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He raised his eyebrows. “She broke your confidence?”
“Yep.” Maya took a long swig of her beer while Sam winced.
“Oof. That’s got to sting.”
“Yeah,” she sighed. “It’s like his attitude has created this competition between us. I try to avoid it, but I’m aware that I’m jealous of her achievements and I’ve got this inferiority complex where she’s concerned.”
Sam nodded. “And she perpetuates it?”
“Yep. Every time I confide in her, she finds a way to use it against me.” Maya pulled at the corner of the label on her beer. “I should have learned by now not to trust her with anything.”
Sam was watching her. “That must feel like shit. Liv is really good at keeping my confidence.”
“You’re lucky,” Maya said, meeting his eyes. “Though I’m not sure if this is more a female thing. Being in competition over a dad’s affection.”
Immediately she regretted saying that, because a father’s affection was something that neither Sam nor Liv knew about. “I’m sorry,” she said, closing her eyes briefly. “I didn’t think before I said that.”
Sam studied her for a moment, as if he were surprised that she would’ve clocked the reference. “That’s okay. I don’t mind.”
He certainly was being very gracious. Perhaps he was trying to make up for his past wrongs.
Maya looked away. “How come you haven’t confided in Liv about your butler thing? I’m sure she wouldn’t tell Cat.”
Sam hesitated for a moment. “Because I’m keeping someone else’s confidence. If it was my own secret, I’d tell her. But it’s not, and when someone asks me not to say anything to anyone, I take that seriously.”
For goodness’ sake. Couldn’t he stop acting all altruistic and noble for a second? He was making her feel bad for disliking him.
Because I do dislike him . . . don’t I?
She gave him a nod, too confused to speak.
He leaned back a little. “Are you going to talk to your sister about how you feel?”
Maya blew her fringe out of her eyes. “Probably not.”
“Why?”
She raised an eyebrow. “Because I’m totally shit at confrontation. That’s why I’ve never spoken to my dad about hating my career.” Perhaps she shouldn’t have said that. It was a little too honest.
Sam opened his mouth, then paused. “You actually hate it?”
“With a passion.” She swigged from her bottle like a lush, then eyed him. “Do not tell anybody that, by the way. If it gets back to Dad, I’m toast.”
He smiled. “I just told you what a great secret keeper I am, remember?”
“Oh yeah. You’ll need to prove it then, or I’ll have your guts for garters.” Though for some reason, she already felt as if she could trust him. Her instinct was informing her he was genuine, which heightened her confusion, because she’d felt that way before and he’d left her humiliated.
He gave her a two-fingered salute. “Noted.”
They drained the last of their drinks, and Maya checked the time. “Should be safe to return now.”
She stood to go fetch her jacket from the other chair. “You really don’t have to come, not if you don’t want to.”
He shook his head, putting on his parka. “I want to make sure you get home okay, if that’s all right with you. Especially when it was my idea to come here.”
Maya nodded, afraid to say anything else, because she found that sentiment a little moving. She turned to lead them down the stairs, wondering whether she’d always been this much of a sap or if it’d been a more recent development.
They headed outside, and Maya glanced toward where the tree line was decorated in sparkly fairy lights. Emboldened by the alcohol, she asked, “Is the nook still there?”
