Maddy scooped the photos out of the way, and Charles set the tray on the table before he straightened and turned back to Elizabeth and held out his hand.
“I heard Maddy say my name,” he said with a smile, “so I won’t offer it again. My mother wouldn’t let anyone call me anything but Charles, and I’ve just gotten used to it.”
Nice smile, she thought, giving him a half-grin and shook his hand. “I admit I did wonder.”
He flashed another toothy grin. “I imagine everyone does.” He was about to say something else when the doorbell rang.
“It’s probably Will,” Ed called from the kitchen.
Charles narrowed his eyes in a friendly way, half-apologetic, half-satisfied. “I called him before your uncle left to pick you up.”
Elizabeth turned without a word and walked to the door, her speed increasing with each step until she was almost running. She peered through the peephole and saw him standing on the porch wiping his shoes on the welcome mat. She cracked the door open and nearly fell into his chest. He quickly wrapped his arms around her, and she allowed herself to relax for the first time since she’d spotted someone following her. She wrapped her arms around him. Everything’s okay.
“I was worried,” he said quietly. “I saw the paper this morning and tried to call, but you weren’t answering your phone, and nobody had heard from you. Charles said you weren’t at your apartment and your uncle and aunt didn’t know where you were, either.” He moved her gently backwards into the house and closed the door. “There don’t seem to be any photographers out there now, but inside is better.” He closed the door behind them with his foot and reached back to lock it. “I know you can handle yourself,” he said. “I know it seems stupid to panic, but one of their vans nearly ran Georgiana down when she was fifteen, and she knew they were there. If you aren’t expecting them . . .”
“All they did was follow me and try to get pictures, but in my experience, being followed is generally a bad thing,” she said, her voice muffled in his shirt.
She felt the vibration of his deep, rumbling voice as he replied, “It’s okay,” he said. His arms relaxed around her. “You’re okay.”
At last, Elizabeth pulled away and took Will’s hand to lead him into the living room. Everyone else was eating. Ed winked at her as they entered.
“I figured you’d be awhile, and we were hungry,” he said with a grin, the skin at the corners of his eyes crinkling. “Did you tell him, Lizzy?” Ed asked her. She shook her head.
“Not yet,” she said. Will sat on the loveseat and pulled her down next to him. He took her hand and held it tightly.
“It’s all right,” he murmured, just loud enough for her to hear. “I can wait.”
She shook her head again. “It’s fine.” She opened her mouth to begin when she heard a key in the front door and her sister’s voice in the hall.
“Elizabeth?” Jane’s voice drifted down the hall. “Are you here?”
“We’re all in the living room, Jane,” called Maddy. “Come have something to eat.”
Elizabeth moved the cuff of Will’s sleeve to check his watch. It made her smile that he still wore one, and not a smart watch, either, but a heavy gold one with arms and roman numerals. He grinned at her, a little embarrassed.
“It’s my dad’s.” He shrugged. “You can’t always have your phone out in meetings,” he said. “My interns think it’s retro.”
Lizzy laughed softly and looked up at her sister. It’s half past. Jane must be on her lunch break. She’ll barely have time to get back.
Jane strode into the room and gazed with exasperation at the assembled party. “What in the world is happening?” she asked with a huff. “I got a call from Aunt Maddy, and then when I was leaving for lunch, I was handed a note that Will called, and nobody was answering my calls!” She stood in the middle of the room, hands on hips, glaring at everyone. “You can’t just leave messages and then not pick up your phones!” She stared pointedly at Elizabeth. “Especially you.”
Elizabeth winced. “Sorry.”
Will was sympathetic. “Sorry, Jane,” he added. “I left that message early this morning. I honestly didn’t think you’d ever get it.”
Jane rubbed her forehead. “Okay, at least Lizzy is all right. What happened?”
Ed clapped his hands and rubbed them together. “Lizzy was just about to tell us.”
