“Get. Up,” Juliet repeated, her eyessointense as they bored down at Darcy. “Hurry. We’re going to hug. This is what the whole lunch is about, Darcy.”
Still not understanding what she was getting at, Darcy sighed but also stood from the table. This was her, putting in an effort. Eliana better be damn proud of her after today.
Without a warning, Juliet stepped in close to her. Like, really close. Close enough that Darcy could see the golden flecks surrounding her pupils, before Juliet’s face broke out into a wider smile, and she pulled Darcy in for a hug.
A real hug. Like, their entire bodies from hip-to-shoulder against one another.
Darcy hadmaybethought she’d be getting those superfluous air kisses she’d become accustomed to in the last year at some point from Juliet after lunch today. Something that, by design, should seem legitimate and warm, but feltsofake.
This felt like the opposite of an air kiss. The opposite of feeling fake.
She felt the soft material of Juliet’s shirt press against the bare skin of her stomach revealed by her cropped shirt, and Juliet’s hair brushed against her nose, smelling irritatingly perfect. Juliet smoothed her hand over Darcy’s back, and she felt frozen by it all. Utterly frozen.
“Hug me back,” Juliet whispered in a demand, her hot breath fanning against Darcy’s ear.
The order hit at just the right part of Darcy’s brain, and she automatically did as she was told. She wrapped her arms around Juliet’s waist, holding her close. Holding her in an embrace like they hadn’t just been arguing a minute ago.
“You better be smiling,” Juliet muttered against her ear again.
Smiling? Darcy shivered from the feeling of Juliet’s lips against the shell of her ear, which was frustrating enough, and Juliet was telling her tosmile?!
Darcy did her best to tick her lips up into a grin. Hopefully the paparazzi would get a picture of Juliet’s face, given that she was clearly better at masking her feelings than Darcy was.
Finally, Juliet gave her a squeeze, before drawing back. As she did, she gazed up at Darcy with a warm smile –damn, she was good at this when the pressure was on.
Darcy’s eyebrows were furrowed, not returning Juliet’s light expression.
“Okay, let’s get to it, then. What are you going to have?” Juliet asked, her smile plastered in place as she returned to her seat.
Darcy plopped back down in her own seat. “What the hell are you doing?”
“What do you mean?” Juliet asked, grabbing her own menu and scanning her eyes over it.
“Asking me what I’m going to have for lunch? After the way today began? The way you werejusttalking to me?”
Juliet glanced back up at her, her expression frustratingly unreadable. “Are youseriousright now?”
Darcy had been in many situations over the years that made her want to tear her hair out. Staring at Juliet across the table might have been the worst one. “Areyou?”
Juliet’s eyes closed as she shook her head, her grievance clear even though it made no damn sense.
“You know why I’m so frustrated with you right now, Darcy?” She asked, her eyes blinking open again, intense and direct across the table. “Because you don’t even understand what we’re doing here.”
“Yes, I’m such a moron. I couldn’t possibly understand the concept of you and I getting lunch together to bury the hatchet before we work together. It’s such a mystery.”
“Exactly.” Juliet somehow maintained a light, somewhat pleasant expression, even as Darcy could hear the aforementioned frustration dripping from her words. “This isn’t about us making peace; this is about theimageof us making peace. We’re here to be seen being friendly to one another by those strategically planned paparazzi, to drum up interest in what we’re doing. This isn’tactuallyabout us putting any issues to rest; this is about making people think we have. Because that’s the only thing that matters to the label. And the fact that you would come here today with the naiveté to believe anything else is what drives me crazy about you. I guess you can thank me for being the one to give you this lesson to take into the future.”
“I don’t think I’m going to need to have publicity lunches like this in the future,” she immediately challenged.
Darcy wasn’t going to say it again, because she didn’t want to devolve into ano-you-started-itargument once more. But it was true. Even if there were some other people she’d met in theindustry who were shitty in the last eight months, she’d never made a big deal about it. This was solely about Juliet.
“Andsome of us,” Juliet punctuated right back, “Aren’t foolish enough to believe you are entirely in control of that, anymore. Give theaw shucks, I’m just a small-town girlof it all a rest.”
“Really rich, coming from you, little Miss Sweetheart. I get the feeling that I should have eyes in the back of my head when we’re recording together, because you’ll stab me in the back if it means getting an inch farther ahead.”
Again: a Juliet specific problem.
“That’s right, Darcy.” Juliet’s tone was matter-of-fact. “But it’s not only me you need to keep your eye on. Here’s the best, most honest tip I can give you: take a hard look at anyone who tries to get close to you, because almost anyone else in this industry will stab you in the back for the merechanceat obtaining what you have right now.” She quirked one of her perfectly arched brows up. “If you think otherwise, you’re only proving my point about how naïve you are. Or, that you’re acting like you are.”