by Sera Taíno
Gloria took her hand, sliding her thumb over the glossy nude color of Val’s nails, and the tiny diamond twinkling on the nail of her ring finger. “Look at those nails. They won’t last a week in the restaurant. Want a refill?”
“Añejo, if you don’t mind,” Val answered.
Gloria gave her a thumbs-up before turning to Philip, who handed her his empty beer bottle, an amused expression on his face.
“So, it’s been a while for you, too?” he asked when Gloria walked away.
“A while?”
“Since you’ve been out. The waitress. She said it had been forever since she’d seen you.”
Val debated on what to say, then opted for the truth. She’d been lied to so many times, she couldn’t stand the idea of doing that to anyone else.
“I was dating someone. After we broke up, I stayed away for a while.” She avoided his gaze, tearing bits off the now-frayed coaster.
“Sounds like you needed to take care of yourself.”
She froze in her coaster abuse. “That’s what I keep telling everyone. You’d think people who’d known me all my life wouldn’t feel the need to badger me about it,” she murmured mostly to herself.
He stared at her a beat too long and it occurred to her that she wasn’t making any sense. “I’m sorry. I’m being a Debbie Downer. What about you? What’s your tale of woe?”
He chuckled, taking a swig of his beer before pointing toward the dancers. “I’m not interesting enough to have a tale of woe. You see that maniac over there, draped over Malena like a mink coat?”
Val followed his line of vision to where Étienne was dancing provocatively with Malena.
“He’s my best friend. And he threatened me if I didn’t go out with him tonight.”
“Because?”
“Because...” He shook his head. “Because I’m a workaholic and I’d still be in the office if he hadn’t rescued me.”
“You’re right. My tale of woe is much more interesting than yours.”
The smile he gave her made her knees weak. “What would you have done if you’d stayed home?”
Val thought wistfully of her Yoda pajamas, her copy of a Star Wars novel and three episodes of The Great British Bake Off on her queue. “Probably catch up on my Star Wars novel.”
“Star Wars,” he said, his excitement palpable. “Too bad Disney threw out the Expanded Universe.”
Val’s eyes grew wide, and she forgot herself completely. “They had to! The Expanded Universe had become such a sprawling mess. It wasn’t internally consistent any longer.”
Philip’s eyes flicked to her lips before returning to hold her gaze. His geek-out was real but something in that glance stole her breath. The sea roared back to her consciousness, and she looked away before it pulled her into its endless blue.
“The Legends are sacred. The least they could have done was keep the major arcs and change the inconsistencies.” He actually sniffed in indignation and it was quite possibly the cutest thing she’d ever seen.
She raised her glass. “Maybe if they had, the new trilogy would have been different. Instead, we got...what we got.”
“I’ll toast to that.” Philip clinked his bottle against her drink. Olivia always teased Val for her little obsessions. But she couldn’t believe it. There was no way this gorgeous guy could have that in common with her.
Val’s nerves quieted to a low hum, and she gave herself permission to relax, taking refuge in the safety of a conversation based purely on their mutual love of Star Wars. Olivia and Aleysha had long melted onto the dance floor, while Étienne and Malena went AWOL for the better part of an hour. Philip’s hands claimed her attention. Strong and elegant, they were also soft, like a pianist’s.
He finished off his beer. “So, what’s this about a restaurant?” he asked. “Is that where you work?”
“I own it together with my father. It’s not too far from here.”
An expression flickered across his face and disappeared when he smiled again. “What’s on the menu?”
“Mostly Puerto Rican cuisine, with some variations. We serve breakfast and lunch, though I’ve been toying with introducing a dinner menu on the weekends. I’m still up in the air on that one because I like having a life.”
“Are you the main cook, as well?”
“Chef,” she corrected. “I’m trained. Got a degree and everything to show for it.”
Philip’s surprise didn’t annoy her, laced as it was with something that looked like admiration.
“Well, come on. Your turn.” She tapped his forearm, which was remarkably hard. She wanted to do it again, but that would just be weird.
Philip shifted in his chair, glancing around him before looking at Val. “I work in real estate.”
Something about the way he hesitated made Val pay attention. “You make it sound like you’re some secret agent.”
“Again, I’m really not that interesting.”
“It’s a good time to be a real estate agent in East Ward ever since they built that light-rail station.” Val pulled a face, gathering up her abandoned coaster and recommencing her torture of it.
“You don’t like that?”
“How can I? Everyone I know has been getting letters from developers wanting to buy their properties, including our building.”
Philip shifted again. “You could just not sell the property.”
“Problem is, I don’t own the building my restaurant occupies. And the last building that was bought, they started forcing out tenants because they couldn’t afford the new rents.”
Philip rolled his shoulders before reaching for his empty beer bottle, then setting it down again. “I thought... I mean I heard through the grapevine that it was a straight renovation project, which is good for the city, right?”
Val gave him her best “Don’t be an idiot” look. “Making improvements in itself is not necessarily a bad thing. But the company buying everything up, Wagner Developments, has been super resistant to negotiating with the community. Things will only get worse once they finalize the project for the pencil factory complex they bought on the waterfront.” She swept her hands out to indicate their surroundings. “Did you know this building used to be abandoned?”
