by Jamie Pope
“I like to work.” He grinned at her. “It’s what I do.” He walked over, extending his hand to Carlos. “It’s nice to meet you. I just wanted to stop by and welcome you.”
“Thank you. I appreciate that.”
“I think I can speak for everyone here on Hideaway Island that we are honored that you have enough confidence in our workmanship to hire locally.”
“You can thank Virginia for that. She’s in charge of the house.”
“I figured as much. Your interior designer is not only beautiful, but she’s smart, too. You were lucky to find her.”
“Yeah.” Carlos wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close. “I am.”
Chapter 6
Carlos pushed off the edge of his pool, propelling himself through the water. He had loved the water as a kid. His mother thought it was important for all of the Bradley kids to not only swim but to swim well.
He couldn’t remember the last time he’d really swam, with his head under water and his body gliding through it. He had splashed in the ocean with his last girlfriend on the beaches on the coast of France, but it hadn’t been anything like this. All he heard was the breeze and the water surge around him, the waves hitting the shore in the distance, the sereneness of being alone in nature. And for once his foot didn’t hurt. There was no stiffness. No range-of-motion issues, no pain at all.
When his hand touched the other end of the pool, he flipped over and swam back, ready to do another lap, but when he lifted his head from the water he saw Virginia sitting on the new lawn furniture she’d had delivered that morning.
His blood heated when he saw her. She was wearing a long gray-and-black-striped dress; her hair was pulled up today in a bun on top of her head. He preferred it loose and wild with her ringlets bouncing, but she was beautiful no matter what.
“Hey.” He stood up.
She smiled at him. She always smiled when she saw him. Her smile was a gift she probably gave to everyone, but it made him feel damn good when she gave it to him. “Hey, yourself.”
He hadn’t seen much of her the past few days. She was there. He knew when he went to bed at night that she slept one floor below him and all he had to do was walk down the stairs to get to her. But he didn’t. Because he didn’t want to do it that way. She had been working hard for him, always on the phone, always sketching something, always directing someone.
She was a professional, no matter how she’d acted the first time they’d spoken, and he could see why people liked to work with her. But working with her was the last thing he wanted to do. He wanted her in his bed, and ever since the day on his couch he’d been going around hurting because he wanted her so much.
“Do you like your new outdoor living room?” She leaned back on the couch. It was a dark brown wicker with blue cushions, the same as the rest of the chairs and loungers. It was sleek and comfortable looking at the same time.
“I do,” he admitted. He hadn’t paid much attention to the old stuff. He hadn’t spent any time out here until she had arrived.
“I can’t wait for the table to get here. I ordered a large one for big parties, but I got a little bistro set...” She broke off, giving him a sleepy smile. “You don’t care, do you?”
“No.” But she did. She cared more about decorating his house than he had cared for anything in a long time. “You’re off the clock, you know. No talk of paint or wall hangings or whatever you like to blab on about.”
“I’ll call Derek tomorrow. He loves to talk about furniture as much as I do.”
He suppressed an eye roll at the mention of Derek’s name. He was a nice guy who did good things, but he clearly had a thing for Virginia. She’d said she was just going to order some furniture from him, but Carlos knew that as soon as Derek got a shot at her he would take it. Carlos just had to make sure Derek never got his shot. “Come here.”
To his surprise she got up without argument and came over to the edge of the pool, slipping her feet into the water. “Have you eaten yet?”
“No.”
“I’m going to cook tonight. Will you eat with me?”
He grabbed one of her feet, stroking his thumb along her sole. She had bubble-gum-pink painted toenails that he found distracting and adorable. “You’re tired. You don’t have to cook. Let me order in.”
“I think I can boil some pasta and grill up some shrimp without too much effort.”
“You’ve been working hard all day. Let me take care of dinner.”
“Oh.” A mischievous smiled came across her lips. “You’re going to cook tonight? I would like that.”
“You really don’t want to eat my cooking. Come in the water with me.”
“I’m not wearing a bathing suit. Give me a few minutes to get mine.”
He didn’t want to wait a few minutes. He wanted her with him now. “You don’t need a bathing suit.”
She laughed. “I make it a rule not to go skinny-dipping with men I’ve known less than a month.”
He tugged at the hem of her dress. “You don’t have to be naked. Just go in what you have on under this.”
“You want me to swim in my underwear? I think you just want to see what color my panties are.”
He was curious, but more than that he wanted to see her body. See the thing he had been lusting over for the past two weeks. “It’s no different from you wearing a bikini.”
“I don’t wear bikinis. I’m a one-piece kind of girl.”
“Take off your bra and you’ll only be in one piece. Get in the pool with me.”
“Okay.” She stood up, walking to the far side of the pool as she stripped off her dress.
Her body. It was full and curvy and delicious looking, but it wasn’t slender, wasn’t what some would consider perfect. It wasn’t what he was used to. He had dated models and actresses for so long that he’d forgotten what a real woman looked like.
