Otherwise Engaged (8 page)

“Hopefully,
still in my suitcase,” he said, his jovial tone and good-natured sense of humor
seemingly back. “I don’t think the restaurant would approve of me coming in
dressed like this.” He gestured to the towel. “You know, without pants.”

She laughed,
never having been able to resist him when he was like this. Never having been
able to resist him much at all. Maybe she avoided him as much as he did her in
D.C. Avoidance out of a sense of self-preservation. Because there was no point
in falling for someone she knew she couldn’t have.

“Okay, well,
I’m going to go get showered,” she said.

“Before you go,
do you know where the iron and ironing board are?” he asked. His black hair was
still wet from the shower and clung to the sides of his face and around his
neck in a scattered, careless towel-just-run-through-wet-hair way she found
heart startling.

“Hm. There’s
this little closet over here. Let’s check it out.” She went to a small closet
near the kitchen area. She opened the door and saw an ironing board and iron.
“Aha. Here we go.” She grabbed the iron and turned to hand it to him. She
stopped short, and gripped the iron tighter. He was close.
Much
too close.
“Hi there.” She smelled the clean scent of his soap on his
skin. She had to stop herself from leaning in closer to get a better whiff. His
skin had darkened to a warm golden brown during their day in the sun. Suddenly,
she wanted to run her hands over his smooth, firm pecks. Why was he so close?

“Thanks.” He
took the iron from her, but didn’t back away.

“Yeah.”

“I had a lot of
fun today.” He laughed softly. “I kind of forgot how nice it was to take a
whole day and do nothing but bum around.
Even better by the
ocean.
Even better considering the company.” He gave her that grin
that’d always had the power to melt every inch of her. All the way
back
to freshman orientation nine years ago.

“Yeah.” Her
vocabulary seemed to have dwindled down to that one word.

He reached out
and smoothed her hair away from her face. He fondled the flower Julio had put
behind her ear earlier that day. “We should go check out that rain forest. El
Yunque. They probably have all kinds of crazy flowers there.”

“Okay.” No, she
had more than one word left. There were at least two.

He leaned
closer and parted his lips. She didn’t know if he was going to kiss her or say
something else. She would never know because there was a knock at the door at
that moment, startling them both. He stepped back from her, and she couldn’t
believe how disappointed she felt.

He went to
answer the door, and she followed him. He probably should have been wearing
more than a towel to answer the door. Still, she couldn’t help but admire the
view. She watched the muscles in his lower back move as he walked. Nice. And
she didn’t mind the fact that his towel was riding kind of low. No, she didn’t
mind that at all. She didn’t really want him to put on pants. Ever. She stared
at the view from the back as he opened the door, thinking again of Lucky Number
Slevin in that moment. What a beautiful sight.

When he threw
open the door, she saw Carolina standing there.

“Carolina. Hi,”
he said, obviously as thrown off as Daphne felt.

Carolina gave
him a brazen once-over—who could blame her, engaged or not
?—
and then looked away guiltily. Focusing on Daphne,
she said, “I just came by to say hello. I haven’t seen you all day.”

“We were on the
beach,” Daphne said.

“Yeah, I
remember you saying something about it last night,” she said, still keeping her
gaze intentionally on Daphne. It seemed like she really wanted to move it to
Rain, though. Daphne chanced a glance at Rain. She wanted to slap the smug
smile off his face. That was the problem with pretty boys. “And I ran into some
of Manny’s cousins today. Julio said he met you guys.”

Crap. Had Julio
said anything about how much she flirted with him? Not that she should care
about interfering with Rain’s plan.
Rain’s shady plan that
hopefully he wouldn’t go through with anyway.
And if he didn’t say
something before the wedding, she would. She definitely wouldn’t let him ruin
the wedding. She had warned him that she wouldn’t let him do that, and she
meant it.

“Oh yeah. They
seem nice,” Daphne said.

“When I told
Julio you and Rain were dating, he was really disappointed,” Carolina said. She
watched Daphne carefully as if gauging her for a reaction to this news.

“Oh, I didn’t
mention that to him? I guess it didn’t come up,” she said.

Carolina
nodded. “Well, anyway, there’s a reason for my visit. I wanted to check in with
you guys to see if you want to go to Old San Juan with Manny, Emily Rose,
Michael, and me tomorrow.” Emily Rose was a friend mainly of Carolina’s from
college. Daphne knew her but not well. Emily Rose and Carolina had been
roommates all through college, and she was going to be Carolina’s matron of
honor.

