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“Excuse me, sir,” I said to our driver, whose eyes flitted to mine in the rearview mirror. “Do you know what this song is?”
“It’s ‘I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’’’ by the Scissor Sisters.”
“Thank you. Would you mind turning it up, please?” The driver increased the volume, and I couldn’t help but move to the music. “See what you’ve been missing out on by only riding the subway with me?” I asked Daniel, who was watching me with his head cocked.
“As I recall, you refuse to get in a car with me,” he said, technically right.
“Guess times have changed,” I mused. “Where are we going? Or is everything still top secret?” I sang a few words of the chorus.
“We’re going to eat at Wildfire. It’s a churrascaria that comes highly recommended by a client.”
“What’s a churrascaria?” I asked, never having heard the word before.
“It means barbecue in Portuguese. They bring out a selection of meats on skewers that have been cooked over a flame.”
“We’ve come to New Zealand to eat South American food?” I asked, and the driver snickered, sobering immediately after Daniel fired a look at him from the back seat.
“As I said,” he continued, “it’s highly recommended. If Princess doesn’t like it, then we’ll find her something else.”
He gave me that same pointed look he’d just shot at the driver. It didn’t faze me. “Princessis the one who selected the restaurant to begin with.”
I settled back, disappointed the song was over but thrilled to be taking in the sights. I wished it was daylight, but it didn’t really matter. Tomorrow would be here before I knew it, and then I could get a good look.
Turnsout the South Americans really know how to do steakhouses. Daniel practically had to carry me out of the restaurant, I was so stuffed with meat. I didn’t have any qualms declaring to him in front of our driver that I now had a new favorite restaurant. He seemed pleased I’d enjoyed it.
The issue of sleeping arrangements hadn’t occurred to me until we arrived at the Westin. I assumed he’d expect us to stay in the same room, especially after what had happened on the plane, but I didn’t want to be forced into a decision I hadn’t made. He’d get a kick out of sleeping on the couch.
“Stay here. I’ll be back in a moment,” he commanded before exiting the car.
I made ayeah, rightface to his back and climbed out. He turned and sighed but continued into the lobby. I followed, wandering around until I found a comfortable chair to park it in. I had a great view of Daniel checking in and the desk clerk nearly falling all over herself. He didn’t seem to notice. If I spent much more time around him, my eyeballs were going to be permanently rolling in their sockets.
He strolled over to where I was seated, and I marveled at how regal he was. He owned the space he was in—the restaurant, sidewalk, subway station, didn’t matter where he was—and his confidence was magnetic.
“Shall we?” He led me to the elevator as if I were in a ball gown and he in a tux. Two princesses. I smiled to myself at the thought.
As we rode to the top floor, I jerked away from him as something occurred to me. “This is all I have to wear.” I could live with no clean clothes, but going two weeks without clean underwear…
“Not exactly,” he said without elaborating, pressing his hand into the small of my back to ease me out of the elevator when the doors opened. I stopped in the hallway, refusing to go another step until he explained. He continued on, inserting a key card into the lock on a set of double doors. “Are you sleeping out here?” He disappeared inside the room.
I blew out a long breath through my nose and followed him.Good God. The foyer alone was bigger than my apartment. Daniel closed the door behind us and walked farther into the room. There was a sunken living room. I couldn’t tell what was beyond the wall of windows, as it was nighttime, but the suite was on the harbor. I forgot about my lack of apparel and went straight to the glass doors leading to a balcony.
The sea air hit me as soon as I went out, and I took in a deep breath, soaking it all in. I was glad I had on my sweater. The night was chillier than I would have expected, considering it was summer. This was more like late fall in Texas, and I wrapped my arms around myself. I leaned over the railing, amazed at the size of the boats in the marina.
“So far, so good?” Daniel asked, joining me. He leaned his forearms on the railing.
“Incredible.” I turned from the view to look at an even better one. “Thank you. I—just…thank you.”
“Will you do something for me?”
“Depends on what it is.”
“While we’re here, forget about everything you’ve left behind. Enjoy the moment, Vivian.”
“I intend to. Every single second.”
He had done this forme, a completely unselfish act. Daniel didn’t know how big this was, how much and for how long I’d wanted to come here. This was bigger for me than the career I was working so hard to secure. Coming to New Zealand meant more than succeeding in New York. The only thing that would make being here any sweeter was if I’d paid my own way, but I wouldn’t let that ruin it. We admired the view, a few stars twinkling above us despite the lights of the city. “We’ll leave around eight in the morning,” Daniel said.
“A first date can’t last over two weeks,” I said, skipping right over the small detail he’d revealed about tomorrow.
