My Pride, His Prejudice (13 page)

“You’re so bossy.” She held on to his shirt and tucked her head against his neck.

Her warmth breath splayed just under his ear, wreaking all sorts of havoc. “Well, I am your boss. I think I’m allowed to be.”

She chuckled softly, creating those sensations again, and he nearly dropped her as the doors opened.

“You’re not the boss of me.”

“Okay, princess. I’m going to need you to be quiet now.” If not, he wasn’t sure he’d make it to the door.

“I’m not a princess.”

“Right now you are.”

“Nope.” She yawned. “That would make you a prince, and you’re no prince.”

He grinned. “Touché.” Even half asleep, she never let up. Where had she been his whole life? And how had he seen only see half of her awesomeness? He let loose a long breath. There needed to be a plan. Something to completely derail where they were headed now.

He had to think of a way to get her to see how good she really was, so she knew without a doubt that she wouldn’t change once they were together.

His breath caught in his throat at the thought. Was he really hoping to have a second chance with her? To actually prove that they were meant to be together? How much of his pride was he willing to risk for this? Looking down her unguarded profile, he smiled slightly. All of it.

As he approached her door, he knocked. She wriggled in his arms. “Let me open it with the key in my purse.”

“Uh, I don’t think I brought it. Sorry.”

“Will…”

“Yes?”

Just then, the door opened. “Oh, my goodness! What happened? Is she okay?” Melissa asked as she clutched her dressing gown and moved back to let Will carry her daughter in.

Eliza groaned and dropped her head onto his shoulder. “I’m fine, Mom.”

“She’s just sleepy.” He winked at Melissa as he walked past.

Melissa giggled. “I’ll let you help her to her room.”

“I don’t need help. Put me down—I’ll be fine.” Eliza moved, but he held on.

Melissa tsked. “No, she’s not fine. She looks like a mess. Go ahead, Will, and do what you need to do.”

“Mom! You’re a turncoat.”

He chuckled and walked into the bedroom. “Hey, be nice. You should listen to your mom.”

“It’s true. You should!” Melissa hollered back at them.

“You’re going to have fun answering all the questions she’ll have for you.” He smirked.

“Nice. Something else I have to thank you for. Now, why can’t I stop yawning?” she asked over yet another yawn.

“Probably because you’re as exhausted as I say you are—you’re just too stubborn to admit it.”

“Said the king of stubborn,” she mumbled into his shoulder. “So, are you going to put me down?”

“Debating it. Not sure yet.” Truth was, it was absolutely wonderful to have her so close.

“Urgh. Why are you such a brat?”

“What?” He pretended to be shocked. “Are you really calling me a brat? Now if I was a brat, I’d do something like this.” Without hesitating, he tossed her onto the bed.

“Oomph!” She gasped.

“There. You oughta be awake now.” He swooped down, kissed her on her gaping mouth, and then walked out. “Night, darling. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Just as he shut the door, he heard a thump on the other side. “Hey! Was that your shoe?” he asked through the wood.

“Of course, you monster.”

“Monster?” He opened the door and then quickly shut it again to let the other shoe hit. As soon as he heard the resounding bump, he whisked it open and pounced on the bed. “I’ll show
you
monster. Now you’re really gonna get it.”

Eliza shrieked like a banshee, but he held her down on her back. “Did you honestly try to hit me in the head with your high-heeled shoe? And you have the audacity to call
me
a brat?”

“You deserved it!” She attempted to push at him and giggled. “You’d better let me go or I’m going to scream the place down.”

“As soon as you open your mouth, I’ll kiss you. So I’d rethink that if I were you.”

The little beast opened her mouth and breathed as if to yell, and he captured it, kissing her. She pretended to protest as he gently released her arms, but they wound around him.

Melissa called from the doorway. “Just holler if you need me.”

“Did you hear that?” he whispered against Eliza’s mouth.

Melissa called out again. “That was for you, Will. You let me know if
you
need help.”

They both chuckled just before he kissed her again.

After a few moments, she said, “Will?”

“Hmm?” He seriously would never get enough of these sweet lips.

“You need to stop.”

“And why’s that?” he murmured.