“Sure,” Daphne
said.

After a few
more awkward exchanges, Carolina left.

“You have three
days,” Daphne said as soon as the door closed. “New Year’s Eve is your absolute
deadline. I meant what I said. I don’t want you to even think about doing
something shameless like throwing yourself into the middle of the aisle at the
wedding.”

He shrugged,
“So you told me.”

“I’m serious,”
she said.

“Won’t happen.
I promise. I just have to find the right moment,” he said. “Three days will
give me time.”

“The sooner the
better,” she said, sauntering past him. “You’re cock blocking right now.”

He raised his
eyebrows, those gorgeous hazel eyes following her. “You’re really interested in
that Julio guy?”

She paused at
the doorway to her bedroom and glanced over her shoulder at him. “Maybe.”

He laughed, and
she thought she heard a bitter edge to it. “Island fling, huh?”

It was her turn
to shrug. Closing the French doors to her bedroom after her, she smiled to
herself as she headed to the bathroom.

Chapter Thirteen

The next day
was Old San Juan—or
Viejo San Juan
as
Manny and Carolina kept calling it. They took the tourist trolley up to the
city, which was on a hill. Daphne was being a good sport about the fake couple
thing. He didn’t know how she’d react later when they got back to the hotel,
but right at that moment, she was being a good sport. She even let Rain hold
her hand on occasion. He had to admit that holding on to her was kind of nice.

They took
pictures in front of the statue of Ponce de Leon at the Plaza de San Jose. They
spent some time at the Parque De Las Palomas, but not too long because the
pigeons really freaked Em Rose and Carolina out. They visited the Alcaldia, or
city hall, as well.
And the Castillo de San Cristobal.
Of course they had to visit the walled city’s two forts. It was obligatory,
Manny and Carolina insisted. The views were excellent, Rain had to agree. There
was a lot more
picture-taking
involved. Of course
Manny volunteered to take most of the pictures so that Carolina and all her old
friends could be together. Friggin’ Manny. Always finding a way to upstage Rain.

They did the
tourist thing for a while, taking in the historic sites as they wandered around
the old city. There were a lot of bright colors on the facades of the
buildings. Everything from pink to neon green and orange and, well, maybe no
colors were unrepresented besides black and white. Bright colors and balconies
seemed to come at them from all sides as they traversed the city’s streets.

That afternoon,
the guys hung back while the women flitted in and out of the shops on Calle del
Cristo. Rain looked around at the colorful storefronts and cobblestone streets
as he tried to make conversation with the other two. Mostly, Manny and Michael
talked, though. About New York,
their
women, married
life, and other things that didn’t interest Rain. Well, one thing they were
talking about interested him. Rain’s mind was filled with thoughts of Manny’s
fiancé. What in the world could he say to Carolina to convince her that he was
for real? Not only that, but that they belonged together. His mind went back to
his failed conversation with her his first day in town. Obviously, what he’d
tried then wasn’t good enough.

Rain knew
Michael a little through Emily Rose. They’d all gone to college together, and
both Rain and Michael had been in the business school. He knew Emily Rose
better than he knew Michael, though, because Carolina and Emily Rose had been
pretty close. Also, Carolina and Emily Rose had lived together. He had lost
touch almost completely with Emily Rose after college. And he’d never liked
Michael much. He’d always pegged him as one of those pretentious types who
thought he was smarter and just generally better than everybody else.

An attractive
woman with dark hair wearing a colorful sundress caught his eye. She smiled,
giving him what he liked to call the green light smile, and he smiled back. He
had no intentions of initiating anything, but he appreciated her shapely legs
as she sashayed up the street.

Damn. Could he
do this?
This one-woman thing?
Had Daphne been right
when she told him he only wanted Carolina now because she was about to marry
someone else? And what did he plan on doing with her once he got her? Marriage
was still one of the scariest words in the English language to him. Marriage
was synonymous with trap. Being shackled to someone for life? Could he handle
that? He didn’t know what was next after busting up the wedding. He hadn’t
thought that far ahead. He only knew he had to be with Carolina. More than
anything else in the world, he wanted that one thing.

