Page 39 of The Nanny and the Don
“Sure, and make sure someone brings my lady both dinner options. I didn’t fill out a card for us.”
“Coming right up,” the server stated with a nod, placing two champagne flutes on the table before walking away.
As soon as he left, someone else came to the table and pulled Mr. Gray to the side. He excused himself before following them out of the room. As soon as he disappeared, the server came back to the table with a plate that contained a steak entrée and one with baked chicken.
The portions were on the small side, but everything looked so good. I was afraid to mess up my dress, so I was hesitant to eat. I looked around and noticed that no one else in the room was eating either. Picking up one of the glasses of champagne, I sipped it and people watched. Steel returned minutes later and occupied the seat next to me.
“How is the food?” he asked.
“I haven’t tried it,” I admitted.
“Why not?” he asked with a frown.
“I don’t want to get anything on my dress. Plus, I don’t see anyone else eating.”
“Don’t worry about these people. You’re the only one who matters,” he told me.
His words caused a flutter in my chest. Why was he saying things like that to me all of a sudden? I wanted to ask him what was going on in his head, but I hadn’t forgotten how opposed he was to answering questions. A couple more people came to the table to address him, but for a while it was just us drinking champagne and watching everyone else mingle.
“I’m obligated by the board to stay at these things for an hour. I’m watching the clock,” he disclosed.
I laughed under my breath before leaning closer to him. “How long have we been here?”
He sighed. “Only thirty minutes.”
We both laughed. In moments like this I actually liked him. Who was I kidding? If it weren’t for the fact that he made sure to remind me that I couldn’t leave his house, I would have forgotten that I was there against my will.
“Bro, let me holler at you for a minute,” a stocky guy said, leaning close to his ear.
“What’s up?” Mr. Gray asked as he stood.
“Who you got with you? When did you start bringing a date to these shits?” he asked as they walked away a few steps.
“She’s just the kids’ nanny. I didn’t want to come alone because you know damn well, I don’t want all these thirsty single women on my coattail all night, married ones either. I was glad I had somebody I could bring to keep them at bay for a change.”
I don’t know why, but hearing him refer to me as “just” the nanny stung. It wasn’t like I didn’t know my position. Him adding the word just to the phrase seemed to deflate some of the air in my chest from all the positivity he had been force-feeding me over the past couple of weeks. I was crushed that the only reason he’d brought me was to keep other women out of his face. Since my champagne glass was now empty, I picked up the one in front of his chair and tossed it back as I continued to eavesdrop on their conversation.
“I swear you’re a perpetual bachelor,” the other man joked.
“That’s some made up shit and you know it.”
“I need you to come with me down the hall. We got something for you,” the man stated.
“All right, give me a second.” I felt his hand on my shoulder before he addressed me. “Sit tight. I’ll be right back.”
With him away from the table I felt antsy. I went ahead and dug into my steak and was glad that I did after the way it melted in my mouth. There were people mingling and talking amongst themselves. There were even a few of them on the dance floor swaying to the slow jazz music. I was bored to death. Thankfully the server came along and placed two new champagne flutes on the table before retrieving the empty ones.
“What time is it?” I asked him.
“It’s a few minutes after nine.”
“Thank you,” I said, taking a swig of the first glass of champagne.
By the time I finished my food and both glasses of champagne, I’d lost track of how long Mr. Gray had been gone. We had been here for over an hour when I asked the server what time it was, so I had no idea what he was up to at this point.
It was funny that I hadn’t considered trying to get the hell out of here until I was anxious about sitting alone waiting for him to come back. That was partly because we were somewhere deep in South Georgia.
I was hours away from home at best. That didn’t mean I couldn’t get there. I didn’t trust that the people in the room didn’t work for Mr. Gray, so asking any of them for help was outof the question. Also, I really didn’t want to get him in trouble. Was this the shit they called Stockholm syndrome? Yeah, I read way too many books.
