“When you sang about kissing me, I knew.” Colin steps toward me. I edge back. “Lettie, I’ve been looking forward to kissing you, too.” He bends down, licking his lips. I nimbly hop away.
“Um . . . no . . . There’s been abigmisunderstanding . . . ”
“You can’t fool me, little Lettie.” I instantly abhor this new nickname. “I’m aware of all the feminine allurements you girls use to snag a rich man. When I finish residency, I’ll be able to bring home at least $800,000 a year? Think on that.”
“No, Colin,” I raise my voice. “I’m not interested no matter how much you earn.” I turn back toward the house.
“Oh! angling for a bigger fish, are you?” He follows me. “Lettie, cute as you are. You’re never going to catch Liam Darcy. He’s out of your league.”
I turn back. Through gritted teeth, I say, “I... am not after Liam Darcy!” I toss my champagne in his face. It’s definitely a good use of every expensive drop.
I expect Colin to be furious or at least embarrassed. But he merely smiles as he pulls out a tissue and wipes the champagne off his face. “Oh, we’ve got a feisty one.” I stomp away, but he follows. “I relish the challenge. I haven’t persisted through nine years of medical training to be thwarted by a little champagne in my face.”
I’d be laughing if I weren’t so furious.
“What’s this?” Darcy asks in a low growl. His tall silhouette strides down the aisle of trees.
“A lover’s quarrel,” Colin answers.
“Alover’squarrel?” Darcy sounds skeptical.
“No,” I say. “No lovers here.”
“It looks like Lettie spilled her drink,” Darcy says when he reaches me. He takes the empty flute out of my hand. I’ve been gripping it so hard I’m surprised it didn’t break. He hands it to Colin. “Please take care of this.” His statement is both a command and a threat.
Colin opens his mouth as if to argue. But with one well-aimed glare, Liam puts him in his place. My date scurries off.
“Liam! That was brilliant.” I throw my arms around him. I’m not sure what I’m thinking. Well, I’m not. It’s just Liam is here, and he got rid of Colin, and he’s not with Caroline. And I’m so relieved. He looks a little surprised at my embrace, but only for a moment. Then his eyes soften and he tugs me in. He wraps his strong and comforting arms around me. I never want him to let go. But he does, all too soon.
We step apart, and suddenly, I’m cold and bereft and really want to be back in his arms, which makes no sense because Liam and I don’t hug. Sheesh, we’ve been pretending to hate each other for the past four months. But now that we’re standing apart, it feels all wrong. I want so badly to be close to him.
“Thank you!” I say, a little flustered. I cross and uncross my arms. I suddenly don’t know what to do with my hands.
“Did he hurt you?”
“No, I’m fine. I just... Can you believe Charlotte set me up with that guy?”
“Whatever did you do to your roommate?”
“I do tend to leave dirty dishes in the sink.”
Liam laughs. “I’d hate to see what she’d do if you truly crossed her.”
“I never want to find out.” We laugh until our eyes meet in the semi-darkness. Some strong emotion quiets us, and the air fills with the rhythmic chorus of crickets. “Colin tried to kiss me,” I blurt out.
“No!” Liam sounds mildly outraged.
“Yeah, he said singing that song was begging him to kiss me. I wasn’t. I promise.”
“Of course not. We all know,” he says with a tease. “You were singing to me.”
“Perhaps I was.” I step toward him. We are now less than a foot apart. I can see the rise and fall of his chest under his white button-down shirt.
“Careful, Lettie, you might givemethe wrong idea.” That thunderstorm feeling swirls around us through the warm evening air. As I breathe in the heady scent of wildflowers I’m overcome with a fresh determination to seize this moment with Darcy. I have been so busy telling myself I hate him, I forgot how thrilling it is just to be with him. How alive he makes me feel. I write love stories for a living while my own life has little to no romance. But tonight is different. The moonlight, the sweet smelling air and the soft singing crickets— all combine to create pure, intoxicating romance. And then there’s Liam. Desperately handsome Liam, looking at me with a wary, reverent expression, as if I am the answer to all of life’s questions. No one has ever looked at me like this. It goes to my head.
“Such as?” I whisper.
“Like you wanted me to kiss you... ” His voice is gruff and serious. He is no longer teasing.
