I was about to turn and exit the shop to get away from the black hole of despair that was Darcy Hart, when I noticed the male worker from before walking towards Darcy with a box in his hand and a smile on his face. It got my undivided attention. Darcy’s frame straightened up as he extended his arm towards the lad.
I squinted to get a better look at the box, and when the blazing red hair of the doll I wanted came into focus, I broke into a sudden sprint. I pushed my legs to move as fast as they could, and like a machine I zoomed down the aisle. Seconds later I collided with Darcy’s back and took him to the ground just before he could take the box from the worker’s hand.
That was my goddamn doll, and I was not letting Darcy Hart take it away from me.
CHAPTER THREE
For the love of God!” Darcy’s roar was all that sounded when we fell . . . Well, that and the loud thud of his body smacking against the tiled floor.
He sounded like he was in pain, but I was perfectly fine, which was all that mattered, because his hard, chiselled body broke my fall.
Wait.
Chiselled?
Darcy was chiselled?
Bleh.
I pushed myself upright, ignoring the tempting muscles of Darcy’s back under my palms, then jumped to my feet and hopped into the empty spot in front of the now terrified-looking young male worker.
“Thanks.” I beamed at the lad.
He swallowed. “It’s the last one in stock. I’m sorry.”
I paused to read his name tag. “Mark. No worries; this is exactly the doll I was look—”
“Oh, no, you don’t.”
I yelped as I was suddenly lifted up from behind and swung around to face the empty doll aisle where I’d stood alone a few minutes ago. Darcy set me down on the floor and I stumbled forward, off balance.
“Thanks . . . Mark, was it?” Darcy asked as he took the doll box into his hands. “Nice one, man.”
Death.
That was what he just asked for.
“Drop. The. Doll,” I demanded.
Darcy turned to face me. “Ne—”
I shot forward and snatched the container from his large hands.
My victory was short-lived, though, because Darcy quickly gripped onto my arm as I ran by him. He spun me around as if we were ballroom dancing, and the sudden movement caused the box to fall from my hands.
Darcy let go of me, and I quickly regained my footing and scooped up the doll box, turned, and sprinted up the aisle away from a wide-eyed Mark – who was on his phone, undoubtedly to security – and a fast recovering and fuming mad Darcy.
“Neala!” he shouted.
I did a stupid thing: I looked over my shoulder to see how far away Darcy was from me, and when I saw he was hot on my heels I panicked. I tripped over my feet and screamed as I fell to the floor.
Pain.
That was all I felt radiate throughout my body. Hot burning pain. My knees were on fire, my shoulder hurt, and my cheek stung slightly. I was hurting, but apart from my sudden scream I didn’t whimper or make any sound of pain; Darcy would have enjoyed that too much.
I heard him sigh as he stood over me. “Are you okay, clumsy arse?”
No.
“I’m grand,” I rasped.
Painfully, I pushed myself up. I was a little wobbly on my feet, but I was standing, and that was the main thing.
“Give me the doll, Neala.”
I held the now slightly damaged box to my chest. “No way. This is Charli’s doll.”
Darcy glared at me. “No, it’s Dustin’s. Now give it here.”
Dustin was Darcy’s six-year-old nephew. He was a sweet kid, but right now he was my enemy too.
“Dustin?” I questioned. “Dustin is a boy, Darcy.”
“Thank you for pointing that out, sweetheart. We would have never known otherwise.”
Eejit.
“Cut the smartarse replies, Darcy,” I growled.
He grinned. “I can’t seem to help it around you. You bring it out in me.”
Fantastic.
“Whatever. This doll is going to Charli. Go get an action figure or something for Dustin.”
I took a few steps away from Darcy, but he quickly closed the space by advancing.
“No. Dustin specifically asked for the Fire Princess doll, so that is exactly what I’m getting him.”
I furrowed my brows. “Your nephew wants a princess doll . . . really?”
