A Higher Education

by Rosalie Stanton

  “I keep telling you, sitcoms are not real life,” she replied.

  Will crossed his arms and met her gaze in the mirror. “Are you forgetting who we live with?”

  Elizabeth snorted, then leaned forward as she began applying eyeliner. “There are special rules for Georgiana.”

  “Mhmm.” His eyes, through no fault of his own, landed in the vicinity of her heart-shaped ass, and were quite content to remain there until she turned around and threw a hairbrush at him.

  “What? I was enjoying the view.”

  “You’re impossible. Shouldn’t you be with the groom, best man? Kinda slacking in your duties.”

  “I have duties?”

  “Namely ensuring that said groom doesn’t decide to climb out the bathroom window.”

  Will arched an eyebrow. “You have met Charlie, haven’t you? The guy was driving me out of my head asking me again and again why, exactly, Jane decided she’d prefer an evening wedding. He hasn’t been able to see her in nearly sixteen hours.”

  “Probably doesn’t help that I’ve been withholding sex for the past two weeks,” Jane said as she brushed past Will into the already-cramped hall bathroom. “As well as cutting back on all displays of affection, private or public.”

  Will snickered and shook his head. “You’re cruel.”

  “Well, I’m only planning on getting married just this once and forgive me if I’d like our first time as husband and wife to be special.” Jane unceremoniously bumped Elizabeth out of the way and began inspecting her reflection. “I broke down and ate a packet of Oreos. Do you see any crumbs anywhere?”

  Elizabeth sighed, seized her friend by the shoulders and turned her until they were face-to-face. “Lemme look,” she said, leaning forward. “Nope. Just one sexy-ass bride who, by the way, is totally rocking the dress.”

  Jane beamed prettily and smoothed her hands down her sides. The dress did suit her. It was simple, lacking any of the frills Will had seen on other dresses—namely the monstrosity Caroline had walked down the aisle in two years prior, made up of ribbon, lace, and mountains of silk and bejeweled so ostentatiously she’d been hard to look at. No, Jane’s dress was smooth creamy satin. It hit her just below the knee, had a modest neckline, and was held up by a couple straps. She hadn’t wanted a big to-do, Elizabeth had told him, and indeed, she hardly looked like the bride of a millionaire, but that was, as Will had discovered over the past few years, Jane to a tee.

  Elizabeth had joked that she’d be even less of a traditionalist in the eventuality that there was a wedding in their future—a subject that, in itself, had been all but exhausted over the past few years. According to her, should she ever agree to become his wife, they would do it in a quickie ceremony at the courthouse.

  This would suit Will just fine. Of course, any future did, so long as she was a part of it.

  “Will Darcy.” Elizabeth waved a hand in front of his face. “Earth to Will Darcy.”

  Will shook his head and flashed a sheepish smile at Elizabeth and the bride-to-be. “Sorry. Was just thinking.”

  “Yes, well, I need you to think somewhere that’s else, okay? This is a no boys allowed zone until after the ceremony.”

  He jutted out his lower lip in a pout, one that almost always worked. “Don’t make me go back there. He’s driving me nuts.”

  “You’re not the one marrying him, so the good news is, he’s only going to be your problem for another forty-five minutes.” Elizabeth nodded at the bride. “Then he becomes Jane’s problem.”

  “And I don’t mind handling him,” Jane agreed with a grin.

  “And that’s more than I ever wanted to hear.”

  “Then get out of here, dummy.” Elizabeth smirked and pulled him in for a quick kiss. “See you at the altar.”

  He widened his eyes, grinning. “Promise?”

  “Don’t push your luck.”

  * * *

  “He is going to propose to you tonight,” Jane said, meeting Elizabeth’s gaze in the mirror as she smoothed out her lipstick. “Are you prepared for that?”

  “He’s proposed to me twice already since you two got engaged, and that’s not counting the four times before that. I’ll give him this—the guy is persistent.”

  “Why don’t you want to get married? You’re not going to break up with him, are you?”

  Elizabeth rolled her eyes, securing the last bobby pin into place. It would take an act of God to get her hair to budge. “I am perfectly happy living in sin, thank you. Not everyone has to get married, Jane.”

  “So that’s a no on breaking up with him, right?”

  “Of course that’s a no. I do love the man.”

  “I just do not get you.”

  “That’s okay.” Elizabeth shook her head once, twice, then whipped out a brief but intense headbang. Not a strand fell out of place. “Will does get me, and he’s secure enough in our relationship not to take it personally when I tell him no.”

