“You want me to get you a room with a smaller shower?”

“No, I don’t think that’s it. But I’m sure you’ll figure out what’s wrong and get it fixed.”

“Funny,” Sam said. “I never thought the showers were too big. Darcy, maybe you should look into that.”

Darcy felt heat rising in her cheeks. She reached beneath the table and pinched Kel’s thigh as hard as she could.

“Ow!” Kel cried.

Sam frowned. “What is it?”

“Cramp,” Kel said. “I get them all the time when I don’t sleep well.”

“Is there something wrong with your bed?” Sam asked. “Darcy, maybe you ought to check on Kel’s bed, too.”

“There’s nothing wrong with his bed,” Darcy said. The words were out before she realized how they sounded. “Not that I know anything about his bed, personally. Just in general, all our beds are fine.” Darcy stood, her legs bumping up against the table as she rose.

Her father reached out to steady his water goblet, sending her an impatient glare. “Aren’t you going to order some breakfast?”

“I have a lot of work to do. I’ll catch up with you later, Daddy. After your round of golf.” She turned to Kel. “Could I talk to you for a moment? I just want to make sure I get your tee time right.”

Darcy strode out of the restaurant into the lobby and waited for Kel to join her. When he did, she grabbed his hand and dragged him toward her office. “Exactly what do you think you’re doing?”

“Having breakfast with your dad. He’s a great guy. Quite a character. And what a businessman. He gave me some good tips on investing.”

“That’s not what I meant. You told him we’re dating.”

“Well, we are. Kind of. We could be if we didn’t spend every waking moment in bed together.”

“We are not going to date,” Darcy said. “We had an agreement. This was only supposed to last a week. It’s just sex, not a relationship.”

His expression sobered. “Come on, Darcy, you know that’s not true. It’s not just about sex. Maybe it was in the beginning but not anymore.”

“I’m not looking for a relationship, Kel,” Darcy said. “Don’t you see? That’s why it’s so good between us, because we aren’t making plans for our future. We can just be who we are in the present.”

“And what would change if we started making plans?”

“Everything,” she said. “I want you to go back into the restaurant and tell my father you can’t golf with him this morning. And I want you to tell him we aren’t really dating and we’re just friends.”

“Are you sure about that, Darcy? What’s your gripe with your dad?”

“What’s going on between you and me is none of my father’s business. And what goes on between me and my father is none of your business.”

He shook his head. “You’re wrong.”

“If I’m going to have a relationship with a man, I want it to be my idea, not my father’s. He’s been running my life for as long as I can remember. I’ve never been good enough for him, no matter how hard I tried. He wants me to be just like my mother.”

“And you don’t want that?”

“Don’t get me wrong. She’s a lovely woman, but I’m not her. She was satisfied to live in a little corner of my father’s life. She’s never had anything of her own. I want to make something more out of my life, and that doesn’t include marriage and a family.”

“What’s wrong with marriage and a family?” Kel asked.

“Nothing.” She sighed. “I’m just warning you, don’t get too close to my father. Before you know it, he’ll have us married and producing a grandson every few years.” She paused, trying to contain her frustration. “I’m good at my job. I’m really good and I deserve a shot to run this company someday. And I’m going to do whatever it takes to make him see that.”

Darcy turned and walked toward her office. She hadn’t worked so hard these past two years to let a man show up and come between her and her future. Kel Martin would walk out of her life in two more days and she would go on as she had before. But even as she said the words to herself, Darcy’s conviction wavered. Somehow, she sensed that her life would never be the same again.


DARCY STOOD in the tee box of the second hole, staring out at the fairway. “I don’t golf,” she insisted. “I’m not any good at it and I would think that should be clear to you by now. It took me thirty-seven swings to get this far.”

“Strokes,” Kel corrected. He smiled to himself as he watched her struggle with the club. This may not be the relaxing afternoon he’d hoped he and Darcy would enjoy, but at least he’d achieved his goal. After all, he’d tricked Darcy into coming along with him.

Sam Scott had planned to join Kel, but at the last minute had to take a conference call. He’d insisted Darcy accompany Kel in his place and she’d immediately refused. Yet the moment Kel had tried to reschedule the round with her father, Darcy had magically agreed. It was obvious she didn’t want him spending any more time with her father.

