First (Wrong) Impressions: A Modern Pride & Prejudice (13 page)

Now she realized he was just teasing, and swatted his arm. “Be useful and hand me the bowls. I hope you like chili.”

“I love chili,” he said, handing her one of the bowls. When she went to take it, he held on for a second. “And I’m sure I’ll love whatever else you have planned.”

Lizzy chuckled and tugged the bowl away. She saw through his flirting; he was teasing and trying to make her embarrassed. Well, she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction…even if her cheeks were hot. That was from standing over a pot of steaming food, and not from his devilish smile.

They ate at the small table and small-talked for a solid hour. George told her about boarding school and Darcy, of working in Fort McMurray and further north, but it was nothing of substance. Lizzy began to realize that they didn’t have a lot in common and weren’t a good match…but he was so damn charming. Every time he smiled—which was often—she turned to putty.

“So when do I get the grand tour?” George asked, standing up. “You live with your sister, right? She’s not hiding in any of these rooms, is she?”

“No, Jane’s not up here. She’s—”

“I bet your bedroom is covered in old G’Anna posters with hearts and butterflies all over it,” George said, interrupting her. He pushed open her bedroom door and seeing the sewing machine and mess of dice bags, said, “Ah ha! This must be yours.”

Lizzy felt a little panicked as he walked into her room to look around. She rushed in behind him, not ready for him to be poking around her private space. Ellie didn’t come into her bedroom. This was the only place she had any privacy, where her books, projects, and dreams were scattered all over the floor and walls.

Lizzy managed to push a dirty pair of panties under a pair of jeans with her foot, but he caught sight of a red bra dangling over her desk chair. He picked it up and flashed her a wicked smile. “I always pictured you as an all-black girl, myself.”

Lizzy grabbed at the bra and said, “Give that back.” She nervously laughed, but only because she didn’t know how to react.

“I want to see what else is hiding around here.” He opened the top drawer of her dresser, the one with all of her panties; the ones with holes, the lacy ones, the stained ones for her period, the ones that were too comfortable to throw out, even though they were falling apart, all of them.

“Don’t,” she said in a panicked voice, and George stopped. “Please, don’t go through my stuff.”

He looked at her for a moment, and then that devilish grin crossed his face again. “Have I embarrassed you, Elizabeth Bennet?”

She took a deep breath to calm the pace of her heart. “I’m touchy about people fiddling with my things. I grew up with three sisters and a nosy mother. I’m sensitive over that.” She cringed; why was she justifying herself? He was the one who went into her room without permission. But she didn’t want to be rude. George was super nice and he’d even showed up with roses. God, she was being such a spaz. “Sorry. It’s a thing.”

“I’m sorry.” He pushed the drawer closed and raised his hands. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I wanted to see your bedroom because I was curious about you.” He stepped closer. “See, I like you.” He took another step and Lizzy’s heart started pounding again. “I should’ve asked.”

Another step, only around her this time. “It’s a lovely room.”

Another step, towards the door.

She let out a breath. He was leaving. Okay, this awkwardness was over. But then he closed the door and covered the two steps back to her before her brain could process what had happened. He clasped her face and starting kissing her. Her own lips moved with his before she registered what was going on.

She pulled away with another awkward laugh. “We should get to those dishes before the sauce gets too hard to clean up.”

“We have plenty of time,” he said, pulling her to him, kissing her once more. She went along with it, not really sure if she wanted to or not, but George was hard to say no to. He was charming and treated her so nice. And he’d had a hard time with Darcy and…

George’s hand drifted from her waist and up her shirt. Lizzy yelped and pulled away, but his arm had her pinned against him.

“Stop. George, stop.”

“Shhh, it’s okay,” he muttered. He kept kissing her, running his tongue along her ear. “You make me want you so bad.”

Lizzy started to panic. She pushed her hands against his chest. “I mean it, George. Stop.”

He stepped out of the kiss and raised his hands. “Okay, it’s cool. Sorry if I misunderstood the signals.”

“Signals?” Lizzy demanded, or tried to, through her breathless panting.

“I just thought we were going to…you know, get to know each other. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I’d never want to do that.” George flashed his wide smile. “Besides, I’ve seen what you do to people who get in your way. I’d be afraid you’d break one of my bones.”

