She knew he was staring at her. She could feel it. It didn’t help the situation at all. In fact, it made everything worse. She was already on edge because of the evening plans and quite nervous about him coming into her world. So far she had been on his turf even when they were with her brother and even when he met her mom. Those moments weren’t the full–fledge Height mayhem. She just hoped he was ready for it.

And it wasn’t his reaction to everything that made her the most nervous, but it was everyone else’s reaction to him. She knew people would be staring at them that night at the party, wondering who he was and why she had brought him. People would ask him embarrassing questions about his family and who they were and what he owned and where he went to school. And then they’d find out he was a singer, that he was from Memphis, that he was different.

For most of her life she hadn’t really cared what people thought of her. And then she realized that everyone did have their own strong opinion of the Height’s youngest daughter, of her recklessness and destructive behavior. The destructive behavior meant that she couldn’t keep a serious boyfriend, hated horseback riding, and was getting her history degree. Why wasn’t she already married like many other girls her age? Why didn’t she go to Yale for business? Why did she spend time watching Telenovellas with Tina and Jangles instead of practicing the piano?

She tried for a long time to ignore their nagging and questioning but after too many over heard phone conversations and spending many high school nights sitting on the balcony outside her room listening to her mother’s friends discuss all the Height children on the veranda below and how shameful it was that Darcy wasn’t serious about her self and who she was.

She never understood how serious a fourteen year old was supposed to be.

After a while it had gone to her head. She let the men in relationships transform her into what they wanted and often found it a miracle she had yet to go under the knife for one of them. They had dragged her down and pulled her up in front of a crowd just to make sure everything looked smooth and perfect.

But it never was perfect…

Until Justin.

From the moment she ran into him she felt like she was dreaming. Something like him, something as good as him wasn’t supposed to happen to her. She didn’t believe it ever would. They weren’t flawless, but her idea of perfection didn’t have to be flawless. They fought, they annoyed each other but she felt it deep within her that they, they were in love.

She was damn sure of it and felt it surround her and swallow her up on the plane ride that morning when he asked if she’d play with his hair because he was tired and always had a hard time sleeping on planes.

Five minute later he was asleep, breathing heavily, with his head in her lap. She felt so comfortable there, running her fingertips through his short thick hair that was starting to curl a bit. She was content and for once happy because of who she was and who she had by her side.

He loved her for her, not because of her mom or her dad, or her house or her school. He loved her because they had fun together, they had fun learning all about the other one.

She wanted to know it all, she wanted to know every dark secret there was. She wanted to protect him.

And that’s what made her nervous. She didn’t care what they said about her, but she wasn’t about to stand for her family’s friends to embarrass him. She had seen it before. She was in high school when her brother had brought Claire Danes to one of their parent’s parties. They were just friends and had met at a club in New York. Darcy thought she was the smartest girl she had ever met, gorgeous and nice, much more so than the bitches he normally tugged along.

But she wasn’t one of them, and Darcy clearly remembered how the three of them had left the party early to go watch the premiere of Dawson’s Creek. When Alden had gone to get them some snacks she remembered Claire bursting into tears because she over heard a group of women talking about the “teenage actress trash” that young mister Height had brought.

She’d be damned before they said anything like that about her man.

“Hey…” She turned quickly from where she had been staring out at the tall passing trees down the vacant road that led to her house. His eyebrows were bunched together and he was reaching out with his hand, wondering what was bothering her. “You ok?”

“Just…” She let out a breath she felt like she had been holding sense the airport and reached across the backseat to hold his hand. “…anxious.”

“I am too.” He smiled and turned to look out the window. “I hope everyone likes me.”

Immediately the feeling she had before came swarming to her. She needed to prepare him for the preppies’s reaction. She quickly unbuckled her seat in the back of the Rolls and slid over to Justin’s side of the car, putting her arms around him and sighing his name, “Justin…”

“Hmm?” He said looking at her with a smile and kissing her briefly on the lips.

“Miss Dee…”

She glanced at the front seat and saw Reynolds giving her a stern look through the rear view mirror. She rolled her eyes. “Reynolds just, shut up.”

“What?” Justin asked.

