And what if I enjoy it too much? Dana thought to herself. “You’re right.”
“There’s just one hard and fast rule.”
“What?” Dana knew there had to be a catch.
“You promise you’ll never wear that blouse when we’re out together. If you want to wear it around your grandparents’ condo, fine. But if we’re out somewhere and I see you in that blouse, the deal’s off.”
“I’ll be breaking my grandmother’s heart.”
“Doubtful.”
“No, it’s true.”
Josh kissed the hollow of her collarbone. “Then you’ll have to break it, because that’s my only rule—that, and we have a good time together.”
“I think I can manage that.” Dana snuggled up to him. “As long as you let me check your nails for dirt at the end of the day.”
Dana had no idea how long they spent dozing on and off. But when Josh asked her what time she wanted him to set the alarm for, she suddenly found herself wide awake.
She sat up, looking at him. “I can’t stay the whole night! What about my grandparents?”
Josh knitted his brow in confusion. “What about them?”
“What will they think?”
“That you’re a grown woman?” Josh tried.
“I know, I know, it’s silly.” Dana felt foolish as heat crept to her cheeks. “I just think they’ll be disappointed in me.”
Josh sat up. “For having sex?”
Dana cringed. “Yeah. Yes. If I get home before they wake up, they won’t think we fooled around as much as we did.”
Josh’s expression remained uncomprehending. “How old are you again?”
“Josh, it’s irrelevant,” Dana replied, getting flustered. “These are my grandparents we’re talking about. My grandparents. I don’t think I could look my grandfather in the eye if he knew I stayed here all night.”
“Okay, okay, relax. We’ll throw our clothes on and I’ll drive you home.”
“Thank you.”
He pulled her back down and rolled back on top of her, supporting his weight on his elbows. “When can I see you again?”
“Tomorrow night?”
Josh grimaced. “I’ve got a meeting with some clients to go over the blueprints for their garden. They want a waterfall. It’s already been a pain in the ass trying to figure out where to put it without wrecking the landscaping that was done when they moved in. Day after tomorrow?”
“That would be nice.” Dana’s eyes lit up. “Let’s go dancing!”
“Uh, no. I can’t dance at all.”
“You danced well before,” Dana purred.
“Horizontal dancing is different. The minute you see me on the dance floor with Latino guys, you’ll never want to see me again.”
“Please? Just for a little while? I haven’t been dancing in ages and I love it.”
“We’ll see,” Josh mollified. “For now, I’d better get you home before your grandparents find out what a bad girl you really are.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“Dana?”
Dana gasped, her hand shooting out to grab the shower railing so she didn’t lose her balance and fall. It was 4 A.M. Her grandparents had been fast asleep when she got home from Josh’s. Or so she’d thought, until her grandmother’s voice unexpectedly cut through the patter of the shower.
Dana poked her head out from behind the shower curtain to find her grandmother standing in the doorway. “Grandma! I could have slipped and broken my neck! What are you doing up at this hour? Is everything okay?”
“Everything’s fine,” her grandmother replied, tightening the sash of her thick terry-cloth robe. “I just wanted to know why you didn’t spend the night with Josh.”
“Excuse me, what?” Dana was sure she’d gotten water in her ears.
“Finish your shower. We’ll talk.”
Her grandmother left, closing the door.
Stunned, Dana finished her shower, trying not to think of the conversation awaiting her when she was done.
She found her grandmother at the small kitchen table, doing the crossword puzzle from the previous day’s Palm Beach Post.
Her grandmother glanced up. “Are you hungry? Can I make you something?”
“I’m fine.”
“Tea?”
“I’m fine, Grandma, thanks.” Dana slid into the seat opposite her. “Well?”
“Well what? What are you doing back here at 4 A.M., sneaking in like some kind of teenager?” Her grandmother’s eyes went dark. “Unless Josh wasn’t gentleman enough to want you to stay.”
