When they took the stage, I sucked in my breath. It was more difficult to see them together than I’d thought. Jeremy must have noticed me tense because without saying a word, he moved his hand over to squeeze mine where it rested on my knee. I squeezed back, then lifted my chin and sat in tense silence while Harrison, wearing a Regency costume I’d helped design, declared his undying love for Lacey.
Lacey, it turned out, was a better actress than I’d given her credit for, or she truly was in love with Harrison, but either way she did such a good job that the entire audience stood and gave her an ovation when it was over, as the papparazzi cameras flashed. I sat there feeling like the wind had been knocked out of me again. Still holding my hand, Jeremy leaned over and whispered, “They’re only being nice to her because they know she’s a professional actress. It’s a pity ovation.”
It wasn’t true, but it was nice of him to say. We scurried out the back while everyone was still clapping. Jeremy had just been trying to make me feel better. Lacey was good...really good, and Harrison hadn’t been a slouch either. The crowd cheered again when they received a ten. We heard it over the loudspeaker.
My heart hammered in my chest, and I was doing my best to control my panicked breathing. We had to get a ten. We had to get a ten to maintain our tie with Harrison and Lacey. No pressure or anything.
“Don’t worry, Meg.” Jeremy gave me a reassuring smile. “We got this.”
Two more recitations were ahead of us and I hovered backstage, waiting for them to end.
I gulped and put my hand on Jeremy’s arm. “I think I’m going to cast up my accounts.”
He frowned. “What does that mean?”
I pressed my hand to my belly. “It’s a Regency way of saying ‘puke.’”
He searched my face. “Do you want me to go get you some seltzer?”
“No.” I shook my head. “There’s no time. I can do this.” I took a deep breath. I was going to have to do this. There was no choice.
I glanced up just as Harrison walked past. He stopped in front of me. “We’ll talk after, Meg.”
Jeremy moved in front of me, blocking Harrison’s access to me, but not before I got a glimpse of a smiling Lacey, who somehow had a dozen roses clutched in her arms like it was opening night on Broadway.
The next several minutes passed in a blur and then the speaker announced our names. “Performing the reunion scene from Pride and Prejudice, Dr. Meg Knightley and Mr. Jeremy Remington.”
I felt like I’d swallowed a rabbit and its foot was hammering against my heart while its ears were lodged in my throat. I followed Jeremy onto the stage, my movements wooden. We took our places in the center of the space. I sucked in a deep breath.
The silence was deafening before Jeremy began to speak. The words were familiar. I’d recited them so many times before, but like some public speaking nightmare, when it was my turn to recite my lines, my mouth opened and no words came out. All I could remember were Lacey’s passionate words to Harrison earlier, and his equally impassioned speech back.
That was supposed to be me. Those were supposed to be my words. Jeremy and I exchanged panicked glances before he whispered my first line to me. I grabbed it desperately and repeated it while the vision of Lacey and Harrison kissing pummeled my traitorous brain. I somehow stumbled through the entire set of lines until it was Jeremy’s turn again.
I tried not to breathe so heavily that the audience could hear me, but—oh my God—I was having another panic attack! Perhaps my face went white, perhaps it was the way I was breathing, but by the look on his face, I could tell that Jeremy knew I was in trouble. He fed me every line as quietly as he could and took my freezing fingers in his and squeezed them, all the while never breaking eye contact with me. Then I remembered our kiss last night, the one that shouldn’t have happened, the one that should have made me feel guilty, and in that moment, he felt so much like he was my Mr. Darcy, I believed. He’d made me believe.
I squeezed his hand one last time to tell him I’d be okay, and then I turned back to the audience and belted out the rest of my lines in a strong, confident voice. The crowd roared with approval. Thankfully, it was all over in a flash, and while the clapping from the audience did not rival the noise made when Harrison and Lacey had finished, I was confident that I’d redeemed myself, if only a little.
When it was over, we’d gotten a seven, which meant we were three points behind Harrison and Lacey. Jeremy tugged my hand and pulled me backstage, where he ushered me through the throngs of contestants, out across the lawn and into the hotel to the door marked ‘stairs.’ He pulled me inside, shut the door, and took a breath.
I raised my gaze slowly to his, the rabbit ears still lodged in my throat. “I ruined it. I ruined everything.”
“You didn’t ruin anything, Meg.”
“Yes, I did. We got a seven. We’re three points behind. You’re a terrific actor, by the way. You were wasted on the school play. The points we got were all because of you.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Jeremy insisted. “You came back. You earned that applause.”
I patted his sleeve. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to hold my failure against you. I’ll pay you the entire amount after we lose.”
He scrubbed his hands across his face. “Who said we’re losing? Besides we’re a team. Our fate is a joint effort.”
I leaned my head against the wall and sighed. “Why are you so great?”
He blinked. “I’m not that great.”
“Yeah, you are. Why are you still single?” Where had that come from? I guess it was a question I’d been wanting to ask him for a while now, and since I had no intention of ever playing Truth or Dare with him again, I might as well ask him now.
His hands on his hips, Jeremy turned his head to face me. “What if I told you it’s because I’ve been pining after someone who’s never really noticed me?”
Someone super-hot like Lacey, probably. “Well, she’s an idiot then,” I said loyally. Why did the thought of Jeremy pining after someone make me jealous…and unhappy?
“Nah. She’s pretty smart, actually. I’m just not sure I’m her type.”
“What? What more is she looking for?” I asked, suddenly, inexplicably resentful of this unknown woman.
“I don’t know,” Jeremy said solemnly. “I’m not sure if I’ll ever know. Look, Meg, I—”
The door opened and Harrison stuck in his head. “There you are, Meg. You can’t hide from me, forever. We have to talk, now.”
Chapter 25
Still Saturday
The last thing I wanted to do after my humiliation in the tent was go talk to Harrison about his relationship with Lacey. But I was a grown woman, and if I needed to break up with my boyfriend, then I might as well get it over with. It just seemed particularly awful to have to do it in England while wearing Regency clothing, but waiting wasn’t going to make it any better. Harrison was right. We needed to talk.
“Okay,” I said, nodding and giving Jeremy a half-hearted smile. “Let’s go, Harrison.”