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“Well, good night.”
David nods, standing as well, gathering the wine glasses and empty bottle, and leading me downstairs. I dump the empty containers in the bin and hurry through to my bedroom to collect my night things. I shower quickly – we did walk all the way up the Empire State Building – and dress for bed, crossing to the vanity unit to collect my toothbrush.
I jump in surprise when I realize that I’m not standing alone in my bathroom. Glancing around, David is leaning against the doorjamb, his arms across his chest and his ankles crossed as he watches me. My cheeks are hot, and I quickly turn and finish brushing my teeth. I raise my eyebrows as I look back at him.
“Is there something I can help you with?”
What’s he doing around here? He never comes around this way.
“Actually, yes,” he replies, holding his hand out to me. I take it cautiously, wondering what is going on. I’m dressed for bed in my cotton shorts and top. I’m not dressed to go out. David leads me back to his bedroom, kicking the door shut behind us. I look at him expectantly, but he grins at me, stepping right up to me so that our fronts are touching.
I tip my head right back to see his face, where it’s grinning down at me, and gasp as David picks me up and drops me onto the bed, on my ass. He hits the light and drops onto the bed beside me, tugging the comforter up to his chest.
“Goodnight Ani,” he says in the darkness. Uh, what? I’m frozen on the spot. Did he come and get me to bring me into his bed just tosleep? This was not in our roommates with benefits talk.
“Don’t over think it, Ani.” His quiet voice drifts through the darkness. “Just go to sleep.”
Right. Sleep. Here. In David’s bed. With David. I quickly shove my feet underneath the comforter, rolling onto my side away from him and closing my eyes. The bed dips as he moves, rolling over, and his arm comes down over my waist, anchoring me to his hard chest.
His body is pressed up against mine as he curves himself around me. But he doesn’t move to make this sexual, and he doesn’t speak. After a few moments, David sighs and his breathing changes. Oh. He’s fallen asleep. Holy shit. Snuggling definitely wasn’t on my radar. I try not to wriggle, not wanting to wake him up, but eventually, I drift off to sleep.
Chapter Fifteen
Anica
David was gone when I woke up the morning after our sightseeing day. He left a note saying that he had to get to the office early, and for me to call Antonio, his driver. I’m wondering if the whole sleeping in the same bed was a spur-of-the-moment thing that he regretted, because apart from when we’ve had sex, it hasn’t happened again in the week and a half since.
I’ve been trying to take his advice from that night, and not over think things. But that ishardadvice to follow. Stepping out of the hair salon, my eyes find the shiny white Rolls-Royce. It’s one of the new cars David bought, and he moved Antonio into the condo building. I was happy to keep using a car service, but David insisted I keep using Antonio. I flash him a smile as he holds out his hand, helping me climb up into the SUV, careful to keep my hair perfect. David dropped on me yesterday that he’d invited a bunch of his old Northwestern fraternity brothers and their wives for dinner at his place tonight. There’s a whole host of them who live here in New York City.
I remember all too vividly my last house party involving David’s social circle, so I’m going all out for this one. Thank goodness I could get a salon booking for a Saturday with only one day’s notice, but now I’m primped and waxed with bright red nails and professional makeup and hair.
Antonio doesn’t pull up out the front of the building anymore. He drives down into the parking garage under the building. David has a whole secure section here. He also has a Lincoln sedan, and a bright red Ferrari sports car. I grin as Antonio pulls in beside it, and holds the door open, helping me out.
My nails match the Ferrari. I remember our conversation when I yelled at him. When he said he would buy a yellow Lamborghini. This is a Ferrari, but it is bright red. I’ll note that he got a car exactly that color. Maybe I can incorporate it into my design.
Antonio waves as I call goodbye to him, stepping into the elevator. He’ll wipe the car down and go up to his condo until David or I need him. I flex my fingers so I don’t fidget with my hair and ruin it.
David isn’t in the open plan living area when I step into the condo, so I move away to my bathroom to wash up and get dressed. I didn’t have time to go shopping, so I have settled on one of my little black cocktail dresses. Smoothing my hands over my skirt, I slip into my kitten heels and make my way out to the living area. My inside liquify as my eyes meet David’s. A heated look flashes across his face, like he wants nothing more than to take me into his bedroom and keep me there all night. It is a look that has me pressing my thighs together.
A knock on the door pulls David’s attention away from me, and he opens it, grinning and submitting to a bro-hug, slapping the suited man’s back. I stand, waiting for them to move over and introduce themselves to me, my eyes taking in the outfits. Once again, my dress automatically has too much lace and not enough skin showing. But that’s okay. I saw David’s face when his eyes landed on me. That look will carry me through the rest of the night.
David closes the door behind the last guests, moving to pour wine. There are five men, and three women. Every single one does a double take when they walk in, but David introduces meas a colleague who is staying with him during the duration of my secondment in New York.
Their eyes flicker over me and they all accept the explanation easily. One of the women approaches me with a smile. “Hi, I’m Sally. My grandparents live in Chicago.”
I enthusiastically jump into the conversation, glad we have something we can speak about. The other two women quickly join us, sick of listening to the men reminisce about college and the talk turns to shopping and New York society gossip. This is what I was worried about. I smile and nod, sipping my wine and surreptitiously monitoring David as he jokes around with his buddies.
Finally, David catches my eye. “Dinner is ready upstairs.”
I follow gratefully, David’s hand landing on my lower back as he flashes me a grin.
“You look fantastic,” he murmurs. I duck my head to hide my grin, moving to where David holds out a chair for me, taking my seat and turning to answer a question the man beside me poses. David takes his seat across from me, and one seat down. That’s clever. I can watch him converse without being in the center of his exchanges. He’s learning my observation styles.
How he interacts with his guests is fascinating. Unlike how he was with Max, he’s more…bro-likewith these guys. This must have been what he was like when he was in college, living in a fraternity house. It makes sense that he rushed some super exclusive frat – it fits with his Westerhaven playboy image, as do some stories they are all howling with laughter over as they work their way through numerous bottles of Scotch.
After dinner and dessert, everyone stands to make their way over to the terrace seating area to have drinks after dinner. I excuse myself, farewelling everyone and ducking downstairs. David’s eyes burn into my back until the door inside closes behind me. I think I’ve seen enough tonight. I’m itching to sketch some designs.
I quickly change into an oversized sweater and my cotton sleep shorts, shoving my feet into a pair of moccasins and brushing my hair out, heading to the small office next to my bedroom. David said I could use it while I was here, and so I curl up in the desk chair, sketching at my designs.
