The Harder They Fall (24 page)

Her mother shook her slightly. “Don’t ever say that! These restaurants will be your legacy someday. We’re working hard to build a dream, Darcy. For you. Because we love you so much.”

Darcy tried to smile, but her lips trembled. “When will you be home?”

“Just as soon as I can. I promise.”

But Darcy’s mother never kept that promise.

Darcy whimpered in her sleep, but before she had time to dwell on the fate of her mother, the dream shifted again.

Michael loomed over her, whispering her name.

“Michael,” she replied brokenly. “Hold me.”

She felt his comforting weight, smelled his masculine scent so deeply, she could almost believe he was really there.

“I’m here, Darcy. I’m not going anywhere.”

“She died trying to build a dream for me.”

Warm lips brushed over hers. “I know, love.”

A sigh escaped her. Then a hand covered her breast over the cotton of her nightshirt. Darcy’s eyes flew open, and she nearly screamed when she realized there really was someone in bed with her.

The scream died when she saw Michael’s sleep-groggy eyes and tousled hair above her. “Michael?”

“You were expecting someone else?” he asked, arching an eyebrow.

Darcy tried to get her bearings. “You shouldn’t be here. We’re in your mother’s house!”

“We’re in
my
house, and there’s nowhere I should be more.”

He buried his head in the hollow that connected her shoulder to her neck. “I couldn’t stay away.”

Propriety aside, Darcy was thrilled he’d come. She’d retired to the guest room reluctantly around midnight, feeling bereft. Having Michael under the same roof but not in the same bed held no appeal whatsoever. But she hadn’t wanted to make a bad impression, so she’d insisted on them sleeping in separate rooms.

She’d spent a wonderfully pleasant evening with his family. First Michael barbecued steaks, and after she and Annie cleaned up the four of them played Scrabble, Michael cheating outrageously.

When Laura began to get tired, Michael had cut short the game and escorted her upstairs. When he returned, the three of them talked and sipped wine for another two hours, then Darcy had excused herself—one of Annie’s manuscripts in hand—to give Michael and his sister time alone.

But now he was here, holding her, exploring her neck with his lips and her breasts with his hand, and Darcy couldn’t have kicked him out if her life depended on it.

Ribbons of desire streaked from her puckered breasts to her very center and she moaned softly. “Michael . . .”

“Tell me,” he whispered against her throat. “Tell me.”

“Undress me.”

He chuckled softly. “With pleasure.”

And pleasure was what he proceeded to give her.

Afterwards, instead of collapsing on her as he usually did, he tightened his hold on her head and gazed at her so hotly, he reminded her of an unleashed beast.

“Michael?” she said, not really frightened, just dazed by the power of what had just happened to her.

“I can’t get enough of you,” he whispered, his breaths still coming fast and shallow. He withdrew from her and rolled to his back, then grabbed her waist and pulled her to him.

Elation was a mild word for how Darcy felt. This man—this handsome, strong, caring, smart, successful man—couldn’t get enough of her. Another first at the hands of Michael Stephen Davidson.

Darcy lay in the circle of Michael’s strong, warm embrace and realized that life as she knew would never be the same. She was the luckiest woman on the face of the earth. “Michael?” she whispered, snuggling even closer.

His arms tightened around her. “Hmm?”

“Thank you.”

A chuckle rumbled in his chest, against her ear. “For what?”

“For . . . everything.”

He chuckled again. “Happy to oblige.”

“What the hell is this?”

Darcy looked up from the sandwich she was eating after her shift. Michael stood in the doorway to the break room, looking like a dark, angry, vibrating male. In his hand was Darcy’s letter of resignation.

“Exactly what it looks like. My two weeks’ notice.”

They’d arrived back in D.C. last night, and had gone directly to Darcy’s apartment. By unspoken agreement, they both knew Michael would spend the night. And he had. An incredible night in which he’d laid back and let Darcy direct their lovemaking.

He’d left at ten in the morning to go to his hotel and change. Right after he’d gone, Darcy had made one phone call, typed one letter, then showered, changed and came to work.

“I know what it is. What I want to know is why.”

She shrugged. “You yourself told me I wasn’t cut out for this business.”

“Darcy—”

Tom popped his head in the door. “Telephone, Davidson. Ed Welham, line two.”

Michael opened his mouth, then shut it again. Jeez, he looked good in blue. Of course, he looked good in gray, too, come to think of it. And in khaki. And in nothing at all. Especially in nothing at all.

He pointed at her nose. “This conversation’s not over with. Don’t you move your pretty little butt from that chair. I’ll be right back.”

Darcy squelched the desire to run from the restaurant like a frightened rabbit. She had the feeling he’d have a whole lot more to talk about after this phone call.

He’d told her on the plane home that he’d have to head back to New York after seeing her safely back to D.C. He hadn’t said so, but the message was implicit. He’d decided to stop pursuing the Welham acquisition, and he had no reason to stay in Washington. He had to return to his office and face the music.

