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“Bye, Dante. Thanks for the job.”
I stare at her as she takes one, two, three steps away from me. “You’re walking away from something amazing. You’ll miss what we have.”
She shakes her head. “Can’t miss something that never really existed at all. Take care of yourself.” She hails a cab and climbs into the back, and then she’s gone, and all I can do is watch the cab and its taillights until they disappear from view, taking away the one thing I know I don’t want to live without.
Chapter Twelve
Samantha
Six Months Later…
I walk out of the theater full of adrenaline. I know I goddamn nailed that audition. It’s a supporting role for a Broadway play one of Reginald’s friends is producing. The second he got wind of it, he called me and told me I should go for it.
It’s bittersweet, talking to Reginald. It’s impossible to do that without thinking of the man who introduced me to him. I almost didn’t go on the audition, telling Reginald that I don’t want special treatment because of who I know or anything, and he just laughed and assured me that his friend didn’t give a damn who I knew; all he would care about was whether I could act or not.
And I acted my ass off in that room.
I smile to myself as I walk out of the building. I can’t get my hopes up, but holy shit, I know I put everything into that.
I push the door open and turn toward the end of the street where my car is parked.
“Hello, Ms. Day,” I hear a voice say behind me.
Not just any voice.
A voice I hear every damn night in my dreams. A voice that haunts me, breaking my heart over and over and over again. I turn slowly and there he is.
Dante’s standing there in jeans and a white t-shirt, holding a bouquet of my favorite flowers: pink dahlias. In the back of my mind, I’m surprised he even remembered that I liked them. I only mentioned it once in passing.
I take a breath, trying to settle the racing of my heart. “Dante. What are you doing here? And how did you know I was going to be here?”
He flashes me a smile, and my knees go weak. I swear he’s even more gorgeous now. How is that possible? “I live in L.A. now, Samantha. And I know a guy who knows a guy who told him you’d be here today.”
The last part of his explanation is a blur; the first part lodges itself in my mind. “You live here now?”
He nods.
“Why?”
“I’m overseeing a two-year project for my father. Something a little more up my alley. I actually just got back from Africa. I was there for the last five months overseeing the first project the foundation is funding. A school,” he adds, and I nod. He glances toward the theater. “So how did it go?”
“Okay, I think,” I answer. I’ve nearly forgotten how to form words, between my shock at seeing him and the swirl of emotions running through me. My heart has been a raw, empty thing since the night I walked away from him. Why the hell is he here? Is this my life now? Dante Knight, the man I’ll never be able to get over?
“Do you want to get coffee?” he asks.
“Why are you here, Dante?” I ask quietly.
He hands me the bouquet of pink dahlias. “There’s so much I want to say. Please have coffee with me, Samantha.” The plea in his voice reminds me so much of the last night we made love, the need in his voice, and even though I’m scared to death of doing more damage to my already-broken heart, I find myself saying yes.
Because the truth is, seeing him here…all I want is to be near him. And I know I’ll pay for that later.
We walk down the block to a little coffee shop, and once we’re seated, I don’t know where to look or what to do with my hands. He’s watching me, and it feels like I can barely breathe.
“I’m not just here for work,” Dante says after a while.
I don’t answer. I don’t trust my voice just now.
“The truth is, I missed you so much I was out of my mind with it, Samantha,” he says, and the raw need in his voice nearly undoes me. I close my eyes, trying to fight back the tears that threaten to fall. I’ve been fantasizing about those words for so long now. “Nothing’s been right since you’ve been gone. It’s like part of me walked away with you that night. I’m incomplete without you. I need you, Samantha.”
