Page 7 of Perfectly Right

Darcy had tried, honestly. The night they hatched their plan, he had furtively looked up Elizabeth’s not-yet-defunct dating profile and read what she said constituted her perfect match. Tilney had come too close. Collins was perfectly off the mark. Fortunately, he knew at least one more man who checked none of her ‘like’ boxes.

Darcy had sat through hundreds of tedious business meetings and presentations. As he endured today’s date, he thought of them almost fondly.

“How do you know Elizabeth?” she asked.

He stared across the table at Claire Elliot, whose eyes seemed to be assessing the value of his watch, calculating his net worth, and designing their future dream house all at once. He made his answer brief. “Her sister is dating a good friend of mine.”

“And she’s fixing you up on dates rather than making a play for you herself?” Claire smiled but her eyes remained cool. “Not that Elizabeth is in your league, of course.”

It took effort not to narrow his eyes but he managed a polite reply. “It was a bit of a joke between us that now is seeing itself to fruition.” His coffee had been too hot to drink a few minutes earlier, and as he reached for it now, a red-polished fingertip touched his hand.

“You are no joke, Fitzwilliam Darcy.”

He quickly lifted the cup and leaned back in his chair to sip it. “And how doyouknow Elizabeth?”

Claire ignored his tacit rejection and arched an eyebrow. “She’s done some freelance graphic design at my agency but now we’ve shifted everything in-house. I assume she wants to maintain the professional connection. Fixing me up with the most impressive man of her acquaintance is a good start.”

She grinned like a cat who’d eaten a cageful of canaries and a huge bowl of cream as a chaser.This woman could put Caroline to shame,thought Darcy.Whatever Elizabeth’s motivations for slotting this woman as his date, he would make sure not to injuretheir professional connection. But he hoped to never see Claire Elliot again.

CHAPTER SIX

Elizabeth could feel Charlotte’s amused stare behind her the entire half-hour she suffered through John Thorpe’s non-stop chatter. If Bill Collins the paper guy had had hobbies, John Thorpe had himself, and his passion for anything with wheels. Astounded that she had never been on a motorcycle, he set off on a long monologue about the joy of riding without a helmet out in the countryside.

“It’s very sensual, you know,” he purred, “feeling the wind caressing your skin like that.”

His words brought only horrifying images to mind, and she had enough problems detangling her curls every morning. She tugged her left ear, a signal to Charlotte—sitting two tables away—to call her with ‘an emergency at the office’. She met her highly amused friend outside and they made quick work of the next two blocks to ensure John didn’t follow.

“What a tool. Thanks for your speedy rescue.”

“I could see he thought he was impressing you and drilling down on his creepy charm skills.”

“If I’d looked at you, I would’ve lost it.” As they walked, Elizabeth played with a thread hanging on the cuff of her jacket sleeve. She’d begun worrying the fraying denim during herinterminable meetup with John, but stopped when she saw him watching her fingers, seemingly turned on by their movements.

Charlotte bumped her with her elbow. “I thought Darcy promised he wouldn’t set you up with any serial killers.”

“He didn’t promise me there wouldn’t be jerks.”

“But he knows you hate him and his type, so he’s finding you the exact opposite of tall, dark, handsome, rich, smart, successful, ripped...”

“You forgot logical. Darcy is always logical.” Elizabeth steered Charlotte around an older couple strolling slowly with their dog. “Setting me up with men I cannot like, let alone want to date, makes no sense.”

“That’s why he went for whatever seems like his exact opposite, figuring that at the very least, you wouldn’t be offended. Or that he’d come off looking better in comparison.”

“Well, he’s sabotaged two Saturday mornings.”

“Rather like what you’ve done to his. Sorry I missed it last week. He sounded like a real winner, too.” Charlotte led Elizabeth over to a food cart, clearly set on breaking her diet to enjoy a bag of vinegar dill potato chips. Elizabeth considered them vile, especially before noon, but they were Charlotte’s favorite and Charlotte had rescued her from John Thorpe, so she could tolerate them—at least outside in the fresh air.

As Charlotte tapped her card to pay, she observed, “You set him up with Claire Elliott. Everything you’ve ever said about him applies to her, too.”

“Meaning?”

“They could be a perfect match—or they could rip each other to shreds. Possibly while naked.” Charlotte laughed. “They are both intense, undeniably attractive people.”

“Obviously.”

“But he’s avoided Charlie’s sister all these years and he’ll likely evade Claire, too.” Charlotte tore at the chip bag as theyheaded up the street. “Darcy is rather good at making a bad impression, what with being so rich and good-looking and tall.”

“Yes, he is dreadfully burdened,” said Elizabeth drily.

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