She waved him away and kissed her boyfriends cheek. “He gets mad when I take off my seat belt.” A sigh escaped her lips. “I just…” She reached down and looked at where their hands were clasped together. They had grown a lot in the past week. Ever since their trip to New York they hadn’t been able to keep their hands off one another. They had stayed up all night fooling around and kissing and talking and telling one another about their lives and their fears and their hopes. He told her how much he wanted her to stay with him, for a long, long time and it made her smile and she told him in return that she couldn’t wait to fall in love with him.

It was a big step for her to bring him here, to bring him into her arena. It was going to be brutal, she knew it. And she prayed that in three days when their time in Connecticut was over, he’d still want her. “I want you to know that I don’t care what other people think. It’s not gonna change anything. These people aren’t human, baby. They’re vicious.”

He tilted his head back against the leather and smiled lazily at her. “I’ve dealt with harsh critics my whole life.”

“I know.” She nodded.

His hand traveled up her back and he leaned forward for a soft kiss. “And as long as you like me and spend time with me, I’m all good…”

“Really?” She smiled and he leaned forward to claim her lips again. She felt a little bad kissing him in front of Reynolds, but then fell into it and didn’t give a damn when he deepened the kiss and pulled her against him tighter.

She heard a beep and pulled away from him knowing what was about to come from the front seat. Sure enough, a second later, Reynolds said, “Phone call Miss Dee.”

She pulled away and asked, “Mom?”

“Who else?” The driver asked and then pointed at her with a bare finger through the rear view mirror. Darcy had begged him to take the gloves off when they were leaving the airport, at least until they got to the gate. “Put it back on!”

“Geez, I’m goin’.” She sighed and unfortunately slid away from her boyfriend to her side of the backseat. She pulled over her seatbelt and leaned forward in the console in front of them and pressed a couple buttons. Finally she said, “Hey Mom.”

“Baby!” A screech came through the small phone that was imbedded in the back of the passenger’s seat. “How was the flight?”

“Good, you’re on speaker.”

Justin leaned forward and winked at Darcy as he smoothly said, “Hello Mrs. Height.”

“Justin! I’m so delighted that you could make it. Hurry on home so I don’t miss you. I have to run into town to pick up some jewelry and Christine is going to go to the city to pick up our gowns.”

Darcy sighed. She should have known that her mom wouldn’t stand for her to wear anything twice. “Mom, I told you I could wear what I wore to spring formal my senior year.”

“Nonsense, Vera made you something special.”

She rolled her eyes and stared at Justin who was looking at her. “Oh great, another dress that will hang in my closet forever and could have fed hungry kids in China.”

“Stop being so negative. Put on a smile. You’re beautiful when you smile.”

“She’s right.” She narrowed her eyes at Justin and mouthed, “Don’t agree with her!”

“See you two in a minute!” Her mom said cheerfully over the phone, “Ciao.”

“Au revoir” Darcy mocked her mom’s over dramatic voice and pressed a button to hang up, chuckling to herself, “She’s a freak.”

Justin reached over and grabbed her hand again, saying, “She’s fun. I’m excited to see where my girl grew up.”

Darcy smiled, she was excited that he would get to see it too. To say she wasn’t anxious to see his reaction to her home was a lie. It was kind of like the day that he showed her his house for the first time and he was anxious to show it off. She didn’t like flaunting her money and hated that they had such a big house, but she did love it. It was a beautiful home and as much as she hated herself for being this way, she was very proud of it.

A thought came to her mind and she knew of one place in particular she wanted to show him. She sat up and leaned forward a bit. “Hey Reynolds, has the rose garden bloomed yet?”

“I think there’s still some blooms left. I’m not sure, though. I haven’t gotten over there much.”

She smiled when the sudden stone wall came into view and a large iron gate rose up in the midst of all the tall, lush green trees around them. Reynolds slowed down as the gate immediately started to open for him with a press of a button near the driver’s seat, but she wouldn’t have him driving on in.

“Ooo, let me say hey to Don.” She requested and undid her seatbelt again as Reynolds came to a stop beside the small gate house. She leaned over Justin and pressed the automatic window button and stuck her head out as the window descended.

She smiled at the plump man standing there, “Don!”

“Dee!” He said, leaning out of the opening of the house and crossing his arms on the ledge, “We’ve missed you around here.”

“Here I am.” She pulled away a little and pointed to Justin. “This is my boyfriend.”

“Hello boyfriend.” Don chuckled and wave.

“His name is Justin!” She said.