“Introductions first, Ed,” scolded Maddy. Ed sat back and folded his arms over his chest. “Jane, this is Charles Bingley, Will’s friend and colleague. He was on his way to the city, but Will asked him to detour here this morning.”
Charles stood and offered his hand, but there was no easy smile or polite banter. He just blinked. Maddy sucked her lips in, and Elizabeth snorted softly. Men and Jane. Some things never change.
Jane shook Charles’s hand and said hello, smiling at him warmly before turning to her sister. “I want to hear the story, and it better be fast. I’ve got thirty minutes left, and it takes twenty to get back.” Maddy rose to press a sandwich in Jane’s hand, and then the eldest Bennet sister found a place to sit while she ate.
Elizabeth quietly cleared her throat, trying not to laugh at Charles who was only now realizing he ought to reclaim his seat. She was suddenly overwhelmed with an intense gratitude that Will seemed to prefer her. He’s never been anything more than polite to Jane. She clasped his hand where it was resting on her leg, and launched into her story, leaving out the worst parts but describing in detail how she’d hidden her face, how the white, tucked-up diapers had hit the photographers, how they were still begging her for a photo as she ducked inside. She added the part about them being ordered around and the soaking Lopez had given them.
By the time she got to the end, Ed was nearly rocking out of his chair with silent laughter. “No matter how often I picture it,” he crowed, “it just keeps getting funnier.” Maddy rolled her eyes at him.
Jane nodded vigorously, her blonde ponytail springing up and down. “Excellent, Lizzy. I know everyone needs to earn a living, but chasing you like that was wrong. They completely deserved it.”
Elizabeth shot a look at Charles, who was grinning at Jane. She felt Will’s hand tighten around hers as the others laughed. He wasn’t laughing, just smiling a little, and she instinctively knew he’d want to hear the story again when they were alone. It’s not normal to know someone as well as this after a month. We’ve only been on one real date. It can’t be normal, she thought, a whirl of anxiety beginning in her stomach. She took a deep breath and, for the first time, smelled herself. She was still in her sweats and badly needed a shower.
“I should probably go home,” she said, releasing Will’s hand and preparing to stand.
The room burst into sound so suddenly that it startled her. Even Charles was shaking his head. She stiffened, and Will drew her hand back. “It’s okay,” he assured her. “It’s just that there may be more of them staking out your apartment. Let me send someone to get your clothes, and you can shower here.”
Elizabeth shook her head. “The girls will be home from school in a couple of hours, and I don’t want them putting this mess out on social media. They’ve got accounts on sites even I’ve never heard of. Besides, I need my computers, my equipment.”
Uncle Ed scowled, but nodded at Will.
“Why don’t you just come back to the city with me?” Will asked her softly. “You can use Georgiana’s clothes until we can send someone for your things, and you know there’s plenty of room.” She heard the laughter in his voice. “You can even sit out on the terrace.” He leaned over as though he was relating some great secret to her. “Should I tell your uncle you’ll have your own room?”
“Let him sweat a bit,” she grinned. “He deserves it after laughing at me.”
“He’s just proud of you,” said Will. Elizabeth knew he was just trying to be fair—she suspected Uncle Ed had gotten on his nerves too. When she didn’t reply immediately, he added, in a more serious voice, “I’
m used to this sort of thing, so my security is quite thorough. I really think you’re better off there for now.”
Charles walked them out. He waited while Will handed Elizabeth into the car and then pulled him aside.
“Will I see you at the office in the morning?” he asked. “If you’re taking a few weeks, I need a complete update on what’s happening, and I still need to debrief you on the final leg of the trip.”
“I’ll be there,” Will replied. Charles nodded but did not move to his own car. Instead, he pursed his lips and sighed.
Will glared at him. “What?”
“Sorry,” Charles said, shaking his head. “I’ve just never seen you act this way. Are you sure . . .?”
Will crossed his arms across his chest. “You’ve never seen me hold a woman’s hand?”
