Page 14 of Perfectly Right

Darcy shook his head and gave her a rueful smile. “I saw him when he was a block away—rather hard to miss, obviously—and thought he was harmless till I noticed the rose. I considered buying it from him to avoid any misunderstanding, but from thelooks of it,” he said, gesturing towards the laughing couple, “he would have refused anyway.”

“Perhaps violently. With those muscles, he likely could bench-press three of you.”

He laughed. “Yes, but I could outrun him.”

Despite his attempts at light conversation, Elizabeth could see Darcy was tense. She knew him well enough now to wonder why he was actually here. Did he have any idea how happy it made her? Was it possible he still liked her and was disguising his true feelings? God knows, she was hiding hers. Could he hear her heart pounding?

“Well, I appreciate you coming to my rescue today?—”

“It wasn’t exactly a rescue?—”

“—and that you knew how much I like peonies.”

“To paraphrase something you once said, red roses are a cliché, red carnations are filler.” He shrugged. “But peonies, which take effort to bloom and smell wonderful, are special.”

“Like me?” Smirking, she tapped him with the flower and reached for the ice-cube filled water glass, drinking thirstily to quell her nerves as much as to quench her thirst. When she moved the glass away to set it back on the table, Darcy was watching her with a soft, amused smile. She held up her hand. “No ‘thirsty’ jokes, please.”

“I am far too well-mannered for that,” he said, lifting his own glass. “Besides, you’re tolerating me as your date.”

“Hardly tolerating. You are a huge relief—the perfect fill-in.” Elizabeth frowned. “No, more than that. It’s— Can we walk? I have too much energy to sit right now.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Darcy rose, tossed a twenty on the table and put his hand on Elizabeth’s back, guiding her out of the café and towards the crowded paths of Lincoln Park.

As encouraged as he was by her reaction to finding him as her date, he couldn’t read her. She seemed happy, almost buoyant to see him, and now she was frowning and desperate to flee the restaurant. Determined to get to the point, he stopped walking.

“Elizabeth.”

She turned, appearing surprised at his serious tone, and took a step towards him. He managed a tense smile before continuing.

“Look, I canceled on the guy who was supposed to be your date, and I’m supposed to be at this place on Halsted in little more than half an hour to meet whoever you set me up with. But I’d rather not go?—”

“You don’t have to.”

“No?”

“Yes, well, the thing is I didn’t get you a date.” Her nose scrunched up in the most adorable way. “I was planning to bail quickly on whoever you set me up with and go meet you.”

“Asmydate?”

Her cheeks reddened. “Well, apparently neither of us knows anyone good enough for each other,thus?—”

“Thus, here we are. Failing admirably, together.” Darcy wanted to kiss her rather desperately, especially when she laughed softly and looked up at him with bright, shining eyes. “So, to be clear, because I do not want to repeat any earlier mistakes, you must know my feelings haven’t changed and I really, really like you?—”

Suddenly, Elizabeth’s hand was caressing his cheek and she was pressing her lips gently against his. It took him only an instant to react. He had imagined this moment more times than he could count and the reality sent his heart racing. He pulled her closer, returning the kiss with equal feeling but a little more intensity as he felt her sighing encouragement. As their lips parted, her arms slid around his waist in a comfortable embrace and she buried her face in his neck. He kissed her ear, smiling in a buzzy mix of joy and disbelief, before whispering, “Best failure ever but we get an A for effort.”

He felt her shaking with laughter before she pulled just far enough away to look at him. “And extra credit for the peony.”

The impish expression she wore—so full of warmth and feeling—compelled him to kiss her thoroughly, at least until, through a dim fog of awareness, he heard a bell ringing. Darcy glanced over his shoulder to see a man and two young kids on scooters barreling toward them. Grabbing Elizabeth’s wrist, he pulled her with him to the side of the path and smiled down at her. Her cheeks were flushed—likely as much as his own.

His mind was as full as his heart, almost too full to risk ruining the perfection of the moment. Hands firmly entangled, they began walking. The quiet held for only another minute, until, in an almost shy voice, Elizabeth asked, “Why did you want to set me up on dates if you still liked me?”

“I wanted to make you happy, and I thought it might be the only way I’d have the chance to be the guy who did. Who does.”

“You do.”

He was unable to find the words to reply, so they walked in silence for a few minutes before leaving the paved path for the grassy field. Under the shade of a tall, leafy maple, Elizabeth kicked off her sandals and sat down. Darcy sat next to her, taking her hand in his and tracing her palm.

“When I got back in town and heard you were dating someone, I was afraid you’d found your soulmate. I came up with this dating scheme because I was too worried to ask you to dinner and endanger whatever fragile alliance we might have because of Charlie and your sister.”

Elizabeth’s hand closed around his; she pressed it to her lips for a brief kiss. “I understand why you didn’t say anything. I’d been pointedly clear when my feelings were the opposite.”

“Werethe opposite? You’ve done a full one-eighty, then?” A buzz of contentment settled on him; the disbelief lingered, but this was real.

“Obviously.” She looked at him, her eyes sparkling in the bright sunlight. “I know you better now. I had an epiphany yesterday and realized how important it was that I speak first. You are a gentleman and too polite to be open with your feelings in case mine didn’t match.”

“And you are very brave.” He brushed his lips against hers before admitting, “I intended to set you up with a good guy today to prove I could, but I hated the thought that you might like him.”

Elizabeth turned and squeezed his hand. “You found a good guy,” she murmured as she rested her head on his shoulder, “and I like him. And thus, swipe right.”