

“Sorry. I’m nervous for you.”

Nerves hitting me for the first time. “I don’t have long. I’ve got to get in the car to go meet him soon. What was your new idea?”

“Well, you know how we agreed that you’re going to wear Timothy items out on dates with him and lounging around the mansion with the other contestants? Well, I thought to amp it up, you could wear some of our shorts and a top under your evening wear at the parties.”

“Why?”

“That way you can whip your dress off and show our label!”

“You want me to take my dress off at the parties? Penny, this is Dating Mr. Darcy, not some sexy Vegas revue.”

“Look, if you were wearing your underwear, I’d totally agree, but the whole point of you being on this show is to get publicity for our label. Everyone will be talking about you, and, most importantly, they’ll be talking about Timothy.”

We named Timothy for our dads, who are both called, you guessed it, Timothy. Penny’s the creative mastermind and I’m trying to use my business degree from the community college where we met to make her vision a reality. We’re two plucky gals, working hard to change our fortunes.

Wrong side of the tracks? We grew up so far from them, we couldn’t even hear the trains.

Going on this show has got to work, for both of us. End of story.

“I’ll think about it, Penn.”

I’ve got zero intention of pulling my dress off to show our label. It’s one thing to be a contestant on this tragic show, it’s quite another to come across as a stripper on national TV. “I’ve got my Timothy leggings and top in my clutch, ready to change into in the limo.”

“Atta girl. You will totally stand out in activewear next to all those girls in evening gowns. Have you heard anything about the guy posing as Mr. Darcy?”

“Only that he’s super rich, super posh and consequently, I will have nothing in common with him.”

“Who knows? Opposites attract, Em. Maybe you’ll stay on the show the whole time, wearing our label as you fall in love?”

I let out a sudden laugh. “Not gonna happen. His money aside, a guy who goes on a reality show to fall in love is so not my kind of guy.”

“But he’s Mr. Darcy.” I can hear the swoon in her voice, like she’s all flushed and weak at the knees.

And yeah, I get it. Mr. Darcy is considered one of the most dashing heroes of all time. Many a woman has been known to swoon over him, with that heroic, masculine, man-of-few-words thing he’s got going on, not to mention his gallantry and immense wealth.

“Penn? You do know Mr. Darcy isn’t real, right?”

“Of course I do. But the guy on the show has got to be like him, right? I bet he’ll be gorgeous and confident—”

“And zero fun,” I add, cutting her off. “Mr. Darcy isn’t exactly the kind of guy to