Sparks Will Fly

by Daniel Banner

  “Chato? Your cousin?”

  “Yeah,” said Lucy with a grin. “It’s a nickname. It means ‘short’ I think.”

  “And Abuelita? You said that means ‘grandmother’, right?”

  Lucy nodded. “Close enough. Literally it’s little grandmother.”

  “So you’re all over the español?”

  “Sí,” answered Lucy. “At least I think I am. Enough to get by.” She would find out soon whether the Spanish her parents had taught her growing up that she pretty much only used anymore in bi-annual conversations with Abuelita was enough to get by. “Let me give them a call and tell them I’m here.”

  Blue nodded and opened his suitcase as Lucy dialed the number. As the phone rang, Blue pulled out a black button up shirt. Without giving Lucy any warning so she could steady herself, Blue pulled the shirt he’d traveled in over his head.

  There was no way Blue was flesh and bone. Either he’d been carved by a master sculptor or he was some kind of cyborg created to be the perfect specimen, like a Terminator sent from the future. Those arms, that chest, those abs. Lucy wasn’t one to drool over hot guys everywhere she went, but she’d spent eight hours and eighteen minutes getting inside his head and she knew he was caring and brave and funny and …

  Blue slid his arms into the sleeves of the black shirt, hiding most of what she’d seen, but framing his six-pack perfectly. In a way it was even more alluring to get only a glimpse, rather than seeing everything laid out in front of her.

  “Aló?” Someone was talking right into Lucy’s ear and sounded frustrated. “Aló!”

  Oh! Her phone! Lucy turned away from Blue and said, “Abuelita?”

  “Lucía! Ay bendito! Estás en Cuzco por fin? Donde estás? Yo te mando Chato.”

  Lucy told her that she was at the Palacio Del Inka and Abuelita hung up without saying goodbye.

  Blue had buttoned up his shirt and was looking at her out of the corner of his eye like he knew exactly what he’d done to her by shedding his shirt.

  “That was not nice,” she told him.

  “What? I had to get out of my travel shirt.”

  Lucy wasn’t buying it. “You can’t be doing that without warning if we are going to share this room for five days.”

  “Or what?” he told her with a tilt of his chin.

  “Or what?” That was a good question. She couldn’t exactly stop him.

  “Yeah. What are you going to do about it?”

  Lucy was not about to let this Aggie push her around. The mood was definitely playful but she didn’t want him thinking he could just undress without warning. “Okay, turnaround is fair play.”

  “Wait. You’re threatening to take your t-shirt off?” He folded his arms and grinned at her. “Oh please, oh please don’t punish me.”

  Oh no, would he really call her bluff? “First of all, it’s a top, not a t-shirt.” Lucy crossed her arms, each hand grabbing the bottom of the shirt. “Don’t think I won’t do it.” She started to pull her shirt up slowly.

  Blue’s grin widened. “You won’t do it.”

  She continued to inch her shirt up, feeling fresh air on her midriff. He wouldn’t really let her do it, would he? Please, Blue, don’t be that kind of guy. They really didn’t know each other that well apparently. Who knew, maybe he’d let her do it, then start taking his pants off, hoping for even more turnaround.

  Hoping she had a good poker face, Lucy pulled her shirt up to the bottom of her ribcage. It was approaching the moment of truth for one of them—no, for both of them. For the two of them together anyway. She wasn’t interested in a guy who was into women who undressed in front of them so casually.

  Her hands made contact with the bottom of her bra. She wouldn’t go any further, but did he know that? Or was he really hoping that she would? Maybe the phone would ring or a knock at the door would save them.

  Lucy realized she was holding her breath. Could he see that? Was he reading her and only calling her bluff because he knew it was a bluff? With a resigned voice, she said, “Okay, you asked for it.” She lifted her elbows without pulling the shirt up any further, hoping it looked like she was pulling her shirt up more.

  Blue broke. Closing his eyes and lowering his head, he turned his back to her and raised his arms. “I give! You win.”

