guess I should have seen it all before.”
Darcy kissed her head desperately. “Are you mad?”
“No,” she shook her head. “I’m just very lucky I have you.” She lifted her face to him. “Hold me,” she breathed and he pulled her tight, settling her in his lap as he covered her with kisses and soft words.
She was stunned by what he had told her. She never realized that someone could care so much for her, protect her the way he did. She felt something new inside of herself, a sense of belonging, of safety she hadn’t felt before. Even as she was warmed by it, she was appalled at the same time at her own stupidity. How could she have misjudged him so?
After a minute, she pulled herself together. “Are you sure you want to love someone who is so blind?” she asked him archly.
Darcy smiled. “Are you sure you want to love someone who brings nothing but trouble to you?”
They kissed and held each other tightly, until a knock came at the door. Darcy put on his robe and answered it, returning a moment later. “Georgie’s home.”
“Then I guess we had better get cleaned up and have some—” she looked at the clock and was surprised at how late it was, “oh, lunch.”
Darcy smiled and led her to the bathroom. Elizabeth stopped dead in her tracks as she examined the room. “Fitzwilliam, there is a swimming pool in your bathroom!”
Darcy handed her a toothbrush. “Don’t be silly. The pool is outside. That’s just the spa.” He kissed her lightly on the nose and started brushing his teeth as Elizabeth moved closer to the spa. It was either very large for a spa or small for a pool. It had been built into the floor, with steps going down into it and rough stonework along the outside wall. “You like it?” Darcy asked.
“It’s beautiful!”
“My parents’ nicknames for each other were ‘Water’ and ‘Stone.’”
Elizabeth flashed him a doubtful look and he shrugged. “It was the eighties, they were rich New Agers, whatever. Anyway, they used the element of water or glass and stone throughout the design of the house. The spa was custom built for them and from hints my relatives have dropped, I think I was conceived in there.”
Elizabeth’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh really!”
He smiled at her around his toothbrush and nodded, then moved away to the sink.
Elizabeth gave the spa an appraising “hmm” and moved to the sink as well.
They spent a quiet afternoon with each other, returning to Tanglewood to see Mary again, hear the two o’clock concert, and then pick up Elizabeth’s luggage. Darcy found his attention wandered constantly to Elizabeth. His eyes could not get enough of her. She was dressed in a simple red tank dress that complemented her coloring and her delicious curves. And while he would have normally been mortified by his inattentiveness to the others, he found he couldn’t stop himself when Elizabeth met his eyes and stared back at him so often.
Elizabeth left Mary with a loving hug and traveled with the Darcys back to Pemberley. As soon as they got in, Georgiana announced her intention to spend the evening with her girlfriend. Darcy stopped her and the two shared a brief conversation. Darcy questioned her motives and Georgiana assured him that she was all right. Elizabeth politely pretended not to hear them.
When Georgiana had left, Darcy handed Elizabeth a cordless phone and kissed her. “Call your parents. I don’t want them to worry.” Elizabeth blushed and looked away, still not comfortable with the idea of Darcy and her parents.
“Wait,” Darcy countermanded. “What’s wrong?”
“Oh, I just know you don’t like my family. Not that I don’t understand,” she quickly assured him, “I know we can be overwhelming at first.”
Darcy took the phone from her hand, led her to the couch, and made her sit with him. “Tell me why you think I don’t like your family,” he said with an expression of disbelief.
Elizabeth wished she had never said anything. “It’s okay. You don’t have to hide it. I could see by the way you acted at my house you disliked them.”
Darcy sighed and rubbed his forehead. “Dearest, I don’t dislike your family.” He frowned, clearly impatient with himself. “I’m sorry. I’m not really comfortable around new people, and it comes off as my being arrogant and not liking them.”
Elizabeth’s expression turned uneasy as she recognized her own initial reaction to him.
“Elizabeth, the truth is, I like your family very much.” He smiled slightly. “If anything, I’m envious of how close you all are.”
Elizabeth felt horrible. “Oh, I’m so sorry. I totally misunderstood.” She wrapped her arms around him and he kissed her. “I feel kinda stupid now.”
“You’re not stupid, Elizabeth. I’m sorry I acted like such a jerk.”
Elizabeth tried to tell him he hadn’t, but Darcy wouldn’t let her. “I’m quite sure I did. But I hope you are clear on it now?”
Elizabeth nodded and kissed him again. They exchanged words of love, and Darcy got up, saying he would leave her alone to make her call, and went to his studio.
By the time Elizabeth was done talking to her mother, she wasn’t sure if she shared Darcy’s affection for her parents. Elizabeth couldn’t believe how mercenary her mother could be, and it was a relief when her father took the phone.
“Hello, pumpkin,” he said calmly. “What is all this I hear about you and the big-shot rock star?”
Elizabeth smiled. Most other people would be offended, but she recognized her father’s dry sense of humor. “He’s made me his love slave,” she answered casually.
“Very good,” he replied. “Tell me, is being a love slave to a rock star a well-paid position?”
Elizabeth laughed. “You know, I think there might just be a ‘room and board’ clause to this. I’ll have to check on that.”
“Lizzy?” His voice had turned serious. “Are you sure you are making the right decision?”
Elizabeth was touched. This was how she knew that under all his bluff, he loved her dearly. “I am, Dad. He’s wonderful. I know this seemed to happen quickly, but it’s actually been building for a while and I’ve never been so happy in my life,” she told him confidently. “Listen, we’re all off next Sunday, maybe we could come up for dinner and you can give him a hard time.”
“Oh, no! The man is taking one of my daughters off my hands. I’m not going to give him a hard time. He might send you back!”
Elizabeth giggled.
“But it would be nice to spend a bit more time with the man. Perhaps Jane could bring her Romeo too?”
“I think that could be arranged,” Elizabeth replied, pleased.
“Very good, Lizzy, your mother just passed me a note that says ‘Tell Lizzy to call Alex.’ Well, now you have been told.”
“I have; thank Mom for me.”
“Take care of yourself, Lizzy.” His voice had a note of tenderness. “I’ve missed you around here. The house has suddenly gotten very quiet.”
“I will, Daddy. I love you.”
“All right. I’ll see you next week. Bye, Lizzy.”
Elizabeth turned off the phone and sat still for a moment, staring out the window at the trees. She had always been her father’s favorite but had never realized how painful her leaving would be to him. She resolved to be more faithful in her phone calls to him, even if it meant she would have to listen to her mother’s silliness.
With a shrug she turned to the phone and dialed Alex’s number. He answered with a doubtful, “Hello?”
“Hey, it’s me. Mom said you called?”
“Lizzy? Where are you calling from? I thought you’d be back home by now.”
“Oh, that,” she grinned. “Slight change in plans. I’m at Darcy’s.”
“Oh?”
“Yes, I ran into him at Tanglewood and we talked and, well, here I am.” Elizabeth looked up to see Darcy coming up the short flight of steps from the studio, his mother’s guitar in his hands. She flashed him a bright smile
