Page 16 of The High Price Of Loneliness

Edward was impressed with her being right on time—7 o’clock on the dot, to be precise.

He opened the door holding a gin and tonic, wearing a comfortable Tommy Bahama shirt and slacks with open chocolate leather sandals. She was instantly relieved that she had picked the right outfit to wear. “How was your drive out to the Key?”

“It is always so beautiful coming over the bridge, but tonight I saw the sun setting right as I was on the bridge’s peak. It was so gorgeous!” she beamed.

“As are you tonight,” he admired. “Please come in, and may I offer you a cocktail or a glass of wine?”

Angelica glided through his open door smiling at Edward’s golden ocean view and said, “Yes. What are you having?”

“I usually start with a Tanqueray Gin and Tonic and then switch to wine with dinner. But we have a full bar and wine cellar. Almost anything you might enjoy is here. So, what would you like?”

“Just a glass of white wine would be fine,” she said, walking across his enormous living room to the glass wall facing the Gulf of Mexico. “I just love your view.”

“Thank you. Just a moment, and I’ll open a special bottle of wine for you,” he said, heading to one of the seven-foot-tall wine chillers with wooden pull-out shelves, each loaded with various types of wine and stories.

“Don’t go to any trouble for me,” Angelica offered politely.

“I know you said you like Santa Margarita Pinot Grigio, which I have several bottles of, but I would like you to try this one instead tonight.” Edward emerged holding a bottle of nicely chilled wine and said, “It’s Cakebread Cellars Chardonnay. A little bit harder to get a hold of but delicious. I hope you like it.”

Edward placed the bottle into a large wooden wine press with a large lever handle that skewered the cork dead center and removed it all in one action. He handed her a heavy crystal wine glass, ice-cold from the chiller, filled about halfway.

“For my princess,” said Edward smiling as he handed her the glass along with a monogrammed paper napkin imprinted with “Gray Enterprises.”

“Oh, you have your own napkins, I see,” Angelica said with a smile as she took the offering.

“For when we host events or cocktail receptions for business. So, I have a few boxes of the napkins and other specialty items left occasionally.”

“Oh wow! This is my new favorite white wine ever,” Angelica sang out. “What’s the name of it again?”

Edward shared the name of the label and said, “Cakebread Cellars.”

“Yum!”

Gray motioned for her to join him at the already set dining table. “Please have a seat,” he said and gestured to a particular chair for her.

She glided into his formal dining room and followed his suggestion of where to sit, placing herself immediately on his right side.

“Angelica, it would be best if we dispense with the paperwork before dinner or any more wine. Would you be ok with that?”

“Yes. Absolutely.”

“Do you have any questions about the Confidentiality Agreement?”

“Not really. What does it say exactly?”

“You mean you haven’t read the agreement?” Gray asked, surprised and a bit irritated with Angelica, adding, “You should always read every document before you sign it.”

“Well, I don’t sign many contracts, probably like you do,” she answered.

“Basically, it says that what we do in private is confidential and that neither of us may discuss or disclose anything that happens in private to anyone else. It protects our privacy equally, and my attorney insists on it,” Gray grumbled a bit about that last part.

“Well, I’m fine with signing that without reading it. I would never discuss anything that happens between us in private with anyone. Not even my best girlfriend or family. I am a very private person. So that Agreement notwithstanding, is just how I am. Agreement or not, I would operate the same way. So, I am completely comfortable signing it, Edward.”

“Point well made, Ms. Hart,” Gray said, impressed by how she expressed herself.

He lifted a heavy gold and silver pen from a leather pad and signed both copies of the Agreement and handed them to Angelica. She signed both and folded one copy and placed it under her purse to keep.

“Now, how can I help with dinner?” she inquired, smiling softly.

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