The Stranger by Kyra Davis

Author:Kyra Davis [Davis, Kyra]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance, Adult, Contemporary
ISBN: 9781476711102
Publisher: Pocket Star
Published: 2013-01-21T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 9

THE ATMOSPHERE AT Scarpetta is light. High ceilings, neutral colors. Even after the sky’s turned black, the dining room feels as if it’s being filled with soft sunlight. It’s what I need for this moment as I sit across from Dave. He’s talking to me about work, about family, about rubies—did I know that you can no longer directly deposit income into Swiss bank accounts and expect to avoid American taxes? Did I know that his mother just got a new mare whose coat is the exact color of a patchy gray sky? Did I know that rubies were actually more expensive than diamonds?

The talk is light like the room. Among teasing reminders of the expense of his devotion he shares bits and pieces of his world with me never suspecting that I might be hiding bits and pieces of mine. Every word is spoken with the casual intimacy that comes with trust. And for a little while I forget that I can’t be trusted at all.

But as the appetizers are replaced by entrées, and the entrées replaced with cappuccino and dessert, I find that acting is an exhausting hobby. How do those celebrities do it? How do they smile at their costars and recite their lines with all the assigned emotion without once giving away hints of who they really are, the person beneath the character, beneath the stardom, beneath the image? How do they have the energy to keep that person tidily under wraps? I stir a white line of sugar into the froth of the cappuccino. We’ve fallen into one of our silences. I used to love this moment, the moment when you can sit quietly with the person you’ve chosen to be with without exchanging a word. It’s a showy testament to our comfort with each other. But I can no longer sit with silence. Silence is the pathway to my darkest thoughts that have no place in this light-filled room.

“Dave.” I whisper his name, afraid of what I’m in danger of giving away. “You don’t just work with men at your firm.”

“Of course not,” he confirms.

“Some of the other lawyers . . . or your clients . . . are they beautiful?”

The question takes him off guard. He dips a small spoon into our panna cotta, making a little nick in its smooth surface. “I don’t pay attention to things like that.”

It’s an odd response. You don’t have to pay attention to see beauty any more than you have to think about air to breathe.

“Have you ever been tempted?” I press.

“No.” The word comes out quick and so hard, it’s almost bruising.

The truth never comes to anyone that quickly. People usually consider the truth before speaking it. We think about how to best phrase it and roll it out slowly in hopes of weaving a good story. Lies come easier.

No. It’s a lie he didn’t need to tell. We’re all tempted now and then, right? The only reason to lie is if you gave in to that temptation.

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