by Lia Lee
She glanced back at Luciano, still sleeping so easily on the beach.
Well, as far as a last hurrah on the beach goes, I really did pick a good one.
Her body still had a faint and pleasant soreness to it as she made her way back up the beach. She would go up to her room to shower and put on new clothes. Then breakfast, as she was starving, and then she would call her agent.
There was something new opening up in her life, and she could feel herself growing more excited to think about it.
For some reason, however, she couldn't get Luciano out of her mind. As she showered, ate, talked to her agent and made her final preparations to leave Santa Joan, her mind wandered back to the beach where she had left Luciano sleeping. Would it really have been so very bad if she had simply woken him up with a kiss, touched him, told him her real name and where she was going?
The fact that you are this torn likely means something, she scolded herself. You need to keep your eyes on the prize, girl.
She knew that was true, but if it was, why did it feel as if she had left her heart behind her in the sand?
***
Luciano woke up with a start, disoriented and confused. His skin felt too warm, as if he had been sleeping in a microwave, and when he sat up, there was a moment of confusion so all-encompassing he wondered if he was still dreaming.
He had been checked into one of the most luxurious suites on Santa Joan. Why was he sleeping on a beach?
Memories of the night before flooded back to him, and with them came memories of his mermaid. A glance up and down the beach told him that she was nowhere to be found, and he sighed.
In the light of day, the time they had spent together barely seemed real. His mind might have found their meeting fantastical, but his body could still remember chasing her into the water only to realize that he was the one being chased. He could still feel her burning touch on his body, still remember how very good she’d tasted and how wonderful she had felt mounted on his hips.
Luciano shivered as he remembered how she had felt wrapped around him, her body tense at first before relaxing into the pleasure they had found together.
After a few moments revealed no sign that she was returning, Luciano sighed and went to find his clothes. They felt strange when he put them on, as if another man had worn them. His meeting with the mermaid had changed some elemental part of him, and it remained to be seen whether it was for the better or worse.
The walk back to the hotel gave him time to think, but when he was back within the marble walls again, he still hadn't reached a conclusion. He had told her that she should only give him her name if she wanted to, and it seemed clear at this point she wanted to keep it from him.
However, that didn't remove the subtle but aching need in him. The idea of never seeing her face again, of never seeing her smile, made his heart thump painfully in his chest.
I'll watch the mermaid show again, he thought. That'll help me figure out what to do next, and it might show her that I'm still interested, that I'm not one of those guys who simply runs off once he got what he wanted.
His mermaid looked like an angel, but there was a kind of world-weary toughness to her as well. He had seen how she’d fended off the son of the resort owner and her “admirer” on the beach the night before. He supposed she had no reason to think he was any different, but perhaps if he gave her an opportunity to see…
Before he could give the matter more thought, however, a call came in on his phone. When he saw that it was one of his investors for one of the more current projects, he debated for a moment and picked up.
"What's up? I'm on vacation."
"Sorry," said an investor who certainly did not sound sorry. "I know that you're meant to be unavailable, but there's this idea in my head that I needed to share with you before the deal went through..."
Luciano listened with growing interest and then with a kind of grudging curiosity.
"Yes, yes, I could see how that would work," he mused. "If you get me some numbers on it..."
"Too late," his investor said with a shocking amount of cheer. "I've already started proceedings to..."
"What?!" The people closest to Luciano flinched at the sharpness in his tone, but he stalked forward, completely focused on the call. "Are you seriously telling me that you went ahead with a major change in plans to something that a dozen men across the world have already signed off on?"
The investor went on to try to explain what he had done, but Luciano was already pretty certain he had nailed it. This was something that needed to be fixed sooner rather than later, and that meant flying back to Milan.
Luciano swore vividly and colorfully as he went back to his suite. As soon as he ended the call with the investor, he called up his lawyer, throwing his things haphazardly into a suitcase before giving up on it entirely. He had a full wardrobe of clothes in Milan, he wouldn't miss these.
"I need the private jet fueled up," he told his lawyer. "And I need a car that will get me there. I want to be in Milan as soon as I can, and right now that means as soon as I get out of the shower, understood?"
He barely had another moment to think before he was on the jet, taking off from Santa Joan. It wasn't until he was leaving that Luciano looked down at the vivid blue water and the beautiful resort nestled in the white beaches.
With a pang, he thought of his mermaid, and he shook his head.
I will return and find you. What we are, it is not over yet.
***
It seemed like a strange kind of fate when Pearl left her room after showering and changing and nearly walked straight into Luciano in the lobby. He obviously had not showered yet himself, but there was something so handsome about him that she found herself smiling anyway and drifting closer to him.
Maybe she had been wrong about this. Maybe she could unbend just slightly and...
She was close enough to call out for him when he lifted his head and seemed to look right through her. He held his phone to his ear, and he was walking like a man with purpose. He strode through the lobby scattering people left and right, and he came within a palm's breadth of touching her before he was past her and headed towards the elevators.
