“Why don’t you tell me?” he asked, his hands on his hips.
Darcy rubbed her hands along her slacks, wondering how much detail he wanted to hear. “Well, your solution worked, thank you very much for the assistance. Right now, we’re working on the build solution and I have several people with some great ideas on how we would accomplish that.”
Michael nodded. “And what are their ideas?” he asked and took a seat, indicating that she should do the same.
They spent over an hour going over the team’s ideas. It was moving closer to six o’clock and Darcy started to glance at her watch.
“Do you have some place to go?” he asked angrily, his eyes narrowing at her impatience.
Darcy smiled slightly, trying to ease his anger. “Actually, I do.”
He raised one eyebrow at her lack of details. “And is this a secret appointment as well or can you share?”
Darcy bit her lip. She wanted to share with him but didn’t want to admit how pathetic she was in the kitchen. He seemed so well versed in everything so far, the idea of learning how to make a quiche might sound a little silly to him. “Um, well…I’m not sure you’d be very interested,” she said evasively.
Michael stood up and came around his desk. “You’d be surprised. Why don’t you try me?”
Darcy pushed herself deeper into the chair, wishing she could push it all back somehow. With Michael standing directly in front of her, she felt trapped and intimidated.
“I don’t think that would be a very good idea,” she said and stood up quickly.
Michael pushed a hand through his hair. “Probably not,” he muttered. “What did you say?” she asked, one hand on the door.
“Nothing,” he muttered. “Be back up here each day to give me a status,” he said and went back to reading the papers on his desk.
Darcy stared at him for a moment, but then left the office.
Michael watched her leave, admiring the graceful swing of her hips in her elegant, black slacks and gritted his teeth. Her hair was tucked up into a French twist today and she looked very sophisticated but in a soft, feminine way. There were women who pushed all their femininity out of their wardrobe in order to appear professional. But Darcy’s waist was too tiny and her breasts too luscious to go for the tough look. She was just too sweet and soft looking, he thought.
He knew he was acting like an ass but he couldn’t stop himself. If the only way he could see her was to demand a daily status of her project, then he was going to do it. There was no other way he could think of to get her to talk to him and he couldn’t think of any legitimate way he could talk to her without the rest of the company wondering what he was doing down on her floor each day.
Who the hell was she seeing, he wondered for the millionth time? She had definitely changed in the past month. She had even changed the way she dressed. She wore more feminine clothes, prettier, more flattering. The white silk shirt and pearls paired with the high waisted black slacks enhanced her figure in a way that had made him reel with desire when she’d first walked into his office this afternoon. He’d had only a taste of what she felt like that night but now he wanted more.
Making quiche during class that night turned out to be so much fun, Darcy went home and cooked another one with different ingredients. She brought both of her trials into the office the following day and put them into the kitchen for everyone to sample. One was gone by mid morning and Darcy was flattered. The second had one slice left when she went and got coffee an hour later. Unfortunately, Jim was talking to Michael and both stopped by the kitchen for coffee refills just as she was about to leave.
“Hey Michael, you’ve got to try this quiche Darcy made last night. It’s great!” Jim said, offering the last piece to the younger man.
Michael’s glance snapped back to Darcy’s face and noted the blush creeping along her cheekbones. He took the offered fork and tasted a bite of the quiche. “It’s great,” he said flatly. “I’ll see you at four this afternoon,” he snapped and left the kitchen, tossing the plastic spoon into the trashcan on the way out.
Darcy stood there for a moment embarrassed. His brusque tone made her think he was only being polite about her quiche and she was crushed.
Jim cleared his throat. “Darcy, it really is great. Ignore him. He hasn’t been himself lately. I’ve known him for years and I’ve never seen him so irritated about everything under the sun.”
Darcy smiled wanly. “Well, I’ve only known him for about five weeks and that’s all I’ve gotten from him,” she replied. She didn’t count the weekend when they were friends. That weekend was ruined by his regret over their final, parting kiss.
Darcy went back to her office and slumped into her chair. “He is not going to get me down,” she told herself. She mentally reviewed her list and made a snap decision. She searched the internet and found what she was looking for.
“I’d like to make a reservation for Saturday afternoon,” she said, when her call was picked up.
Darcy waived to Jim who walked into her office and sat down in one of her office chairs. “Yes, that would be fine,” she continued. “Do I need to bring anything?” she asked.
She hung up a moment later and smiled at Jim. “Okay, I was told to get a life.”
“What’s next on your agenda?” he asked, laughing at her excitement. He knew she was taking cooking, pottery, scuba diving and horseback riding classes and thought it was great. He’d definitely seen a change in her over the past few weeks.
“Sky diving,” she said, giddy and terrified at the same time.
Jim’s eyes widened. “What?” he exclaimed, leaning forward. “You’re kidding, right?”
“You heard me. I’m going sky diving this weekend.”
“You mean actually jump out of a plane, thousands of feet from the earth?” he asked, horrified at the idea. “What made you decide to do something crazy like that?”
“Michael said I worked too much and that I was afraid of life. Well, does that sound like someone who is afraid to live?” she challenged.
Jim shook his head, “It sounds like someone out for a death wish.” He chuckled when her whole statement sunk in. “Michael told you to get a life?”
Darcy nodded her head and laughed but waived his concerns about her safety aside. “Don’t worry. I won’t be doing it by myself. I’m doing it tandem with an instructor.”