Which was nuts considering the panic and urgency he’d faced that night, while tonight he’d agreed to the limitations up front. So what was his problem?
Maybe it was the fatigue which, admittedly, had reached critical levels. He wasn’t thinking clearly was all. Once he’d caught a few hours of sleep, he’d have his head back on straight and his expectations as they applied to Darcy back in line.
NINETEEN
Perched at the edge of her kitchen chair, heat from the mug tucked against her chest warming the skin beneath, Darcy tried for a calming breath. Chances were good she wouldn’t see Jeff today. The low rumble of an engine had pulled her from a restless sleep around three, and when she’d walked past his room on her way downstairs a half hour before, the bed was more or less made up, the room empty.
Just as well.
“Stay...”
With echoes of the night before still whispering through her head, some distance couldn’t hurt. In fact, the idea of Jeff in the city, figuring he’d wait a few more days, or maybe a week before coming back did more to ease the tension within her than all the chamomile-infused air she been gulping for the past ten minutes.
“...Maybe you should stay in my arms...”
Who knew, maybe he’d need to go back to Australia and it would be weeks before he had an opportunity to see her again. Even better.
“...Maybe I shouldn’t let you go—”
It would give her time to stop wondering about whatever had been hovering on his lips when they’d realized his mother had returned home and the thought was cut off. Whether he’d been about to say tonight, at all or for a few more minutes.
It would give her time to remember it didn’t matter what qualifier he’d been about to apply. The man couldn’t be held to anything he said after two days without sleep.
“...I warned you...”
A shiver ran through her at the memory of the heat those words had caused and all that had happened after.
Yes, it would be good if Jeff got very, very busy and she didn’t have to see him again for a long, long—
“Are you interested in dating any of the guys my mother’s getting lined up for you?”
Darcy jumped at the gruff voice she’d mentally relocated to downtown L.A., sloshing tea over the lip of her mug. “Jeff! You scared the life out of me. I—I thought you’d left last night. Your room was empty.... Wait, what?”
Jeff stood in the doorway to the kitchen wearing a contemplative scowl and a sleeveless white runner’s tank with navy shorts. His skin was sweaty and dark from exertion, his hair standing in a sexy mess of damp spikes.
“Because she’s not going to let it drop.” He stared at her, a dark look in his eyes. “Hell, you’ve met her. She’s tenacious. And these guys aren’t going to be the usual fare of tail-chasing chumps you’ve spent the past few years deflecting. If you decided you wanted one of them...”
Darcy pushed back from the table and went to get a dish towel to wipe up her spill.
How could he even ask after what happened last night? It hurt—but it shouldn’t. She shouldn’t give him so much power over her. Steeling herself, she kept it simple.