“Don’t go there,” Darcy interrupted. “Thinking like that will only make you insane.” He frowned, trying to cope with his own worries. “Besides, what’s the worst he could do? Wickham is not aggressive. He’s lazy. He’s an opportunist. He’s not going to attack or rape them; it would put him at too much risk. The worst he can do is try to seduce them, which won’t work, or fuck up their video, which will ruin his reputation.”
Charles exhaled sharply. “Damn straight it would.”
“And I don’t think he’d bother Jane anyway,” Darcy continued. “It’s me he wants to hurt, and hopefully he doesn’t know about Lizzy and me.”
Charles studied the bitter expression on Darcy’s face. “You hate this, don’t you?”
Darcy’s eyes flashed. “’Course I do,” he said darkly.
“Well, like you said, it’ll be fine. They are going to fly down this morning and be back tomorrow night.” Charles smiled reassuringly. “What’s the worst that could happen?”
Darcy rolled his eyes, hearing his own words used on himself and realizing how weak they sounded. “You want to hang out here today?” he asked his friend.
“Yeah. Maybe we could do some work in the studio.”
Jane and Elizabeth emerging from the master bedroom ended their conversation. Darcy brought Elizabeth her coffee and the cell phone, which she tucked into her bag.
“Is that all you are bringing?”
Elizabeth shrugged. “It’s just an overnight. I’d rather leave my guitars here where I know they’ll be safe.” She shared a look with Darcy that spoke of her trust in him.
“They will be,” he said, kissing her deeply. He looked up to see Jane and Charles embracing and returned to Elizabeth’s lips, knowing he still had time. He kissed her, gathering the sweet taste of her to him and touching every part of her mouth that he could. He wanted to feel her, to lock this moment in his memory. She seemed to share his intent, holding him closely as her mouth made love to his.
All too soon, Rebecca cleared her throat and announced, “We really have to leave if we are going to catch that plane.”
With final words and kisses, the women stepped into the elevator, leaving the two men unhappily behind. Rebecca escorted them out through the lobby and to the limo waiting in the street below.
Elizabeth sighed as she settled into the car beside her sister. She hated doing this, but there was really no choice. She sipped the coffee he had made for her as she thought. Sighing, she told herself that she was just going to do this quickly and professionally and hope that Wickham didn’t know about her relationship with Darcy.
They met up as scheduled with Alex and Charlotte by the security gate. Charlotte rushed forward to embrace them, all the time teasing them about how good the sisters looked.
“It’s vitamin P,” Lizzy explained with a wink.
Charlotte grinned. “Are you finally getting your recommended daily allowance?”
“Oh yeah,” Elizabeth laughed.
“She was deprived of it for so long, Will is making sure she gets extra doses,” Jane piped in, with a wicked grin.
“You’re not looking so deprived yourself, Jane,” Charlotte observed.
Jane blushed a fiery red, causing the other two to erupt with laughter.
They said good-bye to Rebecca and moved through security. Finding their gate, they settled in to wait for their plane. Elizabeth could tell Alex wanted to talk to her. He was sitting on her right side and seemed to be waiting to say something.
“So, where exactly are we going, Alex?” Elizabeth had to admit that since learning the truth about Wickham, she had lost all enthusiasm for this project.
“We’re flying to Tampa. The shoot is taking place on a small island nearby.”
Elizabeth nodded as she absently flipped through a magazine. She could feel his eyes on her. “What?”
“Nothing.” But before Elizabeth could protest, he quickly asked, “Do you love him?”
“Didn’t we already have this conversation? I told you what I felt over the phone.” Her voice was unusually cool.
“He just doesn’t seem to be your type,” Alex replied sullenly. “I would hate to have you selling out because of the money or something.”
“Alex, do I need to find another manager? Is this too much?” Elizabeth asked, her voice flat, her eyes narrowed. “It was never a question of choosing him over you. We were never going to work. You knew that, didn’t you?”
Alex swallowed and nodded. “I know, Lizzy, and you don’t have to get a new manager. I’m okay with it.”
Elizabeth nodded, not completely convinced but willing to let it go. It was only then that she realized that she had chosen her relationship with Darcy over her professional relationship with Alex. As they waited, she studied him, weighing the emotional distance between them. It had been a long time since she had felt affection for him, but now she realized how little she had shared with Alex and how much she could have with Darcy. She was a little sad to acknowledge it, but she also knew she was much better off.
A ferry took them to an island a couple of miles offshore. It was owned by a luxury resort, which is where they would be staying overnight. The resort complex used up only about a quarter of the land, with a small airstrip the only other structure. The remainder of the land was left open and undeveloped. Elizabeth had to admit it was beautiful, and a part of her wished that Darcy had come down.
The warm smile on her face was wiped away as they drove to the set and Wickham met their cars. George was looking good. His hair had been further lightened and his skin was deeply tanned. He was wearing a beige shirt and crisp white linen shorts. He greeted the women warmly, giving Elizabeth the same extra attention he had the last time.
He explained that today they would be doing action shots in the water, and then they would have a night shot on the beach, and tomorrow they would finish up with the concert shots.
As Jane and Charlotte were led away to wardrobe, George stopped Elizabeth. She forced herself to smile at George. “What’s up?”
“I wanted to know how you are doing. It’s been awhile.”
“Not that long,” she teased. “I’ve been good.”
“Yeah, you look great.”
“Thanks.”
“So, have you been busy?” he asked hopefully.
“Actually, I have. I’m in a new relationship now.”
“Oh?” his eyebrows peeked out over his sunglasses. “Lucky guy. Anyone I know?”
Elizabeth shook her head. “I don’t think so. He’s a classical musician.”
His expression was hidden behind his sunglasses. “That’s great, Lizzy. I’m happy for you.”
Elizabeth smiled and left for wardrobe, pleased that the initial confrontation was over.
Darcy looked down at his guitar, carefully strumming the new melody. A few bars later he heard Richard’s voice singing. It was different; Richard’s voice was gravelly compared to Charles, but it was his song. As soon as they read the words, they understood that Richard had to sing it.
They stood in their studio, playing together, the way they had for years. The differences, Richard singing and a studio musician, Mike Hurst, on drums, were of no consequence as the men lost themselves in the creative process.
“You know, we could thicken this up with some keyboards,” Charles observed when they finished.
Darcy and Richard shared a grin, knowing full well the pretty keyboard player on Charles’s mind. It was a gentle grin. Each one of them was in the same place, thinking about a lady far away.
“I’ve got something else I’d like to work on,” Darcy told them, pulling out sheets of music.
And so the day passed into evening. The three members of Slurry found themselves easy in each other’s company, quitting the studio and returning to the loft, eating pizza and watching movies. Around eleven they began to grow quiet, then fidgety. Charles extracted his cell phone and checked that it was on and charged, resting it on the couch beside him. Darcy got his cordless and placed it on the floor next to him.