Chapter 7
Lucy
“Oh my goodness. What about that kiss?” Allison says as we meet up in a corner of the ballroom.
Normally I would be gushing over this house. We’re best friends, but we don’t spend time here. We hang out around town or at my place. This is her brother Daniel’s home, and while I know that Allison spends a good bit of time here with him, it’s not hers, or her family’s necessarily. Although Samuel is the one sponsoring this gala.
Samuel is the one who kissed me.
“It was mistletoe,” I say, shrugging my shoulders like it was no big deal.
“Lucy. I’m your best friend. And you just kissed my brother like...like you guys are seriously into each other. That wasn’t a mistletoe peck.” She gets quiet for a second, and then she says, “And I’m honestly a little hurt that you didn’t tell me that you and Samuel were together. That was...shocking.”
What do I say? Samuel and I agreed that we weren’t going to talk about this, but I don’t want her to think that I deliberately withheld information from her. I also don’t want her to know that her brother lied about it.
I sigh. I know this is going to be hard, but I also know the kind of person Allison is; she’s going to understand.
“I’m not supposed to talk about it. Samuel and I agreed that we weren’t going to discuss it.”
“Even now? You guys just kissed under the mistletoe. It was very romantic, a romance movie-worthy kiss for sure.” Allison swoons a little and puts her wrist to her forehead like the kiss really was that good.
I don’t know how it looked to bystanders, but it really was good for me. That’s for sure. Samuel definitely knows how to kiss a person.
The thought doesn’t really make me happy. Because I don’t like the idea of him kissing other girls. But there’s nothing between us, so there’s no reason for me to feel possessive and jealous of him. That’s ridiculous.
Maybe Allison sees something on my face or in my smile. “I can’t believe you guys are keeping this from everyone. Well, you can’t be keeping it long, he just announced—”
I put a hand up. “I know. We just talked about it, and I promised him that I wouldn’t comment.” I hate doing this to my best friend. We talk about everything, but I can’t go back on my word to Samuel. I should have thought a little harder before I gave it in the first place. I should have said that I needed to be able to talk to Allison, but once you talk to one person, it snowballs, and I know that, and I’m sure he probably does too.
“I didn’t even know Samuel was interested in you. But it’s obvious from the way he was looking at you... I know a lot of people think that he’s a jerk, not just because he’s a billionaire, but because he is also quiet. But you know him. You know he’s not like that.”
I do know the reputation he has around town. People do think he’s all the clichés that billionaires get saddled with. Greedy, mean, business cutthroat, not to mention he’s quiet and an introvert, and he gets hit with all of those clichés as well, snobby, unsociable, and self-centered.
“I know. He’s always been a really good brother to you. And every interaction and thing that I’ve seen him do over the years has been positive.”
“He was always like that,” Allison reminds me. I nod. I spent a good bit of time at her parents’ house when we were growing up. Samuel was a lot older than Allison and he was out of the house, but I still heard things the rest of the town might not have. Although negative things usually travel faster than positive, and Samuel did do some things that I’m sure he wishes he could take back. Allison said that he came back to church and back to the Lord, and he changed after that. To me, that’s the surest sign that something is real, when it elicits a change. I appreciate that about Samuel.
“So tell me about the gala planning. How’s it coming?” Allison says, and I appreciate that she’s respecting that I can’t talk about Samuel.
I dive into it, talking about all the things I want to do in the morning. “I haven’t been able to come up here to make any plans, because everything was being set up for this. So, everything is in place, I just have to get in the house tomorrow and do some fine-tuning. It’ll probably take all week, because there are a lot of moving parts, but I’m excited about it.”
“Nervous?” Allison asks, giving me a knowing smile.
“I forgot about my nervousness tonight, but it’ll start back up tomorrow. It’s not nervousness so much as I feel pressure to make this turn out perfectly. I do want people to see Samuel in the very best light. And that’s how I’m seeing it.”
She already knows that, because I talked to her about it a good bit, but it’s true. Samuel is an awesome person, and I want the world to know it.