As she fell back, she reached for the wrinkled sundress that Ale had gently placed next to her head. She pulled it close to her and recalled how it felt when he slowly lifted it over her head the night before. She buried her face in the soft cotton fabric just as a loud sob escaped her throat. Okay, she told herself. These are the only tears you will shed for Alejandro Vargas, you silly woman. You got what you wanted. Now suck it up and move on.
*
Alejandro stalked back and forth in his hut. Seeing Mika’s tears gutted him. No matter how she tried to hide it, he knew she’d been crying, and it made him both confused and angry. The anger he could deal with. It was the confusion he hated. What was with her sleeping on the couch last night? And the whole game over bit? What they shared was mind-blowing, freaking off-the-charts amazing. Not something to cry about but to rejoice over. Sure, he got that it changed their work dynamic, but they would figure that out. There was no way he would let passion like theirs slip away on a technicality.
He stopped pacing, forced his mind to relax. It would be fine. Mika was a smart woman. She’d wipe her tears and see that this was for the best. And he’d be sure she did.
Alejandro dressed quickly, pulling on some cargo shorts and a tank, and made coffee for the both of them. By the time it was ready, Mika was making her way toward him on the balcony. She looked her usual self, in a loose tank top, cargo shorts and her sneakers. She even sported an easy smile, but it wasn’t fooling him at all and he didn’t miss the slight dark circles that had formed under her eyes. Ale cursed himself for not holding onto her more tightly the night before, and making sure she stayed in bed with him and not gone to that stupid couch.
He reached out and stroked a finger softly across her cheek, and she lowered her lashes, not saying a word. Suddenly, it felt as if his heart would burst in his chest. This must be what the Grinch went through, he thought. It was painful as all hell. Ale shook his head. Well, she may want their time together to end but it wasn’t. He would convince Mika to give him the next forty-eight hours...and then, the next forty-eight after that and so on and so on. If she thought this was a game, well, he was ready to play.
“I’ve got coffee going.”
“Hey, that’s usually my job,” she said.
He shrugged. “No big deal. I was up and doing nothing. I’m not useless, you know.” It came out harsher than he wanted, and he instantly regretted it. He’d have to take it slow— he didn’t want to scare her off.
“I wasn’t saying you were,” she said softly, so softly it almost shamed him. This was unlike her. Where was the fire? He’d much rather have the fight than this placidity.
“Well, you sure made me feel like it.”
“That wasn’t my intention.” Her back straightened, and a glimmer came to her eyes.
Good. This he could deal with. This he knew. Maybe he’d stay on this course. He took a step closer to her, and she stepped back.
“Damn it, Mika. What the hell is going on with you?”
She looked down. He reached out for her chin, forcing her to look back up at him. She met his gaze with glistening eyes. “I want us to just leave yesterday where it was, okay? I’m not so sure I’m the woman I thought I was. One who can handle us, yesterday, spilling over into today. We’re not in the jungle anymore. You have to see it my way.” She gave him a determined look. The same one she gave when he was running behind schedule, or she was pushing an issue on a job. Her expression said she was right, but something deeper, a feeling pulling between the two of them told him different. He would not be deterred. Not that easily.
“And why do you get to call all the shots?”
Her eyes hardened, and she jerked away from him. “Excuse me? Because I said so, that’s why. I’m the girl, I get to throw a flag on the play whenever I like. It’s in the rules. Yesterday was great, but I know it’s not real. It can’t be. So why continue? You’re not my boss in this matter.” He saw her visibly steel herself. And with that, he wanted her. Badly.
She moved back, and he again stepped forward.
“Well, I’ve got news for you, little beauty,” he ground out. “You’re not in charge of this. Not like you think. You were just as up for it as I was, and now that it’s been unleashed, you can’t handle it.”
Her eyes widened then narrowed in anger. “Maybe it’s you who can’t handle being rejected,” she challenged.
Ale grinned at that. “Oh no, maybe it’s you who can’t handle a real man.”