Pearl stood there in shock for a long moment, and then she wrapped her arms around herself, trying to shake off the feeling of intense grief that seemed to shoot through her.
This is for the best, she tried to tell herself. It is always better to learn who someone is sooner rather than later, isn't it?
She knew how true those words were, but still she felt herself quiver under the pain of it. It was ridiculous. He was a one-night stand, and it was her fault if she had put more into it than he’d ever intended. Pearl had no idea that a stranger looking straight through her without deigning to acknowledge her could be so very painful.
It only solidified her decision, however, and as she walked out of the lobby, she texted her agent.
Yes, I can be ready to leave Santa Joan by tomorrow. Just let me know when the plane is coming.
Chapter Six
Four months later…
Pearl knew she had only been on her feet for three hours, but right now, it felt more like thirty. Her feet ached, her lower back felt as if it was on fire, and if she had to listen to another patron ask if she would do something “fun” for her tip, she was going to scream.
Of course, none of that mattered to management, and she hefted up the tray full of drinks and pasted a bright smile on her face. The dining room of Murphy's Bar and Grill was startlingly quiet that night, but the few tables full of people were demanding. She smiled her way through a round of men seeing who could drink their beer the fastest, and then one of them patted her knowingly on the belly.
"You sure do like to have fun, don't ya?" he grinned, and she could have spat. She would have just a few months ago, but the truth was she needed this job. Instead of spitting on him as he deserved, she smiled and disappeared into the back where she tucked herself into a small corner and covered her
eyes with shaking hands. God, she used to be tough as nails. What had happened?
She knew what had happened. She cupped her hands over her tiny bump, where she could barely believe her child was growing. The moment she had discovered she was pregnant, she had been overtaken with a deep, profound, almost violent love for her child to be, but along with it had come a fear that seemed to permeate every danger.
"Don't worry, kiddo," she said with a sigh. "I promise I'll take good care of you. I'll find something better than this place."
Murphy's was located close to the water parks, and it was where a lot of the men came after they had dropped off their families for the night. She had gotten used to them loudly talking about how much trouble it was entertaining their children, how their wives only seemed to worry about bills.
Maybe it's because they're too busy giving you a home to come back to to work on their figures, she wanted to yell more than once, but that would have gotten her fired. There wasn't a lot of call for a pregnant mermaid, after all. The park she had signed with had ejected her as soon as she had let it slip she was pregnant, and her agent had done the same. Murphy's was the best she could do.
For now, Pearl told herself. I can find something better soon.
"Assholes get ya down, honey?" asked Luisa, swinging by with a tray full of appetizers. "You might want to sit down a bit, you look green as a pepper."
To be honest, Pearl never felt quite rested or happy these days, but she figured that was normal. If she wasn't running to her shift, she was trying to figure out what the heck she was going to do and staying out of management's way.
"Watford! The hostess just seated someone in your area. Get your ass out on the floor!"
Of course, it worked better some days than others. She summoned a small, fake smile for her boss, and she headed back into the fray.
There was a single man at her table, and she sighed, mentally bracing herself for an unimpressive tip and possibly some light harassment.
"Hi, welcome to Murphy's where we like to take care of you. What can I...can I..."
She had been working at Murphy's for almost four weeks now. The opening spiel should have been instinct by now, and she had thought it was. Apparently when Luciano walked in and sat at a table, all bets were off.
Her shocked glance took him in like he was water. Same man, so handsome he made her ache, and when she saw the surprise on his face, she knew this wasn't planned. His hand reached for her instinctively, and she almost dropped her pad and pencil to reach back, but then darkness was edging her vision, and her knees were going weak. She felt the room swim around her, and then the floor was rushing towards her with terrifying speed.
***
She opened her eyes and wondered why she was looking at the dim light in the manager's office. Pearl came to herself a little more and realized she was lying down on the small couch in the back, the manager nowhere to be seen. She turned her head to see who was holding her hand, and she drew in a soft breath.
"Luciano," she murmured, and he smiled. It took his face from somber to handsome, and he squeezed her hand tightly.
"Do not worry," he said. "The ambulance is coming soon."
"Ambulance," Pearl exclaimed. "I can't afford an ambulance, I can't..."
She struggled to sit up, but Luciano's broad hand pushed her back down on the couch.
"You fell," he said firmly. "There is no harm in getting it checked out to make sure that nothing is amiss, especially in your condition."
Her hands went instantly to her belly, and she knew he had seen. She risked a glance up at his face, and yes, there was something guarded there, something that was waiting in the dark for its time to come out and be satisfied.
"Luciano, I had no idea..."
Her words were interrupted by the office door slamming open, and the manager huffed his way in, glaring around and looking for someone to take all of it out on.
"Watford, what the hell? Are you planning to nap the rest of your shift just because you took a tumble? Get your ass up and back out there!"
"Right, right," Pearl said with a groan. "I'm going."
