He swallowed back the sense of loss that hit him hard. “I want us to make the most of the time you have while you’re here. Instead of staying with Natalie, stay the rest of the trip with me.”
Her eyes widened. “Are you sure?”
“It’s only four more days.”
“Oh, so you can tolerate me for four days, but beyond that—”
“No.” He cut her off on purpose, because he didn’t want her to make a joke about them. This was real and hard. “If I could have you stay forever, I would, but I know that’s not realistic. We can’t just pick up where we left off, because you have to go back home, and you have responsibilities.”
“Yeah.” She sounded less than enthusiastic, dropping her gaze to the white sheet. Almost as soon as she did, her gaze quickly lifted to his, eyes sparkling with excitement. “I could come back more often. I could make up a reason—to check on the gyms, to visit Nat—I’ll think of something.”
“You can’t do that.”
“Yes, I can. Think about it. I have two perfectly valid reasons for coming back to Atlanta. I can’t come back right away, but maybe in another month or so. In the meantime, we could keep in touch.”
Carlos pondered her words for a moment, turning them around in his head. Toronto and Atlanta were very far away from each other, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t make a long-distance relationship work.
“And I could see you whenever I visit my family,” he said.
“Yes!” She couldn’t hide her excitement and looked like she was about to bounce off the bed.
Carlos lifted a hand. “Wait a minute. What about your father, Carmen?”
“What about him?”
“Do you plan to tell him about us?” Worry tightened his shoulders.
The light in her eyes dimmed. “I…I might have to keep our relationship from my father for a bit. You understand, don’t you? Just for a little bit, to avoid the drama, you know?”
“I think that’s a good idea.”
He didn’t want the drama either, because there was no way her father would welcome Carlos back into her life. He didn’t want to look into Alfred Reeves’s eyes and see the same condescension and derision he’d witnessed during the period they dated. Carlos had never been good enough for the millionaire’s daughter, and he was pretty sure nothing had changed.
“So you understand? Really?” Carmen asked softly.
“Yes.”
He took her mug and set both cups on the table beside the bed. When he pulled her to him, she came willingly, snuggling in his arms and resting her head on his shoulder.
He kissed her temple. “It’s best, for now.”
“I agree. But we will tell him, eventually.”
“Eventually,” Carlos agreed dully and without feeling.
His hand trailed up and down her spine in a slow loop. This time, he would be ready for Alfred Reeves’s contempt. He was no longer a twenty-two-year-old aspiring artist. Though he didn’t have the Reeves’ wealth, he made an honest, comfortable living. And more than anything, Carmen loved him. She still loved him, after all this time.
He’d messed up three years ago—letting his insecurities and her father chase him away. He would not make the same mistake again.
Carmen stifled a yawn. “I’m hungry. Pretty soon my stomach will start growling.” She pulled away and stretched her arms above her head, arching her back.
Carlos’s palm smoothed down the line of her spine, his mind shifting to more pleasurable thoughts and making his bottom head lift a little in attention. “I was thinking we could have a quickie before we left for breakfast.” He smoothed his hand up to the base of her neck and rubbed his thumb across her smooth skin.
She sent a coquettish look at him from beneath her lashes. “A quickie? No, sir. I need a shower, and then you’re going to take me to breakfast.”
She slipped from the bed, and Carlos groaned his disappointment.
“You go first. Extra towels are in the closet beside the bathroom door. I’ll catch another nap while you’re in there, and you can wake me up when you’re done.”
Carmen moved a few feet away and glanced at him over her shoulder. “Are you sure you want me to go first? You don’t want to join me?”
She lifted the back hem of the shirt, revealed her bare bottom, and gyrated her hips. That quick, that fast, the wiggle of her bare tush inflamed his already incendiary lust and turned his erection into the consistency of a lead pipe.
Hot damn! How did he not know she was naked under there? He was slipping.
Carlos flipped the sheet off his naked body and hopped from the bed. With a happy shriek and a throaty laugh that squeezed his heart back to life, Carmen raced toward the bathroom.
But she was no match for his long strides. Before she reached the door, Carlos caught up and lifted her into his arms.
She tossed her head back, giggling and screaming. “Put me down. I demand to be free of your clutches.”
He ignored her request and instead showered kisses on her face and neck as he finished the walk to the bathroom.
They were different. Worlds apart, really, but he’d been attracted to her from the start, a magnetic pull drawing him to her and forcing him—quietly and against his will—to chase until he caught her.
Now she was his again, back in his life for a reason.
She would never be free of him again.
8
“You’re what?” Natalie stared in disbelief as Carmen hurriedly tossed clothes into her suitcase.
“I’m going to stay with Carlos until the end of my trip.”
“Why?”
“Because I want to.”
Natalie fell quiet behind her. Carmen continued stuffing clothes in the suitcase but could imagine the disapproval on her friend’s face. She knew her that well.
“Are you sure this is wise?” Natalie asked, accustomed to speaking her mind.
“I know you’re concerned about me, but you have nothing to worry about.”
Carmen zipped the bag and then scanned the room to make sure she hadn’t missed anything. Carlos was picking her up in a few minutes. Franklin could have taken her to his place, but Carlos had insisted he wanted to come get her.
