by Angela Blake
Lucas gently disentangled her hands from around his neck. “You make a very compelling argument, but-”
Jasmine interrupted him by pressing her lips against his. Lucas barely held onto his control as he felt her naked body press itself against his. He growled in impatience at the layer of clothing that lay in between them, and when she bit his bottom lip, he groaned and pushed her backwards, and climbed on top of her.
The pace of her kissing changed and became more enticing, more sensual, not as fevered but just as passionate.
As he pushed himself against her, he lifted her legs up and tossed them over his shoulder. She whimpered in pleasure, and Lucas grinded against her.
The sound of her moaning was like music to his ears, but he suddenly remembered that he was going to be late, and his manager might just skin him alive.
His eyes flew open as he removed her legs slowly and covered Jasmine with a sheet. “Believe me, I wish I could continue this, but I really do have to go.”
Jasmine stared at him through hooded eyes. “It’s your loss.”
Lucas moved off the bed and straightened out his shirt and jeans. He moved closer, so he was pressed up against her face. “If I could stay, you wouldn’t even be able to think, and you definitely wouldn’t be able to walk.”
Jasmine gave him a sly grin. “How about I come back later, and you can show me?”
Lucas grinned as he grabbed his phone and wallet. He winked at her. “Coffee is in the kitchen.”
He took the stairs instead of the elevator, so he could get some blood pumping through his veins, and so he could cool off before he got to his car. He didn’t want to have to walk into that meeting with a bulge in his pants he couldn’t hide.
He slipped into his corvette a while later and pulled the top down. He turned the music up and slipped his shades on as he cruised down the streets.
***
Lucas pulled up to the address a while later. He got out of the car and was beeping it shut when he caught a flash of brown hair in his rearview mirror. He couldn’t believe his luck!
He had finally found the brunette from the bar.
He whipped around and smiled as he caught sight of that familiar mop of brown hair.
“Hey!” he called out. He cursed himself for not remembering to ask her name. He jogged after her whipping in and out of the throngs of people as he finally caught up to her.
“Freud, hey.”
She finally stopped and turned around, confusion etched onto her features. At first, she continued to stare at him then finally recognition dawned on her face.
She looked a little wary as she took a tentative step back.
“Hey,” she said cautiously.
Lucas frowned. “What happened to you the other day?”
“Nothing, I just had to leave,” she pushed her hair behind her ears and nervously fidgeted. Obviously, something was wrong, but he couldn’t figure out what was wrong. Lucas tried to remember what it was that he did or said, but he couldn’t remember doing anything that would make her hesitant.
“Oh,” Lucas scratched the back of his neck. “Because I was looking for you after I shot the first set of balls then I looked for you again when I was finished, but you were nowhere to be found.”
She continued to stare him as she shrugged slowly.
“You really don’t remember me, do you?” she said finally softly.
Lucas stared at her in bemusement. “What do you mean? Of course, I remember you. From the bar, the other night.”
The brunette looked distressed as she bit her bottom lip. “No, I mean from before.”
“Before, why would I-"Lucas stopped as he studied her carefully. The brown hair, the gray eyes, the faintest hint of an accent he hadn’t noticed the first night. He shook his head as if he couldn’t quite believe what was being said. “It can’t be.”
“Hola, Luke,” She gave him a sad smile.
“Lorena!” he choked out. “I can’t believe it’s you. What are you doing here? You were in Madrid when I last saw you, and you couldn’t decide what major you wanted, now you’re here in America teaching?”
Lorena gave him a small smile. “Yeah, after you left, I decided on a community college close to home, and I started taking classes, mostly humanities, till I stumbled across a love for teaching, so I took English courses, got my TEFL degree, and here I am.”
“And here you are,” Lucas agreed as he really took her in. She had grown a little bit taller since he had last seen her, and she had filled out a bit, but in a voluptuous way that he was sure many men paid attention to. With her shoulder length curly hair and cloudy gray eyes, she looked exactly the same, but also far more beautiful than he remembered.
“You made your dream come true, just like you always said you would. When we were in Madrid talking about it, you said it was a pipe dream, but I always knew you had it in you.”
“You always did believe in me, even when I didn’t believe in myself,” Lorena gave him an uncomfortable smile as she nodded quickly.
“Listen, I have a meeting in a few minutes in that building over there,” he pointed behind him in the general direction of the building.
“Oh,” she lifted her handbag higher on her shoulder. “Of course. It was good running into you.”
“Wait,” she had taken a halting step forward before she paused and looked over her shoulder. “Would you like to meet up afterwards? There’s a beach close by, we can get some sun. I remember how much you love the beach.”
“Um,” she bit her bottom lip nervously.
“For old times’ sake?” he offered as he gave her a winning smile.
Lorena eyed him suspiciously before she finally relented. “Okay, for old times’ sake.”