  “You really lucked out in finding someone as crazy as you.”

  “I know, right?” She whirled around to give Jane one final look before the big march.

  Her friend was, as always, the picture of radiance. From her hair to her simple-but-elegant makeup to the amazing dress—Jane rocked the classical beauty look. There was little to no chance of Charlie not bursting into tears the second he saw her, which was good for him, because if Charlie ever gave off a vibe that he didn’t know just how lucky he was to have Jane in his life, Elizabeth already knew where she would dump the body.

  “You ready to do this thing?”

  Jane smiled, all excitement and nerves. “I think so.”

  “You better know so or I’m going to lead you to the getaway car.”

  “If I’m anxious, it’s just because everyone’s going to be looking at me.”

  “Of course they are, doofus. It’s your wedding.” Elizabeth rolled her eyes, but threw an arm around her friend’s shoulder and steered her toward the hallway. “And there are, what, ten people in attendance, half of which is your family.”

  “I’m going to fall on my face.”

  “Your dress doesn’t have a train.”

  “I don’t need a train to fall on my face.”

  “That’s the spirit.” Elizabeth gave her a final squeeze before drawing back. “Come on. Let’s go get you hitched.”

  * * *

  It was a perfect wedding. Storybook-perfect to the last detail.

  Like a good boy, Charlie cried. More accurately, he bawled. The second he saw Jane coming down the makeshift aisle in the living room, he’d dissolved into tears and started blubbering about how gorgeous she was and how he couldn’t believe she’d agreed to marry a mess like him. This, naturally, resulted in Jane crying—and Elizabeth giving herself a mental high-five for insisting on waterproof makeup. Jane had sworn she’d make it through the ceremony without so much as shedding a tear, but there was little to no chance that even she’d believed that.

  After the happy couple exchanged rings and the ceremonial smooch, the party moved outdoors. There truly weren’t too many people in attendance—Charlie’s family, including Caroline and spouse, plus the twins they’d spawned in some pact with the devil, Jane’s family, which consisted of her parents and a couple cousins with whom she was close, and Elizabeth, Will, and Georgiana. Armed with determination, Pinterest boards, and Charlie’s money, Elizabeth had converted the space outside Jane’s idyllic cottage into a courtyard, complete with an assortment of tables, a gazebo, a buffet line, and a place for the band. The area was lit with strings of white Christmas lights in conjunction with the lanterns that doubled as table centerpieces.

  It was perfect. Everything Jane wanted it to be.

  And didn’t budge Elizabeth’s resolve on the subject of marriage one iota. Though she knew, from the way Will kept looking at her, that Jane had been right, and another proposal was imminent. He’d asked so frequently she’d nearly gotten it down to a science predicting when the next one would com
e. And every time he asked, she swelled with all the right things—excitement, joy, and love, so much love she thought she might burst. And likewise every time, the first word that came to mind was…no.

  No, because things were so perfect the way they were. The exact way they were. She didn’t want to risk ruining it. Not for anything.

  “Dance with me?”

  Elizabeth started and turned to Will, who had risen from his seat and was holding out his hand. The chords to “In My Life” tickled the air, bringing with them a swell of something she didn’t know if she could contain. She smiled and let Will pull her to her feet.

  Neither one of them were very confident on the dance floor, which suited her just fine, as Elizabeth had never graduated above the sort of couples’ dancing one learned in the eighth grade. Yet there was the familiar feel of him pressed against her, his breath caressing the side of her face, his scent a comfort in itself. And it struck her, as it often did, just how fortunate she was that this man loved her, because picturing her life without him was rather terrifying. The past few years had redefined her in ways she still didn’t completely understand, and most days, she was okay with that, because she got to learn alongside him.

  “I’m not going to ask.”

  Elizabeth stiffened. She considered playing dumb, but he knew her too well to fall for it. “You’re not?”

  “No.” He pressed his lips to her shoulder before continuing, “I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently, and I’ve realized something.”

  She waited. He didn’t elaborate. She waited some more. Nothing.

  Finally, Elizabeth jabbed him. “That is not a place to go quiet.”

  Will chuckled and drew her closer. “Sorry.”

  “If you’re breaking up with me, it’d be nice if you’d at least wait until after the reception.”

  He laughed again. “You’re not going anywhere. And that’s what I realized.”

  “That you can’t get rid of me?”

  “That being married might work for some people, but it wouldn’t mean you love me any more than you already do. The way I feel about you isn’t determined by a license or a ring.” He pulled back and smiled into her eyes. “You have every reason to not trust in marriage. But you do trust me, and as long as that’s true, I’m a happy guy.”

