youngest sister Lydia trample all over her.
In Darcy’s eyes, the mother and business manager, Fanny Bennet, was a nervous wreck who only wanted to marry off her daughters to any wealth patron who happened to pass through, and woman who should never have worked in a restaurant. She cried and screamed under the slightest pressure, as well as whenever she couldn’t get her own way from her husband. The head waitresses, Mary and Kitty Bennet, were forgetful and slack. The father hid in the upstairs office with his books all the time – not accounting books for the restaurant, but books from his personal library on philosophy and history. No wonder the restaurant was in dire need of a rescue.
The only person worth a glance was Elizabeth Bennet, the second eldest daughter. Actually, she was worth many glances. She had dark, curly hair, intelligent, bright eyes, witty conversation and a lovely smile, not to mention a body perfectly suited to his taste.
Darcy would never understand how Charles could prefer the skinny, willowy type like Jane. He himself was definitely a ‘meat’ lover who liked his woman voluptuous.
But Elizabeth didn’t work in Longbourn Restaurant. She was a chocolatier who owned and operated three shops called Pure Indulgence. Chocolate was Darcy’s weakness. And he had soon discovered that
Darcy had met with Elizabeth several times before the shooting was due to begin. It wasn’t the norm, but Charles had fallen in love with his angel, Jane Bennet, immediately after meeting her, and so he had persuaded Darcy to come for the preshow meetings in Meryton, where he spent hours monopolizing Jane’s attention while Darcy and Elizabeth were left to “entertain” each other. Darcy thought that Elizabeth liked him. She certainly seemed to like to get a rise out of him in a sweet, arch way, always arguing with him about this and that, although never flaunting herself. And he had certainly been getting quite a rise every morning since he met her. She had been featured prominently in different positions in his erotic dreams for days, now.
The problem was that no woman in London, or anywhere else, had held any interest at all for him, since then. To be honest, he hadn’t been seriously interested in anyone since his father died. The occasional Friday night out wasn’t worth a mention.
Elizabeth was different. She tempted him too much and too fast. But he was a billionaire businessman with a family who relied on him and a self-made fortune. He had been chased by the most beautiful women in the world for years. He would not act on his infatuation yet, particularly not with a woman who had such a troublesome family.
That was why he had delayed the shooting at the Longbourn Restaurant for almost five months, distracting Charles with other urgent projects. Two weeks ago, however, Darcy’s and Elizabeth’s paths had crossed accidentally. He was attending a food and wine function in Kent with his cousin, only to discover that she was exhibiting her chocolate creations there. She was as tempting as her Pure Indulgence. And that blasted Richard had used every possible minute to flirt and chat her up. Darcy was green with jealousy and almost tongue-tied, at first. But he drew comfort from the fact that she kept talking and teasing him, despite Richard’s efforts to monopolize her.
Darcy now believed that Elizabeth still liked him very much, even after a five-month absence. Maybe she had been waiting for him to take the first move. So here he was, finally arriving with his crew to shoot the episode about Longbourn. He hadn’t produced the series personally for a while, but he had come anyway. Two weeks on, however, he had seen her only once or twice. He hadn’t had the opportunity to put things out in the open with her yet, but he was determined to do it soon. He had finally admitted to himself, just this morning, that he needed to make love to her soon or he would lose his insanity.
“Where the bloody hell are you, Darcy?”
Elizabeth’s voice startled him from his reflection. He was about to reply when the pantry door was pushed open with such a force that the hinges nearly flew apart. He was confronted with the sizzling hot vision of the pocket-sized dessert goddess wearing a red, silky halter top and tight white jeans.
Darcy calmed his thoughts and spoke politely. “What can I do for you?”
Elizabeth walked a step closer to him, her hands on her hips. It was a most distracting sight for Darcy. As he was still sitting, his eyes were almost on the same level as her cleavage. And what cleavage! She was furious and breathing so hard that Darcy couldn’t help hoping the seam of her top would burst.
“What can you
But he chose not to do that…yet. The pantry was not the right place.
Instead he replied politely again. “It’s the truth. You want us here to rescue Longbourn, and we need her to act like a boss. Otherwise, there will be no Longbourn Restaurant any more.”
“Can’t you make the pill a bit sweeter to swallow? Do you have to ask Charles to swear every three minutes?”
“But that kind of television sells. I bet the footage with Jane in tears and Charles comforting her will shoot the ratings rocket-high.”
Elizabeth was getting angrier and angrier. Her mom and younger sisters had been biting her ears off for bringing in this rescue team. Jane was under a lot of stress and avoided talking to her at all. Creditors were knocking at her door. She couldn’t keep subsidizing Longbourn much longer. It might well sink her own shops, too.
She had come in to see the late-night shoot, just in time to see Jane run off in tears. Elizabeth’s heart ached, and she was torn between running to comfort her or staying to read the riot act to the arrogant producer. She disliked Darcy all the more because, during their first meeting, she had overheard him telling Charles that she was so plain that she wasn’t worth a minute of his time. Since then, she had delighted in teasing and making fun of Darcy, to get revenge for that conceited remark, even though she found him handsome, intelligent and business- savvy. And she hated him all the more after meeting him in Kent again.
When she’d seen Charles chasing after Jane, she’d decided to confront Darcy. She stepped closer still and almost breathed her words on his nose. “You’re only interested in your show. You’re a cheat! You don’t care about any of the restaurants you promise to save. Bloody arrogant cheat! I’d have been much better off to hire a business coach to help us than getting us onto your rubbish show.”
The one thing Darcy hated most was when people questioned his honesty. His blood boiled, and he stopped her from yelling at him in the way he had most been wanting to.
Surging to his feet, he used one hand to grab her by the waist and pull her close. She stumbled and fell heavily against him. With his other hand, he held her head and bent to kiss her violently. He poured all the frustration from his erotic dreams into the kiss. When he sucked on her upper lip, it tasted of pure dark chocolate. Then his tongue pried her lips open and thrust into her mouth, which tasted of hazel nut and milk chocolate. He rammed his tongue into her mouth, twirling, pushing, withdrawing, thrusting again and again, telling her silently how he wanted to possess her body.
Elizabeth struggled at first, trying to push away from him and stand on her own. But after his tongue invaded her mouth, she was lost. She wrapped her hands around his neck and ground her body against his. His six-pack muscles gave her the most stimulating sensation! Her nipples peaked and her stomach lurched.
His hands smoothed over her naked upper back and grabbed her bottom through the jeans, squeezing and rubbing her cheeks. She was much more responsive than in his dream. He untied her top, then sank back into his chair and pulled her down onto his lap, reaching around her to plant his hands on her treasure mounds. They were firm and bouncy. Her skin was smooth and her nipples hardened like rocks.
He felt a huge arousal coming. As she rubbed her bottom over him, he nearly came in that instant. He tried