Darcy hadn’t wanted to get into a discussion about it on the plane, so she’d failed to mention the decision she’d made in New York. Well, it looked like they were about to get into a discussion about it real soon.

The club sandwich suddenly didn’t look so appealing. She didn’t know how Michael would react to the news that Welham’s was once again on the block. He was a proud man, and she worried that he’d consider her change of heart as a
handout of some sort.

She heard the angry click of shoes against the tile floor in the kitchen, striding in her direction, and for a moment contemplated running out the back door. Trying to appear casual, she toyed with her pickle and studied the mound of chips on her plate.

He didn’t say a word. Instead, he just took her arm and hauled her out of her chair. Silently he dragged her out the door to the back parking lot and shoved her into the passenger seat of his latest rental car. As he stomped around the front of the convertible, he glared through the windshield at her.

Definitely, he was not a happy camper.

He slid into the driver’s seat and slammed the door shut with enough force to make Darcy jump. Popping the steering wheel up and out of his way, he turned to her. “Well?”

Darcy batted her eyelashes. “Well . . . what?”

“Don’t play games with me, Darcy. I’m not in the mood.”

“Tell me what’s wrong and I’ll see if I can’t fix it.”

He took a breath that said,
Lord, grant me patience.
“Why did you change your mind about the takeover?”

“What makes you think I changed my mind?”

His eyes blazed. “Dammit, Darcy, don’t do this,” he growled. “Just tell me what the hell is going on.”

She clasped her hands together. “I changed my mind.”

Michael swore explosively. “Why? Why would you change your mind? This is your
dream,
dammit!”

Shaking her head adamantly, she said, “No, it’s not.”

His jaw dropped.

Darcy took his hands and gazed into his eyes. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, lately.” She nodded toward the restaurant. “This isn’t my dream and never has been. It was my mother’s dream.”

“But—”

“No. Just listen. All my life I’ve been reliving my mother’s last words to me, and taking them literally. She told me she and my father were working so hard because the restaurants were my future. To me that had always meant that I was destined to take over the restaurants. But that’s not what she meant at all. She meant that the success of the restaurants would help ensure that I’d be able to do what I wanted with my future. That I’d have choices.” She squeezed his hands. “They were a means to an end. And I’m ready to let them go and get on with what I really want to do with my life.”

Michael swallowed. “And what is that?”

It was her turn to swallow. “Professionally, I’m not certain.” She lowered her gaze to their entwined hands, swallowed one more time, and took the plunge. “Personally, I just want you in my life.”

“Darcy—”

“Wait! Let me finish while I still have the courage.” She lifted her chin and met his gaze. “I’m not asking anything of you, I’m really not. Except that you keep in touch with me. Maybe come and visit me once in a while.”

He pulled his hands from hers and Darcy had a momentary twinge of panic. But instead of withdrawing from her, he took her shoulders and gave her a hard stare. “Are you sure about this? Really sure?”

“Yes,” she whispered.

“You’re not doing this for me, are you? I’d never forgive myself if you gave up on your dream for me.”

“No,” she lied. Well, half lied. She was doing it for all of them. For Michael, for his mother, for his sister, for her father, for herself. “I want this. I really do.”

He was silent while his gaze penetrated hers, searching, she felt certain, for signs of deceit. “You won’t regret it?”

“No.” She sighed. “It’ll be a relief, actually.”

“I’m going to be real honest here, all right?”

Darcy’s heart chilled with fear. “Yes.”

“I’m not going to pretend this isn’t really good news for me. But if there’s even a small part of you that doesn’t want to do this, please put a stop to it now and think about it for a while. It’s a huge decision. And I don’t want you making it for any reason except you’re certain it’s what you want. Because there’s no going back, Darcy.

“If there’s any part of you doing this for me, don’t do it. I’m hoping we have a really great future together. And by the way, it’s going to include a whole lot more than an occasional visit. But there are no guarantees. And if something happens between you and me, I can’t live with you regretting the decision because you made it on my behalf.” His fingers dug into the flesh of her upper arms. “Make sure this is the best decision for
you.”

Darcy thought she loved Michael more in this moment than it was possible to love a man. And she knew in that moment that she
was
doing it for herself. For her future with him. “This is the best decision for me.”

Amazingly, his eyes got a little misty. “You’re sure?”

“I’m sure.”

He yanked her against him and kissed her. Passionately. Hotly. Thoroughly. Long minutes later he broke the kiss and rested his forehead on hers. “If that’s the case, I’ll have to leave for Spokane tomorrow.”

“I suspected as much.”

“Come with me.”

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“I’m already scheduled to work a private party Thursday night.”

“To hell with that.”

She pulled back. “Michael, I gave notice, and I have every intention of fulfilling my obligation to this company until such time as my employment is terminated. I owe that much.”