“Because I’m beginning to fall in love with you.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR:

Will pulled back, his eyes searching Eliza’s for a good full minute. She held her breath and silently chastised herself. Why would she say that to him? Why? She wasn’t even sure where that had come from. Finally, he spoke.

“Okay. I’ll stop and leave you alone. You need to catch up on your sleep anyway.”

What?
Mortification burned through her as she sat up and stammered. “I . . . uh . . . okay. Thanks for dinner.”

“No problem.” It was as if he was a different person altogether. “Thanks for talking to my sister.” He kissed her cheek. “Well, I’m going to head out now. Hope you sleep well.” And then he was gone.

She clutched the blanket to her chest as her heart dropped. Sure, she blurted out something she shouldn’t have, but...? All at once, Eliza felt like crying. Everything around her seemed lonely and small. Her hands began to shake. Slipping under the covers, she curled herself into a ball and closed her eyes. Exhaustion crept its way into every inch of her. Why else would she feel the need to cry?

The next morning, Eliza slowly blinked awake. She could hear her mom humming some old song about going to the chapel and getting married. As soon as it registered what the melody was, she groaned and rolled over. Placing a pillow over her head, she lay there and debated the best course of action.

Today was Saturday. No, wait. They came to Vegas a day early. Today was only Friday, wasn’t it? Her mind roamed over all that had happened the past twenty-four hours, and she became tired again just thinking of it. What time was it, anyway? She glanced around for her phone—no phone. Then she began to look for her purse. Were they in the front room? “Mom, what time is it?” she asked as loud as she could without yelling.

“What’d you need, sweetie?” Her mom came into the room. “Good morning, slugabed. So glad to see you’re finally awake.”

“What time is it?” she asked again, deciding it was best to address one issue at a time.

“Nearly one. Why?”

Eliza jolted up. “Are you kidding me? One p.m.? Holy . . . Mom! Why’d you let me sleep that late? Where’s my phone?”

Her mom blinked. “Excuse me, but you clearly needed sleep.”

“Not like twelve hours, though.” She couldn’t even remember the last time she’d gotten more than six hours of sleep. She glanced around the room again. Served her right for not having an alarm set on her phone. “I’ve practically wasted half the day. Good grief. So, do you know where my phone is?”

“Yes. Will called and said your purse and phone are still up in his suite.”

She winced and flopped back on the bed. “Are you kidding me? I really don’t want to see him today.”

“All right. Enough with the drama.” The bed bounced a bit as her mom got on it. “How dare you make that face when you were grinning just fine over the boy last night?”

“I don’t want him to get the wrong idea.”

“The wrong idea about what?” She tossed a pillow at Eliza. “Good grief. You’re gonna run that man ragged if you pull this with him today.”

“Pull what with him?”

She gestured toward her. “This. Exactly this.”

“Which is?”

“You playing the victim. Enough. Get up and put a smile on your face, and you’d better tell that boy you love him and stop this foolishness.”

She gasped. “Mom, for once and for all, I do not love Will Darcy.”

“Liar.” She scooted over a bit. “I shouldn’t even be sitting here for fear your pants will catch on fire.”

Eliza rolled her eyes and tried not to laugh. “I’m not in love with him.”

“Bull. You’ve been in love with him for months. Now stop it.”

“Stop being in love with him? Gladly. There. Done.”

“You know what I mean.”

“No, Mom. I don’t.” She sighed. “Please, explain, because obviously my words don’t mean anything to you.” She was embarrassed. She was frustrated.  And she was ornery.  This probably wasn’t the best time to have this chat.

Her mom shook her head. “None at all. In fact, I don’t even trust what comes out of your mouth anymore if this is what you’re gonna wake up saying after allowing that man to kiss you senseless last night.”’

Her heart skipped a beat. “You saw that?”

Mom gave her the look. “Seriously? Were you even rational after his first kiss?”

She sighed. “Yes. I remember almost everything.” She got quieter and plucked at the bedspread. “Even when I told him to stop kissing me because I was beginning to fall in love with him.”

“Ah-ha!” Mom beamed. “I knew it. Oh, I’m so proud of you right now!”

