“He’s talking about watercolors at eight in the morning,” I told her. “And, I don’t think he spoke to another person except you all night. He definitely likes you.”
Jane blushed as she grinned. She put her phone in her pocket as we stepped out of the elevator and out of our building.
“It’s nice that he’s rich, too,” I commented, looking up at our building toward the penthouse. I wondered if he was up there, smiling and giggling at Jane’s messages.
“That has nothing to do with it,” Jane assured me with a glare. She couldn’t hold the angry look for long, though. “It is nice to know that he can afford my expensive art tastes, though.”
I laughed and bumped her shoulder. “That is definitely a perk.”
“Did you know he’s been to Paris three times?” she asked. “Do you know what I would do to go to Paris? The art they have there...”
“I know what you’d do,” I told her. She looked over at me, waiting. “You’d do him.”
Jane made an exasperated noise and rolled her eyes at me.
“And what about you?” Jane asked, changing the subject. “I saw you talking to William Darcy last night.” She waggled her eyebrows at me. “I know you like tall, dark, and handsome.”
“Him?” I scoffed. “Ugh.”
“What? Really?” Jane shook her head. “Charles said he was his best friend. He had only nice things to say about him. I thought you’d like him.”
“He said those nice things because Mr. Darcy is his friend,” I told her. “Did I not tell you what happened last night with him?”
Jane shook her head. “You were going to, but Lydia was too much of a handful. I could have sworn you said something like you got kicked out, but that doesn’t make any sense.”
“I slapped Mr. Darcy,” I informed her.
“What?” Jane stopped short and stared at me. “You slapped him?”
I nodded.
“He called me a gold-digger in a dress I couldn’t afford and bidding on items for attention. Then he said I looked like I would be up for a shag just to be able to brag about it,” I told her. Somehow, I managed to imitate his British accent on the word ‘shag’ as well as Charles had last night. “So, I slapped him. Not my best moment, but it felt right.”
Jane stared at me open-mouthed.
“He’s an ass,” I explained. I gave her a gentle push to keep walking. I wanted my coffee.
“Okay, two things. One, why do you keep calling him Mr. Darcy?” Jane asked, finally moving her feet again.
“He told me to. I called him William, and he corrected me. He is forever now Mr. Darcy,” I explained.
“Okay.” Jane took a deep breath. “And second, do you know who he is?”
I shrugged. “Some British rich guy with no class?”
“You don’t know who he is?” She grinned. “Let me savor knowing something that you don’t for just a moment. This never happens.”
She closed her eyes and took a deep, contented breath. It was my turn to roll my eyes this time.
“So, who is he?”
“He’s the biggest name in the airline industry. He owns and runs Oceanic Airlines. He’s worth billions of dollars, and you slapped him in the face,” Jane informed me with a chuckle. “Nice going.”
I stopped short and stood in front of the coffee shop just blinking for a moment.
“Are you serious?” I asked her, my heart stalling out a little bit. “I slapped a billionaire?”
Jane nodded. “Yup.”