“I swear, you’ll learn to love it,” Kel reassured her. “Just keep your eye on the ball, keep your head down and swing. It’s not that hard.”

Darcy groaned. “I’m not athletic. I was always picked last for teams in school. I hate sports.”

Though she’d laughed at her mistakes and generally been a trooper about the whole thing, it was clear Darcy hadn’t had much sleep the night before, through no fault of his own. Her father had kept her busy for most of the day yesterday, then insisted that they all have dinner together. Kel had hoped they’d be able to sneak away to his room once Sam retired, but Darcy’s father had other plans for his daughter. According to Darcy, they’d worked until three a.m.

Kel walked over to Darcy and stood behind her, wrapping his arms around her and covering her hands with his. It felt good to hold her. “Maybe you need to loosen up your hips,” he said, his breath soft against her ear. “They seem a bit tight.”

“How am I supposed to do that?” Darcy asked.

Kel checked her grip, then placed his palms on her waist. “You just shift slightly when your weight moves from one foot to the other.”

She turned to him. “Can’t we try something else? There are so many more interesting things to do than chase this stupid little ball around in the grass.”

“Try one more hole,” Kel suggested.

“Loosen my hips,” she murmured. Darcy wriggled her backside, leaning into him and making direct contact with his groin. “Oh, there!” she said, feigning surprise. “That feels good. I think they’re getting looser now.” She wriggled again. “Oh, that feels good.”

Kel clamped down on her waist. “Darcy, stop it.”

This time she bent forward suggestively as she pressed her backside into his crotch, her little golf skirt riding up. “I think I feel it now,” she said playfully. “Is that better?”

Kel couldn’t control his reaction. He looked down at the growing erection pressing against the front of his trousers. “You’re right, this was a mistake.”

Darcy turned and wrapped her arms around his neck, then brushed a kiss across his lips. “I’m glad you finally agree. How can golf possibly be any fun if we have to keep our clothes on?”

“We don’t need to keep our clothes on,” Kel said. He reached for his belt and began to unfasten it, but Darcy grabbed his arm.

“We’re not playing nude golf. But if you come with me, we can get naked for all sorts of other reasons.”

Kel pressed his forehead against hers and stared into her eyes. “We can’t spend all our time in bed, Darcy. Don’t you want something more than that? Something…normal?”

She sighed, turning away from him. “Why do we have to talk about this now? Can’t we just enjoy ourselves? We only have one more day together. And with my father here, who knows how much time we’ll have?”

“That’s my point,” Kel said. “I just thought we might be able to spend a nice morning together, doing something other than rolling around in my bed.”

Darcy put her fingers at the corners of his mouth and forced him to smile. “There’s no one I’d rather spend my time with. But we aren’t a normal couple,” she said. “We’re just having fun here-that was the deal.”

“You’re right,” Kel said, his voice curt. “I keep forgetting the deal.”

“And you’re angry now,” Darcy countered. “I’m sorry. It seems, since my father arrived, all we’ve been doing is fighting.”

“I consider it renegotiating,” Kel said.

“I just don’t understand what we have to fight about.”

“What are you afraid of?” Kel asked.

“Nothing,” Darcy replied. She walked back to the tee box and picked up her golf ball before strolling back to the cart.

Kel struggled to put his feelings into words, but that had never been one of his talents. A great curveball, a charming smile and a decent short game on the golf course, that’s what he was good at. But he’d spent his adult life trying to avoid any emotional entanglements. And now that he’d gotten himself so tangled up in Darcy, he wasn’t sure how to handle it.

Every instinct told him to hold her close and not let go. At first, it was all about the sexual fireworks between them. It felt so good to touch her, to have her touch him, to lose himself inside her. But with every minute they’d spent together, things inside him had begun to change.

Unfortunately, he’d managed to fall for a woman who had absolutely no feelings for him at all-at least none she’d admit to. She seemed perfectly happy to go on as they had, enjoying their time in bed then going back to her life as it was before he came to The Delaford.

Odd how the roles had been reversed. Usually he was the one who looked for a way out. Now, he was searching for a way in-into her heart and her soul, maybe even into her life. Perhaps signing the offer for the house on Crystal Lake hadn’t been the best idea, but Kel had to believe that there was a chance for them.