  Lucy sighed audibly and let her top fall back into place over her midriff. She was breathing fast and felt sweat beading on her temples.

  “I, uh, I’ll wait in the hallway,” said Blue, walking toward the door.

  Lucy hustled to get in front of him before he reached the door. “I wasn’t going to do it,” she said.

  Blue’s eyes were wide and she could see a glisten on his forehead as well. He just looked at her.

  “I wasn’t,” she insisted, realizing that she’d won a battle that she wasn’t proud to win. Her face went red and she really felt hot. “Oops.”

  Oops? That was entirely insufficient to express her mortification.

  “Sorry I pushed it,” said Blue. He really did look sorry and that only made Lucy feel worse.

  “I really was bluffing,” she told him. “I know it’s hard to just take my word for it though.”

  “I was too,” he said. “Obviously.”

  She couldn’t tell if he believed her or not. But there was nothing she could do now to convince him. “I should head out to meet Chato.”

  “Yeah,” said Blue, “we’re taking off too. I’ll wait with you until he gets here.”

  Lucy went to her bag to grab a sweater, a few small gifts, and some things her dad had sent for the family. “You don’t need to do that.”

  “I don’t mind.” He opened the door and held it open for her. “I don’t get much time with you this week. I’ll take it when I can get it.”

  That really touched Lucy and she got the feeling that he believed that she’d been bluffing. On her way out the door she stopped in front of him and put her hand lightly on his shoulder. “Thanks, Blue.” She planted a very chaste kiss on his cheek. “Thanks for not being that kind of guy.”

  She led the way into the hallway and Blue said, “I’m glad you’re not that kind of a girl.”

  Hopefully he really knew that. It was like back in her Lobo Lucy days—put the mask on and all inhibitions and fears go out the window. It was the same way she felt around him. Like she was safe and confident and exciting. For one small second she’d wondered if she’d been wrong, but Blue had truly won the battle by losing and she was so grateful to him for that.

  They stopped at the next door and a cloud of cologne or body spray enveloped them when the door opened. Stone was in the doorway.

  “Whoa, take it easy in there!” Lucy waved her hand in front of her face.

  “Is it too much?” asked Stone. He was the quietest of the bunch, but if he hung with these guys he had to be able to take a little teasing, right?

  “Not if your plan is to make girls pass out from the fumes.”

  Blue laughed. “Leave them alone for five minutes and they turn into clueless teenagers. Hey, fellas, I’m going to wait out front with Lucy for a few minutes. Meet me up there.”

  “Cool,” said Stone, still trying to waft air up past his nose to get a scent of himself.

  “You guys have fun!” said Lucy. “And don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

  “Thanks, Mom,” called Jeremy.

  “Anything you wouldn’t do?” teased Blue as they walked toward the lobby. “Like take off your clothes in front of strange men?”

  “Oh great, you’re going to use that against me forever, aren’t you?” She elbowed him in the ribs, but she doubted he even felt it. Lucy would hurt her elbow long before this guy complained. “You did it first.”

  They reached the lobby and he held the door for her. It was cool out so Lucy slid into her sweater. The city smelled … historic. Maybe she was imagining it. She inhaled deeper and caught a whiff of cooking oil and an herb she couldn’t identify.

  “I’m starving!” sh
e said, having just realized how much she was craving some real food.

  “Need to grab something before you go to Abuelita’s?” asked Blue. “We passed a couple of fast food places on the way in.”

  “No way, no how,” said Lucy. “Abuelita has been waiting my whole life to feed me, and to be honest I can’t wait to get some authentic food in my belly.”

  “That does sound good,” said Blue.

  “You should come!” She said it without thinking, forgetting her earlier decision to let him experience Peru and not be stuck with the Avila family.

  “I’d eat them out of house and home,” he objected.

  “Oh no you wouldn’t. There is going to be more food than your whole crew could eat.” Would it be okay to invite them all? No, she needed to let them have their amazing vacation.

  “It’s tempting,” said Blue. “Authentic Peruvian food and getting to meet the famous Abuelita. Think Chato would mind if I came along?”

