Pride's Prejudice Read Online Free

check.  But then his eyes connected with Beth's,
and his expression evolved into something else.  Awe? 
Surprise?  Chagrin?  None of them were dead-on.
    Beth inhaled deeply and mentally squared her shoulders.
    "Don't you ladies look scrumptious?" Les said,
nodding to both Jenna and Beth.
    Beth tried to smile, but it felt more like a tolerant
grimace.  Les's friend wore a dumbstruck expression.  Beth rolled her
eyes and looked away.  Les busied himself with taking in every ounce of
Jenna's appearance, and paying her a secret compliment that required leaning in
and whispering in her ear.  His friend frowned in their direction.
    "Oh, sorry guys!" Les said, finally recalling his
responsibility.  "Beth, this is my good friend, William Darcy."
    Beth nodded.  "The philanthropist," she
commented sweetly, forging a smile and throwing Jenna a look .
    Jenna groaned beside Les as she realized who William
was.  Les didn't seem to have a clue, and William scowled profusely.
    "Have we met?" His cold voice was tinged with
annoyance.
    Jenna's pale marine eyes pleaded with Beth, but in no way
would she let him off so easily.
    "Beth Pride," she answered in a sugary
tone.  "Your pity purchase from the benefit?  And, aren't you
the founder of Make-A-Wish?"
    Before William could react, Jenna grabbed Beth's arm and
steered her in the direction of the restroom like an unruly child throwing a
tantrum at the grocery store.  "Why don't you save seats?" she
called politely over her shoulder to Les.  "Be right back."
    ~:~
    William slouched in his seat, unable to compress himself
small enough to match the way he felt inside.
    Les cleared his throat.  "Start talking
dude."
    "I think I may have inadvertently offended Beth last night."
    "By…….?"
    "I didn't feel like dancing.  I sort
of……..offered her money instead."
    " You think? "  Les chuckled in that ' you
poor idiot' way of his.  "Dude, come on. 
Inadvertently?"
    "Yeah, well, if you remember, I was having……issues
yesterday.  I wasn't really in a social 'save the children' mood."
    "I hope you're good at overcompensating then. 
Seriously, dude.  I don't envy you right now."
    "Thanks for the reassurance.  You know, you're
sort of a crappy friend.  It's your fault I went to that stupid benefit in
the first place."
    "Where's the love?  I set you up with a hot
girl.  And did I mention, I really like her roommate, so be a pal
and play nice."
    "You've mentioned it," William said
moodily.  About five thousand times.  Les was right,
though.  William didn't like to categorize girls as 'hot', but he couldn't
deny that Beth was attractive.  Words of a song he'd heard on the radio
came to him:  'big black boots……long brown hair……she's so sweet with
that GET BACK stare.'   Those lyrics had to be written about Beth
Pride.  She had sexy hair and a figure that ninety-nine percent of the
female populous would kill for - slim but curvy.  And something else he
couldn't pinpoint.  The look in her eyes, maybe.  William chided
himself for failing to notice any of these things about Beth last night.  Then
again, he hadn't really looked at her.  He had just seen an unclaimed girl
standing in a spotlight and acted on impulse.  He'd figured the sooner the
auction part of the benefit ended, the sooner he could leave.
    How exactly did one overcompensate in situations
like these?
    ~:~
    "I swear I didn't know, Beth."
    "There's no way my luck is this bad,
Jenna."  Beth sighed.  "Maybe I'm on some horrible new
reality show."
    "I'm so sorry."  Jenna said, for the
umpteenth time.
    "If you apologize one more time, I'm not leaving this
bathroom," Beth warned.  Jenna fell silent in record time. "I
know you wouldn't do this to me twice in one weekend on purpose . 
But it's a good thing you have an almost boyfriend, because I am SO not going
anywhere with you again!"
    Jenna blinked her big eyes at Beth but stayed quiet. 
Beth sighed dramatically.  "Okay.  Let's get this