by Sera Taíno
“Garlic?”
Val handed him one of the small bowls with shaky hands. “Not just garlic. There’s olive oil, cilantro, lemon and salt, as well.”
Philip looked at his dish. “I’ll try it your way.” He followed her suggestion, dipping his pork in the mojo, nodding his approval all the while. Satisfaction spread, warm and syrupy through her veins, an improvement over her animal lust.
Val rarely got to play the customer in her own restaurant. She savored the flavors that reminded her of her mother’s home-cooked meals, many of which Val tried to modify for the restaurant. They punctuated the important events of their lives. She couldn’t help but wonder if Philip would enjoy those meals, too.
To do that, he’d have to stick around until at least Thanksgiving. The idea was too frightening to imagine.
The music played low and soft in the background, periodically accompanied by the sound of Nati’s movements in the kitchen. She’d been good about them having dinner without interruption, and Val promised herself she’d find some way to thank her.
They ended the meal with coffee and pineapple-rum cake that Val had made earlier on a whim. Despite her excessive reaction to Philip’s obvious pleasure, it had gone better than she’d thought, and she had her sister to thank for that, as well.
Val didn’t want to ruin their easy time, but Philip had stopped by for a reason and it was best to just get on with it.
“I know you’re not here just for the food,” Val hedged.
“No, but it was certainly worth the drive.”
“If you didn’t drive out to our exclusive corner of the county for the rare treat of trying Puerto Rican cuisine, what did you come here for, sir?”
Philip wiped his lips with the napkin and set it off to the side with the other dirty dishes that Val would handle later. “I presented our proposal to my father. The good news is, he didn’t reject it out of hand.”
“That’s a start, isn’t it?” Val wanted to be optimistic. She didn’t want to get into a fight with anyone over this, especially if it put her and Philip on opposite sides of the issue. They’d worked so well together, and she wanted to continue to do so.
“Yes, but he isn’t entirely convinced. He’s afraid we’ll lose investors because none of this was in our original plan.”
“And you? What do you think?”
“It’s a realistic fear but I don’t think people will pull out. Most projects have to consider the community’s interests or they don’t get approved. It’s my father. He’s not big on compromise.”
“So it is bad news?” Val said, her stomach twisting in anxiety. “He’s going to turn it down?”
“I don’t believe so. I’m almost certain he’ll agree, if for no other reason than to head off any delays.”
Philip reached his hand out to take hers. She hesitated, unable to forget how his touch sent a million ripples of pleasure across her skin. The memory of it made her hunger for it, and everything that came with it. Everything she shouldn’t want right now.
But he was a self-destruct button she couldn’t help but press.
She turned her hand so that his palm settled into the cradle of hers. Her eyes flicked up to meet his gaze.
“So?” she whispered.
He blinked rapidly, as if waking from a trance. “I have an idea that might help him cross over to our side.”
“And here I thought you were both on the Dark Side.”
His laughter destroyed the tension but he didn’t let her hand go. He leaned forward, giving her what he probably thought was his best evil glare, but instead he came off looking like he was a bit gassy. “You won’t know until you cross over, will you?”
He was too cute to look fierce. “Ha, ha. Okay, Darth Meanie. You’re avoiding the subject. What’s your idea?”
“Darth Meanie. Hmm, not the fiercest Sith name ever.” Philip straightened. Val took the opportunity to let her hand slide out of his before she got used to it, because she liked holding his hand way too much.
“My mother is holding a fundraiser. I think it would be a good idea if you came.”
Maybe she hadn’t heard him right. “Why would my going to a fundraiser I probably can’t afford to participate in be a good idea?”
“Because, it’ll be a chance to meet my father and talk to him about the proposal. Plus, the food is usually excellent and there are always some interesting personalities. Speaking of which, Étienne and Malena will be there, as well.”
“You had me at the food,” she quipped before growing serious. “I guess it also means your dad will be mellow. More inclined to listen to someone like me.”
Philip frowned, studying her as if trying to understand something. “Not someone like you. Just you. He’ll listen because you’re not a person that anyone can ignore.”
“You think I can be persuasive based on the sheer force of my personality?” Val scoffed, and crossed her arms, hugging herself.
Philip shook his head, his frown deepening. He might not be able to pull off mean, but he could do displeasure just fine. “How can you have any doubts about yourself? Granted, I don’t know you as much as I’d like, but we’ve been working together lately and I think I know you well enough.” He paused, still leaning forward on the table, his gaze intense.
“You’re honest, almost to a fault,” he continued. “You’re not afraid of hard work. You’re intelligent to the point of being intimidating. You’re funny, but also serious when you need to be.” Val snorted softly at that, but he had ensnared her with his words and she was utterly under his spell. “You never make a decision without thinking about everyone it could affect, and never expect anything in return.” He paused, hesitating on his own words before plunging ahead. “And you are so beautiful, sometimes it’s like a punch in the gut to look at you.”
