Oh my God, put a lid on it.
“He’s doing all right. They discharged him and there was no concussion, thankfully.” He stuffed his tie into the inside pocket of his jacket. “Too bad they couldn’t give him something for his mood.”
Darcy stifled a grin. “Grumpy?”
“Yeah, he gives Donna a hard time. That woman is pretty much a saint.” He grunted. “Some days I just wish he’d lighten up a little.”
“Hmm, grumpy guy giving grief to those around him…sound like anyone you know?” She sipped her coffee.
“Don’t you start. I need to talk to someone who isn’t ready to crucify me today.” He smirked. “Probably wasn’t the best move coming to see you.”
Darcy stared into her coffee. Was Reed trying to say he’d chosen to come and see her because he thought she would treat him better than everyone else? Because he could relax around her? Absurd. They had a prickly relationship at best, antagonistic at worst. But there was the confusing element of that kiss…
“If you’re looking for someone to stroke your ego, I am not your woman.”
“No, you aren’t my woman.”
Something about the way he said it shot tiny arrows of anticipation through her. “I’m probably not even your type.”
“What’s my type?”
Oh boy, here they went. “I’m not sure I feel like completely decimating this relationship today.”
His interested expression morphed into a wide I’m going to blow your house down grin. Wolfish, indeed. “You think we have a relationship?”
“A business relationship. And as much as I’m perfectly capable of running a fundraiser on my own, my boss has told me I have to play nice.” She took a bite out of her pastry and chewed. “Which means curbing my honesty.”
“Come on, I know you hate following the rules.” He rolled his hand around. “Enlighten me, oh wise one. What is my type?”
“I was tempted to say anything that walks and is female.” She cocked her head. “But I figure you’re a little more discerning than that.”
“You give me too much credit,” he said dryly.
“I would say…” She tapped her finger to her chin. “You like women who are a little on the quiet side but not too introverted. Women who come from money or make a lot of it, so you know they’re not after yours. You also want women who aren’t looking for commitment but also aren’t going to be a liability—so I’d say recent divorcées or those just out of a long-term relationship.”
He stared at her for a moment, his expression neutral. “You’ve given that a lot of thought.”
She couldn’t argue there. There may have been one or two nights where she’d pored over Reed’s reviews on the Bad Bachelors app, trying to glean whatever information she could. “I read people.”
“It sounds more like you read bullshit websites.” His eyes darkened.
She shrugged. “You asked.”
“How about I return the favor?” He leaned back in his chair, his coffee and snack abandoned as his eyes raked over her.
It was like being scanned by a machine—all that was missing was the red laser running up and down her body. Reed seemed like the kind of guy who didn’t miss a trick, though she wasn’t sure she wanted him to be too accurate in his assessment of her. Or rather, she didn’t want the full extent of her pathetic-ness showing through.
“You don’t know what you want,” he said eventually.
“That’s cheating.” Not that it wasn’t accurate…
“Okay. You want something that doesn’t exist.” He rubbed a hand along his jaw, eyes boring into her as though he could read her soul like the Sunday paper. “You want a man who’ll take charge but leave you to be free to make your own decisions. You want a guy who’s romantic but not cheesy, someone who’ll be attentive but not stifling. He needs to be good looking but not so good looking that you feel intimidated. And he needs to be a little alternative but still have traditional ideals.”
She blinked. “Right.”
“Basically you want the Goldilocks of men.” He bobbed his head, a self-satisfied smile prickling at Darcy’s resolve to be professional. “Unfortunately for you, fairy tales don’t exist.”
“You’re wrong.” She frowned, indignation raising her hackles. “I don’t want a guy like that at all.”
“My mistake. You want the prematurely balding, small-dicked Darren.” He let out a disbelieving little puff of air. “The unsalted cracker of men.”
“This is a real person you’re speaking about.” She put her mug down a little harder than necessary and the liquid sloshed up the side, a small dribble going over the edge. Out of habit, she grabbed a napkin and wiped it up before it left a ring under the mug.
