by Holly Rayner
And then I sat on one of the cushions where Raul was sleeping, put my head in my hands, and let the hot tears burning in my eyes flow down my cheeks.
What the hell was I doing? Raul was a good man with an idea for a building the neighborhood was going to adore. And here I was trying to help the snake who had paid me and dangled a home for my mother in front of me. I was a terrible person.
“What is it, Tanya? Are you having regrets?”
Raul leaned up on an elbow, his eyes soft and concerned. I shook my head.
“About you, never.”
“About something else?”
“No. I’m just—” I almost, almost, let the cat out of the bag. “It’s nothing.”
Raul’s eyes told me he didn’t truly believe me, but he wasn’t going to press. He held out an arm and I crawled forward and under it. He wrapped his arm around me and held me close.
“Whatever it is, I am here with you now. You can tell me anything.”
“It really was nothing. Probably jet lag. I’ve really only slept for about two hours since Thursday morning.”
I felt him nod behind me. He stroked his hand down my side, a soothing gesture that had me sighing and closing my eyes in moments.
When I opened them next, it was in response to the wonderful smell of breakfast cooking. I stretched a little before sitting up. The sight that greeted me made me grin.
Raul stood at the cooktop in the fancy kitchen I hadn’t really noticed the night before. He was flipping pancakes and frying bacon. He wore an apron with the statement “Besa al chef” embroidered on the front.
I got up from the bed of pillows we’d slept on and took the apron’s advice. I stepped behind Raul, wrapped my arms around his waist, and kissed his neck. He smiled and kissed me back.
“Buenos días, cariño,” he said.
“Buenos días, chef. That smells so good.” My stomach growled in affirmation.
“I’m happy to hear it. These are Rey’s favorite for breakfast, so I’ve spent many mornings just like this. Standing before my stove, wearing the apron she gave me for my birthday a few years ago, flipping pancakes.”
“I can’t wait to taste them. Can I help? Maybe set the table?”
“That would be wonderful.”
Raul pointed to a cabinet and a drawer on the other side of the kitchen.
“Dishes and cutlery,” he said.
I gathered what we needed and set the small, two-seater table tucked into the corner of the kitchen.
“Do I have time to freshen up before we eat?” I asked. “And do you have an extra toothbrush?”
Raul nodded, not taking his eyes from the pancake in his pan.
“The bathroom is through there.” He gestured toward the smooth wall to the left of the front door. “Just push on the wall where the vertical line is visible. There are toiletries in there. In the bedroom beyond, there might even be some clothes you could wear if you prefer to change out of your gown.”
“Oh, so there is an actual bedroom here?” I teased.
He shot me a grin, and I went to the wall and pushed it open. The glass and chrome bathroom behind the wall was bigger than my office in Manhattan.
In a cabinet by the sink, I found a basket full of small soaps, lotions, and packaged toothbrushes. I snatched a toothbrush and a small tube of toothpaste from the basket and gratefully scrubbed my teeth until they felt clean again.
I then pushed through to the bedroom where a closet filled with feminine clothing awaited me. I sighed with pleasure at the sight of the silk blouses and designer-label blue jeans. When I pulled my choices from their hangers and found they were my size, I wondered how confident Raul had been before taking me to dinner the night before.
I dug into a couple of drawers in the walk-in closet and came up with undergarments to wear with the clothes. I eyed the shower but knew I didn’t have that kind of time. I’d go back to my hotel and get cleaned up after breakfast.
I pulled on the clothes, closed all the drawers and cabinets I’d opened, and headed back to the kitchen where I found Raul loading up a plate with pancakes and bacon for me.
Chapter 16
Raul
“I’m glad you found something that fit.”
“I was surprised I did. Do you keep a pile of random women’s clothing in the closet just in case?”
I shook my head.
“I’ve never been one for waste. When Eloisa died, I couldn’t bear to part with many of her clothes. I thought maybe I’d keep them until they fit Rey. It’s nice to see someone getting some use out of them.”
A look passed over Tanya’s face, and I wondered what she’d thought when she’d found clothing in her size in the closet. It was interesting to be given credit for being so smooth as to have purchased clothing for a paramour before the need for such clothing had presented itself.
“Thank you for letting me wear something that belonged to your wife,” she said, a catch in her voice.
I patted her shoulder.
“Please don’t put too much weight on this. They’re clothes. Clothes should be worn.”
I sat down beside her and served myself. Tanya waited until I’d fixed my plate to my liking before tasting hers.
“Wow,” she enthused, “I’ve never had better pancakes. What’s your secret?”
I shook my head. “Now, now, I can’t give away all my family secrets.”
We dug into our meal, and the room fell silent except for the scrape of cutlery on china. We were carrying our plates to the sink when the elevator doors slid open and Rey rushed into the room, speaking in rapid Spanish.
“Papi! Camila’s mom had to drop me off early so Marco brought me over to the penthouse to surprise—”
Rey stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Tanya, and my heart stuttered to a halt in my chest. I’d never let Rey see me with any of the women I’d dated since Eloisa’s death. Now, here I was with Tanya, who I wasn’t dating, on the morning after we’d had sex.
