I didn’t express this to anyone else, either, and it feels like a confession. “I want the flexibility to pursue more design work. If we get this off the ground, I don’t want it to be a one-and-done for me.”

He doesn’t say anything for a few seconds, his attention still on the pages in my lap. I wonder if he even heard me, but he blinks, lashes fluttering. His eyes take their sweet time traveling up my torso, and when his gaze meets mine, it’s nothing short of lascivious. “I’m very glad to hear that.” His voice is a rumble.

The heat coming from him is sudden, but I am more than happy to accommodate the shift. I pick up the pages from my lap, depositing them on the other side of the cushion.

“Speaking as a designer . . .” I point to the window across from us. The evidence of last night’s romp had been wiped clean by the time I got back to the room, and the window is an almost unbroken pane of sunset orange. “The view could use a little . . . je ne sais quoi, no?”

“Hmm.” He sounds convincingly thoughtful as his fingers close on my knee. “I’d hate for your designerly sensibilities to be offended.”

I’m still laughing when he springs on me, rolling me to my back.

Darcy smooths his hand under my dress, up my thigh, over my hip—then cocks his head, shifting his hand back down again. “You’re not wearing underwear.”

“ ‘No bra, no panties,’ ” I quote. His eyes dart to my neckline, and I finger the bare space between the buttons at my chest. “It’s your fantasy. Not your office, but I thought we could improvise.”

He reaches to remove his glasses, and I catch his hand.

“No,” I say. “Keep ’em on.”

CHAPTER

25

Tuesday evening, after dinner with Chloe and Gales, I stand on the catwalk at Pemberley, head pitched back as I take in the empty room. Even in the partial darkness, the space is a dreamscape.

The house lights come up gradually as Darcy hits the switches upstairs, bringing the room to life one feature at a time. I see each element as rendered in my sketches, like an animation cel has been placed over reality. The lake: tiled. Barn wood: gone, possibly burned in some ceremonial cleansing. The existing chrome balanced with gold accents.

Soon, I promise myself. Once we get everything situated with Meryton, I’ll talk to Darcy about this. Maybe sneak in one night and rip down the barn wood myself.