So she shook his hand. Put her mittened hand in his bare one and squeezed—maybe a little harder than she should have.
“Merry Christmas, Dani,” he said.
“Merry Christmas, Max.”
Chapter Five
When Max landed in Zurich, he went directly to the palace in Witten. His family always spent Christmas with the royals, and it was close enough to the holiday now that he could get away with not going home in the interim. He told his parents that Marie and Leo needed him for some man of honor duties. The royal wedding was coming in handy as an excuse to be away.
“Max!” Marie was waiting for him in front of the palace when he got out of the car.
“Max!” As was Gabby, Leo’s little sister. For reasons that remained mysterious to Max, Gabby was turning into his biggest fan.
“Hello,” he said to Marie, and as Gabby tackled him, “Hello, poppet.”
“Did you do my deliveries?” Gabby asked.
“I did indeed.” He had been tasked with delivering gifts to a cousin and to her favorite former teacher. He wasn’t sure why she hadn’t simply mailed them, but he’d been happy to be her mule. “And,” he added with a great flourish, “here’s another question: Did I bring you anything?”
“Did you?” She was practically vibrating. Max had never considered himself a kid person, but twelve-year-olds, it turned out, could be rather pleasant, at least when one’s approach was to swoop in and shower them with gifts while other people did the hard work.
After gifts had been opened, Marie stole him away and gave him a cup of tea. But she only let him take one sip before she said, “I heard you went to Daniela Martinez’s work party.”
“Well. Word travels fast.”
“She and Leo talk almost every day.”
He raised his eyebrows.
“How can you be judgmental about that? We talk a great deal. At least when you’re not slutting around New York. And how is Lavinia, by the way?”
Max hadn’t been objecting to the notion of Dani and Leo talking every day. He was merely surprised Dani had told Leo they’d been together. He’d gotten the impression that Dani was spending time with him against her better judgment, and he therefore hadn’t expected her to advertise the fact.
He was also a little surprised by the censure in Marie’s tone. She usually remarked on his “slutting around” with indulgent bemusement.
“Lavinia was fine.” He took a sip of tea. “And now I can say I’ve met her.” He performed a shudder that was not entirely put-on. “I enjoyed myself more with Daniela than I did with Lavinia or anyone else at the party, though.”
“You have to tread with caution, Max,” Marie said. “Dani can’t be one of your conquests. Especially while you’re in town considering marriage to someone else.”
“I am. I did. We’re just friends.” Which, on the one hand, was a pity. But on the other, as he’d said, he liked Dani. She was going to be around, given the wedding and her friendship with Leo, so that ruled her out for anything more fleeting, even if she’d been open to the idea. “And I’m not considering marrying Lavinia,” he added peevishly. He got this kind of needling from his parents all the time; he didn’t need it from Marie, too.
“I’m not sure I believe you on either count.”
He set his tea down with a flash of irritation. “Honestly, you think I’m going to hit on Dani? She’s my friend,” he reiterated. He hoped. He was looking forward to spending more time with her at the wedding. “And as for Lavinia, I merely wanted to meet her.”
“That’s not what you told your father.”
“That’s exactly what I told him. I used those precise words.”
“That’s not how he interpreted it.”
Max was aware. “Telling him I was going to Lucrecia’s Christmas party to meet Lavinia was a strategic move designed to prevent me from having to make a special-purpose trip to New Haven later to meet her. Can you imagine? That wouldn’t be awkward.”
“I’m sorry, Max,” Marie said quietly. “I really have left you in the lurch, haven’t I?”
“No, no. It’s quite all right. One of us might as well be married to someone they actually fancy.” He truly was happy for Marie and Leo. “But now that you’ve thrown me over”—he winked to show he was teasing—“I’m committed to my bachelorhood.”
“But you have to marry someone.”
“Ah, but I don’t.”
“What about the lineage?”
“What do I care about the lineage? If Sebastien’s children are anything like him, the estate will be better off in his branch of the family. I’ll do my best when my father dies, but you know I’ll make a perfectly awful duke.” He was trying to keep his tone light, but as always when he contemplated the prospect of inheriting, his chest started to feel heavy, which made his voice start to sound labored. “And as for my parents, all that matters is that they think I’m trying. I can string out the prospect of a match with Lavinia for at least a year or two.”
In his parents’ eyes, Lavinia von Bachenheim was perfect. Well, Marie, as a princess, had been perfect, but Mother and Father had rallied and were currently championing Lavinia. She was the younger sister of a wealthy and powerful Austrian family. She was studying at Yale but like her sister would no doubt make a “career” as a socialite. Everything about her met with his parents’ approval.
“And how was it meeting her?”
He shrugged. “It was fine.” In truth, he and Lavinia had had only a brief conversation, but it was enough to tell she had no sense of fun. She’d seemed both distracted and overly serious, which wasn’t a winning combination in Max’s eyes. He wasn’t looking for a wife, but had he been, a sense of humor, perhaps even of adventure, would have been a requirement. Even if he were on the market in earnest, Lavinia would not make the cut.
Lavinia would never make snow angels in Central Park.
When Leo called Dani early in the morning on Christmas Eve, she got right to the point. “Hi,” she said. “I think I need to get on an app.”
“Merry Christmas to you, too. What kind of app?”
“Sorry—Merry Christmas. A sex app.” She’d finished her grading a week ago, and in recent days she’d been experiencing . . . urges. Dani had spent the year and a half since Vince had left genuinely not interested in sex, or at least not sex with other people. She wasn’t totally dead inside—she did sometimes turn on old Patrick Swayze movies and, well . . . Now, though, she was suddenly contemplating the idea of having sex with an actual human male. How did a person make that happen?
“I think you’re supposed to call them dating apps,” Leo said.
“I don’t want to date, though.”
“Oh, I’m aware. You should get the phrase ‘post-men’ tattooed on your forehead.”
She winced. Leo had been around when things were really bad, when Vince was moving his stuff out and Dani was fighting back tears. “Right. I’m still post-men. I just want to have sex. Without dating.”