“A real person, right. Tell me, what’s the difference between me saying those things about him and all the women who’ve gone on to that godforsaken app to rate him like he’s a prize fucking pony?”
“But he has good reviews.” A flimsy excuse at best.
“So it’s fine if the reviews are good, but what if they’re bad? Or is that fine too, because men like me deserve to be called out?”
Reed was rattled. His tone had changed from his usual superior teasing to something that was far more hard-edged. Far more…real.
“Do the reviews bother you?” she asked.
“People can say what they like,” he said. But the muscles working in his jaw belied his words. “However, when it comes to people harassing my father over what some keyboard warriors have to say on the internet…”
“Donna mentioned that,” she said. “That’s wrong. They shouldn’t bring your father into this.”
“Doesn’t matter though, does it? I’m just getting what I deserve.”
“I never said that.” But she’d thought it, hadn’t she?
“You don’t need to. Everyone else is saying it for you.” He grimaced. “Doesn’t matter. The people who run Bad Bachelors won’t be hiding behind their keyboards forever.” He pushed back from his chair and tossed a few bills onto the table. “I’ll have my assistant call you to reschedule our meeting.”
Darcy watched him stride out of the café, guilt twinging in her gut. He’d admitted to having a rough day and all she’d done was pour salt in the wound. Based on what? Her decision to blindly believe what people said about him. Sure, he was cocky and pushy and a little too confident for her tastes. But jumping to Darren’s defense while still labeling Reed was hypocritical. He wasn’t an evil person. He was just…a guy.
An insanely hot, talented with his mouth, too far under your skin guy.
Chapter 11
“I wish Bad Bachelors had been around when I dated Reed. I’m not saying I would have done things differently, but at least I would’ve had my eyes open.”
—RobynHood
“Remi, you have outdone yourself.” Darcy planted her hands on her hips and surveyed the snack table for the Literature Loving Ladies book club. “Seriously, you could give up teaching barre and get a job as a pastry chef.”
The trestle table was covered in a pink-and-white-checkered tablecloth. A three-tiered cake stand housed an array of mini cupcakes with icing in every color of the rainbow. They made Darcy’s store-bought cookies look kind of sad, but she wasn’t about to complain. The book club was her baby, and Remi supported her every month with sweet treats that looked good enough to have come from Magnolia Bakery.
“I may have to if I keep eating the test batches.” She patted her washboard-flat stomach. “Won’t be able to fit into my tutu much longer.”
“You have a tutu?” Lily asked as she leaned over the table and plugged in the coffee machine. She’d brought her Keurig from home and had kindly donated a stack of pods for the meeting.
“Several. Although they live at my parents’ place now. We don’t really have the space for them in that crack in the
wall they call a wardrobe in this damned city.” She sniffed. “I can barely fit my regular clothes in there, let alone my dance stuff. That’s two things I miss about home—wardrobe space and Tim Tams.”
Darcy tried not to laugh. She’d seen Remi’s wardrobe; the problem was not so much a lack of space but a shoe collection large enough to support an army of supermodels. It was certainly in stark contrast to Darcy’s own modest collection.
“Just be thankful you have something with a door. In my first apartment, I had a single clothing rack and everything was crammed onto it. I couldn’t hide it away anywhere.” Annie shook her head. “I used to throw a sheet over it, but then I’d wake up in the middle of the night thinking there was a ghost in my room.”
“At least you have the closet to yourself,” Lily said. “I have to share with Jim, and I swear his stuff takes up more room than mine.”
“Perks of being single.” Darcy grinned.
“One of many.” Annie picked up a paper cup and shoved it under the Keurig’s spout. “In fact, I’m starting to wonder if the pros outweigh the cons.”
“You two make me sad,” Remi said with a shake of her head. “There’s a whole wide world of men out there and you’re not even having a nibble. There’s a bloody app to help you for crying out loud. When is dating going to get easier than that?”