“Hi Justin.” She watched as they waved to each other and she felt Reynolds start to slowly pull away. “Come by and talk to me before you get gone again, ok?” Don said.

“Of course.” She waved, “Bye Don!” And then pulled herself back into the car. The trees and wooded area slowly thinned out into a manicured yard with many talk oaks. A lake was off in the distance to the left and the black paved driveway curved around the park-like yard.

“You sure you’re not a princess?” Justin asked.

She sighed and looked out the front windshield as the edge of her house came into view beyond the garage and guest house and the outdoor pool by the bush garden. She shook her head, “I’m sure I’m not a princess. An heiress? Hmm not so positive.”

“Heiress?” He asked a little shocked and she turned back to smile at him as the marble fountain in front of their house came into view. Several small delivery trucks were parked around unloading chairs and flowers. People walked about carrying things from the front driveway back around to the side yard by the lake. A Height party was never one to be small and quaint.

She saw it slowly come over his face. The widening of his eyes and the muscles of his face going slack proved to her that when she had told him she was a rich girl, he had no idea what she meant. She winked at him and reached out to rub his head and then leaned back against his frame saying, “Welcome to the Height Estate.”

---------

As soon as the car came to a stop, the door was opened for them, their bags were being unloaded and carried off and Darcy was engulfed in hugs as she stepped out. Justin came around from the other side of the car and she eyed him as she hugged Charlie and shook hands with some of the groundskeepers and other workers that had noticed her arrival. Justin stared up at the house, his blue eyes squinted in the morning sun. The shock had faded but he was still in awe.

“It’s so great to have you back home Miss Darcy.” She heard Charlie say to her kindly.

Then there was a loud squeal and she looked over the shoulders of some of the staff to see her mom barreling toward them dressed in a matching jacket and skirt with her hair perfectly curled and her pocketbook placed perfectly in her hand. “My babies!”

“Hey momma!” She said in a sarcastic voice, being gulfed in a hug. Her mother pulled away and smiled at her then suddenly darted her eyes to Justin and walked over to him.

“How was the flight?” She asked and then placed her hands on his arms, leaning in to kiss his cheek. “Oh, Justin you look so handsome. I cant wait to be able to show you off tonight.”

“Good to see you Mrs. Height.” Justin said, returning her affection.

“I’ve got to run!” She pulled away and looked behind her at the young redheaded woman who was standing patiently behind her with a large satchel. “Christine!”

“Yes Ma’am.” She looked up.

“Go ahead and get to the city quick. If we don’t have those dresses we won’t be able to wear anything tonight.”

“Yes Mrs. Height.” Christine began to quickly walk around the mass of people that were greeting them. She waved at Darcy before glancing at her watch and jogging off to the side the house towards the garage. “Good to have you home Darcy.”

“That’s my mom’s assistant.” Darcy leaned over and told Justin. He nodded and passed her an unusual smile. She didn’t know what to do with it and looked away from him.

“I’ve got to go. Reynolds you ready?” Her mother called out to the car behind him.

Darcy turned to see him waiting there with the door open, professional like he always was with her mother. “As always Mrs. Height.”

“Bye darlings.” Her mother said, blowing them kisses goodbye. Darcy laughed, sometimes she couldn’t believe her mother was a real person.

“See ya Mom. Hey, where’s Em?” She asked, wondering where her sister was. She was sure her sister, if on the grounds, would have made just of a grand scene about Darcy coming home as her mother did.

“She and ‘Nando took the boat out for the day.”

“Oh ok.”

“Bye Mrs. Height.” Justin called and waved with a smooth smile.

Reynolds shut her mom into the car and made his way around it to the driver’s side. “Thanks Renny.” Darcy said to him and he winked at her in return.

The car was soon driving away from the estate and she grabbed on Justin’s arm and said, “Come on…” Then turned and waved to the butler. “See ya later Charlie.”

“You know it.” He said and the staff and grounds men that had come to greet her dispersed and went back to their duties and work.

They entered the grand house and she looked up at foyer at the old painting of Cornelius Vanderbilt and the huge mahogany steps that led to the upper floors. The library was off to the right and the sitting room to the left. Straight ahead behind the steps was the kitchen and she desperately wanted to go and see if Valentine or Margarette had anything yummy to for them to snack on. There was someone with a huge ladder dusting the chandleries above the steps. Her mother couldn’t spare to have an inch of the house dirty or dusty when guest came over, even though the party would take place outside.

