Chapter Thirty-Nine

In the van on the way back to the offices, Natalie replayed their kiss a dozen times. She couldn’t figure out how it had happened, how they’d crossed the line from flirting for the cameras and the #PuckingHotties fans to kissing. But it didn’t matter how it happened. It mattered that she liked it.

She looked at Darcy, who was staring out the window. Their thighs were deliciously close to each other as they bounced along the roads, occasionally touching when they hit a bump. Darcy turned and saw Natalie looking at her. A wary look passed over her face until Natalie smiled.

“Hey,” Natalie said. Very smooth, Nat. Absolutely legendary.

Darcy bumped her leg against Natalie’s. “Hey yourself. I’m sorry that your dream of being a ski jumper fizzled this morning. It must be devastating.” Darcy smiled, her impossibly green eyes sparkling.

Natalie hung her head. “It’s a real blow to my dreams, but I’ll carry on somehow.”

Their kiss sat between them like another passenger in the van. The camera operator and tech sat in the front and she and Darcy were in the middle seats of the van, gear at their feet and stacked behind them. But none of that felt as weighty as knowing they’d gone from flirting for the cameras to kissing. And now they had to deal with it.

Darcy pulled out her phone.

Or maybe they didn’t have to deal with it.

Darcy flicked her thumb across the screen. Natalie was not going to stare at Darcy’s hands. She was not going to remember how they felt on her skin. Nope. She was going to take out her own damn phone and think about literally anything else.

“They’ve already made GIFs from this morning,” Darcy whispered.

Natalie craned her neck to look at Darcy’s phone. The cameras had caught Darcy looking at Natalie while they both worked on their tuck position. The way the shot was framed, it looked like Darcy was staring at Natalie’s ass.

Natalie cracked up. “Wow, my eyes are up here. I don’t blame you for looking, but that’s not even subtle, LaCroix.”

“Oh my god, I was not staring at your ass!” Darcy said in a harsh whisper.

Natalie tapped the phone screen. “That’s not what the video evidence shows. It’s okay, plenty of women have fallen prey to the wonders of my ass.” Natalie could hardly finish the sentence without dissolving into giggles.

“Everything all right back there?” the camera operator, Lisa, asked from the passenger seat.

“Yeah. We’re just laughing about what people are saying on Twitter.”

Lisa looked a bit skeptical but turned back around.

Natalie scrolled through the hashtag. God, these people were hilarious and completely unhinged. “Thank god they didn’t get footage of you catching me. They would have been splicing it with Dirty Dancing .”

Darcy considered the possibility. “I can live with being Johnny in this situation. He was way cooler than Baby. I can call you Frances if you want me to.”

Natalie bumped her shoulder against Darcy’s. “You’re the worst.”

“You keep saying shit like that, but I don’t think you believe it,” Darcy leaned close enough to whisper in Natalie’s ear. “And that kiss tells me you don’t think I’m the worst at anything.”

Natalie flicked her eyes to the front of the van where the driver and Lisa were chatting away, oblivious to the fact that Natalie was so turned on by the feel of Darcy’s mouth inches from her skin that she thought she might pass out. Get a grip, Carpenter. She wasn’t a giddy nineteen-year-old anymore. The feel of Darcy’s breath on her ear should not have this effect on her.

It was no use. She resisted every inch of her body screaming at her to turn and let her lips find Darcy’s. She swallowed. It didn’t help. “Darcy,” she breathed. “We are in a van, with our coworkers.”

Darcy sat back in her seat, but left her thigh pressed against Natalie’s. She had an unmistakably smug expression on her face like she knew exactly what effect she had on Natalie. Natalie shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

She needed to get out of here. She couldn’t be this close to Darcy and not lose her mind. Not after that kiss. Not while the memories of college bubbled to the surface.

She replayed the kiss in her head over and over until her brain started serving up fantasies of what could come next. It was excruciating to sit next to Darcy and be required not to let anyone know that in her head they were back in her hotel room, with her hand slowly unbuttoning Darcy’s shirt, slipping it off her shoulders and finally getting to run her hands over Darcy’s skin. Fuck, she should not be having these thoughts at work. She needed this day to be over.

When they arrived at the offices, Natalie hopped out of the truck and offered to help with some of the equipment. Lisa waved her off. “We can’t allow you jokers to carry anything. If you break it, we get in trouble.”

Natalie and Darcy walked into the offices and took over the conference room again. This was not a good idea. How had Natalie ended up in another enclosed space with Darcy, this time one with a wall made of glass? There was literally nowhere to hide.

They didn’t have long to sit awkwardly, though. Raquel walked into the office and handed them each a sheet of paper. “You two are going to be at the hockey game tonight.”

“What?” Darcy said, skimming the paper.

Raquel sighed. “I thought you wanted to do commentary?”

Darcy sat up. “Wait, are you offering me the commentator job?”

Raquel shook her head. “No. We need you two to make us look good at a reception in the box during the game.” Natalie made a face. “I know this is asking a lot, especially because you’ll still be doing the morning thing tomorrow, but we’d really appreciate it.”

Natalie shot Darcy a look. They were going to have to go to this hockey thing and drag their asses out of bed tomorrow regardless of how long they had to spend schmoozing. Natalie pointed to the paper. “These are all the details?”

Raquel nodded. “Dress nicely, but not over the top. This isn’t a red-carpet thing. And feel free to leave by eleven so you don’t look like zombies on my show tomorrow.” She closed the door and kept her hand on the knob. “I want you to stick together. I don’t think any of these guys will get out of line, but...”

Darcy looked at Natalie. “Got it. Clearly you don’t think they follow lesbian hashtags.”

Raquel laughed. It caught them both by surprise. “No, I don’t think these guys are probably following #PuckingHotties. Although if it turns out they are, let me know.” She shook her head, amused by the idea.

Natalie looked at Darcy, wishing she could read her mind. “Okay, we’ll do our best not to embarrass you at the game.”

Raquel pulled the door open. “You can get out of here now if you want, might as well take a little break while you can. I can have someone else pull together what you need for tomorrow.”

After she left, Darcy turned to Natalie. “Looks like we have a date tonight, Carpenter.” She bit the inside of her lip.

Natalie nodded, unable to form words.