Charles ran a hand through his hair. “Not in front of her family. Did you see the grin on Maddy Gardiner’s face?” He lifted both eyebrows. “I leave for six weeks, and when I get back, you’re acting like you’re me. Frankly, it’s more than a little disconcerting.”
Will frowned, annoyed, but then considered what Charles had said. “Stop right there,” he said with a disbelieving laugh. “You’re worried because I’m acting too much like you?” He linked his hands behind his neck and stretched his back. “That’s rich. Do I get to take a six-week business trip to South America if I experience a sudden romantic breakdown and need to quickly leave the country?”
Charles blushed. “Will, I’m just saying she’s gotten serious really fast—maybe too fast?”
“She’s gotten too serious? No,” Will replied firmly. “We’re not having this conversation in the middle of the street.” He glanced at the car and saw Elizabeth watching them closely. “In fact, we’re not having this conversation at all. If I need your advice, I’ll ask for it.”
“You always give me advice,” Charles pointed out.
Will pinched the bridge of his nose. “That’s because you ask for it, Charles. And I’ve stopped giving you advice on your personal life because you never listen anyway.” The last time, he had told Charles his latest angel was after his money; it was the predictable end of that relationship that had sent Charles to the other side of the world.
“Okay, Will,” he said, acquiescing with a shrug. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Don’t be late,” Will growled. He turned without another word, opened the driver’s door, and dropped himself into the seat.
“Mr. Bingley does not approve of me, I’m guessing?” Elizabeth asked archly as he reached for his seatbelt.
“Mr. Bingley has nothing to say about my private life,” Will snapped, “and he can damn well keep his hypocritical insinuations to himself.”
“Okay, then,” Elizabeth responded with a grimace, “got it in one. Let me guess, I’m after your money? I want my picture in the paper?”
His lips pressed together and he stared out through the windshield.
She put her hand on Will’s arm. “Worse than that?”
He didn’t answer.
“Aw, relax, cowboy,” she told him in a gentle voice, “I doubt he said anything more than I said myself that night on the terrace.” She paused. “Was that only the night before last?” She tipped her head to the side. “It feels so long ago now.”
Will was still working himself up. “He questions me when his love life is . . . Begged me for a way out of the city,” he grumbled. “Begged me.” His hands were gripping the wheel of the car so hard his knuckles were white. “Insinuations against you. Last thing I needed today.”
Elizabeth leaned over and elbowed him softly in the ribs. “You’re already forgetting our mantra,” she complained.
Will sighed a little and carefully elbowed her back. “Mantra?” he asked.
“I believe we established it last night. Starts with an ‘s’ and ends with a ‘them’?”
He laughed a bit at that, then started the car and pulled out onto the road. “Let’s just go home. I can spike his coffee with Tabasco in the morning.”
Elizabeth smiled widely. “Well played, Will. I’ll drag you over to the dark side yet.”
Will saw her rub her ear against her shoulder as he was checking his rearview mirror. “You okay?” he asked.
“Just a bit of a headache,” she sighed. “I’ll take something for it when we get to your place.”
A few minutes into the trip, Elizabeth reclined the seat a bit and closed her eyes. He drove all the way back to the city, into the garage, and parked the car without her waking.
Will watched her sleep for a moment, then pulled out his phone to make some calls. After the final one, he checked his watch. She’s a deep sleeper, he thought, watching her until she began to mumble and become agitated. He touched her arm and her eyelids fluttered open.
“I made three calls while you were sleeping,” he informed her, “but I think we should probably go inside at some point.” He touched her cheek. “There’s more room in there. And a bed if you’re still tired.”
She looked around. “Thanks,” she said, pushing her door open.
