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before, but—just how well do you know Daniel's daughter?'
He gave her a cold glance. 'I don't,' he snapped—at once assaulted with the
memory of Darcy in his arms, of the naked softness of her body.
His mother looked puzzled. 'You told me the other day that the two of you
are friends.'
'Were,' he corrected. 'And even then that was probably too strong a
description of our relationship. Since you came into the equation, an armed
truce is probably a better way of describing how Darcy views things
between us.'
'Yet you were the one she asked to set up this meeting between the two of
us,' his mother said slowly.
'Only because her father didn't stay around long enough to do it himself!'
Logan pointed out.
His mother swallowed hard. 'I hurt Daniel very badly when I broke our
engagement.'
'Then why did you do it?' Logan exploded.
'What choice did I have, when you refused to help me?' his mother told him
bluntly.
Logan's hands tightly gripped the steering wheel. 'Don't turn this around on
me—'
'I'm not, Logan.' She sighed, reaching out to lightly touch his arm. 'I'm just
pointing out that I did tell you what I intended doing if Darcy couldn't be
talked round. Daniel wasn't willing for me to meet her. And you refused to
help me...' She paused. 'There seemed no other way.'
'You could have done what you usually do—blast away and not worry who
gets mown down in the process,' he said nastily.
His mother looked at him, with a sad expression. 'One day, Logan, I hope
that you and I might be able to sit down and talk over the past like the two
adults we now are. I said "one day", Logan,' she inserted firmly as he would
have made a deriding reply. 'So,' she asked briskly. 'Daniel tells me that
Darcy is a level-headed, kind-hearted young lady; what's your opinion?'
Logan was so taken aback by the unexpectedness of the question that, for a
few moments, he wasn't able to formulate an answer. Even when he did, it
wasn't an answer he could give to his mother! Because he found Darcy
tempestuous, not level-headed, and as for kind-hearted—! Anyway, the
state of Darcy's heart, kind or otherwise, was something he didn't want to
know about!
'My opinion is that you wait until you meet her and judge for yourself,' he
replied noncommittally as he drove down to the basement car park of the
hotel.
Maybe having his mother around for this meeting with Darcy wasn't such a
bad thing after all, he decided, after taking one look at Darcy as she sat in
the hotel lounge waiting for them to arrive.
Why had he never thought her beautiful? Today, in a bright red trouser
suit—that should have clashed with that vivid red hair, but somehow
didn't—teamed with a black blouse, both fitting the slenderness of her body
perfectly, and her hair loose and gleaming down to her shoulders, her eyes
huge, lashes thick and long, blusher colouring her cheeks, a bright red gloss
on her lips, Darcy was absolutely gorgeous!
In comparison, his mother had played down the dark sensuality of her own
beauty, wearing a demure grey skirt suit with a black blouse, even her
make-up was less pronounced today; she wore only a light blusher on her
cheeks, and a pale peach lip-gloss.
Logan had no doubts that both women had made these changes -to their
appearance in expectation of meeting the other. His mother he didn't give a
care about; she played a role so often it was difficult to know with her what
was real and what wasn't. But the effect on Logan of this totally
different-looking Darcy was one of stunned silence.
Making him fully aware that it wasn't only her smiles that could render him
speechless!
Maybe he could just introduce the two women and make his excuses?
Because he wasn't sure he could actually sit here, with his mother on one
side of him, and Darcy on the other, looking the way that she did, and
behave normally!
But, the introductions over, instead of making his excuses and leaving, he
found himself sitting down with the two women, even agreeing to take tea
with them when the waiter came over to take their order!
Will-power, Logan, he told himself disgustedly. Quite— wherever was it?
But he very quickly realised as the two women looked warily at each other
that it was going to be up to him to break this initial awkward silence.
'Were you busy at lunch-time today?' he asked Darcy conversationally.
She seemed relieved to speak to him, hardly seeming to be able to even look
at Margaret. 'Not too bad.'
Logan wasn't altogether sure he believed her; she still looked very tired to
him. 'Have you heard from your father?' he asked.
'No,' she answered flatly, shooting his mother a brief look beneath lowered
lashes.
Obviously she was wondering if Margaret had heard from Daniel Simon,