When the women
were finally done shopping, it was getting late and time to start looking for a
place for dinner. They went to a small restaurant near one of the plazas that
Carolina and Manny recommended. Rain tried his best to dislike the place
because it was one of Manny’s favorite restaurants, but the meat was so savory
and the sauces so thick and creamy. He soon forgot to hate on Manny once again.
Before he knew it, the whole table was in a heated debate about European
football clubs. And he and that fool Manny were on the same side. After all, they
were both Real Madrid fans to the death. Rain briefly wondered if Carolina had
chose Manny because he reminded her of Rain.

“Manny, I tell
you, you have a true winner there,” Michael said. “You were smart not to let
her get away from you.” Michael smiled and looked at each of them in turn as if
he were very proud of himself for making this observation.

Rain tensed.
Was that a dig at him?

Stop being paranoid
, he told himself. He
glanced over at Daphne, and surprisingly, she gave him a reassuring smile.

“I’m lucky,
that’s all,” Manny said. “Very, very lucky. I can’t believe she’s put up with
me this long. I only hope I can keep tricking her into being with me until I
can get her down that aisle and get that wedding band on her finger.” Manny reached
for Carolina’s hand above the table, and she gave it with an adoring smile that
made Rain’s stomach turn.

They all
laughed at Manny’s comment. Rain laughed a little too hard, and it turned into
a booming guffaw. Clearing his throat, Rain grabbed his water glass and took
several huge gulps from it.

Michael held up
his glass. “To Manny and Carolina.” He reached down and grabbed Emily Rose’s
hand, squeezing it. “May they be as happy as we are.
”

“To Manny and
Carolina,” everyone at the table chorused.
They all clinked
glasses.
Then Rain gulped down most of the contents of his wine glass. He
was ready for another.
Or for something stronger.

Later, while
they were working on dessert, Rain murmured to Daphne, “You’re being awfully
nice to me tonight despite the fact that I deserve any assery you want to send
my way. What’s with you?”

She nibbled at
her crème brulee. “I’ve been thinking. Maybe I’ve been too hard on you.”

“Really?” He
didn’t even try to hide his shock. It would’ve been impossible to do anyway.

She nodded.
“Really.” She took a long sip of coffee, letting her lips linger on the white ceramic
cup. That was something she usually did when she was trying to buy time. He let
his eyes linger on her soft, full lips. “I’ve been watching you today,” she
said. “Sometimes, you look like you’re physically in pain over it. You really
do love her, don’t you?” She leaned closer, so close he could smell her flowery
perfume, and said, “I’m sorry.” It sounded like she really meant it.

He drank more
wine and looked around for the server. Maybe he should order a brandy.

Afterward, they
went back to the hotel to change and drop off their shopping bags. Then they
went out dancing so that Carolina could show off her newly acquired Salsa
skills.

Daphne wore a
long black dress with a slit in the side. Carolina wore a white halter dress.
His eyes couldn’t decide where they wanted to spend the most time.

Rain had
learned how to do most types of dance at a young age. His mom was obsessed with
it—from traditional Thai dancing to ballet to waltz to jazz dancing to anything
else she heard of. She’d had him dancing almost as soon as he could walk. She’d
kept him in ballet classes until he was too mortified to continue and refused
to go to the studio any longer. The kids in middle school had found out he was
doing ballet, and they’d been brutal. He’d never liked it much anyway. His
favorite thing about it had been lifting the girls in the air. Other than that,
and the girls’ leotards and tights, he hadn’t gotten much out of it.

Mom’s favorite
was Salsa, though. It had become Rain’s as well. And now, he was doing a Cuban
dance that a Thai woman had taught him in Puerto Rico. With the most gorgeous
black woman—woman of any color really—he’d ever seen. Wait. What
was he saying? What about Carolina?

Daphne twirled
around perfectly on beat.

“You hustled
me, didn’t you?” he asked as he pulled her close.

“What are you
talking about?” She laughed as he swung her back out.
 

“You said you
never Salsa danced before.”

She swiveled
her hips in a way that drew in all his attention. “Well, I guess I’m a fast
learner, you’re a great teacher, or both,” she said, raising her voice to be
heard over the music as she sashayed closer. “Besides, I love Zumba. Maybe I
picked up a thing or two there.”