She began to pull him forward, her hand had now gone down to hold on to his, but he pulled her back and stopped her. “Hold on…”

“What?” She asked, looking at him.

He shook his head and didn’t look at her, only darted his eyes around the area they were standing in. She watched him struggle with what to say for a moment and she found it unbearably cute. She wanted to kiss him when he breathed out, “Holy Shit Darcy…”

But before she was able to respond she heard the swift running of dog feet against the hard wood floors. The clinking of his collar echoed in her ears and she looked to see her dog barreling towards her. “JEFFY!” she yelled and he jumped up on her. She squatted down to receive kisses and to pet her beloved and large pup.

She was in the middle of a big sloppy kiss when she heard a squeal and then a familiar and beloved voice yell out, “Mi bella morena pequena!”

She pushed herself off the floor and Jeffy sniffed Justin for a moment and then ran off barking. She smiled when she saw her friend and second mom running down the steps towards her. “Tina!!”

She ran forward a little and engulfed and skinny Guatemalan in her arms. Tina had been one of the Height’s workers for the longest time. She started out in the gardens and then worked her way to the greenhouse. Darcy always liked spending time with her when she was little, watching her arrange bouquets for the house. They became friends and Darcy confided in Tina when she felt awkward about talking to her sister or her mom, which was most of the time. Tina and her would spend hours together. It was because of Tina that Darcy could understand Spanish and it was because of Darcy that Tina learned how to speak English.

“You out in the California too long!” She exclaimed, hugging her again and wiping at her eyes. “You stay this time. No go back!”

“But I have to go back.” Darcy laughed and pulled away a bit so she could turn and reach to pull Justin over by her. “Look who lives there…”

“Aye Dios Mio.” Tina sighed and leaned over to whisper to Darcy, keeping her eyes on Justin’s face with a smile. “Quien es?”

“Buenos Dias senora,” Justin said in a grand manner but with a cheesy smile. “Usted es muy linda.”

She didn’t catch the shock in Tina’s face because she had her own shock to get over. “You know Spanish!?”

“Un poco.” He winked at her and she smiled in return, pulling him closer so she could wrap her arm around him.

“This is Justin.” She said to Tina. “He’s my boyfriend.”

“You are good! Speak my language, I like!” She exclaimed and hugged Justin before turning to Darcy and holding her face in her hands. “I must go. Many flowers to make beautiful.”

Darcy looked at the older woman and felt tears come to her eyes. She was the one person she truly missed from home. If she had to pick a best friend and her boyfriend and her brother couldn’t be counted, Tina would definitely fill those shoes. “I’m so happy to see you.”

Tina kissed her forehead and said, “You are my sun rays.” Then she waved, smiled and swiftly walked away and into the kitchen.

She sighed and turned to Justin, pulling herself close to him and wrapping her arms around his middle. She gave him a hug. “I love her.”

She was enjoying being held by him in her house. It was a comfortable feeling and she wanted it to last. Suddenly the urge to be alone and spend some time with him overtook her. She was about to ask him to come with her upstairs to her room so they could relax a little bit when he pulled away and bent down towards the ground saying, “Oh, hey Jangles…”

Immediately she was thrown off. He knew her cat’s name. She could never remember mentioning her cat to him, or at least his name. “What?”

“Isn’t this your cat?” Justin asked, letting the cat sniff his fingers before getting closer.

“How did you know his name?” She questioned, not liking the feeling her stomach was giving her. It was a warning feeling, those gut reaction feelings that happen when you know something bad is about to happen. She tried to push it away, but it was relentless.

“Oh…” He paused and looked down. “Well, it says right there on his tag.”

She eyed him carefully. He didn’t look at her and continued to pet her kitten’s head. She would have greeted her furry little friend that normally lived with her in New York, but there was something about Justin that she couldn’t place. He was turned away from her, immediately cut off from her and she wondered why he was being so distant now that they were alone. The feeling swelled over her and she did not like it.

--------

After doing her best to push all her weird feelings down underneath the ground, she had shown him the rest of the house. She had took him to the sitting area and the den, the kitchen and the large dining hall and breakfast room. After standing outside on the veranda for a minute, soaking up the view, she pulled on his hand and brought him up a small side staircase in the back inner corner of the house. The doors to all the bedrooms were open, allowing them to look inside the picturesque clean settings. Most of them were guest rooms, her brother’s old room, and the upstairs study. They past the grand staircase that covered all levels of the house from the basement billiards room and indoor pool and the steps that led to the wine cellar, to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd floors and even the large sitting room that occupied the entire top floor. It had had been her nursery when she was a baby and her siblings’ before her.