“Tanya? Muchas gracias for the book. I started it last night and I’m hooked.”
She grinned. “I’m so glad you’re enjoying it.”
“How many books are in the series?”
“If I remember correctly, there were ten or twelve of them. If you like, and your father says it’s all right, we can go to some used bookstores here in the city and look for them.”
Rey turned happy eyes to me. She didn’t seem upset Tanya was here, in fact, she seemed happy to see her. I didn’t understand women, no matter what age they were.
“Can we go to the bookstores, papi?”
“I have to work today, hija.”
“If you’re all right with it, I don’t mind taking Rey alone. I’m sure Marco would stay with us.”
“Marco likes books, too, papi. Can we go, please?”
I looked between Tanya and Rey. None of the women from my past had ever volunteered to spend time with Rey, let alone time when I wasn’t present. Tanya really was a different kind of woman than I was used to being with. If I wasn’t careful, I’d blow an important business deal because I was falling for the woman who owned what I needed to make it happen.
“Are you sure you want to spend the day digging in dirty old bookstores with my daughter?”
“I’m positive. It’s always been my policy to encourage reading in anyone I come in contact with. And there are few things better than finding a new series to read, and then searching for the books so you don’t have to stop at the end of the book you’re reading.”
“All right,” I said. “But only if you join me at the office for lunch. Both of you.”
“Yeah!” Rey bounded forward and wrapped her arms around my neck. “Please can I get my allowance early this week?”
“Of course, hija.” I pulled my wallet from my back pocket and opened it to pull several bills from it. I pressed the bills into Rey’s hand and kissed her cheek.
“Te amo, hija.”
“Te amo, papi.”
R
ey kissed my cheek and then dove into the couch and turned on the television.
I glanced at Tanya and caught the indulgent, yet sad look she cast at my daughter. I could all but read her mind, and it broke my heart a little. I took her hand and lifted it to my lips.
“She’s really something,” Tanya said after we stepped into the kitchen. “She’s so lucky to have a dad like you.”
“I’ve always thought I was the lucky one.”
“Oh, you are. She’s smart, kind, beautiful, and amazing. She’s going to grow up to be the kind of woman every little girl should aspire to be.”
“How did I get so lucky? The perfect daughter and a woman willing to spend the day with her.”
“You know how much I love books. I want to see what a used bookstore is like here. It’ll be a fun trip.”
“I feel like I’m taking advantage of you.”
“How? I volunteered for this. You just gave your permission.”
“What are we going to do when you leave?”
“Go back to the fabulous life you already had together and forget all about me.”
“I don’t think that’ll be possible,” I said.
"Sure it will. I'm just someone you want to do business with. You'll forget all about me once I go back to the States."
"I don't think that'll be possible," I said, certain I was the one who was right in this argument.
Chapter 17
Tanya
“That was amazing,” I said, hugging Rey and kissing her cheek. “Thank you for keeping me company.”
“Thanks for letting me. I love this museum, but papi doesn’t often have time to go with me. It was so much more fun to see the art with someone who wanted to talk about it.”
“Happy to oblige.”
I bowed, and Rey giggled. In the last two days, we’d spent hours together. We’d laughed digging through boxes and shelves full of old books and come out looking like street urchins covered in dirt. We’d cried over the beauty of the Goya exhibit at the Prado. We’d eaten street vendor delicacies and shared a stomachache because of them.
I’d realized in the car coming back from the museum that I was in far too deep. Not only was I bonding with this little girl, but I was falling in love with the man who had raised her. The fact that I didn’t want to go back to New York and help my mom settle into her new apartment told me I needed to get out of Spain as soon as possible. I was going to have to change my flight to tonight and make up some emergency at home, or I was going to be in big trouble.
Marco smiled at me over Rey’s shoulder. He’d changed in the last two days as well. He’d softened toward me during the trip around the city to search the bookstores. This morning, he’d arrived at my hotel with coffee in hand. He actually looked a little sad that he’d be taking Rey back to her father without me. Just one more reason to go home before I couldn’t bear to leave them.
“Are you sure you won’t have dinner with us tonight, Tanya?” Rey asked.
“Positive, chica. I need to do some work tonight, and I haven’t had nearly enough sleep since I got here.”
Disappointment left her crestfallen. She tried turning her pretty eyes to me, to change my mind, but I hardened my heart as I should have two days ago and stood my ground.
“Breakfast tomorrow, then?”
“We’ll see,” I said.
I hugged her again and something broke in my chest. I didn’t want to leave this little girl or her father, but I didn’t have a choice. When Arlen presented his updated plan to the neighborhood, he’d reveal that he already owned that land and my cover would be blown. I didn’t want to be here when that happened.
Leaving Raul was going to be hard. He’d been a perfect gentleman since the night we’d spent together, due, I was sure, to the fact that Rey had been with us most of the time. He’d snuck a kiss or two, but that was it. I wished for a chance to spend more time with him before I had to go, but I knew that was an idle wish and one that wasn’t really a good idea anyway.
