Forever After (18 page)

"Your garage?"

Darcy sensed she'd made a mistake, but it was too late to retreat.  "Yes, I'm an auto mechanic."

"Are you serious?"

An angularly thin woman sitting in the chair next to Patrice repeated in astonishment, "An auto mechanic?"

Darcy wanted to hide under the settee and she hoped her cheeks weren't as red as her hair.

Patrice put her hand on the other woman's arm.  "Now, Joan..."

Apparently Patrice's acquaintance couldn't take a hint.  "How can you stand working in that atmosphere?  The dirt and grime."  She arched one high, artificially penciled brow.  "Equality is one thing, but working in a place like that is another.  Don't the men have foul mouths and tell ribald jokes?"

Darcy set her plate on the lacquered red oriental squat table next to her.  Before she thought twice, words poured out.  "There are probably some mechanics like that, just as there are doctors and lawyers who have foul mouths and bad manners.  And let's not exclude professional women.  Some of their gossip could fire an incinerator.  But I'm fortunate to say that all the mechanics I know are gentlemen and very discreet."

She looked at her hands, smooth, soft and lovely.  "As far as dirt and grime, I suppose a secretary gets toner on her fingers, just as a teacher gets chalk on hers.  It's part and parcel of the trade."

Patrice patted Darcy's knee.  "Good for you."

Darcy's cheeks were hot when she looked up and saw Seth gazing at her.  His expression was unfathomable and she wondered if she'd embarrassed him.  She had just proved she could hold her own in this crowd, but at what cost to him?

He offered her his hand.  "There's music playing in the other room.  Would you care to dance?"

Darcy willed her blush to subside, but she knew from experience it wouldn't.  Standing, she raised her head high.  "Yes, I would."

As they made their way to the salon, Darcy wanted to talk to Seth about what had just happened.  Before she could, a man with snow white hair, heavy jowls and an ingratiating smile clapped Seth on the shoulder.  "Seth, I've been wanting to speak to you all night.  I know someone who's interested in your expertise.  He wants to sue for custody of his two-year-old daughter.  It would be another case to add to your belt if you think he has grounds."

The man handed Seth an index card.  "Both his office and home number are on there.  Will you give him a call?"

Seth gazed at Darcy, then reflectively at the card.  "I'll call him Monday morning."

Disappointment pierced Darcy's heart.  If Seth truly was deliberating about staying in Hershey, he wouldn't consider accepting a case here.

Were a few more weeks together worth the hurt that would come if he left?  Darcy's optimistic streak urged her to believe he might not take the case, but her practical side warned her to be prepared if he did.

Seth guided Darcy to the room that had been cleared for dancing.  It was as large as the entire first floor of her house.  The light from the crystal chandelier with its layers of teardrops was reflected on the polished hardwood floor.

Several other couples danced to the music that seemed to pour from every corner of the room.  As soon as Seth took Darcy in his arms, the magic between them, the bond she couldn't explain, became palpable and encompassing.  When Seth held her, she could forget the doubts about their future and shut out the rest of the world.  He was here...now...holding her.

Seth glided her across the floor with hardly any pressure on her back.  She knew what he wanted.  She knew where he wanted to go.  He added every variation they'd learned and she reveled in the exhilaration of moving with him as if they were one.  He guided her in a series of complicated steps she didn't remember practicing or learning.  But it didn't matter.

He led.  She followed.  She'd never felt more beautiful or more graceful.  They dipped.  Seth twirled her.  Darcy saw the excitement in Seth's eyes and shared it.

When the song ended, applause broke out.  Suddenly Darcy realized she and Seth were standing alone in the middle of the room with his social crowd surrounding them.  Everyone was smiling and nodding in appreciation.

Seth's face was flushed.  "You move like a dream."

"Only because you're in the dream with me."

His smile dimmed and Darcy realized hoping in their future could hurt her badly. 

The music began again, and the crowd became individuals stopping to comment on their skill.  Darcy felt accepted, no longer an outsider.   

They danced and mingled until one in the morning.  Seth's hand continually rested on the small of her back, or on her waist or shoulders.

As they drove back to the hotel, Darcy rested her head on Seth's shoulder, and he possessively laid his hand on her thigh.  She watched him unlock the door and enter their hotel suite.  He tossed his tux jacket over the back of the camel- backed sofa, unknotted his tie, and stuffed the strip of black into the pocket of the jacket.  She could see he took for granted the luxury of expensive clothes, the elegance of the sitting room with its Louis XV reproductions.

Darcy crossed to the panoramic window overlooking the lights of the city.  She opened the drapes.  It seemed to her they were almost on top of the world.  How different her life was from this.  She always kept her feet firmly planted on the ground.  She valued the myriad ways she could stretch a dollar with coupons, rebates, sale items.  If she could fix a repair herself, she did it instead of calling a serviceman.

She wasn't concerned with being upwardly mobile.  Happiness was more important than driving ambition.  Could Seth understand that?  Would he ever?  She had the sinking feeling Seth was being drawn back to Philadelphia.  Why?

Because the familiar wasn't a risk.  Staying in Hershey was.  In the big city he could hide behind his profession;

In Philadelphia Seth didn't have to become vulnerable or risk revealing his soul.

And that's what Darcy wanted.  She wanted to know the very essence of who he was.  She'd made inroads, but he still guarded himself carefully.

Seth gazed at Darcy staring out the window as if it were a crystal ball telling her the future.  His future?  Their future?  He came to stand beside her and stared at the shadows of buildings and twinkling lights.  Philadelphia.

Why shouldn't he consider coming back?  He'd spent his professional life here.  It was what he knew, where he functioned at 120 percent.  He'd learned something in Hershey.  He'd learned he needed time for less tangible pursuits than working.  Like making friends rather than acquaintances.  Giving himself time to relax and enjoy people.