She crossed her arms and planted her feet. “You want to go there? Spare me your ego. I’ve already had enough of it to last a lifetime.”
“Really?” he said, reaching out quickly and stroking her softly on the side of her neck with the pad of his thumb. For this, he was rewarded with a gorgeous little shiver that went from her body to his. He laughed. “Beauty, I don’t think you’ve had nearly enough of my ego.”
“You really are a pain in the ass, you know.” It came out low, with only half the fire he knew she intended.
“So are you, and I like it.”
“No, you don’t,” she said softly while he continued to rub at her neck. “I’m just convenient.”
Convenient? She was the most inconvenient woman he’d ever known.
Then he watched as she licked her lips nervously and lowered those sooty lashes. “Just these two days, Ale. That’s all I can give you.” She looked back up at him.
He stared at her. Noticing the nervousness. The vulnerability she tried so hard to hide. She couldn’t really mean it.
But she nodded, punctuating her point. “No more than that. Then it’s over.”
He bit down on his ever-growing frustration. Two days? So she was playing tough. Fine. He could handle it. He didn’t get where he was by not dealing with tough competitors or women leaving. It was their family legacy to hear his father tell it. But that was neither here nor there. He wasn’t bringing his family into this. This was about him and Mika. So she said two days. Well, he could do a lot in two days. By the time he was finished with her, two days would be forever.
For conformation, he answered her with a long kiss. Finally he pulled back, satisfied with her flushed cheeks and swollen lips. “If you say so. We’ll play this your way for now.”
*
Mika was grateful for Tai, full of energy, coming up the walkway with a basket of fruit and breaking the spell of Alejandro. Another minute and he’d have had her sprawled out on the balcony in total sacrificial mode.
“So clean in your hut, Miss. I hardly have to clean up,” Tai announced a moment later.
Mika answered her declaration with an insolent glare but Tai only laughed as she left them on the balcony and went to straighten up in Alejandro’s hut.
Mika had to fight her sudden desire to kick Alejandro for not holding back his cocky grin. Lord, how would they ever go back to normal once the rest of the crew arrived?
“What was that all about?” Mika hissed low at Alejandro once Tai was out of earshot.
“What?” he asked, feigning innocence.
“You know what. That damned smirk. You could have at least tried to be discreet.” She swiped at his arm.
“Oww!” he rubbed it. “Must you always wound me?”
“Hush, and lower your voice. Tai’s in the next room,” she whispered. “Please Ale. I won’t be your joke.”
“Okay. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you mad. That wasn’t my intention.”
“Really? It seems to be your intention all the time,” she said.
“Stop. Now you’re not being fair.”
She frowned. Okay, maybe she wasn’t. She didn’t know anymore. Her mind was a mess. She shook her head. “Can we just eat and then get to work for the day? Try and at least pretend to be professional?”
He stared at her a moment.
“Please,” she said. “I don’t want to spend the day sparring with you. Besides, it’s a beautiful day, and I’m sure you can get some great shots.”
He l
ooked out over the balcony toward the beach, then around toward the mountains. She could tell he was studying the light against the gorgeous untouched terrain. She knew she had him. Nothing came between Ale and the perfect photo.
He turned back to her. “Sure. But eat quickly. Lots to do today, can’t lose the light.”
After breakfast, Mika pulled out her laptop and popped in the mobile Internet connection she’d brought with her. She looked up toward the bright blue sky and silently prayed for it to work. Thankfully it did, so she sent a message to Brian, the rigger, letting him know about all the changes and listing the additional equipment they’d need to make Alejandro’s Birds of Paradise vision come to life. Of course, thoughts of the Birds of Paradise shoot brought her mind right back to making love under the tree. She felt her skin flush hot. When she looked up Alejandro’s dark eyes were on her. Did he know what she was thinking? His lips quirked. Of course he did. Damned men.
His gaze was dark and wanting, his eyes practically caressing her. She felt her lips grow full, and she swallowed the lump in her throat.
“Uh, do you mind?”
