by Sarah Price
Beautiful. There was that word again. She didn’t think she would ever consider herself beautiful, no matter how many times Alejandro said it to her. Embarrassed, she stood there, uncertain of what he wanted her to do. Then, hearing him laugh, she felt him approach her and place his hands on her shoulders.
“Here, Princesa,” he said softly. “¿Permiso?” He didn’t wait for her approval before turning her gently toward a mirror. He stood behind her, his hands still on her shoulders as he gazed over her head into the reflection that stared back. “What do you think?”
She blinked and stared at the mirror. But her eyes were not on the necklace. Instead, she was looking at him. His blue eyes sparkled, his sunglasses resting on top of his head. He was staring at her, their eyes meeting each other in the mirror as they stood there.
“Beautiful, sí?”
She lifted her hand up and touched the necklace once again. It felt cool under her fingertips. “I have to trust you,” she said. “I don’t know about these things, but ja, it is beautiful to me.”
“As are you to me,” he said quietly and leaned down to brush his lips gently against the side of her neck, his eyes still locked on hers.
Amanda blushed a deeper shade of red, too aware that the saleswoman was looking the other way but smiling.
Chapter Twelve
She stood in the foyer of his condo and stared up at the high ceilings overhead. Everything was bright white, and all the floors were made of marble. It was pristine and immaculate, shiny and bright. Doorways opened to several large rooms filled with sunlight from the walls of windows. Off to one side of the foyer was a semicurved staircase, covered in soft white carpet, with a white wooden banister and railing that led to the second floor.
From the outside, the building did not look impressive. Not compared to the mansions that surrounded it, all with massive iron gates and security guards. As they had driven through those neighborhoods, Amanda had gasped at the size of the houses. Each one was more beautiful than the next, with majestic entrances and impeccable landscaping.
“I’m just not here enough for a house,” he had explained, almost apologetically. “But I think you will be comfortable enough, sí?”
There were doormen stationed at the entrance. They greeted Alejandro with a somber nod when they opened the front door for them. Alejandro had guided her to the elevator and protectively held the door for her as she stepped inside, despite the fact that there was a man standing there to unlock the elevator and take them to his floor.
The penthouse.
Once the doors opened and he guided her through the door to the condo, she had taken one step into the foyer and felt her heart begin to pound inside her chest. Alejandro stood in the doorway, leaning against the frame as he watched her. His expression gave away his amusement at her reaction.
“You live here?” she asked.
He shrugged, trying to act modest. “When I’m in Miami, sí. This is home.”
“Oh help,” she muttered. “It’s like a castle!”
He laughed and entered the room. “Let’s not get carried away,” he said and reached for her hand. “Ven aquí, Princesa,” he said as he led her through the doorway. “Let me show you around so you can feel at home.”
The layout of the condominium made it feel like a house. It was simple and made sense, she thought. For a man who rarely stayed in Miami and, on those few occasions, rarely entertained in his place, the emphasis was clearly on the outdoor area, which included a covered cabana with multiple small rooms that could open up, facing the pool. There was a formal dining room, which Alejandro confided he had rarely used, and a pristine gathering room that ran the width of the penthouse, having French doors that opened to the large indoor and outdoor patio.
“I could never feel at home here,” she said quietly, her eyes wide as she took it all in. “It’s so huge! I’d get lost!”
He stopped walking and turned to face her. There was a sad look on his face, and she wondered what she had said to get such a reaction from him. She didn’t have to wait long to find out for he immediately put his hands on her arms, holding her at arm’s length.
“Princesa,” he said. “That breaks my heart.” He placed a hand on his chest and tilted his head. “Tell me that isn’t true.”
She laughed at him. “That I won’t get lost? I’m sure I will!”
He shook his head. “No, no. The other part. That you will never feel at home here.”
Ah, she thought, suddenly realizing what she had said that upset him. Her cheeks flushed, and she looked away from under his steady gaze. “I am not sure of what I meant, Alejandro.”
He removed his hand from his chest and took her chin in it, tilting her face up so that she had to look at him. “Promise me that you will try,” he said softly. “It is important to me that you feel comfortable here.”
He showed her around the back patio, pausing for her to look over the four-foot wall and admire the view of the Atlantic Ocean. Indeed, it was spectacular, and she could barely stop staring at the beautiful blue ocean. On the other side of the patio, there was a cabana by the far side of the rooftop pool. She noticed plush outdoor lounge chairs, with colorful pillows, and a bar in the cabana. She even saw a chandelier hanging from the ceiling and an open door leading to a bedroom in the back. She wanted to ask about that, why he would need to have a bedroom by the pool, but thought better of it. She might not like the answer.
Back inside, he showed her where the kitchen was and introduced her to the housekeeper, Señora Perez. She was an older woman who gave Amanda a once-over and then, deciding that she fit the bill, quickly embraced her, kissing the stunned woman on both cheeks and saying something in Spanish.
Alejandro had laughed and shook his head, replying in Spanish before he led Amanda through the rest of the condo.
