What did Darcy do when she was scared? She shut down and she ran. The way she did when Dad went into his drunken rages. The way she did when boyfriends betrayed or hurt her. Reflexive flight, an animal-deep instinct for self-preservation. This time, though, she was flying away from something that felt more dangerous than rage or abuse. Something she couldn’t define beyond certainty that it had threatened to devour her whole.
She only had herself to blame. Three nights ago at Esmee Restaurant, after she’d locked eyes with her recent lover, but before he’d spoken to her, she could have listened to the instinct telling her to leave. Even after he started a conversation, she should have left, knowing she was at a low point that night, vulnerable and lonely, and knowing better than to think men were any kind of answer to what ailed her. Hadn’t she been screeching that exact lecture at Marie for months now? But the chemical connection between them had been so powerful…
Yeah, well, Darcy had gotten all the trouble she’d gone looking for and more.
Her office phone rang, startling her back to real life. “Gladiolas, this is Chef Darcy Clark.”
“Hey there, honey.”
Oh, hurray. The day was getting worse and worse. “Raoul. What do you want?”
“You.” His playful, deep voice did nothing for her. She cringed that she’d ever found him attractive. He had that dark, tattooed, ponytailed, muscled bad-boy thing going, which she generally found irresistible. But there was bad boy and there was slime-boy, and he’d crossed the line. “I miss ya, Darce.”
“Uh-huh. Why are you calling?”
“Can’t a friend call to check on you?”
“Yes, of course.” She put a big smile in her voice. “Of course a friend can. It’s just that you’re not one.”
“Oh, sweetheart. You’ve gotta let that anger go before it eats you up.”
“I will so keep that in mind.” She wanted to growl at him. “Once more, why are you calling?”
“I told you. I miss you, I miss the old place. I was wondering if you’d like to get together.”
“For?” What did he want? Why was he doing this? She instinctively closed her latest Chef’s Bible document. Not that he could see into it over the phone, but she didn’t trust the guy for a second, and if her recipes got into his hands, he’d no doubt make full use of them. Excellent technician in the kitchen, zero on creativity.
“A talk.”
“About?”
“Jeez, you are a tough one. A talk about anything. About you, about how you’re doing, about how Gladiolas is doing. Two professionals shooting the breeze about the biz.”
“And about your suspiciously familiar-sounding new venture?”
“Babe…”
“Name is Darcy. Use it. And sorry, no time for a drink, I’m busy.”
“That’s definitely my loss.” His voice dropped into the seductive tone that had actually tempted her before she found out he was sleeping with Alice, their only married waitress. Before she found out boxes of steaks and pounds of expensive cheeses were disappearing into his truck. “Any men in your life?”
“Hundreds. Can’t keep track of them all. I have to go now.”
“So when’s a good time for our date?”
“Oh, gosh, let me see.” Darcy paused as if consulting her calendar. “How about next…never?”
“Look, Darce…”
“Darcy.”
“Darcy. We’re both in this business now. I don’t see anything wrong with forming an alliance. We can both benefit from—”
“You go your way. I’ll go mine.” She whacked her forehead with her palm. “Oh, wait, sorry, I got that wrong. I meant, I go my way. You copy me.”
“Hey. That’s not—”
She hung up, more rattled than she’d ever let him know. He reminded her of a jerk she knew in college who kept suggesting he and Darcy study together, which meant he wanted her to summarize the course material so he could avoid preparing for exams himself.
Instinct told her she was hanging on in this city only by being unique, and if Raoul’s new venture took off in its better location with her menu style and format, he could sink Gladiolas and her with it. The perfect way to get ahead for someone with no special talent, and the perfect revenge on her for having fired him.