“I’ll meet you in that coffee shop across the street in an hour,” he turned around and jogged back to the building where his meeting was being held before she could change her mind.
Chapter 4
Lorena watched him go with a certain sense of dread. Her stomach was in knots thinking of what she’d have to tell him.
Lucas Ramirez.
God, she hadn’t seen him in years, and she hadn’t been planning on seeing him ever again. Fate had a twisted sense of humor making sure they were both in that bar the night he almost got into a fight.
And why did she have to be drawn to him anyway? She should’ve just stayed in the bar and finished her drink before heading home like she had planned to do.
She couldn’t believe she hadn’t recognized him at first, but then again he looked totally different from what she remembered. He was no longer her height, he had grown taller, and he had filled out so much more since she had last seen him.
He was also so much more confident around women, clearly he had turned into a womanizer.
She remembered what he was like in high school, right before college. They used to be crazy about each other, he didn’t have eyes for anyone else, but after a year together, one of the most difficult things that could happen to a couple of teenagers happened.
Lorena got pregnant.
At first, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to keep the baby, and Lucas was just as confused, but he told her he’d support whatever decision she wanted to make although she was sure he was terrified.
In the end, they decided to keep the baby, and for the first month, they were very happy.
Until the unthinkable happened.
She lost the baby.
The doctor said that it happens sometimes during the first trimester, but Lorena couldn’t help but feel like she had done something wrong. She didn’t know what, but surely it was her fault.
Lucas withdrew into himself, unsure of how to help her.
Lorena pushed him away, spent a lot of time sleeping, and refused to do anything with him. The hole in her heart was too real, too palpable to just go on living as if nothing happened.
Breathing hurt, living hurt, so she just settled for existing.
She didn’t know how to clim
b back out of the hole of despair she suddenly found herself in, and all of a sudden she wasn’t sure she wanted to.
Lucas stopped trying to reach out to her after all, and that hurt even more, but she knew it was because he didn’t know how to reach her. He would touch her gently as if afraid she’d break.
One day, she couldn’t stand the gentleness anymore, so she had a little too much to drink. Lucas came home after a night spent at the bar.
When he slipped into bed next to her, she reached out and hesitantly touched him. Lucas held her hand loosely between his; his brown eyes surprisingly clear despite the alcohol on his breath. “Are you sure? Lor, if you aren’t ready, we can wait.”
Lorena began to stroke his chest before she climbed on top of him and straddled him. She pushed herself up against him before she pressed her lips to his.
“I don’t want to wait anymore.”
A few weeks later, he got a letter saying that he had been accepted to a university in America on a double scholarship. He would be studying psychology and basketball.
He didn’t want to leave her, she knew that, but she also knew that this was his dream, and she’d hate herself if she got in the way of that.
He packed his bags, and she watched him move through airport security. She watched his plane take off, and she placed her hand on her stomach, knowing that there was no way that she could tell him that she was pregnant again.
If she carried to term, she would raise this child by herself, so that Lucas could have the chance to pursue his dream.
She never regretted that decision although sometimes she wondered if she had made the right choice. Lucas was the father after all, and she didn’t consult him.
But after a while, it just seemed easier to tell their daughter that her father was out there and didn’t know she existed. She thought she was protecting her.
Especially after they moved to the states, and she heard all about him and his reputation.
What kind of environment would that be for a little girl?
Besides, she knew that Lucas had dreams that were too big for Madrid, that’s why he moved to America to make them work. It had gone from a pipe dream to a reality, and she was happy for him.
She bit her lip as she wondered why she had agreed to go to the beach with him. She wondered if any good would actually come out of it. She just knew that once he flashed her that smile, she couldn’t say no.
Now she would have to tell him about Elena.
She had his eyes, his beautiful chocolate brown eyes, and her heart twisted a little in her chest whenever her daughter turned her mischievous glint towards her.
Lorena loved her daughter more than anything on this Earth, and there was nothing she wouldn’t do to protect her.
But she had to at least give Lucas a chance before she wrote him off.
She finished her lunch and signaled for the check, glad that she didn’t have any classes today. She never would’ve been able to focus on teaching the kids with her brain in a million different places at once.
She gathered her scattered thoughts as she paid for her meal and made her way out of the café.
She checked her watch and realized she had about fifteen minutes left till they were supposed to meet, so she straightened her handbag and began the walk to the café.
She made it there with five minutes to spare and she leaned against the wall as she watched the people coming and going wondering what their lives were like.
Wondering if any of them had ever made a decision to protect their child. Some of them probably had, some of them probably wondered about it every day.
She bet a lot of them didn’t think twice though knowing what kind of dangers were out there in the world.
Mostly, she wondered about her own decision. What impact would integrating Lucas have on Elena’s life?
She had to hope it was for the best.
She spotted Lucas a while later strolling towards her in his washed out jeans and shirt. She noticed how women who passed by him paused to stare. Lucas just had that energy about him, and with his sinewy muscles and that sparkle in his chocolate brown eyes, women no doubt swooned over him.