Sure, his relationship with Darcy would be different.  They'd have to spend time together on weekends when they could both get free.  Eighty miles wasn't insurmountable.  The idea of not seeing her often didn't sit well, yet if he stayed in Hershey...  He felt she was looking at him differently lately.  There were questions in her eyes, questions for which he didn't have the answers.

Darcy finally said softly, "Tell me about custody suits.  Are they really like they're depicted on TV and in the movies?"

He didn't answer immediately, but she didn't turn towards him.  His voice floated above her head.  "They're worse."

She leaned her forehead against the cool pane of glass, trying to see into the night, trying to understand Seth.  "I've heard more and more about joint custody.  Can't there be a compromise?"

Seth exhaled a heavy sigh.  "If two people have fought every step of the way, how could they ever agree on how to raise a child?  If they couldn't do it in marriage, how in the world can they accomplish it when divorced?  Some experts believe joint custody works. Others say in the long run, joint custody adds to the child's difficulties.  He's still in the middle of a war with dissension all around him.  Neither parent is the full boss, so he's torn between two sets of rules and living standards.  He gets used as a weapon and he learns he can use or play off one parent against the other.  It's a miserable, unending cycle."

Darcy wrapped her arms around herself.  If she hadn't seen the hell Marsha had been through, she wouldn't understand the pain of divorce.  The concept was so alien to her.  She believed in two people being united for life, like her parents.  Like her brothers.  She knew marriage wasn't easy.  She knew it took work.  She believed in it.

But when it didn't survive, someone had to pick up the pieces and protect the children.  "How can the judge decide who should get custody?"

"Some of them decide on the basis of the sex of the child, or age, or how much time the mother or father will have at home."

She wanted to understand why Seth fought so hard.  "What about the child's wishes?"

"The wisest judges talk to the youngster and try to determine which parent has the primary bond.  A child advocate is sometimes authorized to give an opinion."

That elusive sadness was back in Seth's voice and it proved he wasn't as removed as he pretended to be.  "Why do you do it, Seth?"  She knew the kind of man Seth was.  Money and prestige weren't the only reasons.

After a pause, he answered, "Because I choose to."

Whenever she got too close, found a crack in his armor, he retreated.  She could only give him as much as he'd take, and she wanted so much more from him than he was willing to give.

Suddenly she was sad their unprotected loving hadn't resulted in a pregnancy.  She longed to have part of him to treasure forever.  Yet, there would have been so many complications...

Darcy felt Seth's hand on her shoulder.  His thumb caressed her skin with gentleness and tenderness, as if he was trying to substitute touching for the words and feelings he couldn't share.  When they made love, they were free with each other.  For a few moments, they were one.  Whether Seth would admit it or not, they were giving and accepting love.

Darcy lifted her head from the window and uncrossed her arms.  She'd love him so whole-heartedly, he'd never forget.  Turning to him, she looped her arms around his waist and leaned against him.  She always marveled at his uncompromising virility and how small and soft she felt in comparison to him.

When she lifted her chin, his eyes kissed her lips while his spread fingers blessed her bare back with warmth.  He stroked, and tingle after tingle bumped down her spine.

Seth leaned his shoulders back, bringing their lower bodies into more contact.  "Do you know how much I want you?"

Not need.  Not love.  Want.  She whispered past the lump in her throat.  "Tell me."

"I watched you all night.  I watched other men watch you.  I even saw a few try to flirt with you under my nose, but you didn't flirt back.  Why?"

"Because I only want to flirt with you.  No one else."

His eyes darkened and his hands became bolder, slipping beneath the material of her dress.  How she wanted to tell him she loved him.  But she already sensed tension in him.  She didn't want to do anything to give him cause to put more walls between them.  Not tonight.  She raised her arms and combed her fingers through his thick hair.

He brought her tighter against him until they fit intimately against each other.  "All I could think about tonight was getting away from the crowd and bringing you back here.  I don't want to share you."

Jealousy wasn't an emotion she'd associate with Seth.  But a man like him might feel proprietary over any woman he accompanied.  At home, she didn't doubt he wanted to be with her.  But here...  There had been attractive women at the party, unattached women who knew his lingo and belonged in his social crowd.  They had looked at him with a predatory gleam.

Her voice was thready.  "I don't want to share you, either."

Seth lowered his head until his mouth found hers.  His lips hardened, demanding more until the exquisite need and ferocious passion swirled around them.  Darcy reached up to stroke Seth's cheek, his chin, and with her other hand relished the softness of the hair at his nape.

Seth's hands moved to her hips, cradling her between his legs.  She smiled against his lips because she could feel his power.

He must have felt the smile because he asked raspily, "You enjoy the effect you have on me, don't you?"

She pecked the middle of his upper lip, rubbed her cheek against his, licked his ear lobe until he shuddered.  "Almost as much as I like what you do to me."

"Lady, we're both going to get the chance to enjoy."  He reached behind her and switched off the lone light.  "I want to see you bathed in moonglow and starlight."

Only the twinkles from the cityscape and the light from the heavenly bodies penetrated the darkness.  Seth removed Darcy's pearls, the pins in her hair, and carefully dropped them in his pocket.  His fingertips sizzled on her skin, through the dress fabric, from her shoulders, down the nodes of her spine to her bottom.

He flicked the tip of his tongue into the corner of her mouth, let his breath tease then mingle with hers as she parted her lips.  But he didn't take her.  He coaxed and taunted.  While his thumb dragged over her chin, his palm melted against her cheek.  He nibbled at her upper lip, sipped at her lower, chuckled when her tongue attempted to engage his.  He hovered another moment and then opened his mouth on hers, giving her what she desired.

When he came up for air, he muttered, "I still haven't figured out just what you have on under here."