The 3rd floor consisted of three master suites. Her parents’, her sister’s and on the left side, occupying that whole side of the third floor, parallel to her parents’ master suite, and overlooking all parts of the east garden, the lake, and certain sides of the back and front yards, was her room.

Her door was closed and she paused in front of it, wondering if she wanted to be invaded by her past, and pull him into it.

“This your room?” He asked, whispering. She would have made fun of him talking so soft but it wasn’t the first time any of her friends had felt that way. She knew her house sometimes had the feeling of a museum.

She turned around and smiled at him, seeing him shyly grinning at her, stepping closer. She knew what he wanted. “Don’t you even think about it.”

“I just wanna see it.” He said quietly and it made her feel good to know he was looking at her again with eyes that made her melt and not looking away from her and being distant. “And I’d also like to have a second to kiss you without servants around.”

“They aren’t servants.” She demanded and put her hand on her doorknob to open her room. “They’re…house workers.”

As the room opened they both watched as a furry little grey tabby ran into the room, meowing and jumping up on the plush window seat. It turned around a few times, rested itself and casually tapped his tail while looking at them. Justin laughed and she felt his hands touch her shoulders and squeeze her there affectionately. “He really loves you, huh?”

“Yeah. He lives with me in my apartment in New York.” She said walking into her room. It was a very feminine room with lots of light blues and lavenders. Her bed took up a big portion of the left side of the room. She smiled at the room. Her canopy and curtain bed had been prepared for her, with the curtains drawn back and fresh flowers by her nightstand and on her desk on the other side of the room near the doors to her balcony. A vase of lilies set upon her white wooden dresser that had been passed down in her family for several generations. There were paintings occupying her room and now that she was here, she realized how much her room looked like the others in the house. There were few picture frames and no teenage posters or stuffed animals like there were years before. It had become a room to have pictures taken of, to show off but not to live in. “I would have brought him to California but my brother is allergic.”

“So this is your room?” Justin said, looking around and shutting the door behind him as she went to sit by her cat to pet him a bit. He started to purr and she looked outside to the lake in the distance and the workers preparing tents. The caterers were all about and they were working on setting up an area for the band to play up on the steps in the fountain area of the eastern gardens.

“Yeah. It use to look at lot less…perfect”

“Darcy…I…”

She turned around and cut him off before he got to say anything else. “Is it too much?”

His shoulders slumped and he looked at her with soft eyes. He shook his head and moved over to sit on the edge of her bed. “No, well, kinda. I just...” He looked down at this hands and she immediately got up and walked over to him, sitting by him with on leg bent on the bed and the other hanging off so she could face him. She grabbed his hands and he looked up at her. “When you told me you were a rich girl I was thinking a big house and snooty parents. I didn’t realize…”

She smiled and said, “My mom is a Vanderbilt. Cornelius Vanderbilt, ever heard of him?”

“Yeah.” H e nodded and his forehead furrowed a little bit. “Unlike you, I hated studying history with my tutor when I started up with ‘Nsync. He loved it and made me learn all about US History. Vanderbilt…” He thought a little more and said. “He was up there with Rockefeller and Carnegie in the 1800s, right?”

“Yeah. Cornelius is like my great, great, great grandfather.” She rolled her eyes not wanting to have to try to explain much of her family tree. “And my dad’s family has always been really wealthy but his business dealings have helped all this. Most of the money my family has is from my mom’s side and my dad just made it double with all his real estate stuff.”

“Damn…” He licked his lips and moved his hand to pull some of her hair out of her eyes, “So you are blue blooded.”

“Yeah, I went to prom with a Kennedy. Just call me a lizard.” She stuck her tongue out at him playfully and he laughed at her before dipping down to kiss her once. She pulled away before he had a chance to deepened it. She wanted to kiss him like that, but she needed to talk to him some more. “Does it bother you?”

“I always picked on Britney, callin’ her my rich girlfriend since her bank account was more than mine and telling her that I was her trophy boyfriend. But that was just a joke. Now, now it’s for real.”