“Grandma.” Dana cradled her head in her hands. “Why do you assume Josh and I—”
“Four A.M. shower?”
Dana’s shoulders slumped. “Right.”
“It’s crazy that you didn’t stay,” said her grandmother, folding up the paper.
“I didn’t want to scare you and Grandpa by being out all night!” Dana explained. “Plus, I was worried you’d think I was a slut. Or something.”
“Oh, please,” her grandmother said with a dismissive snort. “Like I didn’t schtup your grandfather before we were married.”
“I’m not marrying Josh.”
Her grandmother ignored her.
“I repeat: I’m not marrying Josh Green. Don’t pretend you didn’t hear me, because I know you did. And while we’re at it, I didn’t need to know you slept with Grandpa before you were married.”
“We did it like rabbits.”
Dana’s hands flew over her ears. “Oh my God! Please stop! You’re traumatizing me!”
“What, you don’t think we were young once?” her grandmother said indignantly.
“I never said that!”
Her grandmother gestured for her to uncover her ears. “We better keep it down. You know what a crab’s ass your grandfather can be if he doesn’t get enough sleep.” She folded her hands primly on the table. “Now. Josh.”
“Oh, God,” Dana groaned.
“We’ve established you’ve slept with him. Which means you like him. A lot. Maybe more than a lot, eh?”
Dana was determined to reveal nothing. “I haven’t known him long enough for it to be ‘more than a lot.’ ”
“Your grandfather and I fell in love at first sight.”
Dana had never heard this before. “Really?”
“Yes,” her grandmother said dreamily. “He was wearing a hat.”
“You fell in love with him because he was wearing a hat?”
“Well, that and other things. My point is this, things can happen.”
“I know.” Her grandmother was so well meaning that Dana couldn’t stay annoyed with her. “But it’s not going to happen here.”
“How do you know?” her grandmother pressed, looking mildly desperate. Dana changed her mind; maybe she could stay annoyed with her.
“Because I know. I’m only going to be here for three weeks. It doesn’t make much sense to get seriously involved with someone when you have to leave in three weeks, does it?”
“Oh, please,” her grandmother repeated, as if this were a minor thing. “What do you think long-distance relationships are all about?”
“Long-distance relationships work for couples who have been together for a long time, and then they have to be geographically separated for some reason. You don’t meet someone, live apart right off the bat, and then try to build a relationship. It doesn’t work that way.”
“You’re being obstinate.”
“Grandma, please.” Dana pressed her fingers to her temples. “I know you want to see me settle down. And that will happen one day. But not with Josh Green. We’ve agreed we enjoy each other’s company, and that’s it. When it’s time for me to leave, I’m leaving.”
“So, what you’re telling me is, if Josh called you tomorrow and told you he’d suddenly fallen head over heels with another woman, you wouldn’t care.”
“No,” Dana lied. “I wouldn’t.”
“I don’t believe you.”
<
br /> “You can believe what you want. I’m telling the truth.”
Her grandmother erased one of her crossword puzzle answers. “I told Molly you’d be stubborn about this.”
“You were right, then. Stubborn and sane.” Dana got up, stifling a yawn. “I have to get up in a few hours to check out the boutique space and start interviewing people, so I’m going to try to get some sleep.” She kissed her grandmother on the top of the head. “Good night, Grandma. I love you.”
“I love you, too, doll. Next time stay the whole night with him,” she called after Dana as she headed back to her room. “Just pack an overnight bag and keep it in the car.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
“Can I get you anything else, miss?”
Dana looked up at her waitress with a polite smile. She was sitting on the terrace of the Four Seasons Palm Beach, staring at an ocean that was almost too blue to believe. She’d just completed the first round of interviews for La Belle Femme. All the women she’d spoken with had impressive backgrounds in retail. She’d be interviewing more over the next couple of days, but if this first day was any indication, it wasn’t going to be difficult finding staff for the new store.
“Just the check, please.”
