His Bahamas Affair (The Albury Affairs) (10 page)

She moaned when the
explosive tastes flooded her mouth. She was right to drool over it. Then she
moved to the other dishes, eating the salad last. The entire meal they didn’t
speak and curiously, she looked up to see if she’d accomplished in dissuading
him of his misconceptions about her.

Loraine pressed her
lips together to hide her smile at his wide eyed expression as he followed the
fork of salad and conch from the plate to her mouth. She chewed slowly,
savoring the flavors, closing her eyes and moaning appropriately fighting the
urge to burst out in laughter.

Then she opened her
eyes and looked at him, picked up her mug of beer and sipping at it before she
broke the silence. “What?”

Reno chuckled, shaking
his head in disbelief. “Wow!”

Feigning ignorance, she
asked again. “What?”

“The way you eat…I’ve
never seen a woman eat like that!”

Loraine shrugged.
“Yeah, I get that a lot. Do you mind?”

“Not at all,” he
responded laughingly. “I’m glad, actually. It’s pretty cool to watch. And here
I thought I had you pegged—”

“As an anorexic rich
girl who would only pass math if it was a question about counting calories?”
she finished nonchalantly.

He raised his hands,
palm up. “I’m an idiot, sorry. This is the second time you’ve proven me wrong
and that’s just today.”

Loraine put her fork
down glad she had nothing else to prove. She didn’t have any space left in her
stomach for the rest of her salad. “How about we just get to know each other
without the misconceptions?”

He nodded. “I think I
know you, just not that well. It’s going to get interesting.”

Loraine winked at him.
“Right back at you, sweetheart.”

He chuckled shaking his
head as he lifted his mug of beer to his lips. “Crazy Lori is full of
surprises.”

Loraine fidgeted
nervously in her seat. “In the spirit of getting to know each other better, can
I ask you something?”

Reno took a few gulps
of his beer before he spoke. “Shoot.”

Loraine was unsure for
a moment. She didn’t want to ruin their dinner with a discussion that would
most surely piss him off.

Reno put his fork down,
placing his arms on the table he leaned forward. “Lori, what’s up?”

She licked her lower
lip before she spoke. “Why did you keep it…the resort?”

His brows pulled
together in a frown. “I don’t understand.”

She stalled for a
moment, wiping her oily hands on a napkin. “Most sons would have sold their
inheritance especially if it was a family legacy…like some last attempt to piss
off their fathers.”

Loraine watched as a
muscle worked in his jaw, his eyes darkening in only what she could conclude as
reined in anger as he leaned back into his chair. Slowly, he picked up his
napkin and wiped his lips and hands then set it aside and crossed his large
arms over his powerful chest. Loraine was sure he was taking his time to tame
his anger, probably counting to ten in his mind.

“I can’t afford a
juvenile tantrum Lori,” he responded coolly.

Loraine felt her
discomfort grow. “That isn’t what I’m saying. You took
La
Paraiso
and made it great. I’ve never
seen someone who didn’t have a reservation offer to pay extra for a room.
You’ve done great for yourself, created a legacy to be respected by growing
your father’s vision.”

Reno relaxed visibly,
dropping his defensive posture. “You are asking why I decided to continue the
dream my father built on my mother’s broken heart?”

“And those of two
abandoned children,” she added.

“
Three
abandoned children,” he sighed rubbing his hands together.
“That man only married Ruiz’s mother for her money because the bank wouldn’t
increase his loan for him to complete his vision. My mother said he loved her,
just not enough to give up his dream.”

Loraine absently traced
her finger over the rim of her beer mug. “And here you are continuing that
dream.”

He shook his head with
a faint smile. “No, I’m not. Essentially, I am one of those sons—I did tear
down his dream and built mine on top of it.”

Loraine chuckled
softly, placing her elbow on the table and leaning her chin in her hand. “Now
I’m
confused.”

“He wanted the resort
to be exclusively for the rich. I opened it to anyone who could afford it,
availing different packages to different clientele. Just because a person can’t
afford a day and night on the yacht out in the open ocean, doesn’t mean he
can’t experience that luxury for half a day at quarter of the price. He goes
fishing, catches a few fish and the yacht chef prepares it for him for lunch.
They enjoy a wonderful meal they caught themselves, plus a great experience
before they come back to shore.”

Loraine smiled at the
pride in his face. It was wonderful to see him so happy about his
accomplishment, which wasn’t easy to obtain considering where he came from. His
was a true story of ‘from rags to riches’. She was proud of him which was
insane, considering she had no reason to be but still, she was proud of his
accomplishments.

“What about the snobs?”
she asked with a raised brow, waiting to see if he’ll take a jab at her.

Reno chuckled shaking
his head as if he could read her mind. “The snobs, they would rather frolic in
the sun and be catered to hand and foot.”

“I must say—” Loraine
stopped, taken aback by the brazen nerve of the fake blonde. The chic with
plastic boobs that spilled out of the top she had clearly bought from the
children’s section, passed by their table giving her a sneer and a glare. Then
when she turned to Reno, she fluttered her eyelashes seductively and with her
hand, fingers extended, ran her long red talons up and down his arm to his
shoulder to elbow. She stopped behind him, bent over, pressing her boobs into
his back and whispered in his ear before she licked it and walked away.

Reno’s cappuccino
cheeks gained a faint pink color as he straightened in his seat, clearing his
throat several times. He made an effort to keep his eyes averted from hers.

Loraine felt jealousy
stir up but she pushed it down. She was tempted to ask what she’d said to him
but instead she said, “That’s the fourth or is it the fifth blonde to hit on
you since we got into Nassau. What are you, Nassau’s Casanova?”