“You’re not a trophy.” She said defensively. “You’re…”

“I’m just playing. It’s a shock yeah. But, but you’re still my girl.” She kicked off her flip flops and laid back against her pillows. He took that as a sign and moved to pull off his sneakers. “I am starting to feel like I did back when I was younger and we were just starting to get noticed in the music business. We’d go to all these parties at these expensive houses and all I could think about was how I was such a Tennessee redneck.”

“You’re my Tennessee Redneck.” She said as he crawled over to lay by her side. “And it’s ok. I might be blue blooded but my mom’s cousin’s run the Vanderbilt house down in North Carolina. There’s some southern blood somewhere.”

“I’ve been there. That place is insane.” He looked up around him at the bed and the room. “This is too though.”

“That’s why I’m kind of nervous about tonight.” She admitted. “People in the entertainment business are off limits territory for me” She added with a roll of her eyes, “supposedly. It’s like ‘ooo Darcy’s dating a singer. Oh my dear!’ For some reason its looked down on, So, so tonight, don’t…” She rolled over on her side to face him. “Just don’t get freaked out if someone says some bitchy comment. Most of these people are so stuck up and bitchy and only care about themselves. And they aren’t going to change us, or how I feel about you.”

“Hey, it’s ok. As long as you like me, I’m cool.”

She stared at him seriously, “I more than like you, and you know it.”

He smiled at her and then broke the moment, “Well we know you’re mom is like in love with me. So she’s gonna be telling all her friends I’m good as gold.”

“That’s true.” She laughed.

She looked at him for a moment and saw that a heavy look had formed in his eyes. His hand came up to her side and ran down to her hip. “Come here…” He whispered.

“Justin…” She sighed his name before he kissed her. She didn’t know if this was the best idea, to be making out on her bed for anyone to come barging in.

“Do you want me to stop?”

But she wasn’t about to tell him to quit. She wrapped her arms around him, laughing. “You better not.”

-----

He kissed her hungrily and she rolled over so that she was on top of him, straddling his hips. They kissed and kissed and she became breathless once more as his mouth move down on her neck and his hands started working up her top. She was only wearing a skirt that day and she could feel him pressing into her through his jeans and her underwear. They had been like this for a while, making out on her bed. At first she was timid about him feeling her up, but soon got use to the feeling of him touching her through her clothes.

She wanted more. She wanted a hell of a lot more, but felt a little weird about doing all this on her bed from when she as younger. “Justin…”

“You feel fuckin’ awesome…” He said, pulling away so she could sit up on him. His hands were on her breasts underneath her shirt and he smiled a cocky but lazy smile.

“You’re being bad.” She pouted and smacked him in the shoulder.

He laughed at her and started toying with her sensitive nipples, “How am I bein’ bad? You’re the one that got on top of me.” He teased.

She moaned and whined and he just pulled up her shirt so he could appreciate her. “Don’t put the blame on me.”

Her shirt was caught under her arms and her bra had been pulled up over her breast. They were exposed to him even when he moved his hands down her shirt to her ass, saying, “You dished it out on me easily.” He licked his lips at her and she would have leaned down to let him kiss her breasts but wasn’t about to let him gain that much power over her. Not yet, at least.

“You’re so arrogant.” She laughed at him and was about to lean down and let him have his way with her, touching her and kissing her wherever he damn well pleased. But there was a loud knocked at the door. She watched in paralyzed shock and a bit of horror as Jangles leaped from her perch and ran to the door.

“Darcy?” She knew that voice and gasped as the door cracked open. She threw herself off her boyfriend, resituated her clothes and her skirt and ran around her bed to the doorway to greet the person there who was now pushing the door halfway open.

“Daddy…” She sighed and ran her hands through her hair, feeling like she was seventeen again and her brother had just walked in on her and Trey naked as when they were born and moments from having sex.

“My little bug, come here…” She stepped forward into her father’s arms and welcomed his warm embrace, trying to hide the face she was a smidge out of breath. She didn’t expect him to be here this early in the day. Usually he came only moments before whatever event was about to occur. “It’s so good to have you home.”

“Me home? What about you?” She teased and pulled back to smile at him.

“I’m a busy man.” He shrugged. “It’s not my job to run this madhouse museum. Your mother told me you have a new boyfriend and you brought him.”