Everything fell silent. The music receded. Even the bustling in the kitchen that had served as the soundtrack to their dinner disappeared until only his words hung in the air. Val stared and stared because she didn’t know what else to do.
“You think those things? About me?”
Philip nodded. “I do.”
There had always been an attraction between them. A spark that, left to itself, threatened to flare up into something that could burn for a long time. But this was more; it was intense and unexpected and terrifyingly more.
When Val didn’t answer right away, Philip cleared his throat and added, “My father is no idiot. He won’t help but be taken by you.”
She wanted to say something. Anything. It was a lot, and her nonreaction clearly had an effect on him, if the way his eyes shifted away from hers was any indication. “Philip, I—”
“Hey, I’m done back here.” Nati’s voice was an explosion of sound as she crossed the restaurant area. “You need anything else before I get out of here?”
“Oh, uh, no,” Val said, shaking herself out of the stupor Philip’s words had created. “We’re fine.”
Philip snapped out of his daze, as well. “It was nice to meet you.”
“Me, too.” Nati paused, glancing at both of them before she spoke up again. “And I appreciate your help with this stuff happening in the neighborhood. It means a lot to us. We were a little hopeless a few months ago, but Val’s been so optimistic lately about the work you’re doing together.”
“I’d love to take credit, but Val, uh, the advocacy group has been instrumental, as well.”
“And yet it’d be meaningless if no one was listening. So thanks for listening.” Nati turned her gaze on Val. “See you upstairs.” She winked, a promise that she would have a lot more to say as soon as she got Val alone.
When Nati left, the silence returned. Val worried her fingers on her lap, and, to Philip’s credit, he left her to her thoughts, watching her as he sipped his water. He’d said so much, she hadn’t processed it all, so her mind hi
nged on the one thing it could handle. The situation in East Ward was a much easier problem for her to solve than that of her feelings and how they’d smashed together without any hope of disentangling them. Philip had offered her an opportunity she would be foolish to turn down.
“Okay. I’ll go.”
A smile split his face, the kind that had made Nati’s brain crash and burn earlier. “We’ll go. And we’ll talk to him together. I’ll be with you the whole time.”
She didn’t bother to point out that they’d gone from zero to social in less than sixty seconds, and to meeting his parents, no less. The meeting-the-parents part alone would strike fear in anyone’s heart. This fact, as well as her feelings, would have to be dealt with later.
“I guess Cinderella has a ball to get ready for.”
Chapter Eighteen
There was nothing more stress inducing than inadvertently confessing your feelings for someone and having that person say exactly nothing in return.
Nevertheless, Philip was happy Val had accepted his invitation to come to the fundraiser. Meeting her might help win his father over, if only because he couldn’t continue to be indifferent to the people in the community if he actually got to know them. At least, that was the excuse Philip gave himself when he’d latched onto his mother’s suggestion. Persuade his father to cooperate. Right, got it.
Because his father had never, in all the years he’d been doing this work, conceded to a community’s wishes for adjustments in design or housing accessibility? He’d never had to negotiate about the infinite number of details in a development project? Of course, he had. This was not his father’s first or even fiftieth rodeo.
Philip had to acknowledge that his father was already inclined to cooperate, if only because the proposed changes were so common sense, it would be bad business not to agree to them and risk having the city block the project just as they were so close to starting. And it was the right thing to do. You’d have to be a doorknob not to see that.
So the truth was, he invited Val to the fundraiser because he wanted to spend time with her. Take her on another quasi date. Watch her glee as she tasted all the delightful things his mother had likely planned for the dinner. Have an excuse to dress up and dance badly with her and hear her make a joke or observation about something he wouldn’t have dreamed of seeing the way she did. No wonder he’d vomited his feelings all over her.
She’d been so stunned, she’d had nothing to say in return.
She’d accepted the invitation anyway, because it would serve her purpose. She had always been clear about what her motivation was for engaging with him ever since she’d found out who he was. Unlike him, she’d never lied.
So when he drove up to her building and stepped out to ring her doorbell the night of the fundraiser, there was no reason for his stomach to be twisted in knots. He had no reason to worry about his appearance, which even he had to admit was pretty damned impeccable. And there was absolutely no reason for his heart to be pounding as if it were going to leap out of his chest and run off into the night. That was not what he was here for.
Except that when the metallic buzz of Val’s doorbell reverberated within, and the fluorescent bulb in the corridor flared to life like a clutch of fireflies, he felt like it was prom night all over again. He stepped back when the door opened, the light illuminating her from behind, and his capacity for flimsy rationalizations disappeared. Words gnarled in his throat and all that came out was, “Wow.”
Val turned away, hiding a small smile. The green fabric drew light from the earthy undertones of her skin, making her appear illuminated from within. Her curls, the ones he wished he could bury his fingers in, were neatly tucked up, two perfect ones dangling like strings of dark pearls around her face, exposing a long neck bedecked by her ever-present rosary. His eyes raked over her, unable to find a place to rest because every single part of her demanded his attention.