There was a large media room on the first floor. Alejandro told her that this was where he worked on new songs when he was in Miami. He also had an office next to the media room with double French doors that opened to the outside patio. Everything was immaculate, large, and bright. The floors were either a white marble with veins of brownish-gold running through them or plush white carpets, which, he told her, were replaced at least once a year or whenever they became soiled.
Holding her hand, he led her up the staircase. She chewed on her lower lip, still staring at the large, open ceilings and massive white woodwork that lined the walls. In all of her life, she had never imagined such a place existed. Her heart began to palpitate, and she felt the urge to run. Where am I? she asked herself, trying hard to remember the smallness of her parents’ farm. The difference between there and this amazing masterpiece of a home was unfathomable, and she had to eventually push the memory of the farm out of her mind in order to focus on what Alejandro was saying to her.
There were six bedrooms upstairs. She asked why he needed so many, and he mentioned that, often when he was home in Miami, he’d have family or friends stay over. He winked when he added, “We will have a big party tomorrow night, and many people will stay, sí?”
A party? That meant more people, new faces and names, odd questions and different languages. It meant loud music and people dancing, something she wasn’t comfortable doing. It meant people drinking and laughing over things she didn’t always understand. No, she didn’t like the sound of a party at all.
When he opened the double doors to the largest bedroom on the floor, she had to catch her breath. The back wall was all windows, overlooking the back patio and the pool. The carpet was thick and white, just like downstairs, and the walls were covered in a cream-colored fabric. Silk, he explained. There was a large four-poster bed with the same cream-colored fabric for bedcoverings. A lounge chair by the wall of windows beckoned to her. She could imagine sitting there, watching the sunrise in the morning, and crocheting her blankets or doilies.
The room was, in a single
word, gorgeous.
“This is my bedroom,” he said, his voice dropping a tone.
Something in his voice caused her to turn around and look at him. He was watching her, waiting for her reaction. Lifting her chin, she faced him and asked, “Where will I stay?”
For a moment, he didn’t respond, merely looked at her with his eyes narrowed, as if searching to find her soul. The look on his face made her catch her breath for she knew, immediately, what he was thinking. A shiver ran down her arms and she felt chilled, with a mixture of fear and excitement.
“I should like for you to stay with me, Amanda,” he said at last.
“I can’t do that,” she managed to say. “I . . . It’s just not proper.”
“You stayed with me on the road,” he pointed out, one eyebrow perfectly arched as he questioned her.
“Ja,” she said, nodding her head. And the guilt she had felt over that. Now that they were on more permanent ground, she knew that she had no choice but to remain true to her upbringing. “But that was different. This is a home, not a hotel.”
“I fail to see the difference,” he responded patiently.
Squaring her shoulders, she took a short breath and leveled her gaze at him. “Alejandro, I am not sleeping with you,” she heard herself say, shocked that the words actually rolled off her tongue so easily. “You told me yourself that you respect me too much for that. And you know full well that I am not like that anyway!”
He lifted his hand to his chin and rubbed it between two fingers, assessing her. He seemed to be thinking, and she gave him that time. Her heart was pounding, shocked at herself for having said something so bold to him. Despite the drastic changes in her life, she knew better than to change her own values and expectations. She refused to lose that piece of herself. Not now, not ever.
He sighed and glanced toward a door in the corner of the room. “Entiendo,” he said, relenting to her demand. “Ven aquí, Princesa. If you will not stay with me, I will have you stay next door.” He crossed the room in five long strides and opened the door. Stepping back, he waited for her to approach him and peek through the open doorway.
It was a smaller room with a large bed and two chairs instead of a lounge chair. The nightstands were not the same dark wood as in his room but a brushed white, more feminine and less formal. She noticed that the bedcovering was also more feminine, cream on white with flowers. There was a private bathroom near an inner wall where another door led back to the hallway. Clearly, this was a room for female guests, which, she didn’t fail to note, was attached to his room.
“That’s much better,” she said, trying to sound stronger than she felt.
He saw through it and reached for her arm. She turned to look at him, surprised by the gesture. For a moment, he said nothing, just stared at her. That smoldering look in his eyes made her catch her breath. She had seen that look before . . . after the VIP meet and greet. When he had kissed her with such force and passion that she had nearly lost her senses.
To her surprise, he took a step closer and placed his hands on the sides of her cheeks, holding her face tenderly in his grasp. “I know you want me,” he murmured.
“Alejandro,” she started to say. His words shocked her. She could feel the heat from his stare, and it was so strong that she felt her knees would buckle.
“You know I want you, too,” he continued, his voice almost a soft purr.
“Please stop,” she whispered, horrified at his words. She knew what he was suggesting, and it made her feel very uncomfortable. There was a line in the sand of their relationship, and he was crossing it.
“How long will this continue?” he whispered, touching her lips with his finger.
She tried to back away. “Have you stopped respecting me, then? That you would say such a thing!”
He clenched his jaws but pulled her close so that her small body was pressed against his. “¡Ay, Dios!” he said softly, shaking his head. “You are so pure, Amanda. So pure and so good,” he said. He took a deep breath and exhaled, his breath caressing the back of her neck. “I could never stop respecting you,” he sighed. Then, with the greatest of reluctance, he released her and turned away, facing the open doorway. “So I will give you a few minutes to get comfortable, and when you are ready, I will meet you downstairs. I need to make some calls, Amanda. Then perhaps we can relax by the pool, sí?”
