by Linda Engman
“The contract. Right. Still, there had to be more to what happened between you two when you went over to his apartment last Thursday evening. Fess up, April. How did you end up married to Roman instead of that dragon of a woman, Justine?”
She blushed hotly, remembering exactly how things had occurred—the way Roman had kissed her so passionately while wearing only a towel. “That’s none of your business,” she answered smartly.
He laughed, throwing back his head. “That tells me all I need to know.”
“Oh, very funny, Henry. If you hadn’t sent me over there, none of this would have happened. I wouldn’t be in this mess. Last week I was happy to be carefree and single and looking forward to meeting someone normal. Now I’m saddled with Roman Vasquez. The most confusing, infuriating male on the planet,” she huffed.
“But he’s so perfect for you,” he teased, taking another sip of his coffee in an attempt to hide a grin from her.
“Are you kidding? We don’t mesh at all. Is it any wonder he’s in Hawaii and I’m in New York three days after our wedding?” she spat out.
“That’s called fireworks, sweetheart. I felt the same way with Ellen. In the end everything worked out fine. Give it a month. Marriage takes time,” he reassured her, sounding to April like some know-it-all marriage prophet.
“Are you crazy? Roman and I are married for one purpose and you know it, Henry. It’s a business deal involving a new children’s hospital wing. In order to receive his grandfather’s trust fund, he had to be married. You drew up that contract. You know exactly why I married him. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time and have a soft heart when it comes to children. What was I supposed to do?”
He shrugged and grinned. “Emily said that if we got you two together, alone somewhere, something might happen. And look—it happened,” he joked, chuckling at her predicament.
“Emily? What does she have to do with this?” She immediately picked up on the tell-tale clue he’d dropped in her lap.
Red-faced, Henry looked shamefully guilty. “Emily just…well, she just—”
“You know Emily is Roman’s sister?” she guessed, putting all the pieces together. “So spill it, Henry. What does Emily have to do with Roman and me getting married?”
“Is it any wonder I’m not a trail lawyer?” he mumbled, rolling his eyes while looking like a naughty schoolboy in the principal’s office. He ducked his head and gave her his best don’t-hate-me look. “After your breakup with Todd, Emily and I got to talking and—”
“—and you two thought you would play matchmakers!” she finished hotly, not believing what she was hearing. “Oh, I knew she was up to something.”
“We thought if we put you both together outside of work, something might happen. But then Roman came to me needing that pre-nup, so Emily and I had to take matters into our own hands—and fast. I stalled Roman as long as I could by taking my time preparing the contract for him, but he insisted he needed it finished and sent to him by Thursday night. So I had you take those papers over to his apartment as a last-minute attempt to get you together. I mean, it wasn’t exactly as Emily and I planned. We thought maybe getting you together at a restaurant for dinner would be a natural first step. Or possibly getting you down to Florida for the holiday weekend with Roman around would lead to something. But things had to be rushed a little with Roman wanting an instant bride. Actually, I thought our plan was brilliant,” he boasted and leaned back in his chair, now looking pleased with himself. “Especially when I opened the paper this morning and saw that paparazzi photo of you two after your wedding. I wish I’d been there. I could have given you away.”
April gritted her teeth. “I think you’ve done enough already, Henry.”
He laughed at her hot temper. “No thanks needed.”
“I can’t believe it. Emily was in on this?” she wondered out loud, remembering how unshocked her friend had been to see her with Roman in Florida. Almost as if she had expected it. She also recalled Emily’s so-called innocent attempts to get her to come to Florida for the holiday weekend. Obviously Emily had been determined to get her brother to notice her one way or another.
Had the world gone crazy? Didn’t they know? Couldn’t they see how wrong I am for him? And how absolutely wrong he is for me?
A flash from last night of them intertwined in his shower bolted into her consciousness. She blushed heatedly. Okay, maybe we’re great together on some levels.
“So why is Roman in Hawaii?” Henry asked, still smirking. “You never did say?”
She sat up straight in her chair and stared back at her boss with fire in her eyes. “He’s cruising for chicks on the beach.” she announced, loving the way she wiped the grin off his face with her seething proclamation.
“What the devil!?”
She stood and collected the coffee cups and tray, then headed for the door. “Time to get to work, Henry!”
After placing the coffee tray in the kitchenette, she sank wearily into her desk chair, unsure if this was really her life anymore. Emily? Henry? How dare they plan and manipulate her and Roman that way. What in the world had they been thinking all these months? What had they seen to make them think there was something more between her and Roman than one hot holiday night? She sat and fumed, so angry she doubted she could do much more the rest of the day than contemplate some untimely demise for the both of them.
With determination she finally set to work, clearing away the morning schedule without once hearing from Henry as he hid out in his office. By lunch she was more than ready to take a break from answering phone calls and researching background information as was the norm. She usually ate lunch at her desk, but for some reason today she needed to get away from the office.
To be honest, she really wanted to get away from the phone. Every time it rang she jumped a foot, half expecting to hear Roman’s deep slightly accented sexy voice on the other end of the line.
