turned and thanked the woman for her purchase and moved to walk away. Why wasn’t she surprised when York fell in step beside her? She stopped and turned to him. “And just where do you think you’re going?”
“Back to the hotel. Since we’re headed the same way, I figure we might as well keep each other company.”
“Has it ever occurred to you that I might not want your company?”
His answer was simple. “No, that thought has never occurred to me.”
“Like the time you rushed over to my place thinking I was a helpless female in distress?”
He laughed. “Hey, that was Ellie’s idea, not mine.”
He was right. It had been Ellie’s idea. She and Ellie had been talking on the phone late one night when Darcy had heard a noise downstairs. She put Ellie on hold to investigate, not knowing Ellie had panicked and called York, who lived less than a mile away. Ellie had asked him to go to Darcy’s house to make sure everything was okay.
It turned out there had been a burglar. Some guy had broken into her house, and she had caught him rummaging through her kitchen drawers. By the time York had gotten there, the guy had discovered just how well she could defend herself when she’d demonstrated the karate skills she’d acquired growing up and taking classes with her brothers.
York, who had arrived before the police, had gotten extremely angry with her, saying she had no business taking on the likes of a burglar. Of course, she had disagreed with him.
“Okay, your showing up at my place might have been El’s idea, but you had no right to scold me in front of those police officers.”
“You took your life in your hands when you should have called the police,” he said, and she could tell from the tone of his voice her actions that night last year was still a sore spot with him.
“Had I waited for the police, the man would have gotten away just to break into someone else’s home. I had no intentions of letting him do that.”
York frowned. “Does it matter that you could have gotten killed?” Anger laced his every word.
“Could have but I didn’t. I had sized up the situation and knew it was one I could handle. Not every woman needs a man for protection, York.”
“And evidently you’re one of those kinds.”
She wasn’t sure what he meant by that, but hell yes, she was one of those kinds. She didn’t need a man around to protect her. Her first husband had learned that the hard way when he began showing abusive tendencies. “I guess I am,” she finally said, smiling as if she was proud of that fact.
She began walking again, convinced he would decide he wouldn’t want her company after all. He proved her wrong when he picked up his pace and began walking beside her again. She decided to ignore him. The good thing was that the hotel was less than a block away.
York walked beside Darcy and tried not to keep glancing over at her. She looked cute in her wide-brimmed straw hat and sundress. He had noticed her checking him out, and when she’d removed her sunglasses and he’d seen it was Darcy, he hadn’t known whether to be amused or annoyed. She certainly hadn’t known who he was at first, just like he hadn’t recognized her.
But once she had known it was him, he could immediately see her guard go up. She had intended to put distance between them. At any other time he would let her but not this time. He wasn’t sure why, but all he knew was that was how it would be.
“Would the lady like to look at my bracelets?” a peddler asked.
She stopped and so did York. He observed her when she conversed with the man who had several bangle bracelets for her to see.
York continued to watch as the man ardently pitched his goods and was impressed with the way Darcy handled the anxious merchant by not giving in to his outrageous prices. He inwardly chuckled, thinking she definitely had no intentions of paying an exorbitant amount.
She seemed pretty sharp for a twenty-eight-year-old, and he figured she rarely missed anything. It would be hard, if not next to impossible, for a man to run a game on her.
He could vividly recall the first time he’d seen her rushing into the church for Uriel’s wedding rehearsal. She’d been late since her plane had had mechanical problems.
Like all the other men, he had simply stared at her—the woman with all that dark brown hair flowing around her shoulders, hazel eyes, striking cocoa colored features and a body to die for. The last thing he’d expected when he’d tried coming on to her later was to be told she wasn’t interested. He would admit it had been a blow to his ego. That incident had been almost two years ago, and if the way she’d been sizing him up moments ago was anything to go by, it seemed she was pretty interested now.
He knew he should let go and move on, but so far he hadn’t been able to do that. And whenever he saw her they had a tendency to get on each other’s last nerves. If the truth be told, he had a mind to pay her back for rebuffing his advances that day. He could seduce her, make love to her and then walk away and not look back. Yes, that would serve her right.
“Well, that’s that,” she said, reclaiming his attention. He saw the way her lips quirked in amusement as well as the gleam of triumph shining in her eyes. He gathered she’d made a purchase she was pleased with.
They continued walking again, side by side, and he wondered how long she would continue to ignore him. He decided to stir conversation and asked, “When was the last time you talked to Ellie?” He eased the bag containing her fruit from her hand once again.
Darcy glanced over at York and decided that she would allow him to carry that bag since he seemed hell-bent on doing so anyway. She would keep the bag with the four bracelets she’d purchased from the peddler at a good price. “We’re best friends, so I talk to El practically every day,” she said. “But she hasn’t called since I arrived here. She’s going to be busy this week.”
“Doing what?”
She wondered if he thought everything was his business. “She’s hosting several holiday parties.”
“Oh.”
“It is the holiday season, you know,” she reminded him.
“Yes, I know.”
She didn’t say anything and for a moment regretted bringing up any mention of the holidays. She’d heard from El that a woman York had been dating and had begun caring deeply about, and who’d been a fellow officer when he’d been a cop with the NYPD, had gotten gunned down on Christmas Day while investigating a robbery. That had been over six years ago. After that, he’d sworn never to get seriously involved with a woman again, especially one in a dangerous profession. She knew all about the Bachelors in Demand club, one he formed along with his bachelor godbrothers who were all intent on staying single men forever. She had met all six of the godbrothers and got along with each of them … except for York.
“So how are your parents?” she asked, deciding to change the subject. She had first met the Ellises at Ellie and Uriel’s wedding and had run into them again when another one of Uriel and York’s godbrothers, Xavier Kane, had gotten married earlier in the year.
“They’re
