Riel comes back and hands me my card key. “Eighth floor.” He looks around. “Where’s Peter?”
Abbie waves him off. “Already gone to meet up with his friends. We probably won’t see him again until it’s time to leave.”
What a waste. Coming here for this awesome opportunity and then just going off. What is Peter thinking? Then again, this is old news for him and Abbie. They’ve probably been around the world and back again. Miami is nothing to them.
We ride the elevator to the eighth floor, and Abbie rounds the corner and heads off to the left as me and Riel veer right.
To say I’m pleased Abbie and I aren’t sharing a room puts it way too lightly. Elated more accurately describes my feelings on the matter.
I locate my room, let myself in, and come to a surprised stop. “Is this for real?”
Riel follows me in. “I told you.”
I cross through the one-bedroom suite, complete with kitchen, laundry room, and living room. I peek my head inside the bathroom, take in the scented shampoo, body wash, and white robes, and I grin. One day when I make enough money I want to live in a condo just like this. I want to treat my momma to a vacation in a place just like this. She would die. No, she would lounge in the garden tub and never leave.
I sigh. “Ah, to be rich.”
“Don’t get too comfortable, Queen,” Riel teases. “Reality will be back before you know it.”
I make a face at him and cruise on past him toward the balcony French doors. Sailboats bob in the distance, and I open both doors to step out. We peer over the rail where a waterfall falls five stories into a swimming pool and hot tub. Beyond that spans the Atlantic Ocean. Yeah, I would love for my momma to have a vacation here.
“Bring your suit?” Riel asks.
I nod. “You?”
He glances over the railing again. “Maybe we’ll hit the hot tub later.” He looks back at me, his amber eyes taking in my face, and leans in. “Just don’t tell Abbie,” he whispers.
My heart picks up pace as I watch his gaze slowly drop to my mouth. I swallow, and he tracks the movement with his eyes. If he leans in to kiss me, I’ll definitely kiss him back. Or maybe I should be the one who leans in.
No, what I am doing? Didn’t I tell myself this is the last thing that I need?
He clears his throat. “We’re meeting the museum group in the lobby for dinner.” He takes a step back. “See you later, then,” he says and I watch as he strides through my suite and out the door.
I don’t move. Frankly, I don’t think I can if I want to. What the heck just happened? We’d been about to kiss, hadn’t we? He’d had second thoughts, though. Or I had. Or maybe we both had. Who the hell knows?
Bottom line is, no matter what I tell myself, I’m beyond ready for that kiss. Ready for more. After Manny, I honestly didn’t think I’d ever feel that way again. Didn’t want to. Certainly didn’t come to Ponce de Leon Academy with that on my mind.
But Riel is different. Unique. Special. Maybe we can give the Benefit Friend thing a try. No strings. Light. Walk away.
Except I’m not so sure I would want to walk away. I like Riel. I like Mar. At the base of all this sexual zing between us, Riel and I are friends. Is it really possible to do the “benefit” thing and remain friends?
Friends who are both going in the same, yet opposite directions.
I don’t know. But I think I’m willing to give it a try. I deserve this. I can balance academics and a relationship, can’t I?
Chapter Thirty-Seven
I leave my glasses behind and my hair down, and freshly showered, I step off the elevator into the lobby packed with Florida’s “Youngest and Brightest” as the banner reads. Everyone stands talking, and I scan the crowd for Riel, but don’t see him. Maybe he hasn’t come down yet.
The group breaks apart then, heading off, and there he stands, all tall, dark, and way beyond handsome. Yeah, I’m ready to give this benefit thing a go. But how, exactly, does one go about initiating such a thing? Hey, Riel, want to make out?
I stifle a laugh, imagining myself actually saying that. That’s so not me.
Dressed in jeans and a sport coat, he’s standing right beside an older guy and they’re speaking Spanish. He glances up at me through the crowd and smiles, and God I don’t think he’s ever looked so sexy. Dark hair doing that messy thing. Dimples going deep. Amber eyes really set off by his tanned skin. Those dark jeans hugging his muscular thighs.
