Page 42 of Denying Davis
But even after all that, doing this still wouldn’t feel right.
“I know you want to help,” I said. “I know your heart is in the right place. But I can’t accept the money.” I stood from the chair. “Listen, I need to finish getting ready for work.” I had forty-five minutes until I had to start, and I wasn’t sure how I’d get my heart under control in that time.He wants to gift me seven hundred thousand. It’s too surreal.I presented the folder to him.
Davis followed my lead and stood, too, but he didn’t take the folder from my hand. “I know this is sudden. It’s a lot to consider, but what I’m asking you to do today is just think it over. Just…just don’t make any hasty decisions.” He brushed a few wayward strands of hair from my eyes and I shivered at the warmth of his touch. “Can you do that for me, please?” He whispered his last question.
And he was right. I could at least think about it, even if I knew that I wouldn’t change my decision.
“Okay, Davis, you win,” I murmured against my better judgement. “I’ll consider it.”
He closed the space between us and my breath caught in my throat. I wanted him to kiss me again, and I held on to the edge of that possibility.
“I’m not the enemy. I’m your ally,” he said, his voice still low. “And I need you to remember that, Samantha.”
“I haven’t forgotten.”
“Good.” He cupped my jaw between his thumb and index finger. “And on that note, I’ll let you get to work.”
Davis gave me a quick, deep kiss then moved to the front door, taking wide, leisurely steps as he went. “I have a party tonight to attend and meetings all day tomorrow.” His gaze remained locked with mine. “But how about we meet for dinner tomorrow night? My grandfather is heading to Miami for a meeting, so we’ll have the house to ourselves. What do you think? How about you come over around eight?”
I considered what my mother had said to me earlier in the hospital. She was right, even if I didn’t want to admit it. I had stopped having fun a long time ago and stopped doing things for myself. I knew she was sick, and she was my top priority, but I had to do things for me too.
And a night with Davis sounds so tempting…
“Sounds good,” I said before I could stop myself. “I’ll see you then.”
We said goodbye, and I floated to work, barely able to believe what had happened. This was a dream, right? Luck like this didn’t happen to a woman like me.
But maybe it did.
Palm Beach cocktail parties often ran through the same script, and this one could have been interchanged with the myriad of others I’d attended whenever I visited my grandfather. Small groups of people crowded around platters of champagne trying to outdo each other with stories about their yachts and trips during the summer to places like Santorini and the Maldives. About half the party guests knew my grandfather or at least liked to be seen chatting with me long enough to make it look like they did. The other half wanted something from me and wanted to be seen chatting long enough with me to make it look like they were important.
In other words, parties like this could be very boring. Especially on that night, when my thoughts kept turning to Samantha. Could I get her to accept the money? Why had she seemed so shocked and upset when I showed her the account? What was I going to serve her for dinner the following night?
“I’m sorry,” I told Aaron when I realized he’d asked me a question, and I had no idea what he’d just said. We had a rare free moment in the flow of the event with no one around us. “I’m here, but I’m not.”
He raised his eyebrow. “You can say that again. I keep wondering why you agreed to come tonight if you were only going to spend your time staring off into space like a tragic lost puppy.”
I laughed and drank some of my Manhattan, which had been warming in the glass since I’d picked it up at the bar. After swallowing the first swig, I quickly downed some more.
“I’m not a lost puppy,” I told Aaron. “Just distracted.”
“Thank God they went with that caterer out of Miami for this party,” Aaron said, a mocking, snobbish tone coating over his words. He sneered. “If they’d hired Haute Holidays, I’m sure you’d spend the entire time bothering the staff about her.”
“Whatever. I’m not that bad.”
“Speak for yourself.”
“What?” I gave him a mocking look. “I’m not as bad as some people.”
“You did just give her—” His face changed, and a fake smile crossed his lips. “Oh, Mitzy Reese, what a pleasure. I didn’t realize you were in town right now. I thought you were going to New York for Christmas this year.”
“Enchanté,” Mitzy replied before she turned to me. “And Davis, how wonderful to see you again. I’ve been meaning to reach out to you. My niece, Annabella, is coming to town later this week ahead of the holiday. She’ll be here through the new year, and I’d love for you to meet her.” She moved closer. “I think the two of you will get along famously. She just graduated the Sorbonne, and she’s starting at Sotheby’s after the holiday.”
“She sounds delightful,” Aaron interjected. “I’m sure she’s perfect for him.”
I shot him a glare. He knew better than to do that.
If Mitzy noticed my annoyance, she didn’t show it. “Well, Davis, I’m hoping we can work something out with our families. A small dinner, perhaps? Something low-key.” She gestured at the rest of the party, which had expanded with late arrivals. “After a merry-go-round of these, I’m ready for something a little less lively. Something more intimate.”