“I don’t like this.”
“Weren’t you the one telling me that he loved me?” Carmen turned to her friend and placed both hands on her hips.
“Yes, I believe he loved you, but he also broke your heart when he left Toronto. Have you forgotten all of that in your new lovey-dovey phase?”
“Of course I haven’t forgotten, but leaving wasn’t his fault. Like you said, my father chased him away. Plus, he needed to leave for himself. To become the success that he is right now. Nat, you should see his work. He’s even better than before. One day, he’s going to be huge.”
Natalie also placed both hands on her hips. “Good for him, but that doesn’t change the past.”
Carmen sighed. “Look, we were both overwhelmed by our feelings, and we both made mistakes back then. The good news is, Carlos still loves me, and my feelings for him haven’t changed, either. That’s the best part—that we both feel the same and we get to be together after all.”
“But you’re not really going to be together. You’ll be in Canada, and he’ll be here.”
“We’re going to see each other as often as we can. The distance won’t keep us from developing a relationship. Think about it, you live here and you’re still my friend. Why can’t he and I have a long distance relationship, too?”
Natalie pursed her lips. “You know that’s different.”
“Maybe, but I can’t stop now. I can’t give up on him or us. Nat, I feel like a new woman. I feel alive.” She grinned broadly to convey the message to her friend, but Natalie’s brow remained wrinkled in concern.
“You’re my closest friend, and I want nothing but the best for you. Promise me you’ll be careful and take your time.”
Carmen shook her head. “Too late for that. I’m all in with both feet,
up to my nose and drowning in Carlos.”
Natalie rolled her eyes. “Man, you’re such a hopeless romantic.”
“Sorry I’m not more practical, like you.”
“I wish you were. But can I say one more thing?”
“Do you have to?” Carmen asked with a rigid smile.
“Hear me out. It’s been three years since the two of you were a couple. You don’t really know who Carlos is now, the kind of man he’s become. Once you get to know him, you might be disappointed. I suggest that you manage your expectations.”
“Fine, I will,” Carmen said with a negligent shrug. “Anything else?”
“What are you going to do about your father? And can you trust Franklin?”
Carmen had thought about that and had already sworn her driver to secrecy. “Franklin won’t say a word to my father. As for my father, I’ll figure out how to deal with him because eventually, I’ll have to tell him Carlos and I are back together.”
“How do you think he’ll react?”
“I’m afraid he won’t approve this time, either,” she admitted.
“He threatened to cut you off before.”
“I know, but he won’t do that this time. I’m certain of it.”
“What makes you so sure that he won’t?”
“Because the person I was three years ago didn’t have much interest in the family business. The current me helps expand the company and is learning all she can to eventually take over. If I can be indispensable to Fit Body Gyms, my father is less likely to throw around ultimatums.”
“What if he does, though? What will you do?”
“Then I’ll walk away like I did the first time.” She’d told her father she was leaving with Carlos, but Carlos had sent her back home—embarrassed and broken-hearted.
“You can walk away? Just like that?” Natalie stared at her in disbelief.
“It would definitely be harder this time, but I’d do it, Nat. I’d do anything not to live without him again.”
Natalie’s eyebrows lifted toward the ceiling, and then she angled her head to the right, studying Carmen’s face. “Are you sure this isn’t just some good dick that has you acting so crazy?”
Carmen let out a hearty laugh. “No. I mean, the dick is good, but it’s not the reason for my behavior. It’s love, okay? One day you’ll experience it and then you’ll understand.”
“There’s not a man alive who can have me as sprung as you are over Carlos, and if there was, I’d pray for deliverance.” Natalie made the sign of the cross.
“You’re nuts. Help me take out my bags for when he gets here?”
“Sure.”
Natalie took the rolling garment bag while Carmen pulled the matching suitcase and slung the carry-on over her shoulder. Once they reached the living room, the intercom buzzed and her heart leaped into her throat.
“It’s him!” Carmen said excitedly.
She pressed the button at the door. “Carlos?”
“It’s me.”
“Come on up.” She buzzed him in.
Minutes later, she opened the door and flung her arms around his neck, as if she hadn’t seen him earlier. He smelled as fresh as a spring day, and the ends of his hair were a little damp, as though he’d taken a shower only minutes before.
He squeezed her tight, obviously happy to see her, too. When he finally pulled back, he asked, “Ready to go?”
“All set.”
She led him to the bags near the door.
“Hey,” Natalie said in an emotionless voice. She stood with a hip against the sofa and gave a less-than-enthusiastic wave.
“Hi, Natalie,” Carlos said, picking up the two larger pieces of luggage.
“Do right by my girl,” Natalie said.
“Nat!” Carmen glared at her.
Natalie ignored her and stared at Carlos.
“Don’t worry, I promise I will.”
He turned to Carmen, and even a blind person could see the love in his eyes. Surely Natalie saw it, too.
“She’s stuck with me,” Carlos said with finality.
“Gosh, you two are sickening. Go and be happy.” Natalie waved them through the door.
Before she left, Carmen glanced back at her friend. There was concern in her eyes, but Natalie was smiling, too. Carmen grinned at her and followed Carlos down the hall.
