3 Weeks 'Til Forever (4 page)

The
way he walked – tall and straight – as if he knew exactly where he was going?

Sure.

Definite.

Direct.

These
were the qualities her father had been admired for and from a psychological
perspective, she quickly realized that these were some of the reasons she was
so attracted to him.

But
there was nothing fatherly about the way she felt about Redmond Charleston
Hillyard.

Nothing
fatherly at all.

Chapter
7: Gigolo

After
rising at 6:45 and working straight through until 11:30, Janey picked up her
cell and dialed Redmond’s number from the card he’d given her the night before.

“Tapriha,”
he answered. “Redmond here.”

“Tapriha,”
(Ta-pree-ha) meant hello in his native tongue, a dialect that was a mix of
several African tribal languages, as well as Greek and Spanish that all
Sol
y Besoans
, the citizens of the country, spoke. In addition, they all spoke
English too.

The
deep, melodic sound of his voice was so damned sexy. Janey loved a man with some
depth to his voice and Redmond had that in spades. When mixed with the musical
way the people of the island spoke naturally, it did things to her insides that
she just wasn’t prepared for.

Smiling
inwardly, Janey dreamily traced circles – or was it hearts – into the writing
desk where she’d spent the morning working, responding, “Tapriha to you too,
Mr. Hillyard. This is JC . . . ah, Janey. Did I catch you at a bad time?”

“You
could never catch me at a bad time Janey. I’ve been waiting for your call. So,
what time shall I pick you up?”

“Six
o’clock.”

“That’s
perfect for what I have in mind,” he replied.

“And
what might that be Mr. Hillyard?”

“Nuh
ugh, it’s a surprise,” he teased.

“But
how will I know what to wear? At least give me a hint,” she pleaded.

“As
you know, we’re very casual here on
Sol y Besos
. Anything you wear will
be fine, so don’t worry.”

“Hearing
a slight ‘beep, beep,’ which signaled another call was trying to get through on
his line, she said, “I’ll let you get that. I’ll see you at six.”

Janey
could barely concentrate on her writing after getting off the phone with
Redmond. She felt like a teenager getting ready for her first date.

Her
appetite had run off with her common sense, she thought. Her stomach was doing
somersaults and she stuck her tongue out at herself in the mirror, giving in to
the giddiness of the 16-year-old teenage excitement bubbling inside her.

After
about an hour of non-productive writing after getting off the phone with
Redmond, Janey decided that she needed to get something on her stomach, as she
hadn’t eaten breakfast that morning.

Grabbing
her pink, flower-patterned cloth purse from the bottom of her bed, she slipped
on her sunglasses, grabbed her room key and all but skipped out of the hotel.

The
previous day, she’d spotted what looked like a charming little restaurant a
couple of blocks from her hotel. Reasoning that even if her appetite didn’t
return in full she could at least get a blog post about yet another local spot
out of it, Janey walked the two blocks to the restaurant.

Selene’s
, which Janey
knew was the name of a Greek moon goddess, was the name of the enchanting little
eatery. It had a life-size statue of the deity just outside the main entrance –
which made it hard to miss.

All
of the tables were adorned with flower vases that held an image of the god,
which were brimming with a potpourri of local flowers, some of which were as
big as a human head.

One
of the things Janey loved about
Sol y Besos
was that it was rich in
plant life. There seemed to be every kind of tropical flower, tree, plant and
bush you could ever want or need on the island.

Whether
you wanted flowers for your dinner table, wood to build furniture, or an herb
to cure sunburn, you could find it in the plant life on
Sol y Besos
–
which boasted everything from orchids, to bamboo, to aloe.

Janey
took a window view at a two-seater in the restaurant. She liked to watch people
and the spot she chose was perfect for witnessing daily life unfold in the town
center
while
she waited for her food.

The
smells coming from the kitchen of the tiny establishment restored her appetite in
full. She’d ordered banana pancakes, some kind of fruit concoction she’d never
heard of, and coffee.

A
smile had just begun to crease the corners of her strawberry-glossed lips when
she spotted Redmond across the street – with a woman who had one hand on his
chest.

Even
if he’d looked, he wouldn’t have been able to see her as she was partially
hidden behind the massive statute of the goddess Selene at the main entrance to
the restaurant.

Redmond
and this strange woman seemed to be in deep conversation and she noticed that
although he wasn’t touching her, he didn’t remove her hand from his chest.

Like
many of the women on the island, this one was gorgeous – extraordinarily so.

Sporting
short jean cutoffs, 3-inch wedge sandals, a hot pink tee that stopped at the
edge of her belly button and huge silver hoop earrings, sensuality oozed from
every pore of her beautiful frame.

About
5’8” and 130 pounds Janey judged, she was almost chin level with Redmond in
those platforms, who topped out at about 6’2”. Two thick, child-like curly
braids – Indian-style – fell down her back, which was in complete juxtaposition
to the obvious mature, sexy woman she was.

There
was definitely an intimate connection there and Janey’s heart shriveled like a
raisin in the sun.