Marco helped Rey back into the car, and I waved as they drove off. I rode the elevator up to my room, where I called the airline to reschedule my departure.
“I’m very sorry, señorita, but the airport workers are on strike. All flights have been grounded until further notice. We hope the strike will be resolved before your scheduled flight, but keep calling to check, please.”
I hung up the phone with a sigh. I wasn’t going anywhere today, and Arlen wasn’t set to make his announcement yet. I might as well see if Raul and Rey still wanted to have dinner. My head was screaming at me not to, but my heart won the argument.
I dialed Raul’s office and got Gabriela.
“Señor Jimenez just went into a meeting, let me see if he can speak with you now.”
“Gracias, Gabriela.”
“De nada, señorita.”
On-hold music, classical Spanish, came over the line, and I found myself nodding in time to the beat until Raul’s voice came on the line.
“Señorita, what can I do for you?”
“Well, I thought I was going to have to handle some work from the States tonight, but my lawyers handled the most pressing items for me already.”
“Does that mean you’re available for dinner with Rey and me this evening?”
“It does. Can I bring anything?”
“I think we have it handled. Dress comfortably. We’ll be eating in the penthouse.”
“I think I can handle that.”
“Excellent. Marco will pick you up at seven.”
“I’ll be ready.”
Raul ended the call, and I was left staring at the handset and wondering what was wrong with me. I needed to stay away from the two of them or I was going to slip and blow my cover. Plus, the guilt of what I was doing was starting to weigh too heavily on me. I didn’t want to think about how Rey would feel when she found out the truth. I knew she’d think I’d lied to her, when I really hadn’t. I loved spending time with her. Just as I loved spending time with her father.
Raul had been busy the last two days, but I was still having happy flashbacks to our evening at the dance club and what had come after. That night in the penthouse had been one of the very best nights of my life. And one of the worst. My stomach still twisted when I thought of what I’d done. I’d betrayed him on a level that I knew when he found out, he’d never forgive me.
I needed to be gone from Madrid before Raul or Rey discovered my deceit. Arlen wasn’t going to wait much longer before he showed the borough planning board his “new” plans. He’d already told me he was meeting with them on Friday. I had a little less than a week to get home and disappear, reappearing as Tanya Owens once again, leaving Raul and Rey Jimenez behind in Spain. The thought broke my heart, and I felt tears burn behind my closed lids.
I’d go to dinner tonight, enjoy their company, and start breaking away in the morning.
What’s that saying about the best-laid plans?
Chapter 18
Raul
I shook the pan to stir the rice and continued to brown it evenly.
“Rey, can you please wash some carrots for me?”
“Sí, papi,” she said, jumping up from the couch, putting a marker in her page and leaving the book as she came into the kitchen and dove into the refrigerator for the vegetables.
“Do you want me to peel them, too?”
“Sí, mi amor.”
I turned down the heat on the burner under the rice so I could watch my daughter handle the vegetables and the peeler. When she was finished with the carrots, she handed them to me. I diced them and put them in the pan with the toasted rice, water, tomato sauce, and garlic, and set everything to simmer for twenty minutes.
“What else should we make tonight?”
“Do we have time to make paella?”
“Of course we do. Will you get the seafood from the refrigerator? Then I’ll show you how to peel and clean the shrimp.”
Rey and I cooked in companionable silence. She
stood by my side and did whatever I asked her to do. She watched my every move and copied it until we had a pile of peeled and cleaned shrimp to put into the pot with the muscles, sausage, and broth.
I glanced at the clock and realized Tanya would be at here in just a few minutes. I sent Rey to wash up for dinner and sat down with a glass of wine.
It bothered me how much this woman had gotten under my skin. I’d only known her for three days, and I’d already caught myself thinking of future plans with her. I wanted to take her to the coast, to my house there, to walk with her on the beach in the moonlight, to make love to her under the stars.
I shook my head. Pipe dreams, of course. Tanya was going home in five days. She wasn’t going to stay and be with me. Why would she? I was just a business contact. Sure, we’d had sex, but that was probably nothing more to her than a vacation fling.
The bell that warned me of the approach of the elevator startled me out of my thoughts. I got up, checked on the rice and paella, and was pouring a second glass of wine when the elevator doors opened and Tanya stepped out.
“Welcome, welcome.” I embraced Tanya and kissed her cheek before handing her the glass of wine.
“Thank you.” She sipped the wine and smiled at me. “You have the most amazing taste when it comes to alcohol.”
“Thank you. I love seeing you enjoy what I give you.”
Color flooded Tanya’s cheeks. A charming habit of hers that never failed to warm my heart.
“How do you do that?” Tanya asked.
“Do what?”
“Make me blush over something like a glass of wine.”
“Just a gift, I suppose. I adore your flushed cheeks.”
She reddened even more, and I couldn’t help but smile. She was charming, disarming, and completely unaware of it. I caught myself picturing her as a permanent part of my life and turned away to check the food.