Before she could get well and truly riled up about it, Susan entered the room, a black garment bag draped over one arm and a large box under the other arm.
“Good afternoon, Miss Bluth,” she greeted, her smile genuine. “Mr. Brenner instructed that I bring these to you and remind you that he will be waiting for you in the lobby at 8PM sharp.”
Diana pouted. “You do realize that he only told me about this dinner a minute before you got here, right?”
Susan had the grace to look shocked, but she recovered quickly. “No, I did not know. I’m afraid I only do what I am instructed to do, and I was instructed to pick up the dress from the Dior boutique, this box from the front desk, and bring them to you this afternoon at noon.”
Diana checked the time on her phone. It was just 12:05.
Damn. Susan was punctual.
“But why?” Diana queried, her hands itching to unzip the garment bag even though she was determined not to obey David’s summons.
Susan shrugged, laying the bag on the bed and the box beside it.
What was in the box?
“All I know is that Mr. Brenner was adamant that everything be perfect—he picked the dress out himself, you know.”
It was Diana’s turn to show surprise. “Seriously?” She really had to see inside the bag now.
Susan laughed. “He did. He also picked out what’s in the box.” Susan drew a long finger along the top of the box, teasing Diana. “Aren’t you the least bit curious about what’s inside?” There was a glint of humor in Susan’s deep brown eyes, but there was also a hardness. The woman was bent on making sure Diana was dressed and presented at 8PM whether she liked it or not.
Diana let out a rush of breath, crossing her arms over her chest. “Dinner? Where?”
Susan grinned, thinking she’d won Diana over. “It is a charity event being held at the Guggenheim.”
Shock rolled through her, making her gasp. David wanted her to be his date to a charity event at a world-famous museum? There’d be hundreds of people there, photogs, too. She wouldn’t be able to hide—it would all be out in the open.
David doesn’t want to hide you. You will be on his arm. As his date. Where everyone can see. Maybe this is his way of saying he sees a future with you.
A surge of excitement lit her from within.
“Well…I guess I shouldn’t be too upset with David, if he is going to take me to a museum,” Diana drawled, trying to keep the thrill from her voice.
She had a date with David. Tonight.
Susan left then, and Diana stood, staring down at the box and garment bag as if they were going to come alive.
A knock on the outer suite door jerked her from the haze of wonder and hopefulness that had settled over her head. She answered the door, finding a grinning Margie on the other side.
“Hey, babe,” Margie chirped, throwing her arms around Diana’s neck and a quick hug. Diana hugged her back, happy to see her friend again.
“Come on in, see the digs,” Diana said, teasingly.
“Digs?” Margie squealed. “This place is a frickin’ palace compared to my place.” Margie had a rather nice condo apartment in NoHo, and Diana loved the fact that Margie would always have the best place to crash. “Let’s order that room service so I can bitch about how unfair my life is and how good you got it.”
Diana chuckled. “The menu is by the phone, get whatever you want.”
“You’re damn right I will,” she countered, practically bouncing across the room to the phone. “What’re you having?”
Food? Margie wanted her to eat food when her stomach was in knots thinking about the dinner date with David that night?
“Uh…I’m not hungry,” she replied, turning away from Margie to hopefully hide the blush warming her cheeks.
Margie dropped the phone back onto the cradle and narrowed her eyes.
“Oh no you don’t! You have two babies to feed, and starving yourself over some asshole sperm donor isn’t healthy,” Margie practically growled.
Taken aback by her friend’s vehemence, Diana cringed. “It isn’t like that. David and I are…friendly.”
Margie sneered. “Friendly? He fucked you and tried to bail on you.”
Diana sighed, knowing it would take more to convince her friend. “He did do that, but…he apologized, asked me to let him be a father to his babies. I couldn’t say no, Margie. These babies…they’re his dream.”
Grunting, Margie curled her lips. “What about you? Are you part of that dream?”
Hell, when had Margie gotten so good at zeroing in on the hard parts?
Grasping her hands in front of her, Diana paused, trying to decide what to tell Margie.
“Well…I don’t know, honestly. Part of me believes that he is just interested in the babies, that once they’re born, his incubator is useless, and he’ll toss me away.”
“Uh huh,” Margie scoffed.
“But…there’s another part of me, the hopeful, foolishly in love part, that wants to believe there is more between us. That there is the chance for a future where we are a family.”
Margie tensed, her face going white. “Di, honey, please tell me you did not fall in love with David Brenner. You said ‘foolishly in love’ and that’s what it would be—foolish.”
Diana didn’t answer, only clasped her hands tighter until her fingers started turning purple.
Margie collapsed onto the couch, her expression blank.
“You did, didn’t you? You fell in love with David Brenner.”
Unable to come up with a lie big enough to cover the enormity of the truth, Diana replied, “Yes. I love him, Margie.”
“Does he love you back?” There she went again, with the hard target questions.
Diana sat on the couch beside Margie, unclasping her hands to let the blood flow to her finger tips again.
“No, I don’t think so,” she answered honestly. Was a man like David capable of loving a woman after what happened between him and Rinna? The woman he’d given a part of himself to had twisted it, leaving a
