“Yes,” she answered without needing to think for a second. “I would love one.”
“Oh. Okay, then.” Juliet nodded, as if turning something over in her mind. “Well, the next time you’re here, we’ll do a tour.”
Darcy didn’t exactly kick her feet, but she couldn’t deny feeling so absurdly… light.
“So,” Juliet started again, in that professional voice.
Darcy schooled her expression, zeroing in on Juliet once more.
And there was maybe a hint of uncertainty on her face? Before she blinked and it was gone.
“I’m, actually, in Nashville. Flew in last night, for my final show. Which will be–”
“Tomorrow,” Darcy supplied.
“Yeah. So… I’m in the area.Yourarea,” she specified, holding that intense eye contact somehow even though the phone.
Darcy managed to bite back her smile. “Huh. So you are.”
Darcy didn’t give in any more, didn’t make any offers, even though they wererighton the tip of her tongue. And Juliet narrowed her eyes slightly.
“Anything you’d recommend to see or do in the days leading up to Christmas?” Juliet asked, her voice light.
She bit at the inside of her cheek. “You know, I’m not really sure? As you know, I don’t live in Nashville.”
Juliet huffed out a breath.
And Darcy couldn’t hold back her grin any longer. “Juliet Jacobs, is this your way of asking me to hang out?”
Juliet was quiet, before she rolled her eyes. “Fine. Yes. I figured it would make sense. But – given that youdon’tlive here, that’s fine.”
Okay, Juliet could clearly outplay her. “No, wait. I mean, I don’t live there. But I can come there.”
There it was, that slow, satisfied smirk on Juliet’s lips. “Excellent.”
It was alarming, really, how easily her body responded to Juliet. That look, that tone, and Darcy was buzzing.
Only…
She winced. “Wait. Ugh,” she groaned, scrubbing her hand over her face. “I have to help my sister get ready for her holiday party today. She’s throwing a giant thing tomorrow, and it’s a really big deal to her. I promised I’d help. Also, she would possibly scratch my eyes out.”
“A shame. You have nice eyes.” Juliet’s voice was so controlled, not giving anything away. But Darcybelievedshe knew Juliet enough to know that meant she probably was feeling disappointed.
And so was she.
Shewantedto see Juliet. It had been over a week since they’d hooked up in L.A., and they hadn’t gone longer than two weeks without seeing one another since they’d started this. Her body had almost a Pavlovian response to seeing Juliet’s texts pop up. Mind-blowing sex was going to happen, followed byactualrest.
She’d started craving it.
So… she rolled the dice. “It’s not something that’s invite-only. Blythe would definitely accept help from more people than just me and Emerson. I know it’s not the usual,” she added, quickly, unsure of how to even qualify it. “But if we want to get to the sex part…”
Well, she supposed she could always drive to Nashville tonight, when she was done.
But now that she’d said it, now that she’d put the idea of Juliet coming here into the world, she wanted it. She wanted to see her, now.
She held her breath, waiting, because she knew there was not a non-zero chance that Juliet would say no. And it would be totally reasonable, because this wasn’t what theydid.
Juliet didn’t answer for even longer than Darcy had expected, and she was sitting completely still. To the point that Darcy wondered if she’d lost reception.