He didn’t wait for her reply but disappeared through the doorway. When the door shut behind him, she heard the lock turn. She leaned against the wall and covered her face with her hands, fighting the urge to cry. Her heart pounded against her chest, and she was glad for the wall to hold her up. Otherwise, she feared she would have sunk to the floor on her knees.
How had everything gotten so out of control in such a short period of time? she asked herself.
Her thoughts were interrupted when someone knocked at the door that led to the hallway. Trying to shake the feelings that she had over her strange encounter with Alejandro, she hurried to the door and opened it. A man was standing there. He smiled at her and, with her permission, entered the room with her luggage.
“Viper told me to bring these here,” he said. “My name is Rodriego. If you need anything, you just ask.” He set the bags down by the large armoire in the corner and opened the doors to the piece of furniture. Inside, there was already folded clothing on the shelves. He gestured to it as he explained, “Lucinda sent some clothes ahead for you. We took the liberty of unpacking it for you.”
Amanda blinked and stared at the folded clothing. “For me? Whatever for? I already have enough.”
Rodriego smiled as he walked over to the closet. “There is more hanging in here. Should take you through a few weeks, no?”
Following him, Amanda peeked over his shoulder at the large walk-in closet. She was amazed to see shoes on the shelves and dresses hanging from the two rods. “Oh help,” she mumbled. “I couldn’t live long enough to wear all of those clothes.”
This time, Rodriego laughed. “Oh, I think you’ll find that you will, Miss Beiler.” He stepped away from the closet and started toward the door. For a moment he paused, then turned back to look at her. “It’s been interesting to follow the stories about you and Viper. From what I know, you will be a welcome addition to the household.” And then, without another word, he disappeared.
For the next few minutes, she stood in the closet, looking at all of the clothing. Dresses with no sleeves, long gowns for events, even small bathing suits hanging on special hangers. She pulled one out and stared at it, trying to figure out how one would actually wear such a small garment. Was that the top or the bottom? she wondered, holding up one part to her body. A bikini? Rolling her eyes in embarrassment, she shoved the hanger back on the rack and hurried out of the closet.
She was standing on the porch, the afternoon sun gently warming her face as she stretched to pull the clothesline so that she could unpin her pale green dress and fold it. Holding it in her hands, she lowered her nose to inhale the fresh scent of the outdoors imbued in the clothing. There was nothing like freshly laundered clothes, she thought as she set the dress on the top of the basket at her feet.
“Amanda,” her mother said from the open door. “Don’t forget to put the laundry away, ja?”
“I won’t, Mamm,” she replied. As if she would forget, she thought wryly.
She carried the basket into the house and headed upstairs. The steps creaked under her bare feet. At the top of the stairs, she went into her parents’ room and set the basket on the bed. She started to sort the clothing on their bed, setting the different dresses in neat piles alongside her father’s and brother’s work pants. When she had five neat piles, she began to hang the clothing up.
The dresses were hung on simple wire hangers and placed on the pegs in the wall. Three dresses in her mother’s room, two in Anna’s, and two in Amanda’s. For her father and brother,
she put their black trousers on the pegs directly, hanging them from their shoulder straps, two pairs for each. Their white shirts were neatly hung beside the pants but, like the dresses, they were placed on hangers.
She left the empty laundry basket on the floor of her mother’s room and, glancing quickly at the wall, smiled. Laundry was done for a few days, a task that she disliked while doing it yet felt satisfied when it was completed. Freshly laundered clothing always looked bright and welcoming when it hung against the plain white walls of their bedrooms. It was at times like these that she was glad she wasn’t Englische with excessive clothing. Three dresses. That was all she needed after all.
Shutting the door behind her, Amanda hurried back downstairs to see what else she could do to help her mother.
She wandered out to the pool, her bare feet on the warm concrete floor. The air smelled of the sea, a salty smell she had never encountered before. It was moist on her skin, and she felt the dryness of the heat almost immediately. Hoisting up her skirt, she stepped into the pool, her feet and ankles submerged on the first step. Immediately, she felt cooler, and after glancing around to make certain she was alone, she stepped down one step farther and sat on the side of the pool.
She hadn’t been swimming in years. When she was younger, she had visited a neighbor’s pond on hot summer days, splashing around in her dress until she was soaking wet. While she knew how to swim, she wasn’t particularly fond of it. She preferred to sit on the edge of the pool, her feet dangling in the water. She watched the ripples she created as she wiggled her toes, amazed that such a small movement could disturb the entire surface of the pool.
“¿Señorita?”
The voice startled her and Amanda jumped, turning around to see Señora Perez walking toward her, carrying a tall glass with ice in it. With a smile, the older woman handed it to Amanda and gestured for her to sip it. She did. Iced tea, but not the same type of tea that she was used to at home, the meadow tea. It was sweeter and with more of a lemon taste than of mint. Still, it was refreshing.