It makes me think. That, and the family-sized pool, the big house, the giant kitchen – this doesn’t seem to be a place where just one person lives. Can it really be just Enrique’s alone, or is there someone who just isn’t home at the moment?
“Ah, there you are,” Enrique says, walking into the room behind me. He’s paused only to put on underwear, I suppose I robbed him of the option to put on his shirt. “I couldn’t find you when I woke up.”
I turn from the window where I’ve been admiring the pool and garden below, meeting his eyes in the dormant bedroom. “I wanted to explore a little more,” I tell him. I rest my hands on his bare chest, his own coming up to hold me against him. My head comes up to his shoulders when we stand face to face like this, the perfect height to rest against him.
“And did you like what you found?” Enrique asks. He brings one hand up to play with a strand of my hair and leans to kiss my cheek.
“Is this really just your home, alone?” I ask, reasoning that there’s no use in keeping my questions silent. After this week is over, we may never see each other again. Especially if he doesn’t want to. I have nothing to lose – except a few days, I suppose, which might just be the most wonderful days of my life. “There’s so much space here. I would have thought it was a family home.”
“It is a family home,” Enrique says, making my heart skip a beat. “But not yet. When I bought it, I always imagined one day it would be full of children’s laughter. But I was waiting.”
“Waiting for what?” I can’t help but ask.
“The right woman,” he says, smiling as he brushes the back of his fingers lightly across my cheek, just the ghost of a touch. “The woman who was worthy of being my wife and bearing my children.”
My heart pounds wildly. Could he mean what I dare to hope he means?
Could he mean… me?
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Enrique
I smile at her in the empty bedroom, admiring the delicate lines of her face, the way her blonde hair hangs just so to frame it. I picture her holding a pair of young children, one in each arm. She would be perfect. Of course, she would be. I’d never imagined anything less.
In fact, I never had a clear picture of the future in my mind at all, until I met her. And as soon as I laid eyes on her, the image clicked into place. Lily, here, with my children, making a life that would bring meaning to everything I’ve done, everything I’ve worked so hard for. More than twenty years building a business, and it would all be worthwhile with her by my side.
“I have to make a work call,” I say, pulling my hand away from her cheek. “Why don’t you go freshen up in the shower? I’ll join you shortly.”
“Is that your nice way of saying I smell?” Lily asks, wrinkling her nose with a grin.
“No, Lilita,” I say, with a look that matches. “It’s my way of getting you naked again. I’ll be with you soon.”
She leaves with a laugh, and I head downstairs, where not just the sound of the water but also the distance will prevent her from hearing what I have to say. The thing is, I don’t want to make a call about work at all. In fact, all of my work is taken care of, thanks to the efforts of Fernando. No, I need to call someone else, and for now, Lily doesn’t need to know about it.
I place the call with an unusual flare of nervousness, something I rarely experience, and wait for it to connect.
“Hello?”
“Hola, Rob,” I say, with a grimace that I hope he can’t hear in my voice. “It’s me, Ricky.”
“Ricky!” Robert exclaims, sounding happy to hear from me. That only makes me feel a little guiltier. I should be in closer contact with my old friend, but things get busy some times. And now that I’m calling him it’s not for the kind of reason that he might think. “How are things going over there?”
“Good,” I tell him, trying to get to the point as soon as possible. “You didn’t tell me that Lily was coming to Madrid.”
“How did you know?” Robert asks, then plows on before I can answer. “Did she look you up? She’s resourceful, my girl.”
“Actually, we ran into each other by accident,” I say. “I was in the street, and so was she, and we recognized one another. She was lost, looking for her interview, so it was luck.”
“How’d the interview go?” Robert asks. “I haven’t heard from her yet.”
“I don’t think she finds out until the end of the week,” I say, trying to figure out how to work him past this diversion and to the thing I really want to talk about.
“Have you seen her since? Is she doing alright? She’s not met a boy, has she? I was worried when I didn’t hear from her after the interview. I thought she might be embroiled in some kind of vacation romance.”
“A romance?” I repeat, not liking what I’m hearing. Robert’s voice is tight like he hates the idea.
“I know what your Spanish boys can be like, Ricky,” Robert says heavily. “I’ve been worried about some kid stealing her heart and using her, getting her into the sheets with the exoticism of it all.”
“Not all of us are the same,” I say. This isn’t going how I had hoped, not at all. I wanted to tell him about us, that we’re starting something. Even if it hasn’t been labeled yet, it’s real and lasting. And that means Robert needs to know.
But how can I tell him, when he’s already talking like this before I’ve even brought it up?
“Not all,” Robert agrees, making me hope but only for a moment. “But most. You have to keep an eye out for me, Ricky. Just check in with her from time to time, will you? And warn off any boys that try to get cozy with her. She’s my daughter and I don’t want her heart breaking or her getting corrupted by some kid looking to get an easy tourist lay.”
“If I see anyone like that, I’ll warn them off,” I say, gritting my teeth and closing my eyes. I can’t say anything now. It will have to wait for another time when he’s more receptive to the idea.