Lizzy stared at him. Had she led him on? Had she made him think he was going to get laid tonight? Lizzy replayed the last week. He’d flirted with her and she’d flirted back, a little. Did that mean she wanted to do anything other than have dinner? Maybe this was just a mistake. He might be used to girls who slept with him on the first date. Lord knows he was charming enough.

Had she messed this up? She liked him. Well, she liked who she thought he was. Still, she managed to force out, “I’m uncomfortable. Please, can we go back out?”

George shrugged and opened the door. He made an exaggerated bow. “After you, fair lady.”

Guilt and righteous anger prickled her. She didn’t like the passive aggressive attitude, but then again, maybe she was overreacting. They were adults and most adults have sex. All of the time. With lots of different people. Why should a good-looking man like George expect anything different from her?

Definitely signals crossed. That’s all it was. Just a part of a date. No big deal.

“I’m sorry,” Lizzy blurted.

“I’m sorry. Misunderstanding. Say, can I use your bathroom? Then I’ll give you a hand with those dishes.”

“Sure.” She pointed to the tiny bathroom and offered a warning: “Just remember that three women live in this house. It’s a bit girly in there.”

He laughed and opened the door. “Whew! This place smells like a hair salon.” He closed the door behind him.

Lizzy cleared one of the sinks to do the dishes. She’d just dunked her hands into the water when he came out.

He grabbed a dish towel. “I’ll dry, but you’ll have to tell me where things go.”

“Done.”

Desperate to move past the awkwardness, Lizzy asked him about his family and where they were living. He was partially through the list when his cell phone rang. He excused himself and answered.

“Hey.” He mouthed at Lizzy a
Sorry, work.
“No, I’m out right now. Well, is there anyone else who can do it? It’s just that I’m out with a girl, right. Oh. Triple time?” He flicked his gaze up at Lizzy and said, “Yeah, all right. When do you need me? I’m downtown, so give me an hour. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Bye.”

Lizzy’s heart sank.

“I’m so sorry, Lizzy. Someone called in sick and they need me to head to the job site.”

“They’re working all night?”

He nodded. “Trying to get the highway finished before the snow comes. Listen, I’m so sorry. I’ll make it up to you.”

“Yeah, it’s cool.” It really wasn’t, but what else was she supposed to say?

He eyed the stack of dishes. “I’m sorry to leave you this mess.”

“It’s cool. Well, let’s reschedule, yes?”

He gave her a chaste kiss on the cheek and said, “I’ll give you a ring later.”

And with that, George Wickham ended their date.

What. The. Hell.

Not ready to face her sisters in the basement, Lizzy washed the dishes and put them away. She cleared the table and basically erased all sign of George from the apartment, except the dozen roses. She put those in a wine carafe in the middle of the table. He’d brought flowers. He was going to call again. Tonight was just one of those things.

She popped open her laptop to check the internet, when Denny’s Twitter update caught her eye:

@cartersden: Ha! Just saved @gwickz from a horrible date. Was hiding in the bathroom!

@cartersden: Let’s see if we can’t get u laid huh buddy? That’ll fix you up! @gwickz

The roses died a horrible death that they did not deserve.

Chapter 15

October 16

It came as no surprise to Lizzy that George dropped off the face of the earth. She stalked his Twitter account long enough to see that, yup, he picked up someone at the bar. She felt rather stupid; that’d been all he was looking for and she’d been dumb enough to bring him back to her damn house on their first date.

She didn’t tell Jane. She didn’t need to tell her sisters what a moron she’d been.

Lizzy berated herself all day at work. Of course, that didn’t mean he didn’t need to be such an asshole to her. Faking a work call? Ugh, that was why he went to the bathroom! He’d texted Denny and asked him for a bail out. Denny probably had no idea it was Lizzy.

Had she led him on? She didn’t think so, but frankly she’d been so busy lately and she liked having him around so much that she wasn’t sure.

Regardless, George was gone and just as well. Lydia was off in Banff for the rest of the week with Mom, so Sunday dinner was cancelled. Lydia’s audition had gone really well, apparently, so they asked her to hang around. Lizzy wasn’t sure what the show was, but it was a recurring character. Canadian TV didn’t pay like American TV, but it still paid — and paid well, too. It would be a good gig for Lydia if she got it.

