Chapter 3
Things were awkward between them, as Davis feared they would be. There didn’t seem to be much to talk about at the store, and instead of sticking around, Davis went home. He worried he’d screwed everything up with his stupid idea of friends with benefits. Sunday was a wasted day; he paced his loft in an effort to come up with a good idea to help convince her she only had to be his friend. He needed a time machine to put them back where they’d begun.
He had never figured out why she thought they wouldn’t work as a couple. Granted, their worlds were completely different, but he wasn’t a snob. He loved her regardless of whatever she perceived to be her flaws. Things that he didn’t have a problem with at all or even found endearing, she thought were flaws in their otherwise perfect relationship. She insisted his parents didn’t like her, though the only time they’d spent together was brief. Ian and Sophia had come to the university to visit one weekend, and he’d introduced them. He thought it went well, but after that Luna insisted that they hated her.
On Monday, he tried very hard to focus on work and put Luna out of his mind. He’d had plenty of practice over the years trying not to think of her. All of that effort didn’t seem to help him as he struggled to keep his mind on something resembling paperwork. His job was boring; everything they handed to him was soft and easy. He hated it. He wanted to work, not to be a paid slacker. His parents didn’t take him seriously when he said he wanted to get into the real estate side of their company. In that department, they bought and sold retail and commercial spaces, broke them up, and resold them to smaller businesses. Negotiating was something Davis felt he was good at, and he wanted to train in that area. Instead, he sat around doing useless drone work.
He was ready to tear his hair out by late Monday afternoon when his office door opened. He looked up in surprise as Luna walked in wearing what must have been her work clothes.
“I haven’t been able to focus on teaching at all, Davis.” She slammed the door and paced his medium-sized office as he watched. “I want to go back to how things were before Friday night. We can’t have any sort of bonus relationship.”
“Why not?” He sat back, dropping his pen on his desk and propping one foot on the opposite knee.
“Because it’s odd.”
“I was joking about having that type of thing ongoing,” he said. She came to a stop in front of his desk and leaned over it.
“It didn’t sound like it. It sounded like a way for you to have the best of both worlds.”
He snorted. “If I was having the best of both worlds, it would include you and me in a serious relationship, not this thing that’s made you so worked up.”
“That’s not fair.” She straightened and began pacing again. “I can’t get involved with you; you know that.”
“I only know it because you’ve drilled it into me, but that doesn’t mean I understand it.”
“You and I are not right for each other! You know how I feel. We’ve had this discussion so many times. You live in Richie Rich world and I live in crunchy granola world. We’re not compatible.” She glared at him.
He spread his hands. “And yet, we’ve been friends for years, with everything working out perfectly.”
“Only if we don’t rock the boat.” She sighed. “And we’ve rocked it heavily. Hell, we capsized it.”
“What are you afraid of, exactly?” Davis asked, standing to move next to her.
She dropped her head to avoid his gaze. “I can’t lose you.”
“I’ve told you before, you couldn’t possibly lose me.” He tipped her chin up with his fingertips. “Even if you constantly try to push me away out of fear.”
“That’s not it.” Luna wrenched her head out of his grasp. “I don’t belong in your world, and you sure as hell don’t belong in mine.”
“You’re a snob, Luna. A reverse snob.”
She gasped. “What the hell does that mean?”
“You think differently about anybody with more money than you. You think only people in your social class are acceptable.”
“That’s ridiculous,” she said with a laugh. “I just know that we’re not the same. Your parents didn’t like me, and I can’t blame them. Look at the way Hudson’s parents treat Reagan. I won’t come between you and them, leaving you estranged from your family.”
“My parents wouldn’t be like the Clarks. They don’t have a problem with you.” He leaned in closer. “It’s in your head.”
“It’s not, for crying out loud.” She threw her hands up. “Your mother wouldn’t even look me in the eye when you introduced us.”
“She made eye contact when I gave her your name. After that, I can’t say.” He didn’t understand what she was talking about.
“Don’t you see?”
“Mom was worried about the apartment I was staying in. She thought it was a frat boy dump, as she called it. She didn’t ignore you, or decline to have you come to dinner with us. She didn’t say at any point in time that she didn’t like you after you’d gone.”
“Maybe she doesn’t want to hurt your feelings.”