“No.” He glanced around him, nodding in what looked like approval.
“Rosario, the owner, has always lived in East Ward. She got a small business loan from a fund that helped members of the community improve their own spaces. And that’s what she did.” Val swept her hand to indicate the veranda, with its sleek trimmings and cool river wind. “Then they discontinued the program.”
“You know a lot about this,” Philip half asked, half stated.
“I should. I’m cofounder of the East Ward Fair Housing Coalition, or EWFHC. If some franchise had leased this space from Wagner Developments, I guarantee we would be having a very different experience right now.”
Val crossed her arms, expecting him to mansplain to her all the ways she was wrong. She was used to it and she was ready. But he didn’t. He trained those ridiculous blue eyes on her instead, and said, “It’d still be a good one if you were a part of it.”
Val ignored the flush of pleasure at his words. She wanted to explain how worried she was that the owners of her building might give in and sell it. How important her restaurant was to her and her family. How afraid she was of losing everything. But Étienne materialized beside them, putting an end to any chance of saying these things. He bowed dramatically before Val.
“May I borrow this young man for a moment? I have a transportation issue to resolve.”
Philip locked eyes with Val. “You aren’t leaving yet, are you?”
She should, since she’d stayed longer than she’d intended. But Philip had also been fun and easy to speak to and not exactly hard on the eyes. “Actually, yes, but I guess I can wait a
few minutes.”
He lifted his hand as if to touch her face, but quickly dropped it, a move that blew all the thoughts out of her mind. “Be right back.” Philip walked off with Étienne, leaving Val to stare dumbly after him. Olivia slid into the chair he vacated, leaning shoulder to shoulder into Val.
“You okay, Darth Cupcake?”
Luckily, the lights were dim enough to hide the full body flush that overheated her. “I’m good.” Then she added lamely, “Nice guy.”
“Nice guy, my left ass cheek. Your eyes are so bright, you look like you smoked a bong.”
Thank God for Olivia. She was like the human version of a bucket of ice. “I don’t smoke, so how would you know what I look like?”
“Not the point. Aleysha!” she called. “Come here. Who is this guy?”
Aleysha leaned in close, toying with the blunt end of Olivia’s bangs. “You mean, where has Étienne been hiding him? I just met him, too.”
Olivia made a noncommittal sound. “Malena told me he’s Étienne’s best friend. Seems like a nice guy and he’s thirsty for Val.”
“He’s not thirsty.” Val shrugged. “He’s just being polite.”
Olivia crossed her arms, glancing at Aleysha but pointing in Val’s direction. “And that is why you needed this, because you can’t tell when a guy is flirting with you anymore.”
“It doesn’t matter. I’m not available right now,” Val objected. Thankfully, Philip returned, interrupting Olivia’s third-degree.
“Where’s Étienne?” Olivia asked.
“He’ll be back. He’s getting some things out of my car.”
Philip stood directly beside Val. She couldn’t help but breathe in his scent—something crisp, like the sea, mixed with the primitive undertone of skin and heat. The aroma wrapped itself like a dense fog around her brain, making it difficult to think.
His face lit up with a knowing smirk.
Great. He’d caught her sniffing him.
Luckily, the strains of a Maluma remix exploded over the speakers. Olivia jumped up from the chair, dragging Aleysha in her wake. This was what she’d come for. She turned to Philip. “Do you want to dance?”
Panic blazed across his face. “I don’t really dance.”
An unexpected wave of disappointment surged through Val, but she’d come to dance and wasn’t going to sit out one of her favorite songs because it wasn’t something he enjoyed. She indicated the dance floor behind her with a jab of her thumb. “I like this song, so...”
He quirked a smile at her that was equal parts impish and relieved. “I’ll enjoy the show.”
She gasped at his audacity. As if she’d come to be watched. “Have it your way.” She turned away to join Olivia and Aleysha. She normally hated being the center of attention, but Philip’s gaze was a velvet caress sliding across her skin, snaking its way into the dark corners of her body. She would never again be at another man’s mercy, but that didn’t mean she didn’t enjoy being the focus of someone’s desire. She gave herself up to the music, but also to the pleasure of his admiration, until she was nothing but sound and motion and heat.
Chapter Two
When Philip begrudgingly agreed to let Étienne bring him to a club in East Ward, of all places, he’d expected to have a few drinks while he watched his much more interesting friend captivate everyone’s attention with his larger-than-life personality. He hadn’t expected to meet anyone, much less make a personal connection. He’d only intended on doing his duty as Étienne’s straight-man sidekick before heading home, hopefully without a headache.
Meeting Val had been an unexpected surprise. She was intelligent, funny in an unselfconscious way and able to let go, which was something he had difficulty doing.
It made her, without a doubt, one of the sexiest women he’d ever met.
If there had been any doubt on the matter, watching her dance had resolved that. She was having such a good time, it was infectious, and he very nearly joined her before he remembered how bad he was at it.
He had a feeling she was the kind of woman who could make him try anything.
