But as she looked up at Sergei, he was watching her closely. Taking a deep breath, she pulled the glass closer. How bad could it be, really? She could enjoy a few sips of wine, why not a martini? It wasn’t like she’d have to drink the whole thing. There was a plant over in the corner, she could drink some of it, then tip the rest into the plant. Or she could sneak out to the balcony and drop the vile stuff over the side while he wasn’t watching her, or couldn’t see her hand.
Her first sip showed her exactly how flawed her plan was. As soon as the liquid hit her mouth, she felt the burning. But automatically, she swallowed, and then it hit her. Traveling down her throat, she gasped, coughing, chocking in an effort to try and alleviate the pain that was shooting down her throat. As she gasped, her eyes watered and she valiantly tried to suppress her cough, relieved when the burning eventually became a mild stinging.
Focusing through the tears in her eyes, she looked up and froze. Sergei was watching her closely, his own glass arrested halfway to his mouth as he watched her try and deal with the effects of her tiny sip of martini.
“I guess the recipe is a bit different from that other night,” she croaked, her voice still not recovered fully.
“I guess I got it wrong,” he said, but his eyes were narrowed on her face while he took a sip of his scotch.
Setting the glass carefully onto a coaster, careful not to spill any of the liquid onto the beautiful wood of the coffee table, she placed her hands carefully on her jeans clad knees. “I guess I have to be in the mood to drink martinis,” she said, grasping at anything to explain her reaction.
“Perhaps that’s it,” he replied and turned around, heading back for the bar. “Would a glass of wine be better for your mood tonight?”
Darcy bit her lower lip, wondering if it would be odd to ask for something a bit simpler. “How about a glass of that delicious fruit juice we had for breakfast this morning?
He looked back at her, one eyebrow lifting in question. “Of course,” he replied finally and reached over to the phone. “Bring some of the breakfast juice,” he said swiftly, then hung up and turned to walk back towards her. “So….you don’t drink at all, do you?” he asked.
Darcy panicked. “Of course I do. I just …don’t really feel…I mean, I’m not really in the mood…”
She stopped, knowing from the amused expression on his face that she wasn’t fooling him at all. “More clothes came with the dog food today. My assistant did a good job trying to get different outfits this time. I gave her a bit of guidance,” he said, winking as he looked down at her jeans and tee shirt. “The next set is probably more in line with your preferences.
“Thank you,’ she replied politely. “How many sets of clothes did you send over?” she asked, hoping to get an idea of how long she would be staying here.
“I believe my secretary sent over a suitcase full of clothes. Size six, correct?” he asked.
Darcy grimaced and smiled. She was actually around a size two or four most of the time. “I’m sure those will work,” she replied politely.
“Maybe Alice got them a bit smaller,” he teased. “Why do you think you need to be so small?”
She was so surprised at his question she actually laughed out loud. “Are you serious? Have you read the horrible things the tabloids say about me if I gain a couple of pounds? They suspect that I’m either pregnant, bulimic, anorexic or some other silly reason, normally having to do with some guy that dumped me and sent me to the grocery store for pints of ice cream.”
“But since you don’t date those men, and that obviously means you don’t get dumped, what makes you gain or lose weight?”
Darcy shrugged. “I only hit the clubs once or twice a month. That gives me enough time to get the weight off. It’s only a couple of pounds but it makes a big difference at times, depending on the dress style.”
“Why don’t you just exercise? Why starve yourself?”
She laughed. “I really don’t starve. I’m genuinely naturally thin, can’t you tell by my breast size?” she replied, referring to her small breasts. But when his eyes automatically moved to her chest, she turned beat red. “I didn’t mean,…I meant…” she stopped, too flustered by his heated perusal to go on. “Please, stop looking at me like that,” she begged, knowing that her breasts were hard and tingling now that his eyes had been looking at them like that.
“I like your breasts,” he said softly. “They were perfect earlier this afternoon.”
She turned her head away. “About that,” she broke out, her voice breaking on the tension. “That was a mistake and I’m not really…I mean, I didn’t mean to lead you on in any way.”
“Consider me unled,” he replied, taking pity on her obvious embarrassment. “So, you don’t drink and, on your off time, you don’t wear makeup, prefer jeans to designer clothes and instead of hitting clubs every night or spending time with your most current lover, you hibernate somewhere until you’re prepared to go out night-clubbing once again. I think that sums up what I’ve been able to figure out about you so far. How far off am I?” he asked.
Adele chose that moment to bring in the appetizers, setting them down on a side table while dodging the puppies and the momma dog.
Darcy took that opportunity to call over the animals, grateful for their enthusiastic presence. “I think we need to name this lady,” she said, and fluffed her ears.
“And bath them. My secretary sent some shampoo and flea medicine with your new clothes as well.” Turning to Manuel who was bringing in the pitcher of reddish orange juice, he said, “Take the puppies and mother to give them another bath. Make sure to brush them thoroughly so they don’t have any more fleas.”
Darcy swallowed painfully. “I’ve already bathed them several times so they shouldn’t have any more fleas. But if you want them washed with your flea medicine, I’d be happy to do it myself,” she called out, even though Manuel was already leading the animals out of the room, all of them following with eager expressions, obviously hopeful of more treats.
“You haven’t answered my question Darcy,” he said and with that note of authority in his voice, she sat back down, her hands gripping her knees, unable to look over at him.