He moved his
hand lower on her hip. “Maybe we should go out to Salsa when we get back to D.C.
I know a great place.”

She gave him a
mysterious smile that was really quite sexy. “Maybe.”

He realized
that was the first time he’d mentioned going home. Home. Business. Real life.
He wasn’t looking forward to returning to it. He was enjoying this vacation way
more than he’d expected to, and a lot of the reason for that was Daphne.

“What?” she
asked.

“Huh?” He spun
her around and pulled her close, her back to his chest. Had she always been so
beautiful? He’d always thought her pretty, but tonight, she was taking his
breath away.

“You got all
quiet, and you were giving me this look.”

“What look?” He
spun her to face him again and pulled her close. He was vaguely aware of the
fact that Carolina, who was behind Daphne with Manny, was watching them.

“I dunno.
That’s what I was trying to ask you,” she said. She must’ve liked the idea that
jerk-off, Julio, had of putting a flower in her hair. She’d picked one from the
garden on their terrace that evening and added to her thick black hair, which
she wore up off her delicate, slender neck that night. It was a big, floppy
flower that was some orange-like color. The brightness of it looked good
against the rich darkness of her skin.

He put a hand
under her chin. “Oh. I didn’t know I was giving you a look.”

They stopped
dancing. She swallowed hard and gave him a look with her big brown eyes that
was partially hesitant, but mostly open.
And beautiful.
She said, “Well, you were.”

He lowered his
face to hers. With his lips hovering just above hers, he said, “Can you really
blame me?” He brushed his lips over her bottom lip. She moaned and moved closer
to him, giving him all the encouragement he needed. He pressed his mouth to
hers, moving his tongue over hers. Her hands locked behind his neck. Pulling
her closer, he put his arms low around her waist and deepened the kiss. He
realized they were still swaying side to side a little, as if doing some sort
of kiss-drunk slow dance.

At first, he’d
thought the kiss was about Carolina. Some juvenile attempt to make her jealous,
but as he continued to press his lips to Daphne’s, he realized something was
stirring deep down inside him. Something he’d never felt before. No, not just
desire. He’d felt that plenty of times before.
Something more
than that.

Actually he
had
felt this strange feeling before.
Exactly once before.
He thought back to the time he and
Daphne had kissed in college. After that dance or whatever. The time he hadn’t
let it go too far. What would have happened if he had? He sometimes wondered
about that.

No, Carolina.
He’d obviously felt this with Carolina, right? He’d felt even more than this
with Carolina. Surely, he had. It’d just been so long since he held her,
touched her, that it was hard to remember exactly what those things had been
like.

When he finally
pulled back from the kiss, he could feel people’s stares on them. Daphne
pressed the middle fingers of her right hand softly to her full lower lip. He’d
kissed away most of her
lip gloss
.
Those
beautiful pouty lips.
He wanted more.

He reached
toward her again.

She shook her
head and backed away.

“I’m sorry,
I—” he started.

“No,” she said.
“No, it’s okay. I’ll be right back.” She gave him a trembling smile before hurrying
off in the direction of the restrooms.

He looked across
the room and was confronted with a cloudy expression on Carolina’s face. Her
face was tight for a moment, and he thought she might come over to him or
follow Daphne. Instead, she turned to Manny and pulled him close to her on the
dance floor. It was dark in there, and Carolina was across the room from him,
so he couldn’t be sure.

But it seemed
like tears were shining in Carolina’s eyes. She pressed her face to Manny’s
shoulder before Rain could investigate any further. If she was crying, Rain
didn’t know how to feel about that. One question just kept flashing in his mind
over and over again, and it was all he could focus on:
What did I just do?

#

That night,
back in the suite, Daphne didn’t say another word to him. She went into her
room and closed the door. He sat on the couch, pretending to watch television, but
not being able to focus on anything happening on the screen. His eyes kept
flitting to the crack under the curtains that covered the door. He didn’t want
to hurt her. He hated thinking that he might’ve done just that. He thought
about going over and knocking on the door a few times, but he had the feeling
that he would only make things worse if he did.

Daphne’s light stayed on for hours.
He thought he heard her
voice quietly for a while, as if she was on the phone and didn’t want him to
overhear. Eventually, the light went out. It was past four in the morning then.

He continued to
stare at the television without comprehending what was flashing across the
screen. It would be impossible for him to sleep now.