  Elizabeth stared at him for a long moment, her throat tight. There were times when it overwhelmed her, the way her life had gone. How a series of missteps had almost cost her the best thing in it, while also leading her where she needed to be.

  But most of all, how Will just got her. He got her in ways no one ever had or would. How she didn’t have to explain herself to him because, somehow, he understood. Every bit of her, even the parts that didn’t always make sense.

  She swallowed, willing her pulse to stop racing. “Okay.”

  He nodded, grinning. “Okay.”

  “No, I mean I’ll marry you.”

  “You…you’ll marry me.”

  Elizabeth pressed forward to kiss him. “I’ll marry you, Will Darcy.”

  “Well, I’m sorry, but it’s off the table.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “Uh huh.”

  “Seriously. I withdraw my proposal.” But he was smiling too widely, too goofily for her to even feign concern. He cupped her face and brought her mouth to his for another kiss. “This is because I said I didn’t need it, isn’t it?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You’re a little psycho, you know that?”

  “Duh. But you love me.”

  “I do.” He kissed her again. “God help me, I do.”

  “And, just for the record, I’m not taking your name.”

  “Definitely not. I assumed you’d insist on my taking yours.”

  Elizabeth shrugged. “That works. Oh, and I get two maids of honor. You can’t ask me to pick between Jane and Georgiana.”

  “Technically Jane would be a matron of honor.”

  “Yeah, but that makes her sound really old.”

  “By the time our wedding comes around, she might be.”

  She shook her head. “Quickie wedding. Justice of the Peace. That much is the same.”

  “It sounds perfect. I can be Mr. Elizabeth Bennet by next weekend.”

  Elizabeth grinned at him, falling again into the endless pools of his eyes. It was a place she’d happily spend the rest of her life. “It’s a date.”

  Afterword

  The idea for this book first hit me in 2012—flashes of a modern Darcy and Lizzie arguing with each other on a college campus. I tucked the idea away at the time, too overwhelmed with my current projects and the job I had just accepted at Samhain Publishing as an acquiring developmental editor to tackle anything new. The idea remained for years, a lofty “someday” I’d get around to eventually.

  In 2015, I sat down and wrote an outline, which only served to intimidate the hell out of me. Again, I tucked it away, armed with handy excuses about other projects needing attention. Someday had not yet arrived.

  Finally, in 2017, after experiencing both professional and personal upheaval, I began writing the book in earnest. My initial intent was to have it finished in three months. I wrote the last words on Christmas Day of that year.

  While I haven’t read many Pride & Prejudice variations or modernizations, if you exclude Bridget Jones, I know there is a level of expectation that comes with playing in this particular sandbox. This is intimidating, and I know there is no way I’ll have pleased everyone. Hell, I might please no one. But when a book idea has persisted as long as this one did, an author has little choice but to write it. And whether or not you are satisfied at having reached the destination, I thank you for going on the journey with me. It was some of the most fun I’ve ever had writing.

  Until next time, be good to yourself, and to somebody else.

  About the Author

  Rosalie Stanton is an award winning erotic romance author in the paranormal and contemporary genres. A lifelong enthusiast of larger than life characters, Rosalie enjoys building worlds filled with strong heroes and heroines of all backgrounds.

  Rosalie lives in Missouri with her husband and their dog, Luna. At an early age, she discovered a talent for creating worlds, which evolved into a love of words and storytelling. Rosalie graduated with a degree in English. As the granddaughter of an evangelical minister, Rosalie applied herself equally in school in the creative writing and religious studies departments, which had an interesting impact on her writing. When her attention is not engaged by writing or editing, she enjoys spending time with close friends and family.

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  Find Rosalie Online

  www.rosaliestanton.com

  rosalie@rosaliestanton.com

  Also by Rosalie Stanton

  Currently Available

  A Higher Education

  Firsts

  Hellion

  Captive

  Blackout

  Forbidden Fruit

  Moving Target

  An Intimate Friendship

  Witness

  Dark Solace

  Sinners and Saints Series

  Lost Wages of Sin

  Sex, Sin and Scandal

  Coming Soon

  Sinners and Saints Series

  Flip Side of Sin

  Sins of the Flesh

  Deliverance from Sin

  Sins of Omission

  Cardinal Sins

  Original Sin

  Single Titles

  In Heat

  Demonized

  Razor’s Edge

  Echoes

 

 

 
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