The waitress disappeared with a pleasant smile and Dana turned back to the ocean. She’d never interviewed potential employees al fresco before. She always did her best to put candidates at ease, and found sitting outside in the balmy breeze helped.
After leaving the café, she planned to check out the boutique renovation. The fixtures and furnishings were due in two days, the incidentals and initial stock next week. Dana would talk to the buyer about the inventory in a couple of days. Personally, Dana didn’t relish having to cope with the crowds that she knew would be packing Palm Beach on Labor Day weekend. But an auspicious opening would cement her future in Paris depending on what the company chose to do.
She was dying to go to the beach. Maybe tonight, she thought, since Josh was going to be with a client. The thought caught her by surprise; they’d slept together once, they were keeping it casual, yet here she was, sounding like his girlfriend, working things she wanted to do around his schedule.
Dana paid her bill and began strolling down Worth Avenue, known as the Rodeo Drive of Florida. The heat was staggering, so she moved slowly. Armani. Hermes. Gucci. Cartier. Tiffany. Every parking space held a Rolls Royce, a Mercedes, a BMW, or a Lexus. Many of the people strolling by had little toy dogs. One older woman was pushing a bichon frise in a stroller. There were doggie drinking fountains on every corner. It seemed almost decadent.
At last she came to the future La Belle Femme. The windows were covered with mural sized reproductions of works by Aubrey Beardsley and Jules Cheret. The signs were up, using script that could have come from a Toulouse-Lautrec poster. In fact, the front door was covered by a Toulouse-Lautrec reproduction with the caption “Coming Labor Day Weekend.”
Dana let herself in and quickly locked the door behind her. She pictured what the space would look like when it was done, the carefully placed Oriental rugs and velvet divans. Beautiful opulence straight out of Maxim’s of the 1890’s.
Satisfied all was on schedule, she decided to take a drive around Palm Beach. Staying with her grandparents, all she saw were the interiors of restaurants and stores. When she was small, Dana’s mother always took her to the beach on their Florida visits. But Dana still had no sense of the area beyond the gated communities lining the ruler-straight roads where her grandparents lived. Her rental car had a GPS, so if she somehow managed to find herself hopelessly lost, she’d be able to find her way back.
A drive in the sunshine was exactly what she needed, especially since she’d be inside doing paperwork the rest of the afternoon. Maybe she’d see Josh and his crew at work when she returned to her grandparents’. How pathetic. First of all, Josh and his crew were responsible for the maintenance of multiple homes and communities. Secondly, even if she did see him, what was she going to do? Wave and call “Yoo hoo!” to him while he weed-whacked in the blistering sun?
Thoughts of Josh led to thoughts about her grandmother and how she’d ambushed Dana in the bathroom the night before. Dana laughed out loud. It was so typical of her grandmother, just barging in like that. She couldn’t believe some of the things that came out of her grandmother’s mouth, especially the sex stuff. But that was one of the things that made her lovable: her bluntness, and, every once in a while, her inappropriateness. No one could ever accuse her grandmother of being boring, that was for sure.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“So, you got laid this weekend.”
Eduardo’s leer as he hopped into the cab of Josh’s truck made Josh laugh.
“Why do you say that?”
“There’s no other reason to be smiling in heat like this, unless you’ve turned stupid over the weekend.”
“I think I might’ve. Just a little.”
Eduardo’s eyes lit up as he rubbed his hands together in anticipation. “Tell me. This should be good.”
Josh told Eduardo about his and Dana’s adventure. The longer the story went on, the more unbelievable it seemed. Things like this didn’t happen to him.
Eduardo lit a cigarette, looking thoughtful. “You’ve fallen in love,” he declared.
Josh glanced at him out of the corner of his eye like he was crazy. “Whoa. No one said anything about love.”
“Then where does the stupid part come in?”
“The stupid part is that I really like her.”
Eduardo blew a stream of smoke out of the corner of his mouth. “You really like her. So?”
