Page 57 of Arrogant Playboy

Hours later after Rosie has exhausted every luxury furniture shop in SoHo, I suggest we head uptown so I can show her my apartment. I also suggest that we grab some lunch there. Thankfully, she agrees and I message the building to have lunch ready and waiting for us when we arrive. That’s why I bought where I did, it’s living in a hotel without having to deal with tourists.

“Ew, what is that smell?” she says, crinkling her nose.

“Welcome to the New York subway.” I chuckle.

“It’s worse than London’s,” she says, shaking her head.

I wouldn’t know, I don’t catch the tube at home. Normally, I don’t catch the subway either while here, but I thought she would get a kick out of it. We head uptown in the packed car, get off at 59thStreet, Columbus Circle Station, and walk along the edge of Central Park to my apartment.

“Of course, you live near Central Park.” Rosie smirks as we turn into my apartment.

“Only the best for me,” I tease as the bellman greets me warmly and welcomes us in. We head through the luxurious foyer, which is covered in black marble, brass, and other luxurious interiors which I’m sure Rosie has clocked every bit of. I nod and smile at the concierge who welcomes me back as we head toward the elevators.

“If that is the foyer, I can only guess how gorgeous your apartment is,” she says, getting into the elevator. I press the button to my level, and we head up. I’m suddenly nervous about showing Rosie my place. I hope she likes it and … I don’t know, I guess I want to impress her.

The doors open into the corridor that houses only four apartments. I unlock my door and hold it open for her, which opens into a foyer, where there is a powder room and a coat closet. “Turn left,” I tell her as the corridor splits the living and bedroom areas. She walks down the long corridor, which I’ve used to display more of my art, and into the living room and dining room with its wall-to-wall windows, showing off the stunning view over Central Park and the city.

“Are you fricken serious, Daniel?” Rosie says, rushing toward the windows. “This is your view? This.” She points at the window.

“I forget the awe of seeing it for the first time,” I confess to her. She’s so entranced by the view that she hasn’t noticed the lit candles and place settings with silver domes on the dining table for lunch.

“How can you not appreciate it? This is beautiful. I can see so far.”

“Each bedroom has a view also,” I tell her.

“I don’t know what to say,” she says, shaking her head as she continues to stare out the windows, watching the world below her. I’ve never stopped and stared like she is doing, so I do. I stand beside her and stare, watching the birds fly below us and people walking through the park, narrowing my eyes as I stare at the other buildings, wondering if they can see me watching them. “This place is magical. I thought your home in Mayfair was spectacular but this …”

“Your reaction is making me appreciate it for the first time,” I confess to her as we both stare out the window. She sighs. “Hey, what was that?” I ask, reaching out and touching her arm.

“Oh, nothing.”

“That sigh was something,” I push.

She shakes her head as she chews her bottom lip, and uncertainty falls across her face. “We live completely differentlives.” My brows knit together as I stare at her, she then turns to me. “I don’t understand why you’re interested in me. I’m not from your world, and will never be from your world.” Then her shoulders slump and she swallows. “Thanks for today but … um … I better get back.”

“Hey, no, please stay. I’ve organized lunch for us.” I point at the table and that’s when she turns and notices the elegantly spread-out meal.

“When did you have time to …?” Then it dawns on her that someone prepared this for me. “I’m sorry. I can’t do this,” she says and starts heading back down the long corridor.

“Rosie, wait,” I call after her as I rush along the corridor, too. She stops when she feels the light touch of my hand on her arm. “What happened? I don’t understand,” I ask her.

“Whatever is happening between us needs to stop,” she states seriously. Her words hit me hard in the chest. Stop? I thought we just agreed to something and now she wants it to stop. “All this,” she says, waving her hands around her, “it’s not my world. You’re worth millions.”Billions actually, but that is not the point at the moment.“You should be hanging out with heiresses, or royalty, not me. I don’t belong here.” This must be the first time in my life my money has truly turned someone off.

“Money doesn’t make you a good person, Rosie.”

“Spoken like someone who has money,” she bites back. I don’t understand how we ended up here. “Thank you for today and I’m sorry for skipping lunch, but I must go,” she tells me as she edges closer to the door.

“Rosie, please, I’ll take you back.”

She turns and stops in front of me again. “I’d rather be alone.” With that, she walks out of my apartment, and I hear the ding of the elevator and know she’s gone.

I don’t understand what changed.

22

ROSIE

Daniel looked so confused as I left his apartment. An apartment that is worth millions. Staring out at the view, I realized how out of my depth I am with this man, who leaves multi-million-dollar apartments empty, or they are used a couple of times a year. Panic started to crawl up my skin as I felt like an imposter in this life, that I was letting myself fall for his world after spending the day with him in it. No, he wasn’t buying me things even though he wanted to, but it was the ease in which my mind wanted us to spend our weekends shopping for things for our home. I could see us hanging out, grabbing a coffee and a bite to eat as we walked around Mayfair or through Hyde Park together, happily talking about art and design. Today gave me a glimpse into what it would be like to date Daniel DuPont, and a part of me was falling for the illusion, particularly when I thought about the sex. I’m not proud of the way I left things, especially when he had gone to a lot of effort to arrange lunch in his apartment for me.

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