Her stomach clenched. “Yeah, but I also remember that Will actually stopped kissing me after that and then he left.” She tried to put her mouth into a smile, but it resisted.

“Hey, what’s this?” Mom wrapped an arm around her. “Do you honestly think that man wanted to walk away from you?”

“What else am I to think?” She sighed. “I told him I was starting to fall in love with him, and he hightailed it out of here just as fast as he could.”

“Elizabeth, he loves you. I know he does. I see it in every look he gives you.”

She shook her head. “Not enough.”

“Well, then, you should be pleased with yourself, and happy.”

“What?” Eliza looked up. “What do you mean?”

Her mom shrugged. “It was this side of a week ago you were telling me how you couldn’t stand him and you’d never like him. Well, there you go. Now you don’t have to.”

Scrunching over, Eliza put her head in her hands. “Is this some sort of reverse psychology thing? Because it isn’t working.”

“I’m just helping you see the bright side. Now all your dreams can come true.”

“Look, I know what you’re doing, and it’s not going to work.” Eliza fluffed a pillow behind her head and plopped down. “It doesn’t even matter anyway because I still can’t forgive him for what he did to Jane.”

Mom sat up straight. “What did he do to Jane?”

“Oh, shoot. You didn’t know about that, did you?” She sighed. “Nothing. Don’t worry about it. It doesn’t matter.”

“Elizabeth Bennet, if you think for one minute that I’m going to let you simply brush this off, you’re out of your mind. Now. I love Mr. Darcy. I think he’s an amazing man. However, if he’s done anything to hurt one of my girls, there is nothing that replaces that. Nothing. Now out with it. I want to know what happened.”

“Mom, you don’t.”

“Now.”

“Fine.” Eliza got off the bed and stood up. “You know how Jane and Charles Bingley were dating?”

“The vice president of Revolutionary Innovations? Will’s friend?”

“Yeah. The really nice one.” Eliza picked up the fallen accent pillows and tossed them on the bed. Might as well quit stalling and just let her mom know the truth. She rubbed her lips together and took a deep breath. Her heart began to harden.

Her mom waited.            

“Apparently, Will saw them together, and didn’t think Jane really liked Charles.”

“What?” Her mom looked stunned.

“So he told Charles that she was a gold digger, only after him for his money.”

“Are you kidding me?” Mom looked like she was about to explode. “Of all the nerve!”

“So that’s when everything screeched to a halt. Charles told Jane that he’d be too busy at work to date her, and walked away.”

“Breaking my poor girl’s heart.”

Eliza nodded. “Yeah, I’ve never seen Jane cry like that before. I think she was more hurt and confused than anything. Had it been a natural break, it would’ve made sense. But to be treated as if she meant nothing to him just devastated her. Especially since she’d been wondering if he was the one.”

Just then, someone knocked on the door.

“Hang on—I’ll answer it. You’re still in yesterday’s dress.” Mom headed toward the door and asked, “Who is it?”

“Melissa, it’s Will. I’ve got Eliza’s purse and phone.”

Mom opened the door. “Good. Have a seat. You’re just the man I was hoping to see.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE:

Eliza could hear her mother begin to grill Will, and like the wimp that she was, she decided now would be a good time to take a shower. She closed her bedroom door. No reason for them both to jump on the poor guy.

After she was all clean and dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, she removed the towel from her hair and began to scrub it dry when she heard a light tap on her door. “Come in,” she called.

Will peeked his head in. “Hey, do you mind if we talk?”

“Sure.”

He walked in and quietly shut the door.

“Let’s sit on the comfy chairs.” She pointed to the two high-backed chairs near the window. “Give me a second and I’ll join you.”

Will walked over and chose one without saying a word. Eliza busied herself with straightening the bed and then putting away her towels before joining him. Once she sat down, it was still a couple of minutes before he spoke.

She’d never seen him look so pensive.

Eventually, he let out a long breath. “So, it seems I owe you an apology.”

She shook her head. “Not me, really. It’s more for Jane.”

His gaze collided with hers—she could tell he was absolutely miserable. “No. I owe you one first. This hurt you. I’m the sole reason for that, and I’m sorry. I never meant to cause you any pain.”