“Not at all. Please continue.” He folded his arms and leaned back on the balcony railing, continuing to watch her.
She turned back to her computer, straightening her back, very aware of the beads of perspiration forming between her shoulder blades. “I’m sure the view the other way is much better,” she murmured while typing.
“That would be your opinion, not mine,” he countered.
She narrowed her eyes, trying hard to focus on her list and the screen. How was she supposed to concentrate with him looking at her like that? Crap, she’d just typed to bring extra LIPS instead of CLIPS for the models’ dresses.
She sighed. “While I finish these last messages, do you mind pulling out the equipment bags? We should get started early if we’re going to scout more locations.”
“You’re right. We have a lot to cover today. I want to ask Tong the way to that waterfall.”
At that, Mika groaned. “The waterfall? Why am I not surprised?”
“Come on. Where’s your sense of adventure?”
This time she raised a brow, and he burst into an easy laugh. Adventure? With this island hop, she’d turned into a right daredevil, she thought. Making love in the jungle under the cover of trees. Just then, Ale came around and kissed the sweet spot right behind her ear, bringing those jungle feelings right back to the surface and making her sigh with pleasure. Her fingers stilled over the laptop keyboard.
“Please, Ale, the bags. If you start that, your waterfall is history.”
*
Tong didn’t have a hut on stilts but as it turned out, he and his family lived in a small village of bamboo and whitewashed clay structures. The island wasn’t nearly as deserted as she and Alejandro had originally thought. Ten to fifteen families lived just a short walk from where they were staying, which was still close to the beach but hidden just a bit deeper into the jungle, away from prying eyes.
Looking at the native island dwellings, Mika concluded that their huts were obviously considered four-star accommodations for the island. Possibly the beginning of a bustling tourist business. The children ran around in clothes that were worn at best and in most cases, worn out. But despite their conditions they all seemed happy in their surroundings, brown-skinned and beautiful, with dark eyes, glossy hair and easy open smiles. They also were excited about the foreign diversion to their normal day. A cute little girl, who looked about two years old, came running from the front of a tiny house long hair bouncing behind her. When she got to Mika, she wrapped her arms around her legs.
“She likes you.” Mika heard Alejandro say from behind her, camera already in hand.
“It’s a first.” Mika looked down at the small child, not quite sure what to do. She reached out and tentatively patted her head. The child looked up with what to Mika seemed to be the largest eyes in the world and smiled. It spread across her entire face.
“A pat on the head? Can’t say that you’re a natural.”
“No I’m not. Obviously this little darling has a poor sense of judgment or will run to anyone,” Mika said with a frown.
Ale cocked his head to the side and looked from Mika to the girl. “I doubt that. Kids rarely do.”
Mika stared at Alejandro for a moment, their eyes connecting. Suddenly something deeper was going on that she didn’t want to approach. She felt a moment of panic and turned away. “Well, her mother must be somewhere,” she said, looking around.
Just then, Tai came from the back of the hut, looking a little harried. “Sunee! There you are. Why are you bothering the Miss?” she asked, startling Sunee and pulling her from Mika’s leg. “That is a very naughty girl.”
Sunee’s lip quivered, and Mika couldn’t stop herself from putting a protective arm around her.
“It’s no problem, Tai. She didn’t bother me at all.”
Tai’s eyes narrowed. “Are you sure?”
“Of course I’m sure. Is she yours? She’s beautiful.”
Tai grinned wide. Showing all her teeth. “You think she’s mine.” She gave a hearty laugh at that. “I do look good, yes?” She said preening, showing off her robust figure. She looked down at the child with obvious pride. The child was now dislodged from Mika and holding on to Tai’s leg. “No, she’s not mine, but a lot like me, yes? She’s my son’s daughter. I’m sorry she runs to you like that. She does that with all ladies.” Mika gave Ale an I-told-you-so-look.
He shrugged.
“I think it’s because she has no mother. She died.”
“I’m very sorry.” Mika reached out and touched the girl’s soft, round cheek.