“Oh yes,” She looked around the doorway from where she had blocked her father from seeing further in her room where Justin had been sprawled on the bed. Justin coming towards her and she thanked him silently that he wasn’t still laying on her bed with a tent in his jeans. “Daddy…” She pushed the door open and tugged Justin over by her side. “This is my boyfriend…”

“Justin Timberlake, sir.” She almost giggled at how formal Justin was trying to be, extending his hand for a handshake. “It’s very nice to finally meet you Mr. Height.”

“Justin Timberlake…” Her dad said pondering while he shook his hand. “I know that name. You’re a singer, aren’t you?”

“Dad,” Darcy exclaimed. She didn’t care what her father thought of her boyfriend because she knew he didn’t care. He had always told her that if she was happy he was happy. And damn, was she happy. “I thought you only listened to Frank Sinatra.”

“This is very true,” He laughed. “I just sold one of my best uptown condos to Mr. Johnny Wright, I believe you know him.”

“Yes sir, he’s my manager.”

“He was telling me who he worked with in the business and your name came up. He’s a very nice man.”

Justin nodded and she bit her lip to hold back the giggle. He was trying so hard not to mess anything up and to sound professional. “Yes sir.”

“Well, I just wanted to say hi before the loonies get here tonight.” Her dad rolled his eyes. “I’m going to go into town to have lunch with some colleagues.”

“Avoiding mom, huh?” She teased him and he winked at her. “Ok Daddy, have a good time.”

“Oh wait,” Her dad said, turning back into the room. “You know this guy, Fernando or whatever.”

“You mean Emily’s fiancé.” She said in a sarcastic, amused voice.

“Yes, yes, him.” Her father swatted at her and she playfully made a face. “He doesn’t even know how to play golf! I invited him to go with me tomorrow since I’m stuck up here all weekend but Em says he doesn’t even own a set of clubs.” He said shocked.

“I thought he was a preppy rich snob.” She said playfully.

“I thought he was one of us too but apparently not.”

Justin spoke up and she looked at him in half amazement and half horror when he said, “I didn’t bring my clubs, but if you need a golf buddy tomorrow I’d love to hit a round of eighteen.”

“What?” Darcy said.

“You can use Darcy’s brother’s.” Her dad said with a smile. “Might be a little rusty but we can polish ‘em up for you tonight. You can come too Miss Dee.”

“I’ll just drive the cart.” She said, suddenly horrified at the idea of the three of them alone on a golf course together. She didn’t mind them getting to know one another. In fact, her dad, despite his lifestyle and job, was a fairly normal guy. The situation would be a little awkward, but it’d be worth it to get to spend some rare time with her father.

“All right you two, see ya later on tonight.

“I’ll save you a dance.” Darcy smiled.

Her father winked at her and then waved before leaving and shutting the door behind him. “You better.”

“You’re dad is awesome.” Justin exclaimed.

“You’re awesome. You sure about golf tomorrow?”

“Hell yeah girl.” He said pulling her to him and swaying with her towards the bed again.

“Where are you taking me, Mister Timberlake?”

She felt a kiss on her neck and his tongue softly tickled her there. “You know…” He whispered in a low voice.

It took more than just strength to pull away from him. It took some divine force. She wanted nothing more than to flop down on the bed with him, but she knew that was the wrong way for them to spend the day. They would have that entire night to play around and more time during the weekend. She had more people she wanted him to meet and didn’t want rumors flying about how she spent her whole time at home shacked up in her bedroom with her boyfriend. This wasn’t her home, this was her parent’s home. If they were in New York in her apartment she would lock the door and chain him to the bed and never let him leave. But they weren’t in New York, and she knew her duties as a Height offspring.

“Nuh uh! We have much more important things to do.” He pouted and she tugged on his arm a little bit. “Let’s go look a little more around the house and then we’ll each lunch out on the back veranda.”

“Making out’s not important?” He whined and she wanted to pinch him.

“We can do that later.”

“Promise.” He asked, but amazingly this time, he wasn’t teasing or playing or pouting. He was serious and it sent cool vibrations down her spine.

She answered him with a quick kiss that was a pure mistake on her part. He deepened it immediately, brought her into his arms and didn’t let her go. Then suddenly he pulled away, making her want to lay down on that bed with him and give into herself and make love with him. He was teasing her and testing her like he was so damn good at doing. He grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the doorway and she knew that later she’d make him pay for that.