“Ooh, are you talking about Bad Bachelors?” Lily swiped an Oreo from the packet on the table. “I read an article the other day that said some guy found out his colleague had set up a bunch of fake profiles to bring his rating down after they had a falling-out at work.”
Darcy wrinkled her nose. “That’s low.”
What if that was going on with Reed? He’d said not to believe everything she read. But so many of the reviews had pointed out that he was amazing in bed, surely that wasn’t a lie. A warm feeling unfurled in her belly. If his kiss was the hottest thing she’d ever experienced in her life, then he’d have to be good in bed.
Doesn’t mean anything. Even a plain, old cracker would taste gourmet after months of starvation.
Who the hell was she kidding? Reed wasn’t plain, old anything.
“It’s really unfair actually,” Darcy said. The three women turned to her with unconcealed surprise. “To lie and ruin someone’s reputation like that.”
She wasn’t about to draw attention to the fact that her “PR savior,” as her boss had taken to calling Reed, was sitting pretty on the top of the Bad Bachelors hit list. No doubt Remi and Annie would wonder why she hadn’t clued them in on what should be prime gossip fodder, but the truth was Darcy wasn’t sure how she felt about it. Her resistance to Reed had thawed, and yet he still unapologetically poked at her. Teased her.
She shouldn’t find it appealing.
“It’s very easy to call something fake just because you don’t want to hear it,” Annie said, tearing open a packet of napkins and laying them out next to the food. “I doubt people would go to such lengths.”
“Really?” Darcy scoffed. “Look at how people behave online. There’s a sense of entitlement that comes with anonymity, it makes people…mean.”
“It makes them honest,” Remi corrected. “Besides, since when are you team Douchebags R Us?”
“I’m not.”
“Maybe it’s because she was getting all cozy with some hottie that came into the library on Thursday.” Libby dug her elbow into Darcy’s ribs. “He was divine.”
“You didn’t tell me about this.” Remi folded her arms across her chest. “Who is he? Are you seeing him? Is that the reason you were so funny at the bar the other night?”
The questions were fired in rapid succession. How the hell did she find time to breathe between all those words?
“He’s the PR guy helping us out with the fundraiser.” Darcy shot Lily a dagger-sharp look. “Nothing to report.”
Nope definitely nothing at all. Zilch, zero, and zip.
“Then why do you look guilty as sin, Miss Darcy Lucia Greer?” Annie’s eagle eyes could have burned a hole through her head.
“I’m not guilty. And can we please finish getting ready?” She busied herself with putting the rest of the snacks out—Cheetos, Pringles, and some kind of weird-looking blue corn chips. Organic. Ew. “It’s almost time for people to arrive.”
“Nuh-uh.” Remi shook her head, a devious grin on her pale-pink lips. “We’ve got half an hour before showtime. So you’re going to spill, missy.”
“There’s nothing to spill.”
“Only that he was six feet plus of pure Manhattan sex-god goodness.” Lily cackled as Darcy rolled her eyes. “Judging by the suit he was wearing, he wasn’t from the burbs. That’s for damn sure.”
“What’s his name? Maybe we can find him on the app.” Annie pulled her cell from the inside pocket of her blazer. She looked way too dressed up for book club.
Stop stalling and figure out what you’re going to say.
“We’re not doing this. It’s work and it’s inappropriate.”
“Darcy,” Remi said in a singsong voice that said she’d well and truly been caught. “What are you hiding?”
Panic settled in; the girls had her backed into a corner like a pack of hungry hyenas. There was no way they’d let it go now, not when they’d caught the scent of a secret. She had three options. One, fess up about Reed. Two, lie and give another name, which was problematic, because if she accidentally gave the name of someone who was on the app, Lily would call her on it. Or three, go for pure and utter denial Sergeant Schultz style.
I see nothing. I was not here. I did not even get up this morning!
