Tempting Victoria

by Mina V. Esguerra

  “I don't need to be anything for her.”

  “Are you doing anything else?”

  If he was being played, Nathan hated to admit that it was working.

  ***

  She agreed to meet him to talk about this, but she could only do it that Thursday, between three and three-thirty in the afternoon, and at the foyer outside one of the cafeterias at the University of St. Thomas. For someone who was by one account desperate to get him to help her, she sure wasn't making it easy for him to do it.

  He got there at the appointed time, but she didn’t.

  Here, he texted.

  I'm in the cafeteria. I need a sec.

  Five, ten minutes ticked past. He found something to sit on—it was some sort of art installation but didn't have a sign saying it shouldn't be touched. Students were walking past him, and he was surprised that only two years ago he was one of them. Victoria still was.

  He was currently on a break from school and work, but that time was coming to an end.

  There were too many glittery pants walking past him. Did they have this many glitter pants when he was in school? Goddamn annoying.

  Five more minutes was all he could take, then he walked into the cafeteria to find her.

  It looked better on the inside than he had expected; definitely not the stuffy lunch room he had grown up in when he was in school. There was a skylight, food stalls, cafe-type chairs and tables. Nathan wasn't sure where to find her but then saw a group of people standing around a small stage, where a woman he didn’t recognize was speaking. Breast Friends - Know More and Fight Breast Cancer was the sign behind her. She said thank you, and the crowd applauded.

  “Hey.” And just like that, Victoria herself was in front of him. “Sorry, my last speaker went a little overtime.”

  “We could have met another time, when you're not so busy.”

  She looked...god, even more beautiful. Even though she probably looked exactly the same as two years ago to anyone else. Maybe it was the way pink suited her, or this tight shirt in particular...

  Her face changed, again, in the exact same way as when they first met.

  “I'm busy,” she said in a clipped tone. “We have breast cancer awareness activities around campus all week, and it's all right before the Mexico thing...”

  “Yeah, Chris was saying you needed me.”

  He could almost feel the rise it got out of her. “I needed him, but he's not around, so I guess you'll do.”

  Nathan looked her right in the eye, and she met that look straight on. “Chris is a great guy, but he can't do half the things you need done on this trip.”

  “You think so, don’t you? He's told you about it?”

  “Yes. Interesting concept. A waste of money, but interesting concept.”

  Victoria rolled her eyes. “You can disagree with it all you want, as long as you get it done. I'll send you the itinerary and flight details to your email—”

  “Wait one second. I haven't said yes yet.”

  “You're kidding me.” Victoria was holding a clipboard, and she aimed the attached pen at him. “Why are you even here? You don't want to do it? Please say so immediately so I can kill you, bury you, and then find someone else to take with me.”

  “Ask me first.”

  Her eyes narrowed.

  Nathan leaned back against a table and waited.

  She exhaled dramatically. “Fine. Nathan, please go with me to Mexico and help me spend this rich guy's money.”

  “I don't know. I thought you needed me.”

  Victoria put her hands on her hips. “I have three classroom visits and a breast exam education seminar today, and I have to do this all over again tomorrow. I do all of this and more without you. I might need you for Mexico, but let's not get ahead of ourselves, Nathan.”

  Shit. She was putting him in his place but was so hot doing it.

  “Yes. I'm in. Send me whatever,” he said, surprising himself by bailing on the game. He would have drawn it out longer, played with her a little more.

  He was enjoying it though.

  So he shut it down, nodded at her, and walked right out of there immediately.

  ***

  Email from Nathan:

  Hi Victoria. Sorry for rushing out on you. If I didn’t make it clear, I’m in for the weekend. Whatever you need. I obviously lack people skills, so if you just list down what you need from me, I’ll see to it that it’s done.

  Email from Victoria:

  Nathan, oh I’m glad. Thank you. I really am in a bind right now and I didn’t mean to be difficult. Yes, I need your help. Yes, I can’t afford to be picky. I have a concept planned for the weekend, and I’ve started on the arrangements. I’m going to split my list into two and share it with you. Please comment on what else you think you can help with.

  Nathan:

  I got your list. You’re a comprehensive thinker. I like it. Attached something. Commented on what I can take off your hands. I’ll be better than Chris at this.

  Victoria:

  This is awesome. Thank you. I might be able to survive this.

  P.S. You don’t have to be better. The bar is very low.

  I’m kidding. He knows I’m kidding.

  Chapter 3

  Victoria was trying to remember if Chris ever told her that Nathan played poker.

  She thought he majored in some science thing (geology? zoology?) but maybe she just wasn't paying attention, because he never seemed to be working. Did he even graduate? Where'd he find the time to get certified to dive? Maybe he played poker too, because it would be just like him, wouldn't it? So fitting for a guy who managed to dive, and play several instruments, and visit Mexico enough to know boat guys by their first names. Victoria was also the fickle sort, jumping from instrument to instrument and event to event. It required compartmentalization, but also adaptability, and something else.

  The ability to disconnect. Check out, emotionally.

