I shook my head and went to open the door to the coffee shop. The smell of freshly roasted beans was heaven.
“That does explain the bodyguards, then. I can’t believe he has all that money and still is a terrible person,” I said to Jane.
“Who is a terrible person?”
I spun to see Charles come up beside us. I was suddenly happy I hadn’t said Mr. Darcy’s name.
“No one,” I quickly lied. “Just speaking in generalities. Work thing.”
“Okay,” he replied with a small head shake. Then his smile focused on Jane, and my words were forgotten. “Jane. What a wonderful surprise to see you here.”
The way he said her name held such warmth that even I felt it.
“I didn’t know you were getting coffee,” Jane replied. She was blushing hard as she smiled at him.
“It’s the closest coffee to me now. Join us. We have a table,” Charles said, motioning to a spot on the side of the shop.
And just guess who was sitting there.
Mr. Darcy.
Of course he was.
I looked down and noticed a new stain on my sweatshirt. Plus, now I had no makeup on, and my hair was up in the messiest ponytail ever. I didn’t know why it bothered me so much that he was going to see me like this. This was more my natural look, and besides, I didn’t like him. I shouldn’t care what he thought.
Luckily, I had an escape route.
“Actually, we pre-ordered. I’m just going to grab mine and go. I need to bring some back for my sister,” I explained. “Jane can stay, though.”
Charles grinned at Jane before looking back at me. “Of course.
How is your sister feeling?”
“Hungover and a bit embarrassed,” I told him. The first part was true, even if the second part was a stretch. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen Lydia embarrassed.
Jane and Charles walked with me up to the to-go counter. All I had to do was grab my sister’s coffee, and then I could leave the restaurant without having to say a word to Mr. Darcy. I could merely wave and politely disappear before he could find out I still had my pajama shirt on and hadn’t brushed my teeth yet this morning.
“Are you Elizabeth?” the employee asked as we came up.
I nodded. “That’s me. I should have three coffees.”
“We’re really sorry,” the barista said. “Our machine needs to be reset, so it’s going to be a few extra minutes. Coffee’s on us. I’m really sorry about the wait.”
And my easy escape vanished just like that.
“Come sit with us,” Jane told me. “We’ll wait with Charles.
Charles just beamed at Jane, seeing no one else in the world but her. He motioned over to the table again. “Please, come have a seat.”
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. The coffee would only be a couple of minutes. Maybe I’d get lucky, and he wouldn’t even bother to look up from his phone.
Jane took the seat across from Charles, which of course meant I was across from Mr. Darcy. He looked up from his phone as I sat down, his expression unchanging.
I fidgeted for a moment, his eyes on me. I had no makeup on, so maybe he didn’t recognize me.
“You’re not going to hit me again, are you?” he asked after a moment.
“Not as long as you watch what you say,” I replied.