"And your absence from the Junction?"

He bit his lower lip and curled his arm around my waist. "I'm sorry to inform you that I have your shifts on my calendar and I'll see you tomorrow night."

"Thanks for the warning." I placed my head against his chest.

"Oh, and one more thing I should warn you about." I was so comfortable; I nuzzled my head into his shoulder for him to continue. "I'm going to take you to a very casual, very non-Pemberley place for our date. There will be no crystal, no foie anything, and, more important, no crazy prom parties. Just you, me, and some delicious Italian food."

"Sounds perfect."

32.

PROM NIGHT ARRIVED. JANE SPENT MOST OF THE DAY GETTING a spray tan, manicure, pedicure, and her hair done.

"Are you sure you don't want to borrow anything for tonight?" she offered.

I looked down at my generic jeans and V-necked top and shook my head. "No, I'm good."

I helped Jane with her dress, a beautiful, red strapless gown. We went into the common room and I volunteered to take pictures for everybody before the media arrived. Charlotte was equally gorgeous in her cream, beaded spaghetti-strap floor-length gown.

Everybody looked stunning (even Caroline, who was going with a guy from the city). Every hair was sprayed into place, every nail filed to perfection, everything done to the standard of a proper Longbourn lady.

I wished them all a good evening and headed down the long staircase. Below me were dozens of Pemberley guys decked out in tuxes, corsages in hand. I'm sure my common appearance was the last thing they were expecting to see, but they weren't who I was looking for.

Darcy stepped forward among the crowd -- he stuck out like a sore thumb with his jeans, T-shirt, and sneakers. He bowed down to greet me and we both laughed.

He held my hand as we got into a taxi. As we drove away, I thought about all the girls who were going to prom tonight. They may have been happy with their fake eyelashes and hair extensions. But that wasn't what I wanted.

What Darcy and I had was better than any prom or custom couture dress.

Because what we had was real.