  She noticed that about him within five minutes of seeing him at the airport in Cozumel.

  He looked disconnected, all right, which was interesting. She thought he'd be more pissed when he first saw her¸ because by then he'd have figured out that she put them on different flights. She had a list of legit-sounding reasons why she'd be on the seven-twenty and he'd be on the eight forty-five, but none of them would hold up.

  In the end, they got out of immigration and baggage screening mere minutes apart because some of the event knick-knacks she’d brought along had the customs officer asking her questions.

  Yes, I understand, it does seem like a LOT of bite-sized chocolates, but I’m not going to be selling it, and they’re all still perfectly sealed, and it’s the favorite kind of my client’s…blah blah. She’d brought along a clear book with photos from her events in case she needed to prove what exactly would be done with those things. Seemed to have worked – when she handed her declaration form over and was asked to press a mysterious button, a green light came on and she was let through.

  Well, thanks! Victoria didn’t realize this could have all been over with a red light at the airport.

  Nathan showed up through the same line soon after. Sunglasses, a “You Can Mess with This Texan” shirt, and board shorts, his lone backpack not worthy of the poking and prodding she’d gotten. He saw her as he pushed the button at the end of the screening.

  “Hey,” he said. There was a tightness to his face that threw her off a little. But it wasn’t like she was expecting a hug; Victoria did not want any alone time with him. At all. Not the two-and-a-half hour flight, or the airport time right before and after. She was keeping exposure with the flesh-eating beast to a minimum.

  Emailing him was pleasant though. He answered promptly and usually had a point-by-point response for questions she posed. He wasn't evasive, and the attention to detail was very reassuring.

  The real-life talking to him was what she had trouble with.

  “I took a while at immigration and everything,” Victoria s
aid.

  “I noticed.”

  “I think we’re supposed to head this way.”

  “Yeah,” Nathan said.

  They pushed into a lobby along with the rest of the crowd. It was a crowd, all right—composed of tourists entering Mexico, just like them, but also airport regulars apparently there to sell them things.

  Victoria was not going to be buying things. That was not on her checklist.

  “We have to—“

  “Get a shuttle van ticket, yeah. It’s over here.”

  They had to wait for the van to fill up, so she passed the time updating him on the plans for the weekend. He was listening to her now with what seemed like polite silence.

  “Trent and Nyssa arrive this evening,” she was saying. “I worked out their ride with the property manager of the house I rented for them. Today we'll need to head on over there to get the house in shape, stock the fridge with their list...and you can do your thing. Arrange the snorkeling trip and stuff.”

  At some point he was just looking up at the slightly overcast sky, and she wasn't sure if he was even listening. They had flown into Cozumel at the tail end of the rainy season, apparently. The forecast for the weekend was sunny, but Victoria didn't like the clouds that greeted her when she landed. The breeze even hinted at a downpour, and the decidedly opposite-of-beachy jeans and turtleneck top she was wearing was oddly appropriate.

  Maybe it would be too cold and she’d never get to see him shirtless. That would be a minor miracle.

  “I can do that,” he said, finally, and it took a second for her to remember that they were talking about the snorkeling plan. But it couldn’t have been about anything else, as he was very businesslike. “And you want them snorkeling in the morning, right?”

  “As early as you can manage,” Victoria said. “If you can get them out of here by six a.m., that would be awesome. Let them do their thing, because Nyssa enjoys it.”

  “They've done this before?” Nathan asked. “It gets cold in the water.”

  “Oh. Yes, but please remind them. Do they need any special gear?”

  “They might want suits, rash guards. I'll handle it.”

  “Then Trent wants to take her out along the boardwalk and explore, which will give us time to set up dinner. That’s enough time? You can do that too?”

  He frowned. “Of course.”

  “I mean, I don't know how exhausted you'll be from—”

  “I can handle it.”

  “And I sent you the song...the music sheets...”

  “I know it now. It's fine. I know where we can get a guitar.”

  And before they knew it, they had to pile into the van now with the other travelers, and she was squished into a cramped seat next to him anyway. Thank God for the jeans and turtleneck; every inch of her that was touching him was protected by clothing. The van stopped at two hotels before finally pulling over at the Casa Felicia B&B. Victoria motioned for Nathan to alight along with her, and after securing her things from the van driver, stepped into what would be her home base for the next four days (and three nights).

  “Pretty,” she said under her breath to no one in particular. She had chosen Casa Felicia based on a price range and photos online and was worried that in person the place would disappoint. But it looked new and charming, the structure a series of townhouse-style apartments, painted a subdued off-white, surrounding a common garden.

  She excused herself, asking Nathan to stay in the central garden, so she could go to the small office and meet Felicia herself. They’d corresponded a few times already and should have been expecting the early check-in.

  When she got her key, she stepped back out and located room number 5, which was ground level, just on the other side of the garden. Without being asked, he carried her luggage (more event planning gear than personal stuff) and followed her there. The room was a little smaller than she’d gathered from the photo, but the bed was the queen-sized one she’d asked for, and there was indeed a small bathroom inside.