I hope he thinks I look just as sexy in the stuff I borrowed from Gillian. The snug minidress that perfectly matches my blue eyes, and the silver three-inch heels that pop me up to a whopping five foot five.
Riel’s heated gaze slowly travels down my body and just as slowly back up, like he’s absorbing my every detail. My pulse skips all over the place. Yes, he definitely thinks I look sexy. We could always stay here, I imagine myself saying.
“Slut.” Abbie comes up beside me and keeps right on walking.
I suck in a shocked breath and suddenly recall the note I’d gotten in my dorm. SLUT. It hadn’t occurred to me until just now that Abbie might have written it.
“Okay everybody,” one of the museum coordinators yells through the lobby. “Just follow me.”
The group heads out and I hang back, completely rocked by Abbie.
“Viola?” Riel calls, and I glance up to see him waving from the door. “Coming?”
Yes. No. I don’t know now. Abbie just killed my mood.
Riel crosses the lobby to where I stand. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” I hate, absolutely hate that I let Abbie affect me so much. Back home I blew off girls like her. But she has the power to take all this away from me if she really wants. Maybe I’ll Google you and find out all your deep, dark secrets.
“Viola, you’re muy atractiva in that dress. Let’s go show it off.”
I look up at him, and he waggles his brows at my outfit, before nodding to the door and managing to make me smile again.
He puts his hand over his heart. “I promise not to let big, bad, Abbie talk to you again.”
I roll my eyes. “You have no idea.”
He holds his arm out, very gentlemanly-like, and I get all kinds of gooey at the gesture.
“Shall we?” he asks.
My mood lifts. “Yes, we shall.” I loop my arm through his, settling my hand on his bicep, and consciously shove Abbie from my head.
We follow the group a short distance to Miami’s French community where brick-laid streets section off an area for the walkers, and twinkle lights hang draped between lampposts. Coffee shops, bistros, restaurants, bookstores, street performers, and specialty stores dot the sidewalks.
Enchanting best describes it and makes me glad I’ve come. There’s nothing like this back home.
The group’s reserved enough tables at an outdoor café, and we all settle into seats. As I peruse the menu, my eyes widen at the prices. I can’t imagine paying for something like this. Out of habit I pick out the cheapest thing—French Onion soup—and settle back. Idly, I listen to the conversations buzzing around me and end up listening to Riel speaking Spanish with the man beside him.
Closing my eyes, I soak in the rhythm of his speech. The flow of it. The beat. Lord help me. It’s called a romance language for a reason. Yum. Pure yum.
I hear my name and open my eyes. I glance over to Abbie’s table to see her gossiping with some other girls who look just as rich as she is. Their parents probably all belong to the same yacht club or some such thing. I hear my name again and narrow my eyes. Why are they talking about me?
My soup comes and I pick at it, more than aware of Abbie two tables over. So much for me consciously shoving her from my head. If I could, I would get up, walk over, take her glass of water, and dump it right on her expensive dress. But fueling her fire is the absolute last thing I need to do. She has control over me, and she knows it.
Dinner finally ends and some of our group wanders off to go clubbing. I’m just
not in the mood. “I’m calling it a night,” I tell Riel.
“You sure?”
I nod as I rub my hands over my arms. It’s turned a little chilly since we came out.
“I’ll walk you back,” he offers.
“That’s okay. It’s just two blocks. There are a ton of people out. I’m perfectly safe.” I wave him off. I don’t want him giving up fun for me. He needs this. “Go have fun. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He takes his sport coat off and drapes it over my shoulders. I’ve never had a guy put a coat over my shoulders before. It’s such a chivalrous thing to do. No wonder girls love it. He gives the lapels a quick tug. “Okay, but tomorrow night you and I are going dancing.”
Oh, yeah. I do like the way that sounds. “Deal.”
With one last tug on the lapels, he heads off with some people, and I immediately bury my nose in the fabric and inhale. I know I probably look like a total weirdo, but as I stroll back to the hotel, I sniff his jacket the whole way.
