Darcy

It still didn’t feel quite right to be hosting people at Woolton Hall. My grandparents had been natural hosts. But I’d have to get better at it—the summer party would be here before I knew it. I straightened the last row of chairs in the dining room just as Aurora came in, carrying a tray of sandwiches.

“Perfect,” I said. “Just put them on the table.” I’d pushed the dining table against the back wall to make room for the fifteen chairs I’d arranged in three rows. As well as the Woolton W.I. chapter, a number of other local groups had been invited along to listen to the speaker today.

“What time are they arriving?” Aurora asked.

“Any moment,” I replied. “But I think we’re ready.” I could have used a number of rooms at Woolton for the W.I. meeting, but this one wasn’t too big and held wonderful memories.

“What’s the speaker talking about?”

“The economy and whether or not we’re about to hit another financial crisis.”

“Cheery,” Aurora said. “I think I prefer jam-making.”

This was my opportunity to tell Aurora about Logan. We’d done our preparations and were ready for people to arrive. “I have something to tell you,” I said, straightening the tablecloth even though it was already perfectly straight. “About a guy.”

Aurora wore a huge smile as if I’d just offered her wine and ice cream at the same time. “Are you dating someone?”

“Gosh, no,” I said, removing an invisible piece of lint from the cloth. “But I did kiss Logan Steele and it’s no big deal. It’s not that I like him or anything, don’t get the wrong idea. It was just the circumstances and before I knew it, it just happened.”

“Darcy, stop babbling.”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have—”

“You absolutely should have. This is amazing news. When, where, how? Tell me everything!”

I shrugged and pulled my bottom lip between my teeth.

“Ryder and I ran into him when we were in London,” I explained. “He walked me home when Ryder headed off. It just kind of happened.”

“I caught a glimpse of him in the farm shop the other day,” she said. “He’s very handsome.” She pretended to fan herself with her hand. “So, was it just a kiss?”

“Of course it was.”

She sighed as she twisted the corkscrew into a white wine bottle. “Shame.”

“Aurora!”

“Seriously, you need to get laid. How long’s it been now?”

“Too long,” I mumbled, remembering the last time—I’d known I was going to end things with Henry, so it had been a little sad.

“You don’t think I’m crazy?” I asked. “He’s a neighbor. And that article.”

“Ignore the newspaper—you have to make up your own mind. And I think you’re crazy not to have slept with him.” She shrugged and began pouring wine into the glasses lined up on the table next to the sandwiches.

“I’m not going to just sleep with every man I meet, Aurora—don’t act as if you’re sleeping with every guy you have dinner with.”

“No, you’re right, I’m not, but I’m not having dinner with men that look like Logan Steele, either.”

That was for sure—there weren’t many men who looked like Logan. Echoes of his hard body as he’d pressed against me, his firm grip and intense stare set goosebumps off over my skin.

“I’m delighted for you.”

“It’s not like anything else is going to happen. He’s not my type.”

“Just relax about who is and isn’t your type and go with it. You should definitely fuck him, even if it’s to find out if he’s really hung as well as someone that good-looking should be.”

I didn’t tell Aurora about the grinding. I was pretty sure he didn’t have a problem with penis size. Ego size? That was a different matter. “I just don’t think he needs me feeding his ego by being all into him.”

“I’m suggesting you sleep with him.” She pulled out the cork with a satisfying pop. “You don’t have to fall in love. I know things have been tough. But you always cope with throwing yourself into work—protecting the Westbury legacy or something. Maybe try a different tactic. Have some fun.”

Kissing Logan had been fun. And I found him interesting. I hadn’t given him enough credit. He was more than some wealthy idiot who was obsessed with money and success.

“You think I’m the sort of person capable of just having a casual affair?” I’d half-expected Aurora to tell me I was being an idiot and men like that didn’t go for girls like me. The fact that she was so encouraging opened a door in my brain and allowed me to remember how perfect the kiss had been and how a second one might be even better.

“You won’t know until you try. And what’s the worst that can happen?”

“An STD?”

“Use protection.”

We laughed.

“Maybe you’re right.” The press of his palms against mine, the scrape of scruff and the growl of his voice. Would I get a chance to feel it all again?

Luckily, the doorbell chiming down the corridor distracted me from thinking about when I would see him next. How I’d shivered when he’d said I didn’t get to tell him when we were done. How I’d felt a little giddy as I’d said goodbye and gone inside. About how I wanted him to kiss me again. And soon.

“Hello, Mrs. Lonsdale,” I said, forgetting my nerves at being hostess. “There are sandwiches, cordial, water and even some wine on the table.”

“The perfect hostess, just like your grandmother.”