"No, you're not." Luciano's voice was low, but there was no denying the seriousness in it. "Stay right where you are. You are going to the hospital.”
"Who the hell do you think you are?" the manager snapped. "Who the hell let you back here, was it that damn Luisa?"
"After your waitress collapsed," Luciano said, frost in his voice, "I carried her back here. Someone told me there was a bench here that I could set her on, and I took the liberty of calling the ambulance as well. She needs to be checked thoroughly to make sure that no harm comes to her or to her child."
There was a chilly warning in his voice that made Pearl shiver a little, but her manager charged forward without a moment of doubt.
"Who the hell do you think you are, Mr. Fancy Foreigner? I'm trying to run a business here, and these bitches think they can just sleep around the clock! I don't care if you're Watford's boyfriend or if you pay her rent, you're going to..."
Pearl never found out what her manager's threat was going to be because Luciano rose up fluidly from his place on the floor, punching the man squarely in the face as he did so. The manager staggered back, but when he half-rose looking like he was going to murder someone, Luciano loomed over him.
"I am a very bad enemy to have," Luciano said calmly. "I am not going to have second thoughts about buying this damn place, having you fired and then making sure you don't work anywhere else in the tri-county area again. Believe me, I can do it."
It should have been a fantastical claim, but it seemed to strike her manager right between the eyes. He hunkered down like a dog that didn't know if it wanted to fight, and then he scuttled out of the office, muttering just quietly enough that Luciano could ignore him. As calm as a monk, Luciano turned his attention back to Pearl.
"That man is a nightmare," he informed her, and she laughed.
"Well, I'm glad that was a fun time for you. I think you just cost me my job."
"It's nothing that's worth losing," he said with a shrug. "After all, it's going to go belly up anyway when this place gets bought and that manager is let go. It might be better to see a set of shops on this strip."
Pearl chuckled. "I thought you said you wouldn't make trouble for him."
"I said I could do it, and now I am saying that I will do it," Luciano said with a slight grin. "He deserved it for coming in like some almighty tyrant to make a pregnant woman return to work."
She winced, her hand stealing over the curve of her belly. "Luciano..."
"We will have a great deal to talk about later," he said firmly.
As it was, it turned out that they didn't have much time to talk anyway. The ambulance arrived, and she was whisked to a private medical facility. It was far different from the emergency rooms she had visited in the past, more like a hotel than a medical center, and a doctor and an OB/GYN came to see her mere minutes after she was settled.
It took an hour for the hospital to ascertain that there was nothing wrong with her, and throughout that time, Luciano sat in the guest chair, watching her with unblinking, dark eyes. When she was given permission to go, he was by her side in an instant. He offered her his arm, and after a moment, she took it.
That touch sent a warm heat through her, and suddenly she could remember everything they had done on that beach together. She could see he felt the same way, if the slight change in his breathing was any testament. However, they were silent as they returned to his car. She almost protested, but she didn’t have a car of her own. At the very least, she needed a ride to the nearest bus stop.
The silence stretched out between them once they were both seated in his car. Pearl was going to do her best to breech it, but then he spoke without turning to her.
"Are you hungry? I would like to take you somewhere for dinner."
It was such a strange and dignified question that Pearl couldn't stop herself from giggling, a small amoun
t of hysteria in her voice. After everything that had happened today, it sounded like Luciano was inviting her on a simple date, and the idea of that was hilarious.
"Yes," she managed to get out. "I would like that a lot."
***
Of course Luciano couldn't do anything even a little bit normal. He took her to an elegant restaurant that served Brazilian cuisine, and when he was asked for a reservation, he only shook his head and offered them his card. As Pearl watched in surprised, the hostess nodded and escorted them back to a small room hidden at the rear of the restaurant, elegantly appointed and separated from the main portion of the dining room with French doors.
"Just a tasting menu of everything, I think," Luciano said. "And once the food is delivered, we'd like to be left alone."
He glanced at her, and she wondered if there was something almost shy about it.
"I brought us here because I know they have all natural ingredients," he said slightly stiffly. "No contamination to worry about, and you can make sure that the food you eat is good for..."
His words stopped, and she nodded.
"For the baby," Pearl said gently. "Yes, thank you."
She hesitated for a moment, but Pearl had never been a coward.
"You must have many questions for me," she said, and he looked up, hands loose on the table in front of him.
"What's your name?"
She looked at him startled. "That's your question?"
He scowled at her, and when he spoke, there was something dark in his voice.
"The closest thing that I have to your name is the damnable manager calling you 'Watford,'" he snapped. "I think I deserve to hear the rest of it."
She bridled slightly at his tone, but she nodded.
"My name is Pearl, Pearl Watford," she said, and she saw a complex series of emotions cross Luciano's face.
"Your name is Pearl," he said softly, as if he were tasting her name. "And you are carrying my baby."
She nodded, but she looked at him curiously. "How did you... I mean, we were only together one night. For all you know, I do that all the time."