“You’ve got an active imagination, Rem.” She swallowed. “You should write these things down. Might make a good book.”
“What did you say his name was again?” Lily clucked her tongue.
“I don’t think I did.”
“Yes, you said, ‘I’m going to get coffee with…’ Ugh, what was it? Something short. Very manly.” Lily pressed her lips together and stared into space. “Rich or Rick or something? Gosh, why can’t I remember?”
“Too busy being moonstruck,” Darcy muttered.
“Come on. You’ve got us all curious now.” Annie slung an arm around her shoulder. “And don’t give me this BS about it being unprofessional. It’s not like we’re going to contact the guy.”
“Reed!” Lily shouted with her fist pumped in the air. “His name is Reed.”
Annie’s eyes narrowed as she swiped Remi’s phone. This was about to go downhill. Fast. “Is this the guy?”
Lily peered at the screen and nodded. “Yes, that’s him. Wow. Are you like some kind of hot-guy psychic?”
“No. But I do know my best friend,” Annie said. “And I know that she only ever hides something when she’s ashamed.”
“I have nothing to be ashamed about,” Darcy said, throwing up her hands. “I didn’t say anything because I knew you would make a big deal out of it, and it’s totally pointless because it’s just business and there’s nothing going on.”
“Want to take a breath in there?” Remi teased.
“I wouldn’t be so defensive if you crazies didn’t make me feel like I was about to get burned at the stake for keeping work business to myself.” She huffed. “Seriously. It’s feeling like a witch hunt in here.”
For the first time since they’d entered the library, the room was quiet. Lily was scrolling through Remi’s phone, a curious expression on her face. She was tempted to remind the assistant librarian that raking her colleague over the coals was not a cool way to act. But she knew Lily wanted to fit in with the girls. She hadn’t been in Brooklyn that long and the book club was her way of meeting people.
You’re too damn soft. You know that, right? Such a freaking bleeding heart.
“What do you want me to say? We’re working together. End. Of. Story.” She grabbed a handf
ul of M&M’s and stuffed them into her mouth.
Don’t mention the kiss. Don’t mention the kiss. Don’t mention the kiss.
“What’s he like? Have you talked about the app? Does he know that you know who he is?” Remi’s head looked like it was about to explode. “I have so many questions!”
Darcy chewed through the crunchy shells of the candy, wondering how the hell she managed to end up with such a nosy bunch of friends. “Yes, we’ve talked about the app, and yes, he knows I’m aware of his reputation.” Darcy fiddled with the end of her braid. “And he’s…nice.”
“Nice?” Annie scoffed.
“Sometimes.” It was an inadequate descriptor for a guy like Reed, but she feared anything more accurate might get her intro trouble. Because the next few words that sprang to mind were delectable, infuriatingly sexy, and world’s best kisser.
“You’ve really got nothing more to say than the fact that he’s ‘nice sometimes’? Come on.” Remi shook her head in a perfect imitation of motherly disappointment. “What did he say about the reviews?”
“He doesn’t like them.” She felt strange discussing what was clearly a raw topic for Reed behind his back, but the floodgates had been opened and the gossip monsters would not be sated until they’d had their fill. “In fact, I would say he finds the whole thing embarrassing. People are harassing his sick father for an interview. It’s…wrong.”
“Right.” Annie snorted as she unstacked the chairs, arranging them in a circle in the middle of the room. “Excuse me if I can’t feel sorry for the guy. Sounds like it’s a little what goes around comes around kind of thing.”
“How can you say that? You don’t even know him.”
My, my, my. How the tables have turned.
Darcy pushed down the guilt at how she’d treated Reed on their first meeting. Admonishing Annie was a hypocritical move.
“I know his type.” Annie pushed a strand of dark hair out of her eyes and straightened the chairs until they were perfectly spaced. “Believe me.”
“You’re just saying that because of what happened with…” Darcy trailed off when Annie’s head snapped up, her mouth pulled into a grim line.
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