She was also the kind of woman who’d probably hate him when she found out that the company slowly reshaping her community was in fact his family’s company, Wagner Developments, the one he was poised to inherit.
Hers was a common enough pushback from the communities they worked in. Investors and city managers were usually happy when Wagner Developments won a project, but each community responded differently. Philip knew about groups like the East Ward Fair Housing Coalition, and his father had always resisted working with them. His father wasn’t big on compromise, especially when it involved his vision for a project, and East Ward’s waterfront project was their biggest one yet.
His father saw the community groups as an inconvenience. But over the years, they’d grown savvier, more organized. Philip thought it was a mistake for his father to discount the importance of these groups. He’d have to drag his father along on this one, as well.
Though his father had built the company from very little capital and sheer force of will, Philip was responsible for modernizing its style. He also strove to incorporate energy efficiencies and the smooth integration of green spaces into his city projects. His father had resisted initially, afraid of diluting the brand, until he was forced to acknowledge that it was the reason they’d become so competitive. Andreas Wagner rarely gave out compliments, so it had been a big win for Philip.
His instincts told him that someone like Val wouldn’t be moved by any of that. All she’d see was his big bad corporation coming in to take away her livelihood, even toss her out of her home. She wouldn’t give him the time of day if she knew who he was.
There was something about her that made this outcome difficult to accept.
He caught sight of her in mid-laugh. Her dark hair hung in thick curls down to her waist, beneath which rose the firm swell of her bottom and strong, shapely legs. Her body moved in a sinuous curve, and his mind teemed with all the ways he could bend its geography to his desires.
He gulped his beer, as if that could do anything to cool him down.
Étienne spoke to him from somewhere, and it was with real effort that he tore his attention away from her to focus on his friend.
“We’re leaving soon.” Étienne’s hand rested possessively on the small of Malena’s back. She smiled, bedazzling Philip with the almost unnatural whiteness of her teeth. “You’re okay to drive yourself home?”
“I’ve only had two beers.”
“Such self-restraint,” Malena purred.
Étienne made a face. “No, that’s Philip all the time.”
Philip didn’t disagree with him. He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d had a buzz.
When Val returned, breathless from dancing, he was seized with a sudden, stupid happiness that she’d come back to sit with him. A sheen of sweat beaded on her forehead, which she blotted away with a napkin. “That was fun,” Val said between gasps.
He made to respond but a group descended on the tables near them. Between their loud voices and the music itself, there was no way to hold a conversation.
Philip leaned in to be heard by Val. “You mentioned you were leaving soon. Can I give you a ride home?”
A frown tugged at the edge of her lips and he immediately understood his mistake. She’d known him all of two hours, and here he was, asking to take her home. He searched for a way to assuage her.
“I can leave my information with your cousin. Étienne knows where to find me.”
A glance at Étienne’s waggling eyebrows elicited a smile from Val, and she visibly relaxed. She called Olivia away from where she was engaged in an animated conversation with Aleysha. “Oye, Philip wants to give you his number.”
Olivia tore her eyes away from Aleysha, scanning Philip up and down. “Why? Shouldn’t he be giv
ing you his number? It’s pretty clear I’m with Aleysha, right?”
“No, tonta,” Val shouted in exasperation. “Philip is giving me a ride home, so I want you to get his number.”
Olivia pulled out her phone, slid her thumb across the screen and handed it to Philip. Her features darkened, her eyes flashing with a menace she did nothing to hide. A momentary pause between songs left the club in a parenthesis of silence, making Olivia’s words ring clear. “Nothing better happen to her, pretty boy. I got ways of tracking people down.”
Étienne patted his wide chest. “No worries. I know where this one lives.”
Olivia’s frown disappeared, replaced with a comically gleaming smile. “Oh, good. Otherwise, I’d have to hack into his life and wreck him. Wouldn’t want that now, would you?”
Olivia had gone from goddess to low-key assassin in zero to three seconds, which Philip found impressive—and intimidating. Before he could answer, Val interjected, “You guys can stop treating me like a three-year-old.”
“They don’t want anything to happen to you.” Philip leaned in, admiring the sparkle of her skin under the lights. His eyes were drawn to her, no matter who in their group was speaking, and he struggled not to stare again. “They’re all worried about you, but who’s going to protect me from you?”
She gave him a slow smile, followed by a lazy shrug. “Looks like you’re on your own.” She was so close her nose nearly brushed his, and it took all his self-control not to drag it along the length of hers.
“All right, then, let’s bounce,” she said, sliding off her chair. He followed her as she said goodbye to at least fifty people with excruciating slowness before they finally made it out into the cool night. Philip placed a light hand on her arm to indicate the direction they should go.
Silk.
That’s what her skin felt like beneath his fingers. She glanced at him with unfocused eyes, nostrils flaring with her sharp intake of breath.
“My car’s over here.” He gestured in the direction of his black Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio.
Val squinted, then faced him, a flicker of surprise racing over her features. The car had been an indulgence when one of his designs had won an important commercial contract. Except now, with Val, he wondered if maybe it wasn’t too much. He wanted her to like it. To like him. It was suddenly of the utmost importance to him.