  A scooter approached and pulled right up in front of them and a short man stepped off, removing his helmet.

  “Chato?” she asked.

  “Lucía!” He gave her a hug then shook Blue’s hand and said, “Mucho gusto.”

  “He says it’s nice to meet you,” Lucy translated.

  Blue repeated, “Mucho gusto.” He looked at the scooter then at Lucy, obviously wondering if she was okay with the arrangement.

  Lucy climbed on the tiny rear seat of the scooter without hesitation. If it was good enough for her family it was good enough for her. “Have fun tonight, Blue. Don’t wait up.”

  Chato handed her his helmet and Lucy pulled it on.

  It all happened too fast for Blue to object or offer to drive her. He did smile and say, “Guess there’s no room for me. See you later tonight.”

  Chato climbed on and started the scooter up again. Lucy was no mechanic but it didn’t exactly sound healthy.

  Blue put a hand on Chato’s shoulder. Over the noise of the scooter he said, “Hey man, be careful. Please.”

  Lucy translated and Chato gave Blue a thumbs-up as he pulled away from the hotel steering the rickety scooter with one hand.

  The look on Blue’s face was priceless as she held on to Chato and rumbled down the stone street.

  9

  A little before midnight, Lucy returned to the Palacio del Inka, again on the back of Chato’s little scooter. She gave him back his helmet and he told her he’d see her first thing in the morning, then he drove off while putting his helmet back on.

  At her room, Lucy opened the door as quietly as possible then pulled it shut just as quietly. Blue and his crew were probably headed out early in the morning so they might have come back early. The room was pitch dark with the door closed, so Lucy carefully walked across the room toward her bed.

  She was beyond exhausted—between the jet lag, the excitement of spending so much time with Blue, ‘meeting’ her family, stuffing her face with all sorts of delectable food, and trying to keep up with about a dozen people talking to her all at the same time in a language in which she turned out to be conversational, but not fluent, she’d had all she could take. Still she wondered if she’d be able to fall asleep knowing Blue was asleep just a few feet away.

  For a few seconds she listened, to see if she could hear him breathing. Silence. With her hand over the screen, Lucy hit the button on her phone and the narrow beams of light through her fingers showed that the only thing on Blue’s bed was a suitcase. He was still out and about.

  Lucy considered calling him to see if they were going to be gone long and maybe she could join them. But in her current state she could probably fall asleep in the middle of a dance floor. Plus, if they came all the way back to the hotel to get her, would they really want to go back out to do whatever they were up to? And as it was, Lucy was going to be short on sleep since Chato was coming for her early before he went to work.

  Fine, she’d hang out and wait and remind herself over and over not to text him and give him any reason to call it a night early.

  A shower. That was something productive and enjoyable she could do all by herself. She locked the door when she went into the bathroom, not because she didn’t trust him, but because, well, she’d already proven they’d have to be careful in close quarters.

  The shower was heaven, but her bed seemed to be calling her name. No, chanting it in a lulling, seductive way that she couldn’t refuse. She slid into a bathrobe, brushed her teeth, then went out into the room and found it empty still. Her phone read midnight, straight up.

  Maybe she’d just stay up and read for a bit. She wanted to see that handsome face one more time today, and hear about what they’d been up to and tell him that she had the cutest little grandma in the whole world. Lucy smiled every time she thought about the bright traditional colors that Abuelita wore and the pancake-shaped hat and multi-layered dress. It was a good thing Lucy had a relatively new phone with plenty of storage because she’d crammed hundreds of photos and videos into it tonight.

  Lucy plopped down in an overstuffed chair and got comfortable with her eReader, then realized she hadn’t put pajamas on yet. The robe was decent enough, as long as she kept it in its current arrangement. Lucy had thought she would read on the long flight down, but it had gone so fast she hadn’t even gotten her eReader out.

  She was still scrolling through titles trying to pick a book when her eyelids got too heavy to hold open.