In the lobby I stop to pull a few brochures from the rack, and a chill creeps down my spine as I sense someone behind me. Turning, I look up into Abbie’s dark gaze. Something wicked flashes across her face, and it totally unsettles me. I’ve never actually been scared of Abbie, but in this second, fear snakes through me.
Her voice comes out deep and low. “Listen to me good when I say this. I know everything about you. You keep your hick ass away from Riel, and I’ll stay silent. Otherwise, I will tell everyone what a liar you are, and you will be back in whatever redneck town you’re from quicker than you can say moonshine.” She takes a step forward, towering over me. “Got it?”
Yeah, I got it. Whether she Googled me or what, somehow she found out I’m a fraud. None of these people are worth me losing my chance at a new life. My chance at making things better for Momma and the twins. Abbie wants me to stay away from Riel? Fine. She can have him.
But even as I tell myself this, something abysmal and remorseful pangs through me.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Abbie’s threatening words weigh heavy in my thoughts the entire night. I’m angry she has control over me. I’m pissed that I lied on the application and put myself in this position. And I’m scared this could all go away.
Come morning, I know I look like hell, and Abbie’s sneer tells me she knows she’s the reason why. If I would have never become friends with Riel, none of this would have happened. Abbie would’ve left me alone.
I purposefully take the early shuttle to avoid both her and Riel, and now here I sit in yet another boring lecture hosted by the museum. An ivy league PhD delivers this one, and while civil engineering normally holds my interest, the professor speaking could make peanut butter and Nutella sound boring and I love PB & N.
Across the room sits Riel and Abbie. When he came in hours ago, I avoided him, engaging other people in conversation and eventually finding a seat all the way across the room. I ignored the confused look he shot me and pretended to be incredibly interested in the girl I sat beside.
Abbie soon made herself comfortable right beside Riel, quite pleased I’m sure to have her way.
Now here we are at our first break, and Riel manages to slide away from Abbie and over to me. “Do I smell bad?” he jokes.
I give him a polite smile and tiny shrug, and force myself to say, “Just looking for some time alone.”
He frowns. “Oh.”
I nod back over to his seat. “Lecture’s about to resume.”
Riel looks at me, and I glance away, unable to take the confusion I see all over his face.
Come midafternoon, our museum sponsor calls it a day and tells us to go “play.” I beeline it straight to the shuttle and back to the hotel, not even lingering to give Riel a chance to question me.
An hour later, someone knocks on my hotel door. I peer through the peephole, see Riel, and don’t open my door. Closing my eyes, I breathe out and will him to just leave. What am I supposed to say? Abbie’s threatened me with my entire future. And, oh yeah, everything you think about me is a big fat lie.
“Viola?” he calls.
I remain silent.
An hour after that I see him leave with a few others, Abbie included, and finally leave my room. My first time in Miami and I’m hiding out in a hotel. Not exactly how I saw the trip going.
I take advantage of the workout room and the hot tub afterward. That evening I don’t show for the scheduled dinner outing.
The next day goes the same way. I sit on the other side of the lecture hall. I ignore Riel. I pretend like everything’s okay when he approaches me. I sneak out to the hot tub when I know he’s gone. And I don’t go out with everyone in the evening. The only difference is he doesn’t knock on my door.
Day three, I don’t have to ignore Riel because he ignores me instead. And in the afternoon when I think the coast is clear and am lounging in the hot tub, I glance all the way up to floor eight to see him standing on his balcony staring down at me.
I feel like the biggest bitch in the world.
We don’t acknowledge each other. But when I get out, I know he’s watching my every move, and just the thought of his penetrating gaze buzzes an electrical acuteness through every cell in my body.
That night I have no choice. I have to go out with the group on our last night because as the conference coordinator bluntly puts it, “It’s required.”
There are two shuttles, and I board the one Riel and Abbie don’t. Both shuttles drop us off at South Beach, and when I get off, theirs has already unloaded and the two of them are nowhere to be found. I hope Abbie’s really happy she’s getting her way.