Carmen’s sock-covered feet moved silently on the tile floor as she walked over to the gray sofa with Sofia tucked against her chest. Carlos was hard at work on a painting, his long legs clad in loose-fitting cotton slacks, olive-toned skin bare from the waist up. His body was a work of art itself, lean with the subtle movement of hard muscle beneath the soft skin of his back and shoulders as he manipulated the paint into the image in his mind.
She sat down and watched over the back of the sofa while he worked.
During the past couple of days, she took great pleasure in watching him work, observing him in his element as he alternated between using his bare fingers covered in paint or wearing disposable nitrile gloves. In the current project, the splashes of bright primary colors looked like blunt swipes of paint but amazingly formed a recognizable image of a house at the end of a tree-lined road.
He was truly talented, and she enjoyed watching him work, his brow furrowed in concentration and light pouring through the huge windows at his back. She knew better than to disturb him during these moments, particularly when he brought his face closer to the large canvas to fix a detail and get the image just right.
Finally, Carlos stepped back and stared at his work. “What do you think?” he asked.
Her eyes moved over the piece in appreciation, but she knew his eyes were much more critical. “I love it,” she answered truthfully.
Carlos didn’t respond. He continued to stare and then squeezed a little more yellow paint onto the tip of his middle finger and dabbed it on the canvas. He stood back again and finally nodded, tearing off the gloves and tossing them in the nearby trash.
Sofia jumped off Carmen’s lap and sauntered away as Carlos joined her on the sofa.
“It’ll do for now.”
Too much of a perfectionist, he finished but wasn’t completely satisfied. As inspiration hit, he very well might get up in the middle of the night and add more color or change a detail that bothered him which no one else would notice.
“You’re too critical.” Carmen took his hand. She constantly wanted to touch his skin or play in his hair.
Carlos leaned back against the arm of the sofa and pulled her between his legs and onto his chest.
“Maybe I have something to prove.”
“Not to me,” Carmen said, twirling a lock of his hair around her finger.
“To myself.”
“I can understand that. I feel that way sometimes and have the added stress of trying to impress my father.”
“He still doesn’t think you can handle the business?”
Carmen lifted one shoulder in a shrug, using the same finger to draw circles on Carlos’s right pec. “He still sees me as a little girl, someone to protect, and someone who needs guidance.”
“How do you see yourself?”
She looked into his eyes. “I do need guidance. There’s a lot I don’t know about our business, but I’m learning a lot, too. And I’m accomplishing a lot. I opened two locations by myself.”
“I’m proud of you.”
“I want him to be proud of me, too.”
“I’m sure he is.”
“He hasn’t said so,” Carmen said quietly.
“He will.”
“You’re so sure?”
“Your father’s not my favorite person, but he loves you and wants you to be successful.”
Carmen touched the tip of his chin. “I want the two of you to get along this time.”
“There’s a lot of bad blood and…history between us. He’s not going to be pleased when he finds out we’re back together.”
“I know,” she said glumly. She didn’t want to
fight her father about her relationship with Carlos. Not again. “We’ll wait to tell him, like we discussed. It’s probably best anyway. I still need to prove to him that my decision-making is sound. Maybe once I know for sure that he’s happy with my work, we can tell him about us.”
“That’s probably best,” Carlos said.
Sofia’s meows seemed particularly mournful this morning. Carlos sat at the table, and she stared up at him with accusatory eyes, as if she knew Carmen was going to leave.
“She has to go home, girl,” Carlos said, almost choking on the words.
The time he and Carmen spent together had been incredible. He worked in the studio during the day while she made phone calls and analyzed figures on her laptop. A couple of times they went out for lunch, and twice walked to the market to purchase ingredients, and then came back to his place and cooked dinner together.
Having Carmen stay with him had been a bad idea because watching her leave would be that much more painful.
Sofia let out another plaintive meow and then stalked away. She jumped up on the windowsill and resumed her customary position, keeping watch on the street below. Downstairs, Franklin waited for Carmen to descend.
Anxiety as tight as a ball of rubber bands filled Carlos’s stomach, and all he wanted to do was beg her to stay. She emerged from the bathroom and gave him a weak smile. At the sight of her red-rimmed eyes, his right hand curled into a tight fist on the surface of the table.
She cleared her throat. “I’m ready.”
Carlos stood and walked over to her. He took both of her hands in his. “We’ll FaceTime and talk every day, okay?”
She merely nodded, and he guessed she didn’t want to risk talking or she’d start crying.
“Let’s get your stuff downstairs.”
Carmen whispered goodbye to Sofia, giving the cat’s head an affectionate rub before throwing the carry-on over her shoulder. They took the stairs down the one flight to the main level. She dragged reluctantly behind Carlos, like someone on their way to the guillotine.
He handed her bags to Franklin, and though the big man didn’t say a word and Carlos couldn’t see his eyes behind the sunglasses, he recognized Franklin’s disapproval in the noncommittal greeting and the set of his jaw. Once Franklin put away the bags, he climbed in the SUV to give them privacy.
Never Again: a second chance romance (Quicksand Book 3) Page 5