But they didn’t sext or say anything inappropriate; Juliet was careful about that. Hell, Juliet had ensured that they’d saved one another not even as their own names.
… Darcy supposed this was a clear reason for that sort of thing.
“Let’s do it,”Mackenzie urged, nudging Juliet with her knee.
Kaitlyn jokingly rubbed her hands together.
Juliet breathed out a laugh, unlocking her phone in her lap. Her body language looked casual and easy, but Darcy could see she was a little more wooden than she’d been before.
But if something came from this, Juliet would have said something to her. She was confident about that.
Juliet cleared her throat and read, “My last message says: I just saw the trial run of your dress for the premiere. Speechless. Which, as you know, is rare for me. Can’t wait to be there with you and see it in person.”
As soon as it was over, Juliet locked the phone and slid it under her thigh, an unmistakable blush on her cheeks.
Kaitlyn and Mackenzie bothoohed, undoubtedly mistaking the blush as Robbie-related.
But… it wasn’t Robbie-related. It was Darcy-related. Something deep inside of her stomach twisted uncomfortably.
“First,” Kaitlyn started, her smile wide and gleaming, “We have to talk about the fact that Robbie is in your phone as Thief with that heart. Like, he stole your heart?! I mean, come on.” She held her hand to her chest.
Darcy’s smile completely slipped into a frown, that twisty feeling in her stomach burrowing deeper. Which was maybe foolish; she could acknowledge that. But she found in this moment that she hated – despised, actually, seemed more accurate right now – havinghername in Juliet’s phone believed to be anyone else.
On the recording, Juliet visibly relaxed and nodded. Clearly, Kaitlyn concluding that Darcy’s nickname in her phone was actually Robbie was a relief to her.
Mackenzie cleared her throat. “I think it’s so sweet that you two still text one another like that. You’ve been together for, what, almost ten years now?”
“Over eight years, yes,” Juliet confirmed, leaning into it.
“Not to bethose people… but we’re totally going to be,” Kaitlyn started, wiggling her eyebrows. “But, Juliet. Over eight years?! Is marriage in the plans? Is that something you want or are planning on?”
Juliet nodded, sobering a bit.“It is something I want. But we’ve both wanted to really spend time to build up our lives, both together and individually.One day, though.”
Darcy’s heels tapped against the floor in front of her, that unsettled sensation working through her entire body, even as she tried to make it go away.
This was just a part of the deal. This was just a part of their situation. Darcy had gone into this knowing that Juliet was “with” Robbie, that everyone believed so.
But for the first time, she was confronted face-to-face with what that meant. With how it felt to hear Juliet talk about how deeply entrenched she was in this relationship with Robbie. How, of course, they were “one day” going to get married.
And how deeply unhappy and hollowed out that made her feel.
She didher best to shake it off by the time she reached the hotel.
This was a part of her life. Oftheirlives. Robbie had been around since long before she’d known Juliet.
Darcy didn’t quite feel back to normal, back to the same excitement she’d been buzzing with earlier. But she was sure it would come. This didn’tchangeanything, she’d reasonedwith herself. The world already believed Juliet and Robbie were together.
Rather than go straight to her own suite, where her hair and makeup team were waiting, she went to Juliet’s. Just for a quick hit, just to make everything feel normal again.
And when Juliet opened her door, ushering Darcy in, she was able to really release most of theughfeelings she was carrying.
Juliet’s hair was carefully pulled back, her makeup was done, and she wore a white satin robe, obviously in preparation for her stylist team to come in next.
“I sent everyone down for lunch,” Juliet informed her, reaching for Darcy’s hands to tug her in for a kiss.
Darcy stumbled forward a step to close the distance, already leaning down. Her lips were already tingling, even before Juliet’s made contact.
She sighed into her mouth, finally able to relax again. She reached up, careful not to brush over Juliet’s face or her hair, just in case, and instead gripping the collar of her robe, brushing her knuckles against Juliet’s bare skin.