Reno cleared his throat
again. “Nothing like that. I don’t even know her…that well,” he added silently,
picking up his mug of beer he took several gulps.

“Bye, Reno, see you
soon!” A totally different blonde purred seductively as she walked by them
toward the exit.

Loraine crossed her
arms over her chest. “You don’t know her too…that well?”

He cleared his throat
again and lifted his mug to his lips, looking away from her.

Loraine lifted her
eyebrow when she realized something. “You have a type, don’t you?”

“What?” he asked with a
completely innocent wide eyed look.

“Blonde hair, blue
eyed? They probably can’t swim huh, that’s why they need the inflated balloons
they carry on their chests? What’s wrong with brunettes or red heads with green
eyes?” she leaned forward on the table, “Does the color of my eyes and hair make
me your type, Reno?”

He pulled at the collar
of his shirt. “Why are we discussing this again?”

Loraine smiled sweetly
at him. “Oh no, it wasn’t a discussion, just an observation. You do know not
every goldilocks falls in the dumb blonde category?”

Reno raised his hand.
“You done eating? I think it’s time to go back to the apartment.”

“Aha. Coward.”

Reno paid the check and
they quietly walked back to their apartment. The night was so cool and
wonderful that she didn’t mind the silence. But when it followed them into the
apartment, the silence became uncomfortable. They stood in the small living
room, secretly stealing glances at each other. The last time Loraine had done
something like this was in junior high after a really bad date with the son of
her father’s friend. It was so ridiculous it made her laugh.

“Okay, I’ll ah, just
get ready for bed.” She turned around and was about to go into the bedroom when
his hand wrapped around her wrist.

“Wait.”

She turned around to
face him. “Yes?”

He released her, pocketing
his hands in his khaki shorts. “I should explain the blonde thing.”

“You really don’t have
to.” She bit down a smile when he exhaled, visibly relieved. “But,” she moved
to the couch and sat down, patting the spot next to her, “I have a feeling this
is going to be great.”

His eyes narrowed at
her. “Wow, I can’t wait to share my problems with such an understanding and
loving friend,” he said sarcastically.

“Aw, that’s so sweet.
But you have the wrong friend.” She patted the spot again. “Sit and share your
embarrassing story with me and I promise not to ridicule you…much.” Loraine
burst out laughing then quickly covered her mouth with her hand to smother it
when he made a noise that sounded like a growl at her. “Okay. I’m sorry. I will
try to be understanding about your need to date blonde blue eyed bimbos.”

Reno dropped heavily
down next to her. “If you haven’t noticed you are blonde and blue eyed.”

“No I’m—” Loraine
quickly stopped herself before she blundered. She
was
blonde and blue eyed, had been for the past eight years and
would remain one for as long as she lived. She pulled her legs up onto the
couch, and tucked them under her to keep from hugging her knees to her chest.
“I’m not a bimbo.”

Reno reached up and
rubbed a lock of her hair between his fingers before he brushed it over her
shoulder and dropped his hand. Loraine’s belly somersaulted at his touch. God
she was like a giddy teenager around him!

“No, you are too
astute—with two degrees, both you haven’t put to use yet—to be a bimbo.”

She punched him
playfully in his side. “Start talking.”

She noticed how stormy
his eyes suddenly got, as his jaw clenched. The arm that a moment ago had been
casually draped over the couch grew taunt as he clenched and unclenched his
fist. His playful mood was gone and whatever it was he was silently debating,
clearly angered him.

“Georgia, my wife, is
blonde and blue eyed.”

“Wife!” she blurted
out, making him jump. “You’re married!”

Reno looked as
surprised as she was which was stupid! She was the one who just found out she
was coveting a married man!
Damn it!

“I thought you knew
that. Didn’t Riana tell you?”

Loraine groaned. She
couldn’t believe her luck! The man was married! The only guy she really liked
more than she ever thought possible was already hitched. Riana had a lot to
answer for!

She buried her face in
her hands and groaned again, “Why me?”

“Lori…”

Her head shot up.
“Don’t call me that!” she punched him in the chest which hurt her more than
him. She rubbed her knuckles as she ranted at him. “How could you kiss me, how
could you almost…almost…” Why the hell couldn’t she say it, she wasn’t a high
collared prude!

“Almost make love to
you?” he filled in, reaching for her abused hand.

Loraine narrowed her
eyes to slits when she saw the smile in his face. She slapped his hand away
from hers. “Are you laughing at me?”

She shoved off the
couch but quickly fell into his lap when Reno pulled her back. She fought to
get off him but he wrapped his arms around her caging her to him.

“Hold on,
blondie
, and let me finish,” he said laughingly.

Loraine tried to pull
his arm away. It surprised her every time how large this guy was. She couldn’t
even wrap her hand around his wrist. “Finish telling me—”

“That my divorce went
through a week ago.”

She went still, turning
her head to the side to look at him. “Divorce?”

He chuckled, lifting
her and placing her on the couch next to him. “Yes, now will you please shut up
and let me finish my depressing story?”

She made a zipper
gesture over her lips and sat back against the corner of the couch though she
really wanted to shout her relief.

“We were married almost
four years ago. I fancied myself in love with her, fell hook line and sinker
for her. A few weeks after the wedding, she ran off with a guest and I haven’t
seen her since.”

As relieved as she was
that Reno was a free agent, she felt sorry for him. She wasn’t quite sure how
she would react if someone she loved betrayed her like that.

“Did she at least tell
you why?”

He snorted, his lips
curling in a sneer. “Take a guess.”

She nodded in
understanding. “Money.”

“I got a taste of what
my mother felt when the man she loved betrayed her for
Albury’s
Place.”