Maybe I was spending too much time trying to be the perfect hostess, looking after Woolton, doing things I was supposed to do. Perhaps I should have a little more fun. It wasn’t as if I was about to marry Logan. But kissing him had been…nice, and doing it again would be nicer. Sleeping with him might be even better. It was just sex. Exercise. Endorphins. It wasn’t like I was going to fall for him.

Everyone began to arrive and I went out into the kitchen to top up the cordial.

“Darcy won’t be happy,” I heard as I nudged the door open with the tray of drinks that I’d brought through from the kitchen.

“What won’t I be happy about?” I set down the tray and scanned the faces looking at me.

“It’s about Logan,” Aurora said.

Oh God, was he married? Gay? A serial killer?

“You haven’t seen the plans he’s submitted, I assume?” Mrs. Lonsdale asked.

“Plans?” I frowned.

“He wants to open a nightclub in the village.”

I burst out laughing. That couldn’t be true. We were a sleepy village in Chilternshire. It wasn’t a nightclub-going sort of place.

“Well, not quite a nightclub,” Aurora said. “More of a private members’ club. A country retreat for people in the city who don’t have a place in the country.”

Were they serious? This didn’t make any sense to me. “What do you mean?” Someone must have crossed wires. Why would he want to ruin his grandmother’s family home? The village where she’d clearly wanted to come back to?

“He’s submitted plans to the local council to build on Badsley land,” Freida said. “Wants to create a bar and restaurant and some rooms—a small hotel complex for members.”

My head spinning with a combination of disbelief and disappointment, I fell into one of the chairs. “But this is Woolton. He’ll ruin the place. What was he thinking?”

“I don’t know,” Mrs. Lonsdale said. “Some people are saying it will be good to bring jobs to the area.”

“How can you say that?” Freida puffed out a breath. “This is the beginning of the end. If the Council allows this, then what next? Look at Kingsley. That used to be a beautiful village before they relaxed the planning laws.” Murmurings of agreement rumbled through the women. Kingsley had been almost as pretty as Woolton but now most of the locals had moved out as developers swooped in and bought up the village houses, ready to rent them out to tourists. A huge supermarket had opened just on the outskirts, attracting other chain stores in to replace the locally owned boutique stores. The soul of the place had been lost.

“And what about the years of disruption before it opens?” Freida asked. “Have people forgotten how the Thompsons took three years to develop their place and that was just a house?”

“And that beautiful countryside that he wants to build on. They’ll have to bring down trees that are hundreds of years old.” My childhood had been all about getting lost in Badsley’s woods all day with my brother, coming back with scraped knees and matted hair. Those adventures that Ryder and I had together had allowed us to be children, to live without worries. We built up our confidence after bearing the scars of our parents not wanting us during those days. And our grandparents let us play without concern. They knew we were safe. We didn’t have to worry about running into strangers. We knew everyone who lived locally. Would the children of Woolton have to be confined to their backyards?

If the plans were in then Logan had been thinking about this since before he’d moved here. You couldn’t just shit out blueprints, they took time and planning. He clearly wasn’t just some nice guy who bought his grandmother’s childhood home so she could relive her memories. It had been far more calculated. Badsley was a business opportunity for him. Every time I thought I had him figured out, he fooled me again. No more. “Well, there’s no way the Parish Council will allow it. They have to preserve the village. They’ve learned their lesson from Kingsley,” I said.

Mrs. Lonsdale raised her eyebrows. “From what I hear, Mr. Steele has been on a charm offensive. He’s been doing his best to tell Parish Council members all the benefits of the scheme. Employment. Putting Woolton on the map in a sophisticated way—”

“We’re already on the map.”

“We’ll have to band together. Form an opposition group,” Freida said. She was right. We would have to get organized if we were going to go against Logan who would have the best lawyers and consultants helping him. But right at that moment, it was as if I was paralyzed by disappointment. In him and in myself for kissing him. The fight had left me.

“Darcy Westbury?” A tall woman in her thirties who looked as if she’d just stepped out of the city stood at the entrance.

Swallowing down my sadness and frustration, I introduced myself to the evening’s speaker. “Yes. You must be Constance Reed. Welcome.” I smiled tightly. I’d never been very good at faking pleasantries. I took a deep breath, pushed down my devastation and tried for a more genuine smile. “We’re all very excited to have you here.”

She looked slightly out of place with her blue skirt suit, patent heels and carefully made-up face, and exactly like the sort of sophisticated woman who’d look good with Logan Steele. I gritted my teeth at the thought of him and tried to distract myself as I ushered everyone to their seats.

As much as world economics interested me, the only thing I could think about was how just a few minutes ago Logan had been a man I hoped might become my lover and now was someone who was set on destroying the place I cherished most in the world.