“You look worried,” Clive said softly.
“I do?”
“You’re frowning.” He lifted her hand away from his body but kept it clasped in his. “I’ve had many responses to my sexual advances, but a frown is a first.”
She laughed, grateful for his wit, his charm. “I suppose…” She didn’t know what she supposed. She supposed too many things to express.
“You work tomorrow,” he reminded her. “We don’t have time tonight, I know that. Still”—that smile—“I couldn’t help myself. I’ve been wanting to kiss you since I first saw you.”
“Me, too,” she said, then shook her head and rolled her eyes and laughed at her words, and the spell she was caught in was broken. She stood up. “I should go home.”
“I’ll walk you.”
“You don’t need to, it’s just next door.”
“If I walk you home, I can kiss you good night.”
She shook her head. “Another kiss like that, and I won’t sleep.”
“Oh, I’ve got lots of different kisses,” he told her.
She knew he was joking, being clever, and yet a danger alert, like a dog lifting its head at a noise she couldn’t hear, resounded within her. He was joking, but he was also telling the truth. This man was a sexual expert. He had an entire armory of kisses.
But was that a bad thing?
They compromised. Clive walked her halfway home, and kissed her chastely on the cheek. Darcy waved at him from her front door, and stepped inside her house.
She leaned against the door. Her black cat strolled down the hall toward her. He planted himself in front of her and lifted his head and meowed.
“I don’t know,” Darcy told him. “I really don’t know.”
—
Thursday the library was open until eight p.m. When Bonny from the circulation desk asked if Darcy could do her evening shift, Darcy was glad to agree. She’d been too busy during the day to think about Clive or Nash, and she wanted to keep busy and let her thoughts churn away at the back of her mind. Maybe they’d offer her a decision on a platter: Sleep with only Nash? Sleep with Clive and Nash? Tell Nash about Clive? But what if Nash slept with another woman—and she knew plenty of women who wanted to sleep with him—would she be riddled with jealousy? She kind of thought she would.
The children’s library was crazy busy all evening. Darcy didn’t have a moment to think about herself, and it was with relief she locked up and hurried home. She poured herself a glass of red wine, kicked off her shoes, and went out to her garden. The grass beneath her bare feet was cool and oddly cheering. Sinking onto her lounger, she took a deep breath and looked up at the sky. It was dusk. The sky was slowly withdrawing the clear blue of day, allowing night to arrive. The light was on in Clive’s window and music softly drifted into the air.
She knew she had messages on her cellphone, but she hadn’t brought it out with her. She needed to be alone for a while. She wanted to relax and sort out her thoughts. Clive was a player, she was pretty sure about that. But Nash hadn’t expressed any desire for a long-term relationship. If she told him about Clive, would Nash think she was pushing him for some kind of commitment?
“I thought your yard was strangely quiet.”
Darcy almost jumped off her chair. The voice was so near her, she thought for a moment that someone was standing next to her.
“And thank God for that.” It was a man, on the Brueckners’ side of the hedge. So it was Otto.
“Where are your sons?” Now Darcy could place the voice: Autumn’s.
“Susan’s brother and his family are stopping in Boston on their way to London. Susan took the boys up to see their cousins. They’ll be gone for three, maybe four, days.”
“Oooh, interesting. You know, Boyz is in Boston, too. He won’t be home until Saturday.”
A moment of silence. Darcy could feel herself holding her breath.
“How do you like your rental?” Autumn asked. “Is it large enough for you and your family?”
“It is large enough.” Otto replied. “And you, do you like your rental house?”
“Very much. I’d invite you over to see it, but I’ve given Willow this night to watch something on television.”
“Would you like to see mine?”
“Very much.”
“Perhaps I can offer you a glass of wine.”
Their voices trailed away as they crossed the yard. Darcy held back the urge to stand on top of her patio table to peer over the hedge and call out, “I can hear you!” She didn’t care if Autumn was unfaithful to Boyz, but she hated the idea of Otto cheating on Susan.