of it?” Tommy gave him a horrified look. “You don’t actually talk to them, do you?”
Terry nodded as he considered his cards. “Yeah, what’re you doing talking to them, anyway? That’s a mistake I never make.”
“You’re right, Terry.” Tommy grinned. “Take our advice—much better to look at them. That way you won’t get bored.”
Darcy stared at the twins, then shrugged, feeling the tightness in his shoulders. The tension had been building over the past few months, along with his sense of dissatisfaction. Lately, Darcy had felt confined by the aimlessness of his life. But he didn’t know what he wanted instead. He picked up his cards, fanning the hand. “At the moment, everything bores me.”
“Ah, poor misunderstood rich boy,” Nicholas said, mock sympathy dripping off his tongue. He ducked at Darcy’s feigned punch. “Wish we all had your problems.”
Darcy slid him a glance, then an unwilling grin. “Keep it up, Nick.”
Nicholas winked. “Somebody’s got to keep your feet on the ground.”
Terry gulped his drink, then, his words slurring a bit, said, “Are we going to talk all night or play cards? ’Cause if we’re going to talk, I’m going back to the dance.”
For a few minutes they played in silence, focusing on the cards and their bets. But then Darcy tossed back another drink and threw in his hand. “Sorry. I’m just not in the mood to play tonight. Let’s take a rain check, okay?”
The Tremont twins looked at each other, then back at him. “What’s got into you lately?” they asked in perfect unison.
Darcy lifted a brow, his voice tightening. “What does that mean?”
“Oh, screw this,” Tommy said, grabbing his brother’s arm and raising him to his feet. “Let’s go back to the dance. I got my eye on this redhead….”
Nicholas waved the twins to the door, giving Darcy a narrow glance as he did so. When they’d left, he said, “What is the matter with you, Darcy? You’ve been picking fights with everyone lately. Are you having some kind of problems I don’t know about?”
“Yes, I…no…hell, I don’t know.”
Nicholas stared at him. “Is it money? Do you need an advance on your trust?”
“No. I’ve got plenty of money.”
“I’ll say.” Nicholas chuckled, clasping his hands as he prepared to listen. “Okay. Then regardless of what you just said, it must be a woman.”
Darcy sent him a narrow glance. “A woman?” There hadn’t been a woman for weeks, not since Susanne Westingham had seduced him in the pool at the Overtons’ pool party. Or was it the other way around? Darcy frowned. Sometimes it all ran together.
“I know your parents have been pushing you very hard to settle down.”
“With a suitable bride,” Darcy reminded his cousin. “Which means lots of money and connections. The way they talk about it, I’m supposed to vet them before I even date them. I wouldn’t be surprised if they asked me to check their teeth.”
Grinning, Nicholas took a sip of his drink. “Well, you can’t quite blame them. There’s a lot at stake from a family point of view.”
“Fortune, reputation, heritage, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera…” Darcy shuddered.
“Afraid so.”
“Ah hell, Nick, I’m bored to death. It’s all so damn predictable.”
Nicholas rolled his eyes. “How could your life be predictable, Darcy? You’ve got the means to pick up at any time and go anywhere, do anything you want.”
Knowing how fortunate he was, Darcy had the grace to blush. “I know, but sometimes I want something different.” He felt like the spoiled little kid who wished for a pony, then when he got it, wished for a horse instead.
“Like what?”
“I don’t know.” Darcy fiddled with his empty glass. “Don’t you get bored with it all? The same people, the same places. Doing the same type of things. No real challenge, no real enjoyment. You run from place to place, but it doesn’t change.” He thumped his fist on the table. “Lord-in-a-box, I’m bored to death, Nick. I need an adventure. Something to take me out of here.”
Nicholas shook his head, then focused on his cousin for a long, intense moment. “Darcy, maybe the problem’s not on the outside. Maybe the problem is…” He took a breath, then plunged on. “Maybe the problem’s with you.”
Darcy tossed his head like a restless horse. “Of course it’s with me—that’s what I’m telling you. It’s with who I am.”
“That’s not really what I meant.”
“Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to be nobody. Know what I mean?”
Nicholas picked up the cards, inserting them neatly into their wooden holder. “No, I don’t.”
Leaning back in his chair, Darcy spread his hands wide. “Nobody. Man, wouldn’t that be a lark? To just be an ordinary guy? No living under the microscope, no gossip. No women trying to trap me into marriage, no idiots trying to borrow money or start a fight to prove I’m not any better than they are—nothing like that. Just normal.”
Nicholas hooted with laughter. “Come on, as if you could ever be a normal guy.”
Darcy’s eyes kindled as he sent his cousin the famous Kristof stare, the one his grandfather had used to stare down the enemy during World War II, or so family legend said. “Sure I could. Why couldn’t I?”
“Because you’ve got money and a lifestyle that most people envy and will never achieve—and you’re on the most-eligible-bachelor list for every woman from Virginia to New York to Palm Beach, and have been since you turned eighteen.” Nicholas shook his head. “You couldn’t be normal.”
“Want to bet?”
“Bet what?”
“I’ll bet that I can live the life of a perfectly ordinary citizen for one month.”
Nicholas rubbed his chin for a moment, finally saying, “What are you betting?”
“I’ll bet my car on it.”
“You’ll bet your car?” Nicholas lost his sophisticated air as his jaw dropped to his shoes. “You love that hunk of metal more than you’ve ever loved a woman.”
“That’s because it’s a hell of a lot more fun and much less trouble. But I’m not worried. I won’t lose.”
“We’ll see,” Nicholas commented. “So you plan to waltz out of here and become an ordinary guy, is that it? And where are you, the gossip rags’ poster boy, going to pull off this little miracle?”
Darcy was puzzled for a moment but then brightened, snapping his fingers. “Let’s find a map.”