Josh frowned. “She’s only here for three weeks.”
Eduardo looked unfazed. “Big deal. You have un idilio de verano and then she leaves. No morir de pena, just good memories. What’s the big deal?”
“Summer romances aren’t for me. You know that. I’m an architect, Ed. I like to plan things down to the letter. Even if we keep it casual to ensure there won’t be any broken hearts, it freaks me out to be flying without a plan.”
“But you do have a plan! The plan is to have a good time for three weeks.”
“Still too many variables.”
Eduardo shrugged. “Don’t see her, then.”
Josh was silent.
Eduardo looked alarmed. “I told you, man. It’s amor. Am I right?”
“Maybe. I don’t know.” Josh hated being this imprecise.
“Let me tell you something.” Eduardo took a deep puff of his cigarette and tossed it out the window, his expression deadly serious. “It’s impossible to get to know someone in three weeks. Fue amor a primera vista fue un flechazo, what you call ‘love at first sight,’ it’s bullshit. Doesn’t exist. Lust, lujuria, at first sight, yes. But love? No.”
“I didn’t say it was love at first sight.”
“You didn’t have to.” He tapped the side of his head. “I know what goes on inside a man’s mind. Trust me. This girl has rattled your cage. It’s not good.”
Josh didn’t argue. It was true. Dana was all he could think about. For the first time ever, he knew he was going to have to focus extra hard tonight when he went over plans with his client.
“Okay, I’m rattled,” Josh reluctantly admitted.
“Very dangerous,” Eduardo noted. “You can’t keep it simple when you’re all rattle, rattle, rattle.”
“She won’t know that.”
Eduardo laughed loudly. “Women know everything! I couldn’t even take a piss without my first wife knowing!”
“What the hell am I supposed to do, then?” Josh couldn’t believe he was having this discussion. He’d never needed this kind of advice before.
“Three choices,” Eduardo declared. “One: you stop it now. Two: you toughen up. Think with your dick, not your heart. Fun and sex. Keep telling yourself that. It’s just fun and sex.” Eduardo lit another cigarette. “Three: fall to your knees and propose. B
ut allow me to remind you, mijo, you both agreed to casual. So get off Fantasy Island before things get complicated and her granny attacks you with pruning scissors. A handsome face like yours? She could do some real damage.”
“Fuck you, Eduardo.”
“It could happen.” Eduardo lit another cigarette. “When are you seeing her again?”
“Tomorrow night. She wants to go dancing.”
“Did you tell her you can’t dance worth a goddamn?”
“Yup.”
“I suppose she wants to go to a salsa club.”
“Yeah.”
“Okay. I can show you a few steps beforehand.”
“Can’t you and Marissa come, too?”
Eduardo’s expression darkened. “Don’t mention her. We broke up.”
“Again? What, are you going for the world record?”
“I’ll bring my cousin, Donna, instead.”
“Great. Look, I don’t need you showing me steps beforehand. I can figure it out.”
Eduardo looked highly amused. “You’ve never been able to before.”
“It’s never bothered the women at the club before,” Josh pointed out.
“You weren’t dating any of those women.”
“True.”
“Look, if you can’t perform, there will be more than enough men there who will be able to.”
Josh looked at him stonily. “Is that supposed to be funny?”
“It is funny. Just leave everything to me. Eduardo knows how to party. A good time will be had by all.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
It had always been the flirtatious energy flowing back and forth between dancing couples that struck Josh first whenever he went clubbing with Eduardo. The women in their high heels and sexy dresses out on the wooden dance floor, suggestive and confident; the men in their tight black pants and fitted shirts, reveling in their own machismo, because that was what the ladies wanted. And of course, the sensuality of the music.
The music was loud. It always was. And the club always smelled tantalizing, what with the mixing of God only knew how many perfumes and colognes. Josh kicked himself for not splashing some on before he left the house. He also realized he should have swallowed his pride and let Eduardo show him some basic salsa moves.
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