Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
What the hell was she even doing here?
Juliet had asked herself the same question over and over again as she’d waited for Darcy to come and get her. In a red pickup truck, of all things.
She’d reached for her phone multiple times in the last two hours, preparing herself to tell Darcy to forget about it. Tell Darcy she, actually, needed to prepare for her final show tomorrow. Tell Darcy to get real, because she didn’t want to go to Blythe’s home and decorate or whatever.
But she didn’t. Even when she’d picked her phone up, at the ready, she didn’t.
She was curious. The thought rolled around in her mind, somewhat forcefully. She was just curious.
Curious about where Darcy came from. About how Darcy spent her time.
She wasn’t going to tell that to Darcy, but it didn’t change the truth.
She certainly wouldn’t tell Darcy she’d looked Pineford up multiple times, long before they’d started hooking up when doing recon to figure out who Darcy Kincaid really was.
And now, she was going to get a real look at who Darcy was.
… all right, so she knew – on a personal, one-to-one level – who Darcy was, now. But the why. Where did she come from? What made her this way? Now, she’d be able to see beyond a surface level.
Even if she had no intention of using it against Darcy the way she once might have, she still thought it was useful information to have. Therefore, no reason to overthink it.
Juliet straightened her spine. Besides, she’d dealt with Harrison for over a decade. She’d all-but lost her relationship with her mother. She’d been torn apart by critics. She’d been put into social situations with all different kinds of people, with very intense pressure put on her.
She could spend a day preparing for a Christmas party.
With that, she climbed into Darcy’s truck, settling into the seat as she sharply closed the door.
Darcy offered her an almost shy smile. Fascinating. And… adorable. “Hey.”
All right. Seeing that Darcy felt a little out of her depth made Juliet feel a lot more certain of herself, however that scale worked.
Juliet mimicked in the same tone, “Hey.”
Her lips twitched up into a real smile. It was always better to know that Darcy felt more out of depth than she did; it put her at ease.
Like she had the semblance of a little more control somehow.
She looked around, taking in Darcy’s truck.
Darcy had been in her car and had glanced around – though, Juliet’s Mercedes was immaculate, so there really hadn’t been anything for Darcy to see – so turnabout was fair play.
It was at least two decades old but it was clean.
There were a couple pieces of crumpled up paper from Darcy’s notebook, the one she loved to handwrite her music thoughts and plans in, on the floor near her feet, and one in the cup holder.
And a guitar pick that hung from a string dangled from the rearview.
“Nice to see you haven’t let fame go to your head. ”
“Oh, whatever, Miss Luxury Vehicle.” Her normal Darcy was back.
After a few more seconds of Darcy tapping her thumbs against the steering wheel, Juliet slowly lifted her eyebrows, gesturing out the window. “Are we going to sit here until people on the sidewalk notice us, or…?”
“Right.” Darcy put the truck in gear, flipping on the blinker. “If you want to pick the music, my phone’s right there,” she nodded toward the middle console.
Juliet moved far too quickly to feign any sort of indifference. But they were musicians; she absolutely wanted to get her hands on Darcy’s music. Look at her playlists. See how she organized her library.
Darcy chuckled at her, allowing Juliet to aim the phone at her face to unlock it.
There wasn’t any music playing – she had to wonder if Darcy had driven here too buried in her own thoughts to think to turn it on – so she reached forward to connect the cord that was plugged into the cassette tape player, frowning at it in amusement.
“This is why people update their vehicles, Darcy.”
“I’ve had that tape aux cord thing for years. It works great.”
She shook her head, but plugged it in.
Immediately, she was greeted by herself.
She whipped around to look at Darcy. Whose cheeks were pink as she gripped the steering wheel tightly, and did not look back at her.
Glancing down at her phone, she realized that the volume wasn’t coming from any sort of playlist, but from the last piece of media that had been playing. Which was obviously a video from her last show.
She watched herself on stage, listened to herself spill over the car speakers, and felt herself smile wider than the Cheshire Cat.
Juliet didn’t have any idea the last time she’d felt so… so utterly delighted.
She shook Darcy’s phone at her. “You were watching videos of me.”
She didn’t ask, she stated. There was no denial Darcy could possibly make.
“So?” Was all Darcy said, her bottom lip poking into a pout. “It’s basically market research. I’m going on my tour in just over a month, like you said.”