Right now this woman in her black bra and pink-and-white-polka-dot underwear turned him on more than anyone had in as long as he could remember. “You’re walking in the wrong direction.”
“No, I’m not.” She took a running start and launched herself into the middle of the pool, splashing him in the process. “I haven’t done that in years.” She emerged from the water laughing.
“You splashed me.” He went after her.
“That was the whole point.” She swam away from him and he was surprised at how graceful she was in the water. But he was a good swimmer, too, and easily caught up to her, pinning her against the wall of the pool with his body. He had to suppress a moan, she felt so good.
“I see you’re not one of those take-your-time, get-in-little-by-little people,” he said to her.
“Life is too short.” She wrapped her arms around him, resting her chin on his shoulder. “I always knew you were a beautiful man, but seeing you shirtless and wet just confirms for me how fine you are.”
“You’re the only person who openly tells me you like the way I look.”
“Really?” She looked up at him. “It’s true.” She ran her hand up and down his back. “You’re like a big, hard Greek statue. Like something my ex would have sculpted. Nobody in real life looks or feels this way.”
“You sound annoyed.”
“That you look perfect? It is annoying. It makes me feel as if I should stop eating brownies and start eating more kale.”
“Eat brownies. You look—” he wrapped her legs around his waist, taking time to run his fingers down the backs of her thighs “—and feel amazing to me. You’re beautiful, Virginia.”
She kissed the spot where his shoulder and neck met. It was arousing, but more than that it was sweet. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been with somebody who was just sweet to him. “Thank you.”
“Tell me about this sculptor boyfr
iend you had. Is he the same one who stole your cat?”
“Yes.” She spoke into his shoulder. Her lips vibrated against his skin. “He had a beautiful, soulful spirit.”
“But he dumped you by leaving a note your microwave.”
“He hated confrontation. Breaking up with me in person would have been too hard for him.”
“And it was easy for you to have someone you spent a long time with break up with you without having the decency to tell you face-to-face? He sounds like a punk ass to me.”
“He wasn’t. You would have to know him. He’s sweet and sensitive. He used to paint my toenails while we watched TV, and he loved to go shopping with me. How many men would do that?”
“Hmm” was all he said, not wanting to give away what he was thinking.
“What?” She lifted her head off his shoulder and looked up at him with her eyes wide.
“Nothing.” He shook his head.
“Something. What are you thinking?”
“Why did you break up?”
“I don’t know. He said that I just wasn’t the right one for him.”
“Was there someone else?”
“No. At least, I don’t think there was. We both worked from home. We were always together. Maybe he just got sick of me.”
“You think he got sick of having sex with you?”
She opened her mouth to speak, but then shut it.
“What? Tell me.”
“Sex wasn’t important to Burcet.”
“Burcet! What kind of name is that?”
“French. He was born in Morocco but spent his school years in France.”
“So your Moroccan French sculptor boyfriend liked to paint your nails, go shopping with you, but didn’t care about having sex with you. Let me guess, he liked to cuddle.”
“Yes, he did. What are you trying to say?”
He shrugged. “I don’t think I have to say it.”
She gasped as it dawned on her. “Don’t stereotype a man just because he likes to do things that a dumb jock like you would never think of doing. He was kind and he cared about me.”
“And then he dumped you and stole your cat. Stop defending that asshole. You deserved better.”
She rested her head on his shoulder again. “You’re right. I moved here for him. He asked me to move here for him. Said he couldn’t do it without me. So I picked up my life and left a job that I liked, one that I was good at, and moved across the country for him. And I supported him. Not just financially when he needed it, but I supported his dreams of being a sculptor when pretty much everyone else on the planet had given up on him. I said I liked every one of those oversize, pretentious pieces of crap he churned out. And the crazy thing is, I don’t even think I loved him that much.”
“Then, why did you do it?”
“I’m not sure. I guess it was for the sense of adventure. The feeling of not knowing how things would turn out. Asa and I grew up with such strict parents. Every single thing we did was scheduled and planned out. There was no spontaneity. So now that I’m an adult and I can do whatever I want, I make sure I do whatever I want.”
“How’s that working out for you?”
“Okay, I guess. If Burcet hadn’t dumped me I would have never opened up my design firm. And if I didn’t open my design firm, I wouldn’t be on this beautiful island in this beautiful pool that overlooks the ocean with the man I’m going to tell my grandchildren about someday.”
“Why would you tell your grandchildren about me?”
She looked up at him again, deeply into his eyes. “You can’t be that humble. I may have thought you played for the Dolphins and had no idea when baseball season is, but even I know that you’re a legend in the making and probably the most famous player in the game.”
“I’m not a legend in the making. I can’t play.”
“You’re hurt. You’ll go back.”
