Chapter 2
“Then my mother got sick.”
Maya shrugged.
“So life rearranged my plans without asking.”
“You gave up your life.”
“No.”
She corrected him immediately.
“I postponed it.”
Then she looked at him.
“There’s a difference.”
David understood more than he wanted to admit.
“I hate needing people.”
Maya almost laughed.
“That’s funny.”
“Why?”
“You literally hire company every night.”
She lifted her hands.
“Just saying.”
By the time they realized how long they had been talking, morning had arrived.
Maya looked toward the light.
“Oh.”
“What?”
“It’s morning.”
David glanced at the time.
“Apparently, we talked all night.”
Maya’s expression changed.
“You look worried again,” David said.
“I remembered real life exists.”
“Very inconvenient timing.”
Then came the question neither of them had forgotten.
“Money?”
Maya looked at the envelope.
“Money?”
“You haven’t opened it.”
“I can still recognize trouble in an envelope.”
“I didn’t come here to be paid for talking.”
David looked at her.
“You came because you needed money.”
“That doesn’t mean I’ll take it from anyone.”
“Even me?”
Maya met his eyes.
“Especially you.”
Her phone rang.
She answered immediately.
“Hello?”
Her face changed.
“No. Please don’t cancel it. I said I’ll find the money.”
David understood.
When she ended the call, he held the envelope out again.
“Take it.”
“I can’t.”
“Your mother needs surgery.”
“I know.”
“Then stop making this harder.”
Maya hesitated for a long moment.
“I’ll pay you back.”
“You don’t have to.”
She took the envelope.
“Don’t make me regret taking it.”
“I won’t.”
Maya looked at him.
“Thank you.”
David seemed almost confused.
“That’s it?”
She frowned.
“What else were you expecting?”
“I don’t know.”
Maya gave him a knowing look.
“That’s new for you.”
She turned to leave.
David watched her.
“You want me to wait for what?”
Maya glanced back.
“The goodbye part you forgot.”
Then she left.
David stood there for several seconds before turning to Marcus.
“Drive.”
Marcus waited.
David added,
“She talks too much.”
Marcus looked at him.
“Unbelievable.”
David ignored him.
Then, before the day was over, he gave Marcus another instruction.
“Find Maya for tonight.”
Marcus smiled slightly.
“Obviously, your terrible system has a favorite now.”
“Out.”
“She may say no.”
David looked at him.
“Then she says no.”
Marcus left to find her.
When he did, Maya immediately knew why he was there.
“Marcus, right?”
“Yes.”
“Terrifying.”
“I haven’t said anything.”
“You have the billionaire face.”
“I do not.”
“You absolutely do.”
Marcus sighed.
“David would like to see you tonight.”
Maya folded her arms.
“That sentence is getting repetitive.”
“Should I tell him no?”
“Tell him I have questions.”
Marcus looked concerned.
“That’s worse.”
When David learned she was coming, he became impatient almost immediately.
“This is ridiculous. She’s late.”
Marcus checked the time.
“She’s not even late.”
When Maya arrived, she entered with conditions.
“If I come back, there are rules.”
David looked at her.
“You have rules?”
“Several.”
She pointed at him.
“You look like a man who needs supervision.”
David waited.
“First, no touching.”
“Fine.”
“Second, no weird expectations.”
“Define weird.”
“You have a mansion. Use your imagination responsibly.”
David almost smiled.
“Third?”
“You don’t pay me again.”
“Why?”
“Because I accepted help once. I don’t want to become comfortable needing you.”
David studied her.
“Then why come back?”
Maya answered carefully.
“I didn’t say I wanted your money.”
She looked around.
“Your company is tolerable.”
“High praise.”
David laughed.
Maya immediately noticed.
“Did you just laugh?”
“No.”
“You did.”
“Prove it.”
She smiled.
“Back to billionaire behavior.”
They returned to the question she had asked the night before.
“So tell me. Why a different woman every night?”
“Because 1 woman was enough.”
“That’s not really an answer.”
“It wasn’t meant to be.”
Maya nodded.
“Ah. Billionaire code for mind your business.”
“You’re learning.”
This time, David told her more.
“Her name was Victoria.”
“Your ex?”
“That’s a generous title.”
He looked away.
“She preferred my money.”
David had given Victoria everything he thought love required.
“My time. My trust.”
He gave a humorless smile.
“Apparently, my access code would have been next.”
“She was seeing someone else?”
“Yes.”
“While telling you that you were the only one?”
“Yes.”
Maya’s voice softened.
“That’s cruel.”
David answered with dry bitterness.
“Expensive too.”
“After her, I changed the rules.”
“What rules?”
“No feelings. No promises.”
Maya looked at him.
“So I broke several.”
David did not answer.
“You know that’s not healing, right?”
“Did you become a therapist overnight?”
“No.”
She looked around at his enormous house.
“But your coping mechanism has valet parking.”
David laughed again.
Maya looked pleased.
“You’re very comfortable telling me what I’m doing wrong.”
“Someone has to.”
“And why you?”
“Bad judgment.”
For the first time in a long time, David did not seem eager for the evening to end.
When Maya prepared to leave, he stopped her.
“Maya.”
“What?”
“Stay a little longer.”
She looked at him.
“That almost sounded like you need me.”
“Don’t get carried away.”
“10 minutes.”
“Fine.”
Maya smiled.
“You’ll lose track of time.”
David frowned.
“That confidence is disgusting.”
She looked at the enormous television.
“Your television is bigger than my bedroom wall.”
“That sounds like a you problem.”
Maya shook her head.
“See, this is why people betray you.”
David stared.
“That’s wildly inappropriate.”
“I’m joking.”
“Oh, good. Because I was preparing my escape.”
“You came in my car.”
“Minor detail.”
David looked at her for a long moment.
“I don’t know why I like you.”
Maya blinked.
“What?”
David immediately looked away.
“I said your house is too big.”
“That’s not what I heard.”
David changed the subject.
“You make coffee?”
“I own a coffee machine.”
Maya looked concerned.
“There’s a difference.”
A few minutes later, she tasted it.
“Terrifying.”
David looked at the cup.
“Well?”
Maya made a face.
May you like
“Did the coffee offend you personally?”
David understood.
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