“Val,” he said, her name an ache in the middle of his chest. He lost all track of his heart—maybe it had already left his body.
She took a step toward him, stumbling on her golden heels, and was suddenly in his arms.
“I got you.” He hadn’t held her since they’d last danced together, and in his opinion, in his arms was right where she needed to be. Nothing had changed since that first time except how much he wanted her, a need that was growing to unbearable proportions.
“It’s like a movie,” she said, her words suffused with that hint of humor she wasn’t afraid to turn on herself. “Girl undergoes transformation, girl almost falls on her face. Boy catches her.”
“What happens afterward?”
She straightened, smoothing out the nonexistent wrinkles of her dress. “If the writers are fair, the boy would fall, as well.”
No problem there. This boy had already fallen. “I’ll try not to fall on you.”
Val smirked, her eyes glittering with her wicked humor, and he prepared himself for it. “In that tuxedo, you could stumble any way you want, and you’d still look good.”
He opened the passenger door with a shaky hand, easing her into his inconveniently low car. “You’re getting soft. I wasn’t prepared for a compliment.”
“Oh, don’t worry. The burn will come. Now get in and distract me before my anxiety takes over.”
Philip slid into the driver’s seat and turned to face her before starting the car. “Look, I know I invited you with the intention of meeting my father. But I don’t want you to feel so much pressure that it ruins your night. We can just forgo that part and enjoy ourselves. These things can be a lot of fun if you’re with the right company.” He turned on the engine, and the car hummed to life. “And you, Ms. Navarro, are in the best company.”
“Wow, put a man in black and he thinks he can take over the galaxy.”
“That’s right. Don’t you forget it.”
Val laughed, easy and relaxed. Settling in for the unpredictable drive that could take them ten minutes or forty-five, depending on the traffic over the bridge, she asked, “So, what can I expect at one of these events?”
“There are usually speeches to thank donors, a silent auction, that sort of thing, but at its core, it’s a party. Half the fun is seeing which celebrities show up. I think you’ll enjoy it.”
“I’m sure I will,” she sighed, betraying a hint of unease. “Once I meet your father, I’ll be able to relax and enjoy myself.”
“Then we’ll make sure to get that out of the way as soon as possible.”
“You’d better.” Val smiled as she reached for the satellite radio buttons but stopped just short. He realized she was waiting for his permission.
“Of course you can turn it on,” he said. “You probably have better taste in music than I do.”
“Some people are weird about that.”
“I’m weird, but not about that.”
The sound of her laughter was drowned out by a classic rock ballad streaming through the car speakers. Val listened for a moment, then shook her head.
“Nice, but not quite the mood I’m looking for.” She fiddled with the buttons until the nearly operatic opening of “If I Can’t Have You” filled the interior.
“Wait a minute. I love this song!” To his surprise, Val let out a whoop of laughter before rolling down their windows and launching into a more-than-respectable sing-along. The wind as they crossed the bridge whipped inside the car, endangering their carefully styled hair, but Val could care less, so Philip decided not to care, either.
He didn’t know all the lyrics, but out of a vague memory of having heard it on repeat somewhere, he recognized the refrain and joined in.
Flying across the Verrazano Bridge, with New York City sparkling like a constellation in front of them, he brought up the backup each time the song launched into the refrain, but then lapsed into a garbled hum-along to allow Val to take the solo.
&nb
sp; He’d once told Val he preferred to have company on pleasure drives and this ride was exactly what he’d always envisioned. Someone like her, alive with her own fears and anxieties, but willing to take them on in the face of things she didn’t know. To get dressed up on the flimsiest of excuses and go to a party where she knew all of four people and still have the energy and joy to raise her voice and sing as loud as the wind permitted. A person who, if she felt half of what he felt when he was with her, was willing to deny herself in the service of what she believed to be right, even if it meant holding back and saying no to something that could bring her happiness.
When confronted with someone like that, no one could fault him for falling in love with her.
The question was, could she ever feel the same way about him, given the circumstances?
Chapter Nineteen
The prospect of meeting Philip’s father had Val’s insides mushed up like a plate of mofongo, though their wild sing-along had gone a long way toward calming her down. These were very rich people, used to socializing with other very rich people. She’d never been to an event like this and had no idea what to do or how to act. Val was more than just a fish out of water—she was an entirely different species altogether.
She wasn’t completely adrift. She had Philip and he’d promised not to abandon her. This might be his crowd and he might have grown up in a different environment, but Val usually forgot that he was wealthy. Except for dinner at Coq au Vin, or whenever she paid extra attention to his perfectly tailored suits. But he never acted like he was anything other than himself. A super geek wrapped up in a super-hot package.
They arrived at a cordoned off section of the street, where a dapper valet dressed in a short red coat and black pants took Philip’s keys. Val eased herself very carefully out of his car—knowing her, she’d tear her dress right up to her waist and give up the game before it had even started.