She sounded so sure of herself. He had missed an entire season. He had never missed a day since he was in little league. “What if I can’t go back? Baseball is my job. I have no other skills. I didn’t go to college. If I’m not a player, then what am I?”
She looked at him for a long moment, her expression turning thoughtful. “You’re not just a player. You’re a man. Your job doesn’t define you. You know that, right? I’ve had a million jobs. None of them defined who I am.”
“What if I don’t know who I am?”
“Then, getting hurt was a blessing. Now you get to go on the adventure of finding out who you really are.”
A blessing. He shook his head. After losing his father, getting hurt had been the worst thing that had ever happened to him. Baseball had been the thing that had bonded him and his father, and without the game it almost felt as if Carlos had lost him all over again.
The only thing that made life bearable now, that made it sort of livable, was Virginia’s unexpected presence in it. Maybe it was her positive outlook on life. Maybe it was the way her soft, curvy body was pressed against his, but he felt lighter than he had in a long time.
“How does a man find himself?”
“Think of all the things you want and go after them. You’re luckier than most. You have more than most people could ever dream of.”
“This money doesn’t mean a damn thing to me. I want my father to be alive. I want to play ball again. I can’t buy any of that.”
“No. But you can’t bring your father back and you can’t get unhurt. Time doesn’t go backward, only forward. Things don’t mean possessions. Just think about what you want out of life, what will make you happy, and go get it.”
The sun was just starting to set. All he could see was an orangey sky above them and the swaying palm trees around them, with the ocean serving as a backdrop to it all. Yet she was the most beautiful thing there, with her curls slipping from her bun and her large, soulful eyes staring at him.
“I want you,” he said honestly, just before he kissed her. There was something about her that made kissing her feel more like an experience than anything else. It could be the way her body went soft, almost liquid, like the water they were in, or it could be the way her lips were hot and moist and pliant. Or the way she kissed him back, passionately, as if she was enjoying him just as much as he was her. He wanted her like he hadn’t wanted anybody ever, and he had a sense that that feeling was never going to go away.
“Carlos.” She broke the kiss. “I work for you. I just started working for you. I can’t sleep with you.”
“The sun is setting. You aren’t working for me right now. Right now you are my friend.”
Friend. It was the first time he had thought of her that way, but it was true. He had his teammates, his siblings, but he couldn’t think of the last time he’d just had a friend.
“I don’t have sex with my friends.”
“Don’t have sex with your friends. Just come to bed with me.”
“No.” She slid her hands up to his face and kissed him, softer than their last kiss, a little more slowly. She broke away, smiling gently at him, and then splashed him in the face and then swam off.
He laughed and chased after her. He had a feeling he was going to be chasing after her a lot.
* * *
Virginia checked on the painters’ progress once more. There were only four of them today; the two oldest team members had taken a break from all the hard work. It was taking over a week to paint the massive great room—three days alone to apply the first coat to the stark white walls—but she was pleased with her color choice. More cream than coffee. Just that hint of brown in the white paint turned the room from a cold empty space to one that was much warmer and more inviting.
She was still looking through catalogs and scouring the internet for just the right pieces to put in there. Her instinct was to go comp
letely homey, make the big room feel like a smaller space, feel like a place where a family could gather and enjoy, but the knowledge that Carlos’s sister was getting married here made her pause. The public spaces of the house had to be more of a showpiece, something spectacular. Worthy of hosting a wedding full of important guests.
She wished Carlos would give her some guidance as to what he wanted, but every time she approached him he told her that he didn’t care what she picked. As long as it was nice.
Nice? What a bland word. She pulled out her cell phone and called Carlos. She wanted to let him know that she was heading to Derek’s workshop in case he needed her. He never needed her. She rarely saw him until the sun was about to set.
“Why are you calling me?” he asked, answering his phone. “I’m upstairs.”
“Calling you is a lot easier than walking up those stairs. Plus I didn’t want to disturb you. You told me not to disturb you. Remember?”
“You can disturb me. Especially if we end up doing what we did the last time.”
Her skin heated at the thought. She still went to bed thinking about that day, about how his heavy body had felt on top of hers, how his fingers had hooked into her underwear. She was trying to stay strong, stay professional, but she knew if she went into his room with his bed just a few feet away it would be much harder to say no to him. Saying no to him the other night while they’d been in the pool had almost killed her. She wanted him, but more than that she wanted to protect her heart. She fell in love too easily and had gotten hurt too many times. This time she was going to do things right. She was going to think of her career first.
“I just wanted to tell you that I was heading to Derek’s workshop to pick out some furniture.”
He was quiet for a long moment. So long that she thought they were disconnected.
“Hello?”
“I’m putting on my sneakers. I’ll be down in a minute.” He hung up before she had the chance to ask why. When Derek was there last week she’d thought she sensed some possessiveness on Carlos’s part, but she might have been imagining it. He made it downstairs in record time. “Okay. Let’s go.”