It was a slow night at work, so Lizzy headed home around eight. She’d expected to find her house empty, but found Jane stretched out on the sofa watching a movie.

“Hey, I thought you were going out with Charles and Caroline tonight,” Lizzy said, peeling off her layers of outer clothes. When Jane looked up at her, Lizzy froze. “Jane? Are you crying?”

Jane sniffled and paused the movie. She pulled herself up and said, “Charles is gone. He left for Calgary today.”

“He’s coming back though?”

Jane shrugged.

“Wait, he broke up with you?”

“I think so.” Jane dug out her cell phone from under the sofa and passed it to Lizzy. “He texted me.”

“Charles dumped you with a text? Seriously? What is he, sixteen?”

“Just read it. I don’t mind.”

Lizzy pulled up the conversation and read:

Charles: been fun hanging out but gotta head back today. Stuff came up.

Jane: Today? What happened?

Charles: Just stuff u know? It’s been fun tho

Jane: When will you be back?

Charles: I’m not sure. I don’t usually come up to Edm.

Jane: Oh.

Charles: If you’re in Cowtown sometime, drop me a text. We can do coffee.

Jane: Right.

Charles: You’re not upset right?

Jane: Why would I be? It was just some laughs, right?

Charles: Yeah.

Jane: Well have a safe trip.

Charles: Thx.

Charles: Bye, Jane.

Charles: It was fun.

Charles: Right. Ok bye.

“Fucking asshole!” Lizzy shouted. “Who the hell does he think he is?”

“Lizzy…”

Lizzy shook the cell phone. “Seriously? We had some fun? Fuck your fun, Charles Bingley.”

Tears dripped from Jane’s eyes. “Please don’t.”

“Oh, Jane.” Lizzy dropped to the floor and wrapped her arms around her sister. “I was just angry. I’m sorry. Oh, Jane, I’m so sorry.”

“Lizzy, I think I’m in love with him. And he left. I just…I just…”

Lizzy rocked her sister and said soothing, kind words, even if her internal voice was a steady stream of cursing.

****

October 17

“Are you sure you don’t want me to stay home? I can call in sick,” Lizzy asked as she wrapped her scarf around her neck. “I don’t mind.”

“No, I’ll be fine.” Jane had finally stopped crying, at least, which was a good thing as far as Lizzy was concerned. Still, if her sister needed her, she’d stay.

“If you change your mind, just call. I have my phone with me.”

“I won’t call, but thanks anyway.”

Lizzy was in a foul mood when she arrived at work and wondered if she should have called in sick anyway. She was so angry at Charles. Why would he just dump Jane like that? And by text? What a coward. She’d thought Charles was much better than that, but apparently he was just another asshole.

Lizzy walked down the stairs towards her office, catching sight of Melissa’s window. Luke and Liam were in there with her. Melissa noticed her and, after saying something, stood up. She called, “You need to come sit in on this.”

“On what?”

“The Community Church League is threatening to pull their funding.”

“What?” Lizzy tried to keep her voice down. “Okay, just hold on.” She opened her office door, dumped her coat, and headed into Melissa’s office.

Introductions were made with a Mr. David Owens, a white man in his mid-fifties with a slight potbelly and a receding hairline. Lizzy shook his hand. “Mr. Owens, we’ve spoke on the phone before.”

“I’m sorry we’re meeting like this.”

“Why do you want to pull your funding?” Lizzy struggled to keep her tone neutral. “Your church renewed your agreement to donate $1000 a month for the next year.”

Mr. Owens nodded. “That’s true. However, we were under the impression that you’d be maintaining the same morals as you have been.”

Lizzy shared a glance with Luke, who shrugged. “I’m sorry, I don’t follow. Nothing has changed, other than preparing for a new kitchen.”

“My church is a Bible-church, you understand.”

Luke nodded. “Yes, we know.”

Mr. Owens licked his lips. “Then I’m surprised you would bring in someone like Liam Collins.”

Lizzy blew out a breath and leaned back. She glanced at Luke, who was statue-still. “Has Pastor Liam,” she emphasized the title as her ire rose, “done something that we should be aware of?”