  “Okay,” she told him as she tossed her backpack onto the bed. “Now we go to the B&B next door to check you in.”

  “Fucking hell,” Nathan said, his poker face breaking. He was still by the open door and realized that his voice carried out into the garden, but he didn’t move to shut the door. “What exactly is happening right now, Victoria?”

  “We’re checking you into your room,” she replied.

  He was holding something in check, and it looked the beginning of a monster headache. That she was causing. “It’s not enough that you put me on a flight without you to Mexico. You have to put me in a room across the street? I thought we were fine, when we were emailing. You sent me fucking checklists. Why am I getting this crap treatment?”

  She shook her head. “I assure you, Blue Seas B&B got good reviews everywhere I checked.”

  “That’s not what I’m talking about and you know it. Just tell me what I’m being punished for or I walk away now.”

  “You wouldn’t do that.”

  “You think I have a professional obligation to you to stay? I don’t. This is a favor, remember? I said yes to cover for a friend. I lose nothing if I walk away now.”

  Goddamn it. Victoria bit her lip and tried to focus on the outside, the garden, because the room was feeling so small, so full of herself and him. Just the two of them.

  “I’m doing all of this to keep it professional, all right?” she said, a little louder than she’d intended. “You should appreciate that I’m not trying to take advantage of you.”

  Nathan laughed. It was unexpected, and it made the tightness in her chest feel a little less so. “Say that again?”

  “Look,” she continued, “I know that you’re doing me a favor. I know that this isn’t the best situation for both of us. When I’ve got a legit business, with capital, I will be hiring people to do this for me instead of pulling favors every chance I get. I want this weekend to happen without a hitch because Trent’s family will know that I do this well, and it matters, because the Thomsens are the kind of people who hire event planners for every little thing. I can’t be distracted, okay?”

  That smile, the one that flesh-eating beasts probably gave their prey a second before they pounced, appeared on his face. “I’m a distraction.”

  Victoria sighed. “Our friend Chris is a bastard for doing this to both of us.”

  “That he can be. What exactly did he do?”

  “Look. I don’t like what I’ve heard about you. But I’m also feeling—” What the hell. “—that I might jump your bones, right now, if I were feeling vulnerable enough.”

  His eyes lit up. “Really?”

  “Don’t be so happy about it. It’s probably a hormone you’re leaking. I’m a woman and I’m feeling it. I don’t have to like it.”

  “Now? You want me now? Even if everyone else can hear? And see?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Can I please talk?”

  “Go on then.”

  “You see how this can be a disaster, right? I have a lot riding on this weekend. I can’t be distracted. You can’t be distracted either.”

  And that was it, cards on the table. It made her feel better, to say it, and when she did, it was almost laughable that she had been holding on to it like a secret. Yeah, she felt sexually attracted to someone that other women found sexually attractive. That didn’t make her a deviant.

  But it could, possibly, make her a screw-up for life. She knew that.

  “We can’t even be in the same plane or the same fucking B&B together,” Nathan recapped.

  “I figured you’d like that arrangement,” Victoria said. “If you end up sharing the room with someone, I won’t have to hear it.”

  “You could have just said this, you know. I thought you were very clear about what you need when you talked about the event plans.”

  “I am, aren't I?” Victoria sighed. “I don’t date a lot. I don't 'jump' guys a lot. Not as much as I plan events.”

  That was a
lie. She didn't jump guys, period, and that was why her physical reaction to being around Nathan was so wrong and scary. Victoria had been better than that so far and didn't want a sober streak to end. She'd done all she could to keep herself in check and was hoping he would too.

  If she could trust someone like him to do that.

  “Here’s a suggestion,” Nathan said. “Now that we know this...I assure you, we will be all work this weekend. I’ll do whatever you tell me to.”

  “You've already said that. You see how awkward this is for me? It's not like you had any intentions. You've been great so far, so agreeable and business-like, and I'm the one who needs to get my head out of the gutter.”

  “Will it help if I told you that I will keep my hands off you this weekend? I'll make it a rule.”

  Strange, that he mentioned that particular word. Rule. Just like the ones she had for herself.

  “You don't have to make it a rule,” she said. “I already gave myself that one. No jumping the help this weekend.”

  “I'm great with rules. I'll make one too, in case you happen to be weak.”

  And just like that, problem solved. She should be happy. Right?

  Victoria hadn't decided yet how to feel about it when Nathan nudged her elbow and gestured out. “See? I’m not that difficult. Now show me to this room you’ve exiled me to.”

  Chapter 4

  The room was...a room. A nondescript square space, a box they managed to sneak a bed into. She had at least booked him one with its own bathroom, if he could fit in there.

  Nathan was used to rustic accommodations, but the reason why he was being put in a box excited him more than he wanted to admit.

  Fuck yeah. She actually wanted him.

  And yet that raised another red flag, related to the rule that kept him from pursuing her: Not a woman who thinks you’re shit.