She knocked on Henry’s door and poked her head inside, giving him her best hateful glare before announcing she was going out for lunch. With a guilty look, he smiled at her before requesting she bring him back something to eat.
Groaning, she slammed his office door and grabbed her coat.
Just like a man. Ruin a woman’s life and then expect lunch.
Outside, the winter winds brushed against her skin as she hurried along, stopping first at a newsstand to pick up the local New York papers, before heading across the street to her favorite deli for a sandwich. After getting her usual order and another for Henry, she settled into a booth and opened the first paper. As predicted, there they both were. The Look of Love…Perfect for One Another…Surprise Holiday Romance. That was the copy written below their photos. Paper after paper all had the same photo of them leaving Lana’s beautiful Miami estate: her trying to look like the perfect fake bride and Roman looking tall, powerful, and definitely sexy.
She devoured his image. She couldn’t help herself. What woman could? The man was nothing but gorgeous hot masculine flesh and blood and everything a female could want in a…in a what? A soul mate? A husband? A lover?
What was Roman to her?
She’d been asking herself that question since last night. What do I want him to be? Admitting defeat, she realized she already knew but had vehemently pushed away the answer. She could deny it until the end of time…but she was falling in love.
I’m in love with Roman Vasquez?
The realization she was in love with him hit her with blinding force. Her body shivered with fiery nervousness before turning icy cold. It was a shock to her already strained system.
Ugh. How could I have let this happen?
And when did it happen? On his jet when he held her hand? When he kissed her on the beach at midnight? When he was so endearing over the weekend with his old-fashioned manners? When they made love for the first time and he admitted afterward that he never wanted them to leave his bed, while he covered her face in tender kisses? She stifled a moan of despair and felt as if she wa
nted to cry, laugh, and scream all at the same time.
Where does he get off making me fall for him?
With shaking hands she folded the newspapers before heading back to her office. The afternoon dragged on with the usual work and phone interruptions while she watched the clock, wanting nothing more than to go home and curl up on her sofa with a pillow over her head for the rest of the evening.
Finally she found herself climbing the steps of her brownstone, collecting her mail, and opening her apartment door as she normally did. Only this time she was coming home as Mrs. Roman Vasquez.
She dumped her purse on a side table and looked at her still-packed overnight bag and garment bag sitting in her tiny foyer. The note he’d written her with its heavy dark handwriting still rested on top of her luggage. She picked it up, reverently studying his words. Had it really only been three days? How could she have been so naive to believe she could pack a bag with a few things and return as if nothing had happened?
Three days?
With anguish, she knew deep down in her heart and soul her feelings for Roman had been there for the past six months. Only she’d first hidden them behind her misplaced feelings for Todd. Then she’d denied how she felt about him by keeping Todd’s ring on her finger like some sort of shield used in battle.
She moaned out loud with the painful realization that falling in love with someone like Roman Vasquez was the stupidest thing she’d ever done in her adult life.
Well, the stupidest thing she’d done next to believing she and Todd had a chance at marriage. At least with Todd she hadn’t lost her heart over him. With him, she had made her decision based purely on what she thought would be good for her. Love hadn’t exactly factored into their engagement.
With Roman it was one hot kiss, a contract, and the wedding of her dreams…and the next thing she knew she was falling headfirst in love with the man.
Unresolved about what to do, she collected her bags and headed for the cozy confines of her bedroom, which brought a little comfort to her as she switched out of her boring work clothes for a silk wrap. After leaving his apartment this morning, she’d only enough time to make it home, drop off her luggage, and quickly change into appropriate office attire. Now all she wanted was a long, hot bath and a night of self-pity in front of the television with a big bowl of her favorite ice cream.
After a bubble bath, she felt somewhat revitalized and opted instead for a large glass of white wine as she put on a soothing Diana Krall CD and settled down onto her sofa. Reluctantly she reached for the newspapers she’d bought on her lunch hour. Again she gazed at his image, feeling a mix of sadness and longing for him, which was ridiculous. How did one miss someone like Roman Vasquez?
Be honest. The guy is much more than you thought.
After spending the last few days together, she found herself surprised at his thoughtfulness, drawn to his attentive caring and sincere concern, in awe of his loving relationship with his family members. There was more depth to him than she’d first thought. Definitely more to him than the player image the newspapers portrayed.
She had firsthand knowledge of that. He’d been a gentleman the whole time she’d been with him, never taking more than she was willing to give. She remembered how gentle he had been with her as he carried her off his plane in the freezing cold, mindless to anything but her welfare, and how tenderly he had kissed her on the moonlit beach after their wedding. She shivered inside as she recalled him saying that kiss had been for him alone.
Though, at this point it was crazy to think anything more could happen between them. She had proof of that as she stared at his handwritten note still lying on the coffee table where she’d placed it earlier. With an aching heart, she leaned over and picked up the neatly folded piece of plain white paper, opening it again to reread his heavily inked words. The note had been waiting for her this morning, since he must have written it before leaving in the predawn hours. Her first reaction had been to tear it to pieces, the same way the note had ripped apart her already battered heart. But somehow she hadn’t been able to. It was a link to him. Something tangible, something to show they were connected somehow.