  10

  A little after 1:00 a.m. Blue snuck into the hotel room. From the light spilling in from the hall he could see Lucy sprawled out in the big comfy chair on the far side of the room with her gorgeous legs on full display. Her mouth was wide open and she looked as exhausted as he felt, so he quietly closed the door and let his eyes adjust for a minute. Even after a minute or more he couldn’t see anything.

  With the bathroom door open just enough to slide his hand in, he flipped the light switch then pulled the door shut. Enough light spilled underneath the door and around the frame to let him get a decent view of the room, including the sleeping beauty in the chair. He couldn’t leave her there. She would sleep much better in her bed.

  After a quick stop at her bed to turn it down, Blue went to her side and admired his roommate for a moment. Black hair, bronze skin. Even the gaping mouth didn’t detract from her beauty. And those legs, they belonged on the cover of a fitness magazine.

  As he prepared to bend and lift her, Blue realized the robe showed much more of her legs than she’d probably be comfortable with.

  Probably. The game of chicken over the shirt earlier had really made him sweat. He believed that she was bluffing as she said, and didn’t think she’d want to flash all of her goods, even in the low light. He pulled the two flaps of the robe over her legs, then slid his arms under her neck and knees. As he lifted her she stirred and rolled slightly toward him. Then she suddenly flinched and reached for her robe.

  “It’s okay,” said Blue. “You’re covered.” In his eight years as a firefighter and EMT, Blue had lifted hundred if not thousands of patients, but he usually didn’t cradle them in his arms like this. Lucy was soft and strong. The kind of woman he’d always dreamed about finding.

  She relaxed again and cuddled into him. Blue could just stand there and hold her like that all night. But he wasn’t about to take liberties of any kind with a sleeping woman. When he bent to lay her down, she objected, reaching for him, but he said, “Sh, you’re in your bed.”

  He pulled the covers over her and with a huge smile on his face went to get ready for bed. While he’d rather have her go out on the town with him, he definitely enjoyed coming home to Lucy Avila.

  Blue woke up slowly, but kept his eyes closed. Wherever he was, it was the most comfortable he remembered being in a long time. Couldn’t be the fire station. The beds at Station 2 were a step up from sleeping on a wooden pallet. His bed at home was nice enough, but he only slept with one pillow, and here there were a pile of them, not to mention a comforter way thicker
than the one at home.

  Then it came to him—Cuzco, the Palacio del Inka, Lucy. Helping her to bed much earlier that morning had been one of the highlights of the trip so far. Thoughts of her were enough to get him to force his eyelids open and sit up enough to see if she was still in her bed.

  It was empty. He’d missed her coming and he’d missed her going. But it was only Day 2. Even if they didn’t meet up today, they still had three more days to spend some time together.

  Blue felt as if he’d slept about twelve hours, but the clock said 8:27. His alarm would go off in a few minutes. That’s the closest his alarm had come to actually waking him up in months. After eight years of disrupted sleep nearly every night at work, Blue’s ability to sleep in was ruined. On those rare nights when they didn’t have any nighttime calls at work, he slept so lightly that it didn’t count hour-for-hour as real sleep. Especially the last couple of years. Things had changed when he’d become a captain and the lives of five other firefighters became his responsibility.

  Three of those guys were next door and might need to be rousted out of bed if they wanted to make it to the tour of the city on time so that they could make their mountain bike adventure on time to be back for a live performance at the Centro Qosqo de Arte Nativo that night. Blue didn’t know exactly what that all meant, but he had their itinerary memorized, and even came close to being able to pronounce everything except those ruins that Lucy had mentioned.

  Stretching his arms above his head, Blue swung his legs over the bed. Usually when he wasn’t at the fire station, he slept without a shirt on. But with Lucy here and her so obviously affected by him yesterday, he decided the smartest move was to prevent a repeat of yesterday’s standoff.

  Before climbing out of bed, Blue grabbed his phone, hoping to see a text from Lucy, but he was disappointed. He sent her a quick text with their itinerary for the day along with an invite to join them for any of it that looked like fun.

  In the bathroom a note was wedged into the side of the mirror.