Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 89553 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 448(@200wpm)___ 358(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89553 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 448(@200wpm)___ 358(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
Usually telling a woman she’s beautiful will change the game. I’m not saying it turns all women to mush, but it usually wins them over a little. And it’s no lie—Lucy is most definitely beautiful. She has a smattering of freckles across her nose and green eyes with amber edges. Her hair is long and fans over her shoulders on both sides, catching on the buttons of her dress, like a trickle of water between her breasts. Shit. My dick twitches. I stand up from where I was leaning on the table and stumble. Lucy snaps her head around.
“You’re really drunk. Do you think you should go back to your hotel?” Her eyes flash with panic.
“I’m okay,” I say. “Maybe I’ll get a glass of water.”
“Maybe I’ll get you a cab.”
“I’m not leaving,” I snap. “Ed is my best friend. I’m not going anywhere.”
“Yeah, much better to stay and start falling over. Maybe you can feel up his great-aunt Mildred. That would be perfect.”
“You’re uptight,” I say.
“That’s funny,” she says. “And here I thought I was beautiful.”
A surge of nausea hits me square in my stomach, and I grip the table. “I think maybe . . .” I pause, wondering whether I’m going to have to take a seat on the grass rather than fall.
Lucy pulls out her phone. “Where are you staying? Harbor Inn?”
I nod, unable to argue with her. My stomach is churning, and the people at the party have all started to sway. That last glass of tequila has really hit home.
“Come on,” she says. “I’ll make sure you get into the Uber.”
She threads her arm through mine, and I don’t object. I can’t. I’m clearly way too drunk for a daytime party like this one. I should have given myself a two-drink limit. Lucy smells like rose petals and something I can’t quite place. Somehow it settles my stomach a little, and we manage to navigate to the front of the house without me falling on my ass.
“I need to tell Ed,” I say.
“I’ll say you had to go.”
“He’s my best friend.” He’s more than that. He’s the guy who saved me from a lifeless career behind a desk, working for someone else. He’s my business partner.
“Okay,” Lucy says. “I’ll make sure to tell him he’s your best friend.”
Lucy speaks to the Uber driver, who’s just pulled up, and bundles me inside.
I hear her shrieking. “Two hundred dollars? He’s not going to vomit.”
All of a sudden, she’s sliding into the seat next to me. “You owe me for this, Hunter. You’re going to let me have my way on everything for the bachelor/bachelorette party, you hear me?”
I don’t know what’s happening, but I just nod.
The Uber proceeds to drive the obstacle course from Katherine’s parents’ house back to the inn. I swear to God, there weren’t potholes the size of Vesuvius and bends like we’re racing the Monaco Grand Prix on the way up here.
Lucy leans across me and unwinds the window. I stroke her hair as she stretches over my lap. It’s as soft and smooth as it looks.
“Hunter,” Lucy snaps. “Get off.”
I hold my hands up, realizing she probably doesn’t want to be petted like a dog. It’s probably a good idea that I left the party. I just don’t know why Lucy came with me.
“If you’re going to hurl, please do it out the window. There’s no way I’m paying the two-hundred-dollar cleanup fee.”
I open my mouth to respond, but Lucy squishes her hand against my cheek, trying to press my head toward the window.
“I’m not going to vomit,” I yell. “That’s all I was going to say.”
Lucy shakes her head but removes her hand from my face. “Men are babies.”
“I don’t need babying,” I say. “You didn’t have to join me in the car.”
“Er, excuse me if I care about my Uber rating. I’ve spent months building it back up after . . . Never mind. I’m not letting you ruin it for me.”
Just as I’m about to ask her what happened to her Uber rating, we pull up outside the inn. “Sorry to take you away from the party.”
“At least we all know you’re definitely not Mr. Darcy,” she says as I stumble out of the Uber. She literally pushes me out of the car with both her feet and slams the door behind me.
I watch the car circle the drive and retrace its steps back toward the party. When the car pulls onto the main road, Lucy turns and we lock eyes. Something hits me in the chest, like a fastball straight to the heart.
Chapter Three
Lucy
I will never forgive Hunter. I missed Ed’s speech about how much he loved my sister, and rejoined the party just as my mother was crying about how the academy should have changed the rules to allow Colin Firth to get an Oscar for his portrayal of Darcy. If I’d been there, it would have never escalated to the point of tears. And on top of that, even though I couldn’t have been gone for more than twenty minutes, my mother somehow managed to surface from her Colin-induced grief to a) notice I’d left the party, and b) chastise me for not caring about my sister’s happiness—or anyone’s—other than my own. All I’d been doing was trying to stop the party from being ruined, yet somehow, I’m the problem. I hope Hunter doesn’t have the nerve to show for brunch.