Just
thirty seconds ago, she’d been in sheer heaven; floating on clouds and dreaming
of rainbow-colored unicorns. Now it felt as if her heart had nose-dived into
the ninth circle of Dante’s hell.

At
that precise moment, Janey remembered why she’d chosen to be alone since her
mother’s death. It hurt too much.

It
seemed that every time she let herself start to get close to a man; started to
get excited about possibilities, some shit like this always happened.

She
was tired, so tired of just wanting someone to love and not deceive her.

Redmond
and the woman talked for a good five minutes. At one point, it seemed like they
were arguing, or at least on the verge of it. But by the end of the conversation,
the heavenly creature reached up, gave him a kiss on the check and turned to
walk away – glancing back once as if to say, “
I miss you; I’ll see you later
.”

Appetite
completely gone but ever mindful of work, Janey made herself push down a few
bites of the banana pancakes and take a couple of bites of the foreign fruit
concoction.

She
could at least comment honestly on the food at Selene’s when she wrote her blog
post, she thought, as she downed the last sip of lukewarm coffee.

.
. .

At
six p.m. on the dot, the concierge rang her room to let her know she had a
visitor, a Mr. Redmond Hillyard.

Janey
told him to tell Mr. Hillyard that, “With regret, I am indisposed right now and
will give him a call later.”

Within
seconds, her cell phone rang. It was Redmond.

She
didn’t pick up.

He
called in quick succession two more times. The last time, he left a message,
saying, “I deserve an explanation if you’re going to blow me off like this. And
while I’d hate to cause a scene, if you don’t let me come up or you come down
within three minutes, one of us is going to be embarrassed – and it’s not going
to be me.”

The
actual nerve of the man
, was all Janey could think.
Just who the hell
did he think he was!

Definitely
NOT wanting him anywhere near her room, Janey slipped on her tangerine-colored
flip flops, grabbed her room key and scurried for the elevator because she had
a feeling that he meant every word he said and she was not the type to do
‘scenes.’

Reaching
the lobby, Redmond was pacing, but with the control of a caged panther.

Motioning
for him to follow her into the hotel bar, she found a secluded table in one
corner and promptly sat down.

Waiting
until she was seated, Redmond followed suit.

“Now,
will you tell me why you’re trying to blow me off, as you’re obviously not
‘indisposed?’ We had plans and I deserve an explanation if you want to cancel
them, don’t you think?”

Janey
hadn’t come up with an explanation because she truly thought that once she
‘blew him off’ as he put it, that would be the end of it. She’d learned a long
time ago that the male ego was very fragile and she just never thought it’d get
this far.

“I’m
here to work Redmond and I only have about a week and a half left. After giving
it some thought and looking at the mounds of work I have to tackle, I decided
to just stay focused on that while I’m here.”

“You’re
lying,” was all he said.

“Something
happened between last night and today to make you change your mind about going
out with me and it has nothing to do with work.”

“Now
that you’ve gotten lie number one out of the way, would you care to search that
overly active mind of yours for lie number two?”

Not
giving her a chance to respond, he continued, “I can actually see the wheels
turning, so why don’t you just take the bull by the horns, as you Americans
say, and tell me the truth. Then we can deal with the real issue – whatever it
is.”

Again,
his directness was so much like her father’s that she was floored.

Janey
hated lies and admired honesty above any other quality in a human being. And
she disliked the fact that she’d lied to him; although it was only a partial
lie. She
did
have a lot of work to do over the next week and a half.

“Alright
Redmond, if the truth is what you want, the truth is what you’ll get.”

“I
was having a late breakfast, early brunch – or whatever you all call it here –
at
Selene’s
right down the street about an hour after I got off the
phone with you this morning. And as I’m sipping on my coffee gazing out the
window, guess who I see with a woman all squished up next to him across the
street?”

Redmond
continued to stare directly at her, not saying a word.

“You.
Yes, you. And don’t try to deny it. I …”

Cutting
her off, he stated matter of factly, “It was me; I don’t deny it.”

 
“Then ….?” Janey stated, her voice trailing off.

“Go
on, please finish Janey.”

“I
have nothing else to say …”

“THAT
woman is not just a friend,” she rushed on, in spite of herself.

“It’s
obviously more than that and I know very well how famous certain islands in the
Caribbean are for men having a ‘main woman’ and several others on the side,
especially foreigners. That’s not my scene, so when …”

Interjecting
again, Redmond said, “So from a simple conversation with a female – in plain
daylight on a public street in the center of town – you assume that I have a
woman and must be some type of gigolo looking to play you?”

“The
way she touched you said ‘this is my man,’” Janey countered.

“I’ve
had enough drama in my life on the man front to last a lifetime. I’d rather be
by myself that get caught up in a drama-filled relationship.”

“So
I’m relationship material, huh?” Redmond said, trying to inject some humor into
the situation.

“You
are most definitely are NOT relationship material for me Redmond Hillyard,” she
countered sternly.