Tai shrugged. “Nothing to be done. She got very sick, and the doctor too far off on mainland drinking it up. Sunee is for us now. She will be okay.”
Mika couldn’t hide her feelings of horror. Could this child’s mother have been saved if there was a local doctor? Her mind was whirling. She looked around at the other children laughing and playing. Suddenly she wanted to know so much but didn’t want to insult the woman with her questions.
But it seemed Ale was one step ahead of her, “Tai, do the children go to school on the island?”
Tai smiled, not insulted at all by the line of questioning. “Sir, why don’t you both come in and have some tea? I’ll tell you what you want to know.”
Mika and Alejandro gave each other sideways glances, both thinking for a moment about the time, but in the end, curiosity won out and they did as they were told. They followed Tai into her home, which was a small wooden structure with a large front room and a couple of back rooms. It was painted white inside, bright and airy. Jam-packed and colorful, it seemed to hold years of family memories from ten different eras.
Tai instructed them to sit on a large couch with a colorful throw on the back. She placed Sunee between then and marched off to the kitchen to put a kettle on.
They looked at each other with the child between them. “This is not awkward at all,” Mika joked.
Alejandro smiled wide as he snapped of a picture of Sunee, then flicked a switch to show it back to her, making her giggle. “Nope, not one bit.”
After a long moment, Mika grew impatient. “Where is this woman?”
Alejandro raised an eyebrow. “Ever stop to think I’m paying her off? Give us some time alone here.”
Mika looked down at Sunee’s sweet face and then scowled back up at him. “Then it’s your money wasted because I’m so not that girl and you are not that guy. Two days. Don’t go getting a family kind of look in your eye. It doesn’t become you.”
“Why not? Maybe you don’t know me as well as you think you do. Besides you know I can pull off just about any style.” He gave her a quick wink.
Sunee was between them, watching the back and forth like a tennis match. But at the shadow of clear displeasure that clouded Mika’s eyes, it was Ale’s turn to scowl, just as Tai, who either had an impeccable sense of timing or h
ad been eavesdropping, came back in to pick up the little girl, taking her through a curtain to a back room.
There was a long and awkward silence.
“What are you talking about, Ale?” Mika hissed. “You’re making light of things that aren’t funny, and I don’t like it.”
Alejandro narrowed his eyes on her. “Who says I’m making light? Why couldn’t we be those people?” he ground out, coming closer to her as she inched away. “Look, I’m not talking kids and all that. And I understand this is new and a different for us, but you don’t need to run away from what we have here. I’m just trying to make you see we can be something more. Can have something more in time.”
Time. It was as if cold fingers squeezed at her heart. Time was the last thing they had. She shook her head.
“What we have here is work to do. Not pretending like we’re some sort of cute happy family in the making. Why are you trying to make it more than what it is?”
His eyes hardened and he pulled back. Shields up. “You’re right. I shouldn’t have tried to make it any more than whatever it was.”
The words rumbled from low in his chest from. Was. Ouch. The cold fingers squeezed harder. Damn, she’d gone too far. Again. He was only being nice, trying to make this day perfect, and she was constantly screwing it up. Ruining their precious last moments together.
“Ale, I’m—”
“There. She was so tired. Went right out. Such a good girl she is.” Tai said, bustling into the room. “I’ll just be a moment and back with some tea.”
“We really should be going, Tai,” Ale said. “We need to catch the light. Do you mind just getting Tong for us?” His voice left no room for argument.
“Sorry, but he’s not here. He’s fishing but will be back very soon,” Tai said apologetically. Then she really took in Ale’s dark expression. “Don’t worry, Sir. I’ll send someone for him, and while we wait, I’ll get that tea.”
Alejandro eased against the back of the couch and rubbed his hands across his shorts flexing his fingers. Mika fought to gain her composure. Her whole plan was turned upside down. She looked over at Alejandro and knew two things. One: she wanted him again. So badly it practically hurt. And two: She had to get away from him. Fast. Otherwise he would end up tearing her heart apart.
Through The Lens (Creative Hearts Book 1) Page 7