Free The Trials of the Honorable F. Darcy by Sara Angelini Page B

what could he possibly want to berate her about now?
    A few moments later she found herself standing in his chambers, shown in by his secretary.
    “Hello, Miss Bennet ,” he smiled pleasantly and motioned for her to sit on a leather couch. She took a seat and toyed with the bangles on her arm. She had hurriedly thrown her hair into a ponytail, feeling it somehow unprofessional to meet him with her hair down.
    “Miss Bennet , how would you like to write a law review article with me?” he smiled at her, obviously expecting her to leap at the opportunity.
    Nothing could be farther from Elizabeth’s mind.
    “Thank you Judge Darcy but no, I’m not interested,” she said pleasantly.
    “I’ve been very impressed by you,” he continued. “I think this would be a good move for your career.” He walked to his desk and fiddled with a paperweight.
    “Thank you Judge Darcy but no,” she said, a little more firmly this time. He looked up at her and put the paperweight down.
    “Did you say no?” he frowned.
    “I’m afraid so,” she answered.
    “I have selected you personally; this is an honor,” he said, clearly displeased.
    “And I thank you for it but I am not interested.” He looked at her as if he did not quite understand where she was coming from.
    “May I know why not?” he asked.
    “It’s for personal reasons. Again, I do appreciate your thinking of me but I cannot accept.” The mere thought of having to spend one more second than necessary with him made her stomach sink.
    “Personal reasons?” his frown deepened. “Boyfriend?” he asked. Lou Hurst, he remembered grimly. No, wait, he’s gay, isn’t he?
    “Judge Darcy, you know very well that is a completely inappropriate question!” she said, standing up.
    “But that’s the reason?” he persisted.
    He was making her mad now; what a chauvinistic thing to say! As if I would let my personal life interfere with my career! Elizabeth crossed her arms over her chest, mimicking the crossbones just below them.
    “If you must know, I don’t think I’d like working with you. You’re rude, condescending, and overbearing. I have better things to do with my free time than be abused,” she said. She faced him squarely as she said this; she watched shock spread over his face and felt smug satisfaction. She was sure nobody had ever said anything like that to him before.
    “I see,” was all he said. He turned his back to her for a moment and then faced her again. “I suppose my criticisms have hurt your feelings then,” he said with disdain; she was acting like a child!
    “Certainly not. But they do indicate that you’re insensitive to the feelings of others and have no respect for opinions that are not your own. I don’t think I could be prevailed on to tolerate your scorn for the sake of advancing my career.”
    He looked at her in mute amazement. Then he said, “I perfectly understand your meaning. Please forgive my intrusion on your afternoon.” With that, he opened the door, signaling the end of the meeting, and she quickly made her exit.
    What the hell just happened? he thought. It had taken him weeks to think up this stupid scheme! He had the vague idea that by working closely together, they would get to know each other, acknowledge a mutual attraction, and then wait out the remainder of his term before they could date. He had deluded himself into thinking that she would jump at the chance of working with him and that once she had fallen for him , as inevitably she would, she would be content to wait out the remainder of his term - a year away - for him to ask her out. Was he stupid? She must have a line of men out her door waiting to ask her out; he could step to the back of the line and by the time his term was up maybe he’d be somewhere near the front! Idiot!
    Wait. She thought he was rude and condescending?! What the fuck was she talking about? He was a perfect gentleman ... wasn’t he? He tried to think of an instance where he had