Second Opinions: A Lizzy and Dr. Darcy Story (Meryton Medical Romances Book 2)
Page 34
She’d been so openly hostile towards him, memories of her humiliation and heartbreak coming to the forefront and eliciting in her an aggression she hadn’t known she possessed. And for him to do the unthinkable - to kiss her…to touch her…
Her face burned at the memory. If they hadn’t been interrupted, she couldn’t deny she would’ve let him do much more than touch her if he’d been so inclined. Again with the stupid hormones.
Now, seeing Chase again at her brother’s engagement party, she didn’t know what to think of him. She’d rather just avoid him and the messy thoughts he elicited altogether.
She laid her head on Eddie’s shoulder. He’d always made her feel safe and comfortable. While she loved Will and respected him as her brother, she considered Eddie her “cool” older brother - the one who’d given her that first sip of alcohol, threatened to beat up the boys who made her cry and offered to drive her to the mall whenever he was visiting. “Shouldn’t you be back in the party with your date? She seems nice.”
“Kenzie is nice enough, I suppose.” He shrugged. “Honestly, I think she was more interested in coming to a party in the Hamptons than in being with me.”
“She’s pretty enough. Shouldn’t that make it worth it?”
He pulled away from her, shock evident on his face. “I am not talking sex with you.”
“I’m a grown woman.”
“Never. That’s just wrong.” Something passed over his face, something sad, but then his expression brightened. “I know what you mean, though. What Will has with Lizzy - you don’t see that very often.”
“You don’t think you have that with Kenzie?”
“Our relationship isn’t exactly based on feelings.”
“Ew. You’re right. I definitely don’t want to talk sex with you.” She sighed. “I’m being silly. And selfish. It’s their engagement party and here I am moping about not having anyone.”
“It’s not silly to want to have someone to love you. But staying out here is a tad selfish. Are you ready to go back inside and be the good sister?”
“As long as you come back in with me.”
“Deal.”
As they walked back into the house, Chase ordered another drink at the bar. “Jack on the rocks.” He waited impatiently for the bartender to pour the drink, his mind on the attractive couple making their way back to the patio. Were they a couple? He’d known of Ed Fitzwilliam by reputation only. Will had never brought his friend to the Hamptons to visit, but Ana had talked about him often enough.
The army officer was older than Ana by quite a few years, at least ten if he had to guess, but the easy way in which they interacted with each other melted away any age difference. Her heel caught on something and she tripped, catching herself by grabbing at her companion’s arm. She laughed at her clumsiness and jealousy curled within Chase’s stomach.
Even now, a dozen years later, he remembered a time when he could make her laugh that way, that unaffected laugh which had never failed to lighten his heart.
He remembered that summer more than a dozen years ago, when he was fourteen and Ana twelve. He’d been callous and purposely hurtful, anything to get thoughts of her out of the gutter.
She’d deserved better, even at fourteen he’d been aware of that fact even if she hadn’t. There was no way sweet, innocent Ana Darcy had deserved to be involved with someone like him, not after his father had ruined him.
Still, all these years later, Chase was haunted by that summer, by the look in Ana’s eyes when their friendship had been irrevocably damaged. But as traumatic as the events of that summer had been, nothing could compare to how he’d felt last fall, when he’d let his emotions overrun his common sense and he’d finally let himself kiss her.
That encounter had ruined him for all other women, and even though he’d continued to seduce many others, no one had come close to eliciting the passion one kiss from Ana had instilled in him. She’d branded him, and now, months later, he considered it apt punishment for the misery he’d caused her years ago.
No, she deserved a better man than him, and Edward Fitzwilliam seemed like just the candidate to fill the job.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ruby Cruz is a transplant from New Jersey to the mountains of West Virginia. A night shift nurse by trade, she spends her non-work hours caring for her husband, two young daughters, and rambunctious dog, all while ignoring/despising any form of housework. In her non-existent free time, she foregoes sleep to type maniacally on a laptop and hope that whatever she writes is comprehensible and enjoyable to readers.
By Ruby Cruz:
Pride and Prejudice Series
First Impressions: A Modern Retelling of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice
Second Opinions: A Lizzy and Dr. Darcy Story
Broken Heart Rehab: A Modern Georgiana Darcy Story - coming 2016
The Nanotech Series
The Infected (Book One)
The Recovered (Book Two) - coming 2016
Teen Romance
My Nemesis
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