Darcy glared at me. “He’s a kid, Neala – it’s princess toys this week and next week it could be man-eating dinosaurs. I don’t expect judgmental people like you to understand that children like to play with all kinds of toys.”
The nerve of him.
“I’m not judgmental! I just don’t think Dustin would really have any fun with this doll, or any doll for that matter. I mean, the kid cut the head off all of Charli’s Barbies last week for his own sick and twisted amusement. He is a serial doll killer, Darcy.”
He guffawed. “Charli threw all of his dinosaurs in the bin earlier that day; it was payback. Besides, they spent the evening getting the dinosaurs back out of the bin and using the doll heads to play a new game. They’re always messing with one another; you know that. It’s how they’ve been since they could walk and talk.”
I folded my arms across my chest and stared at him when I couldn’t think of a snippy reply. Darcy looked at me with both pain and amusement.
“If I didn’t know each member of your family like they were me own, I would think you were reared by a bunch of crazies.”
He wouldn’t be lying if he did say my family was crazy, because they were.
“I don’t appreciate you insinuating that I’m—”
“I’m not insinuating anything; I’m flat-out saying you’re a nut job.”
I felt my eye twitch in annoyance. “I can’t stand you.”
Darcy smiled wide, revealing his perfectly white straight teeth. “I know.”
Why did he seem so pleased by that?
“Don’t you have somewhere else you’d rather be?” I asked, feigning boredom. “Like mattress dancing with some poor unfortunate soul?”
Darcy smirked. “Last night’s adventures will keep me sedated for a while . . . trust me.”
Ew.
I curled my lip up in disdain. “You’re disgusting.”
I tried to turn and walk away, but Darcy reached for the box in my arms. With lioness-like reflexes I sprang back away from him. I gasped as, once again, I lost my footing and fell back into what felt like a mountain of pillows. Okay, so maybe I was a clumsy lioness, but I was still a lioness, and it meant I was dangerous.
Very dangerous, so Darcy should never underestimate me.
My embarrassment, as Darcy’s laughter rang in my ears, quickly turned to seething anger when I opened my eyes and found I was buried under a bunch of smiling snowmen instead of plain old pillows.
“You know, you could give Charli one of these snowmen for Christmas instead. She might be just as happy.”
“Shut up,” I growled.
Darcy continued to laugh as he dug me out of the snowman mountain. I tensed as he took my hand in his and carefully helped me to my feet. I was very aware of how close he was standing to me. I could smell his aftershave, and the scent was so good it caused me to lean into him for just a moment. I licked my lips.
I looked up at him and found he was staring down at me, his expression thoughtful. I pulled my hand from his when his thumb rubbed over my fingers, the callused tip causing goosebumps to break out over my skin.
I made a show of brushing myself off with both of my hands when I was free of him, then glanced down and gasped.
Where the hell was the doll?
I spun around in a complete circle searching for it.
“Looking for this, Neala Girl?”
I growled and turned to face him.
It was a nickname he’d called me fifteen years ago, back when we were still friends. I had loved it when I was little, but
now I couldn’t stand the name. It hurt my chest.
“Don’t call me Neala Girl.”
Darcy raised an eyebrow. “That’s your name.”
No, it isn’t.
“Give me the doll. Now!”
Darcy had the doll box against his chest with both hands on it. His fingers tapped against the sides. He glanced at the snowmen gathered around my feet and teased, “You’ve got to watch your step, sweetheart.”
I blew out a frustrated breath. “I swear, if you don’t give me that bloody doll I’ll—”
“You’ll what?” Darcy cut me off, his smug look in place on his handsome face.
Damn him.
“I’ll shove me foot so far up your arse you’ll need a surgeon to remove it.”
Darcy’s eyebrows rose. “You’re a foot shorter than me and at least fifty pounds lighter. You’re an itty bitty thing, Neala Girl. I’m not scared of you. You can’t hurt me.”
Wrong.
He was so wrong.