She reread his words, and a painful sorrow filled her. He stated that his trip had been important to him, and on second thought, he was heading to Hawaii. That he would be in contact with her when need be, and he thanked her once again for helping him with the business deal.
This weekend was perfect. More than you know. Take care, April.
Roman
Very formal and very cold—and exactly what she had asked for. Only now she wished she could turn back the clock and have the holiday weekend back. Wishful thinking on her part. She’d practically pushed the guy out the door. Every time he tried to get serious, she blew him off and refused to believe something could be happening between them. Maybe if she’d tried harder, or maybe believed in him more, trusted him more like he asked, or maybe if he hadn’t gone to Hawaii…
Maybe. Lots of maybes. The truth was she was miserable without him.
She glanced at the diamond on her left hand and took another long drink of her wine, knowing nothing could ease the terrible pain and sense of loss she felt inside.
Ultimately, she knew in her heart it was no use crying over a man who wasn’t hers and was never going to be hers. She realized she had to stop this pity party before she spent the night crying into her pillow. She’d gone into this deal with her eyes wide open and had no one to blame but herself for falling in love with Roman Vasquez.
****
Roman eyed the exotic beach and the white foam of the ocean as it rolled ashore. The heat of the midday sun beat down on his bare back where he sat brooding on a rock ledge, gazing down on the most beautiful view a man could buy. Though he was in the tropical paradise of Hawaii, he felt none of the warmth, passion, and splendor it contained. Instead his mind was a million miles away.
“Staring at the ocean twelve hours a day is not going to solve anything,” Rafael proclaimed in rapid Spanish, handing Roman an icy cold beer as he took a seat next to his friend.
He nodded and accepted the beer, then took a long drink before answering. “Who says I’m trying to solve anything?” he replied in Spanish, giving his friend a narrowed look.
Rafael grinned knowingly. “Obviously you have something on your mind. The guys and I think it has something to do with the beautiful wife you left behind in New York? The same woman you only just married? Care to fill me in on what’s going on and why you’re here with four losers like us when you have someone like her at home?”
Roman snorted in sarcastic astonishment. “Anything else you want to know?”
“Let’s start with the real reason you’re here? I don’t believe for a minute April is really working this week. Which also just so happens to be your honeymoon.”
“That isn’t a lie. She’s really working this week. The ever faithful Miss Sutton, always at her desk all neat and tidy, tormenting any man who happens to enter her office.” He took another drink of his beer.
“All right, she’s working. So what’s the problem? At the wedding it seemed like—”
“—we were in love with one another?” he bit out, interrupting Rafael’s observation. “Love had nothing to do with the reason we married.”
Rafael sat stunned, obviously not believing what Roman had admitted. “But you two seemed so perfect for each other. I don’t understand what’s going on?”
Roman glanced over to Rafael and then back to the ocean, not wanting to see the disappointment or the judgmental glare he knew was coming. “Our marriage is business. A contract. Cut and dried. Money, buildings, and legal red tape.”
Rafael simmered for a full minute before answering. “Amigo, I might need a little more info than that—before I tell you what an ass you are!” he announced heatedly. “How could you be so cold, so callous? Playing with emotions and feelings and making us all believe you found the perfect woman for you. Fooling us into thinking you were happy
and in love. I don’t understand. Please tell me you had good reason to play with people’s lives like that. ”
Roman didn’t bother to try to deny or excuse his behavior. “My grandfather’s will. The old man had a clause put in it. I had to be married before I turned thirty-five or his money would go to my step-grandmother’s spoiled, over-indulged grown children. I, on the other hand, wanted the money to build a hospital wing for children suffering with cancer. Due to a stupid act on my part, my first choice for a contract bride walked out on me. I could have waited and contested the will. But April happened to be handy. I played on her sympathies, and the rest is matrimonial history.”
Rafael jumped to his feet and paced ten yards before turning to fire off a string of curses. “Do you think you could talk someone like April into such a deal without hurting her in the end?”
Roman ignored the baited question and instead finished his beer with one final drink.
“So you married her, and everything was supposed to be cut and dried. What about your vows you took in front of everyone?” Rafael admonished.
“What? Are you my mother now?” he growled. He tempered his next words, not wanting to take out his frustrations on his best friend. “I’m sorry, Rafael. Believe me, I’m also truly sorry for involving her. I admit the whole marriage deal got a little more complicated with April. I didn’t like doing it, but it was for the best. I needed that money, and I didn’t wanna wait another year while my grandfather’s will got strung out in court. Nothing was going to stand in my way. In the long run, a lot of very sick children with cancer will benefit from that hospital addition.”
Rafael nodded. “I too am sorry, Roman. I can see what you’re trying to do, and it’s commendable. You’re right as usual. But did you have to pick someone like April? She doesn’t seem like the kind of person who would be able to separate business and pleasure.”
“We have an agreement,” he ground out bitterly.
“So you have an understanding. So why, then, have you been so ornery since meeting up with the guys? You’re like a bull with a sore hoof. Something wrong with your perfect agreement?” he bit out.