The Wrong Mr. Darcy - Evelyn Lozada Page 0,81

about it. And I just can’t get over that O’Donnell knew!” He spit out his words.

Charles reeled back dramatically, as if Derek had slapped him. “Of course O’Donnell knows, he always knows. That guy is the devil.”

“What are you talking about? He found out about the college money and he brought you onto the team anyway. He protected you.”

“He didn’t do it to protect me. He did it so he can hold me hostage, so he can make money. I do what he says or he hurts Ma and takes away my contract. He’s so far up my ass I’m gonna be in the shit forever. Or I’m gonna be in jail.”

“Jail! You are not making sense.”

He swayed in his seat. “You ain’t makin’ sense.”

“Nice.”

They drank quietly for a minute. Derek stared at Charles across the table. His teammate, a guy he thought he knew.

The man’s eyelids were drooping like those of a small child in a high chair, drunk on milk. Eventually, his eyes shut and stayed shut and he dropped his head back, snoring.

Derek pried the beer from Charles’s hands, looking down at him ruefully. I’d think the big fella was cute if I wasn’t so pissed at him right now. He half walked, half dragged Charles back to his room and dumped him on the bed. Removed his sneakers and threw a blanket over him. His friend might be fucking up at life, but Derek couldn’t just kick him out. Not like this. Instead, he put a bottle of water and some aspirin next to the bed and left him to sleep it off.

Derek’s phone rang. It was Hara. His heart thumped. Perfect timing. She might be wrong for him, but she was only here for a little while. Parts of her were very right.

“Hey. I’m in your lobby,” she said in her naturally sultry voice. “Can I come up? I’m not a stalker, I promise. But I need to talk to you about O’Donnell.”

CHAPTER 17

They parted at last with mutual civility, and possibly a mutual desire of never meeting again.

—Pride and Prejudice

The doorman smiled at Hara as he put her on Derek’s elevator and pressed the appropriate button. “Mr. Darcy must be having a party tonight.”

Before she could ask what he meant, the door closed. Her nose wrinkled; beer tinged the air. Stepping into Derek’s private foyer and knocking on his door, Hara prayed she wasn’t actually walking into a party. Oh God. What if he had a girl in there? She should have thought this out.

She was close to backpedaling into the elevator when the door opened. A blast of male energy poured over her, a sexual heat emanating from the man in front of her. “Hi.”

Hara ducked her head shyly. Studying the floor, she expected the soundtrack to Sixteen Candles to start playing. She hadn’t felt this awkward since middle school.

“Hara?” He put a light finger under her chin, pulling her face up. “Are you mad at me?”

“No.” Her pulse raced. She could feel it in her throat. “Are you mad at me?”

He put his hands on her hips and his face close to hers, his breath on her cheek. Derek’s lips hovered but did not touch. “Can I kiss you?” he whispered.

Hara met his mouth hungrily, her tongue sliding across his. The passion they’d shared the night before had not been spent, merely banked, the hot embers jumping now to full flame. Both his hands went into her hair, holding the back of her head. She meshed against him but, after a second, forced some light between their bodies, her hands on his chest no longer caressing, now pressing him away, just a little. “Hi,” she said.

“Hi,” he replied, flashing his white teeth in an honest smile. “Glad to see you.”

She grinned back. Derek Darcy really did like her. “You, too.”

There was a loud snort from down the hall. From Derek’s bedroom. There was another snort, which then fell into a full-blown snore.

She took a step back and cocked an eyebrow at Derek. Hara was fairly sure that was not a girl. “The doorman said you were having a party.”

“That’s Charles.” Derek smirked. “He’s passed out. I put him on my bed.”

She felt her face flush, relieved Derek hadn’t been with someone else. “Does Charles know that I know about his mom?”

“Skipping the small talk, then.” He sighed, motioned her to follow him to the kitchen table, which held a number of empty beer bottles. “He knows that you went to see her,

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