“Why wouldn’t they?” Caroline asked.
“I know you liked him,” Darcy said to her, “but he was terrible at his job. I think he was stoned a lot of the time.”
“But he was always so polite and well dressed. You’re replacing him with this…this homeless kid?” Caroline sniffed.
Darcy sighed. He shouldn’t feel the need to explain himself to Caroline, but he did it anyway. “Garrett shadowed Kurt for two days. By the third, he was better at Kurt’s job than Kurt was.”
Elizabeth gave Darcy a teasing smile that provoked thoughts of kisses and laughter. “So, there’s actually some compassion lurking under that gruff movie-star cynicism.”
Darcy shook his head. She couldn’t get the wrong idea about him. “Please! Do not think for one second that I will go about kissing babies and saving kittens.”
Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “Wouldn’t want to ruin your street cred.”
Darcy just kept explaining. “This was a practical move. Garrett is better at the job, and he was available immediately.”
A corner of her mouth quirked upward. “If that’s what you want the world to believe…”
“And you want the world to believe I hired him because I felt sorry for him. That would be a big success for your program.” Darcy regarded her with narrowed eyes. “We’re all ultimately self-serving, aren’t we?”
“It seems like you’re drinking the goody-two-shoes Kool Aid, too,” Caroline scoffed. “Will you be hugging trees and building houses next?”
Darcy was stung. He wasn’t a square; he just played one in the movie. “This had nothing to do with altruism,” he said with as superior a tone as he could manage. “I did my bit for True Colors, and now I’m finished. I simply hired the best person for this job.” Darcy shrugged.
“You do seem to go through personal assistants at a rather rapid rate.” A cool smile touched Elizabeth’s lips.
Damn, he had set her up for that quip. “I have every reason to believe that this one is finally up to the task,” he replied.
“Ooh! Burn!” Caroline made a sizzling noise and then laughed.
Darcy rubbed the back of his neck. He shouldn’t have said that. Elizabeth had a crush on him; she didn’t deserve the sharp edge of his wit.
Watching him with an amused expression, Elizabeth didn’t appear to be hurt.
One of the models wearing a barely-there bikini sauntered past and gave Darcy a sultry smile. A piece of paper tumbled out of her hand and landed in his lap, although the model kept walking. Caroline nodded knowingly, but Elizabeth peered over Darcy’s shoulder while he opened the scrap. A name and phone number were written inside.
Darcy crumpled up the paper and tossed it on the ground; he wouldn’t want Elizabeth to think he would take the woman up on her offer.
Elizabeth shook her head slowly. “I want to shout after her, ‘Have some self-respect!’ I mean, she doesn’t even know you.”
He shrugged; such things lost the power to shock him long ago. “Sleeping with me would make her feel like she’s arrived—she’s part of this world.”
“Why? For what purpose?”
Darcy couldn’t help frowning. Doesn’t she understand? Doesn’t she see the way everyone stares at me? “That’s the way of the world. Everyone wants this life. Everyone wants to be us.”
Elizabeth eyes widened. “Wow! Ego much?”
Caroline laughed. “Don’t front, girl. You want this life just as much as anyone else.”
Elizabeth’s lip curled as she regarded the other woman. “I want to be offered an anonymous shag by the side of a pool? I have greater ambitions than that.” Caroline smirked, but Elizabeth plunged ahead. “Do you see yourself? Why in the world would I want that?”
Caroline made a sweeping gesture that encompassed the posh surroundings, the beautiful people, the designer clothing. “Why wouldn’t you? This is everyone’s dream.”
“Some of us have different dreams.”
What on earth does she mean by that? Darcy wondered. But Caroline’s laugh drew his attention. “Maybe you think you might want something else. That you’re the next combination of Meryl Streep and Mother Theresa. But deep down, this is what you want, too.”
Elizabeth’s scornful gaze raked over both Caroline and Darcy. “You know what I want…deep down? To l