THE NEXT DAY was Saturday, and my cell phone rang at exactly eight o’clock in the morning.
Who on earth would call this early?
“Hello?” I managed as I sat up in bed. Last night had been wild, and my body was still reverberating with little aftershocks.
“Miss Bennett?” a crisp female tone said.
I cleared my throat. “Yes?”
“This is Sylvia Myers with Myers’ Jewelry Store.” She paused as if waiting for me to reply, as if she were returning my call.
“Hi?”
Myers’ was one of the premier jewelry stores in the Raleigh-Durham area. I’d been in there a few times to window shop and get ideas, but their prices were way out of my league.
“I’m calling you about the images you emailed our office? We’d like for you to come in and meet with us next week to discuss perhaps purchasing some of your designs.”
Images? I hadn’t sent anyone pics.
I sat up straighter in bed, brain racing. “I see. Which ones were you interested in, Ms. Myers?”
A shuffling sound of papers came through the phone. “Your personal assistant, Shelley, sent over several drawings, but the ones that caught my eye were the silver pieces, the butterfly ring in particular and the scroll bracelet. We have a shop in Asheville where your artisan type of jewelry would sell quite nicely. Would Wednesday at nine be okay to meet?”
Shelley!
Just when I thought she was full of crap and as empty-headed as a balloon, she’d gone and done something so incredibly … sweet.
But why would they want my designs?
Because they’re beautiful, a small part of my heart whispered. At one time, youbelieved in yourself. Do it again!
I scrambled around for a pen and a notebook I kept on the nightstand. “I have classes all morning, and I’m not done until one and then I have to work … but I can probably get off. Would three o’clock be okay?”
God, what was I doing? I hadn’t designed anything new in years. All I had was the old stuff. And how the hell had Shelley even gotten ahold of my old designs?
“I didn’t realize you were a college student, Miss Bennett. I assumed you were a professional designer with experience. Your logo on your email says you own a company called Darcy Designs.”
Darcy? Nice name. Props to Shelley for remembering Pride and Prejudice.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“How old are you? You sound rather young on the phone and honestly we’re looking for dependable artisans at the moment, not young college students.” I heard her tapping something, and I imagined her sitting behind a big desk in an office, regretting calling me.
I sighed. “I am a full-time college student.”
“I see.” But I could still hear the uncertainty in her voice. She seemed to come to some kind of decision and cleared her throat. “Okay. I’ll see you Wednesday afternoon at three at our main jewelry store in Raleigh.” She rattled off the address. “Good day, Miss Bennett.” She hung up.
I sprang out of bed like a scalded cat.
I’d gotten an interview for my designs. Holy cow. Exhilaration filled me along with a good dose of fear. I could do this, right? I had to try. Because existing like I had been wasn’t working.
And then thoughts of Colby seeped into my brain. I hadn’t seen or heard from him in two weeks, but somehow I knew he was out there. Lurking. Waiting for me.
I shuddered and pushed those morbid scenarios away and raced out to my balcony. I wanted to see Declan. When we’d gotten home from the gym last night I’d given him an awkward kiss goodnight at my door then I’d come in to crash. But, he hadn’t been far from my mind all night.
I leaned over the railing. “Wake up, you sleepy-headed Englishman, I have big news!” I called over to him. “Huge!”
I counted ten seconds and he suddenly appeared, his hair standing straight up and eyes blinking in the morning sun.
I nearly clapped, but stopped just in time.
“What’s going on?” He scrubbed the dark shadows on his chiseled jawline, looking like a million bucks. No man had the right to look that good this early.
And, of course, he slept in the nude. Gloriously. Fantastically.
“Declan! You’re flashing the whole complex.” I tore my eyes off his perfect body.
“I thought something was wrong with you,” he half shouted as he went back inside his bedroom and then came back out wearing a pair of tight black boxers. “This do, madam?”
I ran my eyes over the snug lines. Not by a long shot. I could see exactly how monstrously large he was. And hard.
His eyes went to half-mast. “You’re looking a little too hard, Elizabeth. Focus on my face, not my body.”
He sent me a searching look, and I figured it was last night hanging between us.
I just didn’t know how to handle all this feeling.
I waved him off. “Forget your cock. I got a meeting on Wednesday with a jewelry company about a design opportunity. This could be the beginning of something I never thought could come true.” It still might not.
A wide grin split his face. “Hang on, I’m coming over.”
“What? No, you don’t have to do that. I just—I don’t know—wanted to tell someone.”
“And you told me first?”
I nodded.
“Stand back,” he said, and before I’d barely gotten out of the way, he’d jumped from the top railing of his balcony to mine. He landed right in front of me, his bare chest within inches of mine, and before I could even think about how nervous he made me, he swung me up in his arms and spun me around. I squealed, the sensation of being back in his arms heady.
He dropped me unceremoniously on one of the chairs I’d put out there.
“I say this calls for a celebration,” he said, plopping down next to me in another chair. “Let’s go out for breakfast. My treat.”
An unfamiliar lightness came over me. Things were changing fast, but I didn’t dwell on it. “Okay.”
He nodded. “Where do you want to go?”
“I don’t care.” And Lord help me, I didn’t care where I was with him.
Just this one day, I promised myself.
He leaned over and before I could pull back, he’d kissed me on the cheek. “Done. Get dressed and I’ll knock on your door in thirty minutes.”
While I watched with bated breath, he jumped back over to his own balcony and went inside his bedroom.
I CAME BACK inside from the balcony with a grin on my face as I scrambled around to get ready to take Elizabeth to breakfast. After a quick shower, I shoved on jeans, a Front Street Gym shirt, and flip-flops. Done. I couldn’t fucking wait to be near her again.
Last night had been incredible, but it wasn’t just about the sex. It was her.
The way she’d danced in the rain; the excitement in her eyes when she’d talked about her jewelry interview; the way she struggled through her fears. I wanted all of her.
Was it stupid that I wanted to tell her everything about me?
How much I’d loved my mum and missed her?
How I wanted to finish my gym and work on a UFC title?
How I imagined taking her in every position imaginable?
Yeah. Best to wait on that.
I knocked on her door five minutes later, and we walked to Minnie’s across the street from our complex. Our hands brushed against each other as we crossed the street, and my cock tightened. Just the simplest touch and I was ready to take her back to my place and show her exactly how I felt.
Minnie’s was a popular uni hangout and was busy, but we found a booth in the back.
We ordered and got our food and dove in, the camaraderie between us not surprising me at all. I’d sensed from the beginning that we were more alike than she realized.