“Is that what you called to talk about?” Robert asks. “Only, it’s early here, and I was just about getting ready…”
“Oh, that’s right,” I say, quickly. It’s better to end this conversation before it gets any more awkward and before it gets to a point that I can’t continue plausible deniability.
“Well, thanks, old friend. I’ll catch you sometime later this week, alright?”
“Right,” I say, faintly, as Robert ends the call.
So, I’ve had to back off for now. But that doesn’t mean that I’m giving. I just have to find a new plan, a new way to attack the problem. One way or another, I have to make sure that Robert accepts the two of us together. I know their family, and they’re close enough that they won’t want to lose contact with their daughter. In fact, I may even risk losing Lily if she chooses her family over me. So this has to work. I just need to think about it some more and come up with a way to talk him around to the idea.
But for now, I have a feeling I know exactly where I can find some motivation.
I head back upstairs, to where I can hear the sound of the shower running, and step out of my last item of clothing before I head into the bathroom.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Lily
I’m almost done and just about to get out of the shower when I turn at the sound of the glass door sliding back, to see Enrique stepping in.
And he’s already completely naked.
I turn fully to face him, and like magic, I watch as he hardens and shoots up like a fishing rod raised up into the air, then pads towards me. I can’t contain my excitement as he approaches me, sending a thrill through my body, even as the water splashes down over my face. The rainforest-style shower is completely luxurious, and when Enrique presses me up against the wall, I accidentally jab a button with my elbow that sends out a cloud of a sweet-smelling aroma.
“You found the relaxation panel,” Enrique grins, bending his neck to tease me with kisses along my neck and shoulder. “Would you like me to help you relax even further?”
&nbs
p; I can barely think as his hands move to cup my breasts, tweaking my sensitive nipples and arousing currents of pleasure that flow through me and pool in my stomach. It’s not only the shower that’s making me wet now. “Yes, please,” I manage to say, because there’s no way in hell I’m refusing, but for some reason, I’m finding it difficult to be witty right now.
Enrique’s hands go to my hips, then my ass, and before I know it he has lifted me in the air, sliding me up the wall until our hips align. I wrap my legs around him instinctively, not wanting to fall, but as his arms hold me tightly in place, I know I can rely on his strength to keep me up. I don’t feel scared. I feel the strength that he lifts me with and I know I’m safe.
He enters me that way, pressed between the wall and his hard body, and I gasp out at both the sensation of him filling me and the relief. It’s something I didn’t know how much I needed, this joining of our bodies that feels right like we should always be this way. He adjusts his legs and begins to thrust into me, my back secure against the tiles, gentle water splashing down around us. At some point I flail, unable to control my arms and legs as I give in to the pleasure, and hit a button that sends out gentle forest sounds, filling the shower around us.
I close my eyes and the sensation almost overwhelms me. Enrique’s thrusts pinning me in place, hitting over and over again my most sensitive nerves, the water flooding down over us, the scents and the sounds. I’m in a completely different world. I float there until I can no longer hold on, letting go completely, warm sparks flooding every single atom of my being and filling me up until I’m nothing but ecstasy as I go limp in his arms. Only a few moments later I hear him grunt in satisfaction and fill me again, spilling his seed inside me until we’re both sated.
We clean up afterward, in the still-running water, soaping each other down with tender movements. “What do you want to do today?” Enrique asks me, shaking his head to clear drops of water from running down into his eyes. I can’t take my eyes away from how the water trickles from his wet, dark hair, down over his chiseled cheekbones, onto his hard chest and abs… if I wasn’t already the person wrapped in his arms, I would be jealous of every single drop.
“This,” I say, blinking water from my own eyelashes.
Enrique laughs. “Maybe we shouldn’t waste the water supply of an entire small nation, but yes, I like the idea. We stay in today, just the two of us. To be together and nothing else.”
We dry off and dress comfortably, and end up relaxing on the couch together in his entertainment room, watching a movie on his huge screen. I don’t feel the need to pay attention to the plot, instead, I focus on lying back, my head on his lap, relaxing, being close to him.
I could stay here forever, I realize. I don’t need a single thing. Enrique is here, we can order in, what more do I need? I feel a glow of contentment inside until it dawns on me that I can’t stay here forever. Not only because of practical reasons but also because there are only two days left until I have to leave here and go home.
At the end of this week, I will get on a plane and fly away. I hope I’ll be back in a few months to take up the position I interviewed for, but what might happen between now and then? Will Enrique forget about me? Will he meet someone new and leave me behind?
The thought drags my heart down with a heavy pull, back towards the pit of my stomach, leaving a bitter taste in my mouth. I don’t know where there is going. So far it’s been enough simply to glory in the moment, but the second I thought about the future, I doomed myself to sadness.