She was one of those women once.
If she were being honest with herself, she was still very much attracted to him, but she couldn’t let that have any bearing on what she was about to tell him. She had to do the right thing for Elena now.
Whether or not they would ever have anything again didn’t matter as long as Elena had her father.
“Hey,” Lucas said as he finally reached her.
“Hey,” she responded as she gazed at him taking in the angles of his face, and the way it was brought out by the slight copper in his hair.
“Ready to go? My car is just around the corner,” he jabbed a finger in the direction of the car.
“Let’s go.”
They walked quietly to the car, the air charged with the weight of all the things they wanted to say, but couldn’t.
***
Lorena looked around as Lucas pulled up to a quiet spot on the beach an hour later. The car ride over had been awkward first with Lucas trying to draw her out of her shell, and Lorena terrified of letting down her wall.
She would respond in monosyllables at first until finally he brought up one particular memory of her trying to cook and nearly burning the house down that had her laughing till tears ran down her face.
After that, they simply fell into old habits.
They got out of the car and took off their shoes as they let their toes sink into the sand.
“I love how the sand feels between my toes,” she whispered quietly.
Lucas smiled as he dug his feet in. “I remember you saying that. I love how it smells here. It’s hard to remember that smell when you live in the city, but once you’re here, it just permeates the senses.”
Lorena gave him a small smile as she shoved her hands in her pockets and began to wriggle her toes. She sighed as she felt some of the tension drain away as she walked towards the water.
She took in a huge gulp of salty air and let it fill her lungs completely before she released it. “The rest of the world just melts away out here,”
“It does,” Lucas agreed from behind her as she felt rather than saw him stand next to her. He dipped his toes into the water. “The water is warm,”
Lorena gave him a wry smile. “Nice try. I’m not falling for that trick.”
“What trick?”
“You flinched when you dipped your toes just now. You want to tell me that was a reflex?”
Lucas gave her a sheepish smile. “Won’t know unless you try.”
“Why would I”- she was interrupted when a splash of water drenched her. She sputtered as she stared at Lucas who looked as delighted as a kid during Christmas.
The water was warm, but that didn’t mean she was going to let it slide. She gave him an innocent smile before she splashed him right back.
He spit the water out of his mouth as he stared at her through hooded eyes.
“Oh, it’s on.”
They began a water fight much like the ones they used to have in Madrid when they were younger, and things were great between them. In that hour as they splashed each other, each trying to get the other to surrender, all the years melted away, and it was like they were back in Spain having some fun before they headed home for the night.
Lucas threw himself onto the beach. “I give up.”
“You are- what do the Americans call it? A chicken,” she began to make chicken noises at him.
Lucas pretended to be offended. “And you are what they call a sore loser.”
Lorena surprised herself and him by throwing her head back and laughing before she plopped next to him on the sand.
They lay there, side by side, their bodies barely touching as they breathed deeply and stared at the deep blue sky. The sun shone down on them, its rays warming them up.
Unknowingly, Lorena had moved closer to Lucas and had fitted
herself to his side. He placed one arm around her just like he used to do.
Lorena took a deep breath before she looked up at Lucas who was already gazing at her.
“Que pasa?”
“I need to tell you something, but before I do you, you have to promise you’ll wait till I’m finished before you say anything, and please think very carefully before you make a decision because it is a big deal.”
“Are you offering to be my sponsor?” Lucas teased.
Lorena slapped him on the arm, an amused smile tugging on the corner of her lips before she sobered up.
“When I told you to go to America, when you got that scholarship, I knew that I had to let you go, so you could pursue your dream. So I convinced you that it was okay.”
“I know why you did it, Lor. We agreed we’d try the long distance thing, but it was too hard after a while, I thought we both agreed to that.”
Lorena gave an exasperated sigh. “Would you stop interrupting?”
Lucas held up his hand and mimed shutting his mouth.
“It was the right decision at the time, but what I didn’t tell you is that I was pregnant.”
She proceeded to tell Lucas the story, why she had made the decisions she made, and Lucas listened quietly nodding to let her know he was keeping up.
When she was finished, she waited anxiously for his reaction.
“I’m sorry.”
“What?” she whispered unsure of where this was coming from.
“I’m sorry I made you feel like you were alone when you lost the baby, and like you had to let me go, so that I could pursue my dream while you raised our daughter. That wasn’t fair to you, and I wish you had told me the truth, but I understand why you didn’t.”
“Really?”
He rolled over, so he was looming on top of her. “Really. When can I meet Elena?”
Lorena laughed, a lovely carefree sound. “How about tonight? She’s with the baby sitter right now, but we can go see her.”
Lucas leaned in and nuzzled her neck. “I like that-we.” He pulled back and gazed at her, his eyes full of questions. Lorena nodded as he pressed his lips to hers.