“That didn’t stop you from coming out here.” He leaned against the railing, too close for her liking. “We could walk to the back porch.”
She shook her head. “I’m fine.”
“You sure? I could go grab two chairs and bring them around.”
This guy was such an enigma. Friendly one minute, aggravating the next. And being out here in the dark, just the two of them… Elsie wasn’t sure what to think. “I’m okay with standing. I’ll be heading inside in a minute.”
She glanced through the front window. Everyone was gathering around a limbo stick, the traditional limbo song blaring out of Charlie’s speakers. Maybe she wouldn’t go inside yet. She did smile to see them lift the stick, letting her dad duck under it first, to great applause. Leave it to her family to pull out such a juvenile game at an adult party. Lydia was next, and Elsie quickly blocked the window with her body and turned back to Will.
“Not a fan of the limbo?” He asked with a twinkle in his eye.
Ah, back to being a condescending tease. This was much more comfortable territory. “Can’t say I’ve ever tried it. You?”
“You couldn’t pay me enough.”
Elsie raised an eyebrow. “I think that means you have too much money. Or maybe too much pride. Isn’t there something you want bad enough that you’d dance under a stick for it?”
He took a step toward her, and she stepped back against the window, alarmed that there was no more room she could put between them. It was the expression on his face, like she’d introduced an idea she’d had no intention of putting there.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Are your eyes blue or gray?”
“In this light they could be anything. But usually blue.” Why did he care about her eyes? The best thing would be to keep talking. “They’re very much like my mom’s.”
“No, I don’t think so.”
“That’s just because you don’t like her.”
“Why would that determine whether I think her eyes are like yours?”
“What?” She couldn’t concentrate on the conversation. Was he leaning in? Elsie’s eyes flickered to his lips without her permission. His cologne was heavenly, probably very expensive, and clouding her judgment. She should run. She should run right this minute. She hated this guy.
He put a hand to her waist, his face now a few inches from hers. “Definitely blue. I can see it now.”
A sharp knock on the window broke her trance, and she sidestepped away from Will and opened the front door, escaping back into the party. The sharp change in noise level and brightness left her momentarily stunned, and she almost forgot to check who had been knocking at the window. But there was Collin, waving stupidly to Will, trying to get him to come in.
“I just realized something,” he shouted through the glass. “Your aunt is Catherine De Bourgh! What an amazing coincidence. She’s my mentor.”
***
He wanted to throttle that oaf, Collin, but he also wanted to thank him. He’d been about to kiss Elsie and probably would have been rewarded with a slap.Still would have been worth it.
His brain left all logic behind when it came to her. Elsie’s family was obnoxious. He didn’t know Elsie that well. But she got under his skin in a way no woman had before. He paced on the front porch, trying to get a hold of himself. Even now, he wanted to go into that stupid party, just to stand next to her. It made no sense.
Charlie found him a few minutes later. “We’re about to cut the cake. You should come in, do some mingling. Man, that Collin guy really likes you.”
Will rubbed the space between his eyes. “No, he likes my busy-body aunt. She’s a terrible human being. Although, I have to admire her for turning her ability to get in everyone’s business into an actual business.”
He followed Charlie back inside and into the kitchen, where at least a dozen people were sandwiched around the island counter. Will ended up next to Charlotte Lucas, glad to find someone whose presence he could tolerate. They bumped shoulders in greeting and then watched Jane try to blow out all twenty-eight candles.
“This tradition was definitely not started by a germophobe,” Charlotte muttered.
Will chuckled. “When did you get here? I didn’t see you earlier.”
“I was walking up while you and Elsie were, um, leaning against the window, and I decided to go in through the back door. You want to tell me what that was all about?”
“Nope.”