Market research. Yeah, right.
Whether Darcy had been watching her because she genuinely was a fan of her music – which Juliet knew was true – or because she’d wanted to physically watch her during the nights they didn’t spend together, it didn’t matter.
Juliet was happy about it.
She couldn’t possibly describe the feeling that had settled over her, surpassing and wiping out her excitement about the soundtrack, when she’d wondered if Darcy had someone else in her bed. Dark and jealous in a way she’d never felt before.
Darcy was… she hit every note for Juliet, in terms of what she was looking for in someone to sleep with.
They were so sexually compatible Juliet couldn’t even comprehend not wanting her.
Darcy didn’t seem to have the desire to come out any time soon; she’d asked Juliet how she’d feel about her telling her own sister!
And she’d been baffled by the mere suggestion of entering into a relationship with someone.
That wasn’t even touching on the – the other parts of them that were compatible.
Darcy always meeting her, toe-to-toe. Even before Juliet had been ready to admit it, she’d liked that. Even Darcy fucking stealing her clothing made her – well, she didn’t dislike it.
“You watch my tour videos when we aren’t together.” Juliet didn’t even know how to classify her own tone. Teasing? Celebrating? Aroused?
All of the above.
“Yeah, okay, fine. You caught me. You know I love your music. And you know how attracted I am to you. Big deal.”
Juliet settled back into her seat, unable to stop smiling. It sure felt like a big deal to her.
This little excursion was already very much worth her time.
She had no idea what to expect, regarding Blythe’s farmhouse. Darcy had mentioned it to her a couple of times in passing, but she never seemed super into talking about it, so Juliet didn’t ask.
But it was nice. Sprawling, yet… cute?
Her only comment as they approached the front door and she cast her eyes over the land laid out in front of them was, “Is there no security gate anywhere?”
Darcy was obviously amused. “Uhhh, no? We’re in Pineford, not L.A. No house here has a security gate.”
Juliet groaned but held her hands up in surrender. She wasn’t going to say it was na?ve, but… she knew Darcy could tell what she was thinking even without voicing it aloud.
It was just… wild to her, though. Yes, We, The Romantics had blown up less than a year ago. Yes, this was all new to them. But come on. Surely, some things had to be common sense, right?
Darcy paused with her hand on the doorknob, taking a deep breath before she glanced at Juliet. “I should let you know that my sister can be… intense. Especially with the mindset she’s in right now.”
She evenly met her stare. This was certainly not typical for her, spending time with the family of a woman she’d slept with. But, “Darcy, I once spent the entire length of the flight home from France on a private plane with 3G during the group’s dissolution. I can prepare for a holiday party.”
She wasn’t going to go into the details of her uncomfortable relationship with her own family. But she was willing to bet a significant amount of money that time with her own family was worse than this would be.
Darcy’s eyes widened. “First – okay, name drop. Second – I really want to hear that story.”
“Play your cards right, and maybe I’ll reward you,” she murmured, shifting a little closer to Darcy.
God, she loved the way Darcy’s cheeks flushed at sheerly the insinuation of a reward. Almost as much as she loved knowing that a typical “reward” for Darcy meant Darcy going down on her.
Nope – okay, that was the one avenue she wasn’t going to go down while spending time with Darcy’s family. Even if she did very much want to kiss Darcy, now that they were standing closer. Close enough that she was inhaling Darcy’s perfume with every breath.
Would that be weird?
They always slept together when they saw one another, so they did kiss. But… they weren’t going to sleep together for hours, so – what would standard procedure be for anything physical right now?
Juliet had no idea. She hadn’t ever casually hung out with any woman she slept with.
Before either of them made up their mind about it, the door opened, revealing Blythe.
Darcy groaned.
Juliet tightly rolled her lips, and bit back any outward annoyance. Not the time for that.
Darcy… Darcy didn’t experience Public Image Juliet. That had been ruined from day one for them, because Juliet hadn’t been able to contain herself. And when she’d gone to Darcy’s hotel to forge a truce, Darcy had called her on it immediately.
But Darcy was different. Blythe would absolutely experience Nice Juliet.
“I was promised popcorn strings,” Blythe stated, lifting her eyebrows up at Darcy. “And double the working hands.”
“I really need to know when you decided you were the boss, here,” Darcy challenged, folding her arms over her chest.