Page 77 of A Certain Appeal
“So, Darcy,” says Gales. “Liz mentioned you’re in wealth management?”
“Will Darcy: Man of Business,” I say.
Darcy chuckles. “Something like that. It’s how I ended up at Meryton. A friend was looking to invest in property, and the club was the most promising of the options he found. Done right, Meryton could be extremely profitable. The current owner...” He lets out a huff of a laugh, then takes a drink of his beer. “He’s wasting an opportunity.”
“Speaking of Meryton,” Chloe starts, “Gales and I are going to Lizzy’s show tomorrow and she’s being super coy about it. What’s this place like, Darcy?”
“Chloe,” I warn.
“The least we can do is go in prepared,” she says.
Darcy shifts his grip a few inches higher on my leg, making me more receptive to this little game of my cousin’s. “You’re already more prepared than I was. The information I’d been given on the property described it as a cabaret. I did not expect clothing to come off.”
“Or a kitten?” Chloe offers.
I narrow my eyes.
He rubs his hand up and down my leg, and—oh, Diane von Furstenberg, hallowed be thy name—the movement is enough to part mywrap dress, and his hand is high on bare thigh. “No,” he says. “Nor a kitten.”
I am suddenly much more forgiving of my cousin.
“The food is good. Not great, which is too bad—there’s a lot of potential there,” he says, directing the comment at Gales.
“Is this something your friend who’s buying it plans to do?” he asks. “Change the kitchen?”
“It would be in his best interest,” Darcy admits. “Even if the venue’s focus isn’t on the plates. I’ve come to appreciate those other elements.”
The admission gets my pulse thrilling. I prop my chin in my hand. “Is that so?”
Darcy’s hand moves over my leg slowly, fingertips lighting along the inside of my knee. “It is.”
“That’s something you’ve never mentioned, Liz,” Gales says, interrupting perfectly good eye coitus. But Darcy continues stroking my leg, so I decide to let the big man live. “Maybe you’ve explained it to Chloe, but how’d you end up being part of the show?”
“I went in to watch Jane sing. I didn’t know what to expect, either. All I knew about burlesque was that it was fancy stripping. And then Ming—you’ll see her tomorrow—she went onstage and she was the most joyful, beautiful thing I’d ever seen.”
The tip of my nose tingles, warning me of impending tears. “There she was, almost completely naked in front of a room full of people, and she had them all in the palm of her hand. I wanted to have that power, too. It was the first thing I’d wanted in months. And that made me realize how much I was letting myself be held back by what happened in LA, that I was living in this beautiful city and not gettingto know any of it. It opened my eyes to what I was missing. I needed that push. After... after the internship blew up.”
“You know about that?” Chloe asks Darcy.
“No, not specifically.”
Chloe waits for my nod before continuing. “Her boss stole her ideas and passed them off as his own, and had been peddling BS about her being ‘inappropriate’ so she couldn’t speak up,” she says bitterly. “The fucker. I still—” She holds up a hand, matte red lips pressing into a hard line. “It’s been three years, and you handled it the way you felt was right at the time, butshit. Your work wasso good.”
“It was.”
“Which is why it’s so great that you’re drawing again,” she says.
Gales’s thick brows go high as he drinks. “Chloe mentioned that! Good for you. Your stuff was always amazing. Has she shown you?” he asks Darcy.
I answer for him. “I’ve been Googled.”
“But has he seen your Meryton ideas?” Chloe asks, despite knowing the answer.
Darcy smiles. “Do you have a proposal for Charles?”
“Andrea said she’d talk to him once the sale was finalized. They’ll take a look then,” I explain.
“He’d be lucky to have you,” says Darcy. “The few pieces in that article on your school’s website were outstanding.”