I don’t turn to him and ask. I don’t want to know. If I ask him where this is going and he tells me nowhere – says that after this week it will be over – I couldn’t bear it. I have to enjoy what we have, even if it’s only for two days. I can’t let the fear of the future weigh me down or ruin these last moments. I’ll keep quiet and smile, and make the most of the time we have together.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Enrique
Our last two days together move quicker than I had thought they would. They say time flies when you’re having fun, and it’s all too true. Even when you wish you could slow down the clock, hold time in the palm of your hand and crush it until it stopped forever, leaving you in a perfect moment, it can never be done. Instead, you move forward, however unwillingly, dragged into the future and whatever may happen next.
Still, we make the most of it. We make love all over the house, at all times of day and night. We dress finally and go out to restaurants, to enjoy the beautiful Spanish cuisine that I want so much to share with her. We go out to a museum of art so that I can watch Lily’s face, serious or lighting up at turns as she examines the art on display. We stroll hand in hand down a wide boulevard, the perfect picture of a couple enjoying the first brush of romance.
But all the while, I know there’s an expiry date on Lily’s time here. And on the penultimate day, the news is worse, in a brief phone call, Lily hears that someone else has been selected for the position that she interviewed for. There won’t be any job placement waiting for her here in the summer. She will be back home in the States, with her father, so far away from me that even a phone call is a thing to be carefully scheduled.
I make my plans in secret, whenever she’s out of the room, so I can surprise her. I think it has to be this way. When I see her sitting, downhearted, at our table as I return from the bathroom in the restaurant on our final night, I almost break down and tell her everything. But I know it will be all the sweeter for her if I wait. I join her as if I saw nothing, and talk about the food, and the city, and all of the last minute things that we must do in the morning before she leaves the city.
Because the last thing I want is for her to have any regrets, not only for the things that she did on this trip but also for the things that she didn’t.
The morning dawns at last, and I’m up before the sun, pacing restlessly, making the final preparations before she wakes. When she does and comes downstairs for breakfast, I can see she’s in a sad mood today, unable to hold my gaze for long.
“How are your preparations going?” I ask, setting down a glass of fresh orange juice in front of her. “Are you packed?”
“Almost,” Lily sighs. She takes an obedient sip of the juice, and it pleases me. I like to see that she’s healthy, getting the vitamins that she needs. “I just have a final few things to pack, after I finish I’ll getting ready.”
“You aren’t ready now?” I ask innocently, taking the last bite of a bowl of granola.
“I’m not wearing any makeup,” Lily says, scrunching up her nose at me. “You can see that. It’s obvious.”
“You look just as beautiful to me either way, Lilita,” I shrug. “You could go out just like this and no one would think anything at all.”
She blushes prettily as she finishes off her juice, throwing me a look that I think is meant to chide me for teasing her and slips back upstairs to carry on getting ready.
At last, the time comes. I load her things into the car, and we stand there outside the house, awkwardly looking up at it together.
“You don’t have to drive me, you know,” she says, quietly. “I was fine with getting a taxi.”
“I want to drive you,” I tell her, pulling her close and planting a kiss on her forehead. “It’s the least I can do.”
In fact, what she doesn’t know is that it’s essential. For my plan to work, I have to be the one to take her directly to the airport. Any other option simply won’t make it possible at all.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Lily
“Wait a minute,” I say, looking around. I couldn’t read any of the signs as we were driving along, but this doesn’t look like an area where you easily drop off passengers to allow them directly into the airport, it’s more of a parking garage. “I think we took a wrong turn.”
“No, this is correct,” Enrique tells me confidently. “Trust me. I come here often for business trips.”
“But aren’t you supposed to just drop
me off?” I ask. “If you park here, you’ll have to pay the charge. I’m sure it must be expensive.”
Enrique smirks at me as he puts the car in park. “All of this week together, and you still think that I care about a thing like money?”
I have to admit, he has a point. Not only has he not spared any expense during the week we’ve been together, but he also doesn’t discriminate based on price. Whether the menu is printed without prices because of the premium nature of the restaurant, or whether it’s cheap and cheerful enough for young solo travelers to enjoy, he always chose our food based on the quality of the place, not the price.
“I still feel bad,” I mutter because of course, he has the luxury of taking that approach. When you don’t have much money to spare, it’s not so easy to have a blasé attitude about it.
“We’re here, anyway,” Enrique says, opening his car door. “I’ll help you to the terminal.”
I don’t have time to argue as he gets out and heads for the trunk, and besides, I would like the help. I can’t find my way around here so easily thanks to the language barrier, and though there are signs in English as well, it will be so much easier with someone who is native and familiar with the layout of the airport.
I walk to the back of the car with a heavy feeling. I almost feel like I want to be sick. If I’m being honest with myself, I also want him to come inside with me because it will delay the moment when we have to leave each other. The moment when it will all be over. I’m not coming back, and he knows that. This is going to be our goodbye, a real goodbye. A goodbye forever.
I can hardly bear to think about it. Every time I do tears well up in my eyes. I run my fingers quickly along my lower lash line to dispel any loose tears there as I walk towards the trunk, so they will be gone before Enrique sees them.
Madrid With Dad's Best Friend: An Instalove Possessive Age Gap Romance Page 6