Several of the coordinators lead us down a long walkway with the beach on one side and buildings on the other. Numerous restaurants, dance clubs, bars, novelty shops, and clothing stores populate the sidewalks with Latin music filling the air. I smile, thinking how much Momma would love this place.
The coordinators go off in different directions, and I follow one inside a place called CoCo’s.
“Hottest Latin spot in Miami,” the coordinator yells over the music.
Bamboo and teak decorate the club, with a bongo ensemble playing in the back and a Spanish rhythm one entertaining the front. People cram the dance floor, gyrating to the music.
I look up to see a balcony that holds small tables where couples sit at gazing down on the view below. A bar spans the length of the club with women dressed in leopard body suits dancing on top.
I smile as I watch them. They look awesome.
A man in all black approaches. “ID?”
“Just a Coke,” I tell him.
With a nod, he heads off, and I find a spot against the wall to stand and watch. The leopard-dressed women draw my attention again. I don’t want to stare, but their talent mesmerizes me. I know how to dance a little, stuff my momma taught me, but nothing like that.
The waiter brings me the Coke. “Want me to teach you?”
“Teach me?”
He gives me a friendly wink. “The moves.”
“Oh! Are you allowed?”
“It’s actually part of our job description.” He points to several other waiters and waitresses dancing in the crowd and then holds out his hand. “Yes?”
I smile. “You know what? Yes.” I need this. To have some fun.
I take his hand and let him lead me into the crowd, and standing beside me, he demonstrates the moves to salsa. I mimic, not self-conscious at all, and in no time catch on.
Moving in front of me, he places my hands on his shoulders and puts his on my waist. He moves me, showing me the Latin rhythm and sway.
“Sassy,” he says, bouncing his brows.
I smile as the music runs through my body and close my eyes, absorbing the hum in the air. My hips keep pace to the seductive beat, and my knee-length flowered dress flows around me when the waiter spins me.
Exhilarated. Carefree. Uninhibited. All words I never imagined I’d feel in one moment of time.
He dips me over his arm, so far back my hair brushes my calves.
“Good thing you’re limber,” he says, and I laugh.
Only I don’t recognize my own laugh as it comes out raspy. Sexy.
Someone taps the waiter on his shoulder, and I glance beyond my dance partner to see Riel.
“Know this guy?” the waiter asks.
I nod as a low hum of energy coils through me. Yes, I know this guy. And even though I should not, even though Abbie’s words echo through my brain, I step right into Riel’s arms. I want to be here. Right now. In this moment. Consequences be damned.
Riel slides his right hand to my lower back, and every thought fades from my mind as I stare up into his amber eyes. He pulls me toward him, and I draw in a breath as he slips his leg between the two of mine. He trails his fingers down my arm and repositions my hand to rest on his muscled chest and begins swaying me to the hypnotic beat.
I give in to the sway, the sensuality, and run my hand down his hard side. Inching closer, I show him I want this. With him. Right here. Right now. Riel follows my lead, tightening his grip even more, pulling me in, and my eyes close as our bodies move as one.
Lowering his head, he presses his cheek against mine and our mutual warmth flows through each other. The music softens. Our pace slows. I open my eyes to see him gazing deep into mine, and when he lowers his lips, I meet them. There is no hesitant settling in of a kiss, our tongues touch, circle, explore. He tastes better than I imagined—rich, a bit sweet, and something that is only him.
He moves his hand down my spine, over my butt, and along the back of my leg. Grasping the underside of my knee, he lifts it to cradle the outside of his thigh. He dips me backward, and as he brings me up, he trails his lips along my neck.
Cupping my hips, he lifts me off the floor, and this time when our lips meet a groan escapes both of us. Our tongues circle again, our breaths mingle, and nothing matters. All I know is that I want more.
Riel’s hand slides under my dress and when I feel his fingers on my bare thigh, I slowly, reluctantly, pull away. We’re both breathing heavy, pressed against each other, staring deeply into the other’s eyes. I read his expression. It’s the exact one I have. More. I want more. I lean in to suggest we go back to the hotel, and over his shoulder I catch sight of Abbie, her iPhone up, filming the whole thing.
Watching You Page 12