Page 56 of Arrogant Playboy

“You look happy,” I say to her. There is a huge smile on her face, and she’s glowing.

“I am.”

“So, Louis and you are back on again, officially?” Ava asks.

“Yeah. He just declared ‘together forever’,” Emily confesses.

Oh my gosh, this is huge.

“He’s asked me to move in with him after all this is finished.”

“So, you’re moving to France?” Ava asks.

Emily shrugs. “He said he’d move wherever I choose.”

“Don’t leave us,” Georgia pleads.

“Stay in London,” I suggest.

“France isn’t really that far,” Ava adds.

“Let’s worry about that later. Tonight, we need to celebrate all my paintings selling out,” Emily says excitedly, and we do.

21

DANIEL

“I’m so excited,” Rosie says, skipping into the lobby, she’s wearing jeans, a black tee, and flats. Her hair is pulled up into a bun, and she’s got minimal makeup on, and she looks stunning. “Today is perfect, all the girls are hungover and not in the mood to hang out.” She grins as I show her the way to the sidewalk. I thought about getting us a driver, but I think it would be better if we walked or took the subway.

“Okay, what’s the plan for today?” I ask.

“Firstly, I need a coffee and some breakfast so maybe we can walk to SoHo? That’s where a lot of good quality interiors are. It doesn’t look far on the map,” she states, pulling out her phone.

“Come on then,” I say, grabbing her hand. She tries to tug it from me, but I don’t let go. “It’s busy, I don’t want to lose you.” She relents and lets me hold hands as we walk along the streets from Tribeca, where we are staying, up to SoHo. It doesn’t take us long till we see a bakery, and it’s a French one ,too. I order us a couple of croissants and two coffees to go. We continue walking along the streets stopping every few minutes as Rosie stares up at the towering skyscrapers.

“Everything is so tall,” she says, marveling at the skyline. I forget that she’s never been here before and I’m so used to it since I travel here all the time. We have two galleries in New York now, one in Brooklyn, where we were last night, and we have our Manhattan gallery, two very different galleries and clientele.

“You should see the view from my apartment, I’m on the 70thfloor.”

Rosie stills. “That’s right, you have an apartment here, why are you not staying in it?”

“It’s uptown near Central Park not near where we are. The traffic is bad getting from there down to here,” I explain, taking a sip of my coffee.

“Is someone in your apartment now?” she asks.

I shake my head. “No, it’s empty.”

“It’s always empty?”

“It’s a small apartment. I’m here a lot but, yes, it’s always empty,” I answer as we start walking again.

“And all your other places are empty, too?” I nod. “Wow. That is goals right there. One day I want to be that successful that I have homes around the world that I visit.”

I turn and smile at her. “I can see you achieving it.” My compliment makes her smile and even stand a little taller than she was, and I want to make her feel like that again and again. She deserves to be told every day that she is an amazing woman.It’s just not going to be you. She will only be yours for a short time.That thought hits me like a punch to the gut. Rosie Hunt will never be mine.

We continue walking and start exploring the store, I watch in awe as Rosie lights up as she discusses every detail of each piece of furniture and where she thinks they should go. I get lost listening to her babble on about the differences between blush and pink or the different shades of green. Rosie has neverlooked more beautiful than she does right now, the thing in my chest starts to beat as if it’s been roused from its self-induced hibernation.

I have an idea.

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