In a few minutes, they’d made it through the lobby and the elevator and back into Will’s stunning apartment. She punched the button for the lift, mostly to reassure herself that there was at least one thing in this house that wasn’t perfect, though the grinding gears made her headache a little worse. She stepped out into the hall and wandered into the bathroom. Fortunately, there was a new bottle of acetaminophen in the medicine cabinet. She shook out three tablets and swallowed them with water. The sleep helped. Maybe I can stop it before it gets too bad. It’d be a shame to waste my time here alone in a dark room. She stared at herself in the glass. It’s a good thing Will likes me. I look like I did after the first day of boot. She grimaced. Or maybe the last day.
She sighed. “Stand down, Bennet,” she said to the mirror. “Just take your shower.”
Will was making notes on his tablet when Elizabeth reappeared in a long white skirt and black cropped top, her long hair loose and damp. He couldn’t help but stare at the strip of skin showing between the bottom of her shirt and the top of the skirt. He thought he might be able to see her belly button.
She shrugged uncomfortably. “The only things that really fit,” she said by way of explanation. She looked around the room.
“Sorry,” Will said sympathetically, “your stuff won’t be here for a while, but I threw your sweats in the washer.” He tossed the file he was holding onto a smaller stack and held out an arm. “Thanks for not arguing too much about the bivouac.”
She snorted. “Right, because this is just like pitching a tent.” She took his hand, and he guided her to his lap.
He laughed lightly, close to her ear. “I’ve always thought so.”
“I am a little confused as to why you are working on paper files.” She raised her eyebrow. “Between that and your watch, it’s like time travel.”
“Some clients don’t want their things online,” he explained with a smirk. He pulled her in a little closer.
“I thought you had to work,” she said teasingly.
“Do you not like this location?” he asked, kissing the nape of her neck.
Elizabeth shivered.
“Are you cold?” he murmured, pressing his lips to a spot behind her ear. She felt herself melting into his body, her head thrown back as she rested against his shoulder.
“Mmm,” he said softly, trailing kisses along the exposed skin of her throat, lightly tracing her jawline with the pad of his thumb.
He stopped there and pressed a kiss on her forehead. “Do you want to nap a little more?” he asked. “You can lay here and sleep while I work.”
“I think I’m okay,” she assured him, “but I can just stretch out and relax. I can go over some programming in my head until my computers get here.”
“What kind of programming?” Will asked, curious.
Elizabeth folded her arms behind her head and laid back on the couch, her arms a
nd head propped up on a pillow, her legs still draped over Will’s lap. “You know, going line by line to find infiltrations is spectacularly inefficient. There’s artificial intelligence being developed that can determine the normal workings unique to a specific network and then pinpoint any deviations. It’s all about devising the algorithms in such a way that the AI doesn’t miss anything.”
Will looked incredulous. “You’re developing a program like that?”
Elizabeth looked at him fondly. “Sort of, but it’s not all that fancy. I wrote a program to help me locate vulnerabilities more quickly, but it belongs to the Marines.” She glowered. “Actually, my commanding officer took credit for it. But I wrote it, and I know it’s not perfect. I’m working on a better version to use in my own work now.”
Will shook his head. “Wow,” was all he could say, and then, “You need funding for that?”
She laughed. “Right,” she replied. “Because there’s absolutely no conflict of interest there.” How purple would Charles’s face turn if Will informed him about such an investment? She wasn’t sure, but her speculations were highly entertaining.
He took a deep breath. “You really are a marvel, you know?”
“Like the comics?” she shot back merrily, trying the change the subject. Her eyes sought out the ceiling as she rambled on, “I could have a costume with AI on the front in red—oh, wait, maybe too close to the scarlet letter? Or does anyone even read Nathaniel Hawthorne anymore?”
Will didn’t reply. He just continued to stare at her, but the gaze suddenly softened. “Elizabeth,” he said quietly, “you really scared me today.”
Elizabeth didn’t know how to respond to the sudden change in topic. Ultimately, she decided on an apology. “I’m sorry, Will. If I’d just waited and listened to all my messages before I went out for my run, none of this would have happened.” His expression was still pinched, so she sat up. “This can’t be just about a couple of photographers following me.”
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