They walked in silence a time, but José kept stopping and starting sentences, trying to begin a conversation.
“You seem a little down lately,” he said finally, hands still in his pockets.
“Maybe a little.”
“Is it … could it be … because of the wedding?”
“The wedding?”
Donna’s mind gradually focused on the word, and then the meaning.
“Oh. Why would I feel depressed about the wedding José? I’m very happy for you.”
“You know why …”
He gently took her hand. A gesture she had once dreamed of, had waited for in what felt like a lifetime ago. It seemed ironically sad to her now.
He let go of her hand and turned away.
“We spent so much time together in America. Having you here now …”
He stopped.
“I love Maria. We are … we have always said we are soul mates. We were always going to get married, from a young age.” He stumbled around for words. “But with you here now, I feel confused.”
It was his turn to look down at the floor. He was a good man. He was one of her favorite men in the world. But in that moment, despite the hopeless of the situation, she knew how deeply in love she was with a different man, and her heart broke.
She slipped her arm into his and she brushed away the trace of a tear from her eye.
“José. José … I think this is the bit where, as best man, I have to tell you to pull yourself together.”
“Yes,” he said, the look on his face a mixture of confusion and hope.
“You are getting the wedding jitters, and it is normal,” she said firmly.
“Yes,” he said again.
“We will always be good friends, but Maria is your soul mate, and once you get to the honeymoon and you are away from all this craziness …”
He began to cry. They were tears of utter exhaustion and stress. They hugged in the moonlight, two best friends.
“I do think you are wonderful, my tiny Donna. I hope you find someone who I won’t have to punch in the face.”
“I hope so too.”
That night she dreamed of the man who had broken her heart. She dreamed of his dark curls, the way they fell past his face as his body twisted and turned on the stage, and how it curled around her in his bed.
She woke up with a sense of deep longing. The day of the wedding would roll around soon, and she was due to fly out the following day. Then she would try to put him behind her.
Chapter 16
“The tie is too tight, Donna. I think it should be a little looser. What do you think?” José asked, unable to stop fidgeting as he stood in front of the mirror in his suit.
The house was full of frantic energy.
“What time is it? How long until the ceremony?”
Donna had written a speech, was dressed in a pale green dress that set off her red hair, and was working hard to calm José’s nerves.
The wedding was to be held on the beach overlooking the villa. There was an air of chaos about the house, as if the circus had come in to set up. José’s father had hired caterers, magicians, and had even arranged for a fireworks display.
No expense had been spared and the wedding was to be the spectacle of the year in the sleepy Spanish town.
They’d set up a stage on the beach, on which speeches would take place, entertainers would perform, and singers would sing and honor the family.
José’s normal confident manner had deserted him completely.
“I hope she turns up. Do you think she will?”
Donna put her head on his, hugging him around his shoulders.
“José, of course she will. True love always holds out.”
The day flew by—the vows, the photos, the music.
After the ceremony, Maria, pulling away from the crowds for a quiet moment on the beach, took Donna by the arm. “Do I look okay?”
“You look exactly how I expected you to look, absolutely stunning.” They gave each other a warm and genuine hug.
“I don’t know what we would have done without you, Donna, without your help with all this.”
“And why doesn’t the bride have a drink in her hand?”
“I don’t know, but I’m thirsty as anything!” Maria chuckled.
“Let me get you something. Champagne?”
“Sure.”
Donna skirted through the crowds and into the kitchen. She took a glass for the bride and downed a glass herself, the bubbles filling her nose. Today she would not be sad, she willed herself, but her departure the next day hung over her head.
As she was stepping back out of the house, she heard a familiar sound: the frantic rhythm of drums and clapping and the sound of a guitar, and then the haunting wail of a flamenco singer. Carrying the two glasses, she reached the beach.
José’s father passed her, saying, “Have to keep the enemy close.” He gave her a conspiratorial wink.
Antonio was on the stage. He was dancing with two female dancers. In the dance they were fighting over him, pulling him one way and the next. The dance was more intense than she remembered. She drew closer and allowed herself to take him all in.
For a few seconds she was in his bed again, rubbing her hands across his tanned back the moment before he grabbed her by the wrists and pulled her under him. She could practically feel the happy weight of his body on hers.
She hated herself for still feeling this way.
And then, from the stage, his eyes locked on her. He had spotted her out of the crowd, and his gaze did not let up. Even when the dance demanded something different, he refused to look away. She stood still, unable to move or avert her gaze.
The pull between them was just as strong as ever.
The dance was over and there was a great applause from the townspeople.
Antonio bowed, and then almost leaped off the stage. He was by her side in a few seconds.
Donna began to turn away.
“Donna, please wait.”
She ran further across the beach to where the crowds had dissipated.
But he went after her.
She stopped and turned, angry again.
“Was it all just a game? Did you mean any of it?” She pushed against his chest. “Why? Why did you do it? You were having me followed, having your uncle take photos of me, watching me—”
“Please, Donna, please listen. My uncle is not a bad man. He was just trying to protect the community. He was trying to protect the family. Can you understand any of that?”
“Yes, I can understand that. I understand that you both wanted to do anything to protect your community. But you used me! Used my body like it meant something to you! How could you know me and pretend to feel something for me and use me like that?”
“I didn’t know you! I didn’t know you at the time. He thought if we could get close to José’s father then we could influence his decision on the village. I didn’t know Ivan was having you followed. I didn’t know he set the whole thing up until he told me, and then it was too late.”
“Too late?”
“Yes, too late. I had already fallen in love with you and I didn’t know how to tell you what he’d done.”
Donna paused. “I don’t understand. So you didn’t know Ivan had set me up?”
“Of course not. But when he showed me what he had been doing, finding out who you were, inviting you to the flamenco cave, I was angry. I tried to avoid you after that, but you just kept turning up at my lessons. You kept showing up.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I had to protect my uncle and the community. And I was dizzy, wanting you but knowing I shouldn’t touch you. You have to believe that. All this, this is real.”
He grabbed her by the hips, pulling her towards him, and despite herself she melted into his body.
“This is real.” She felt the force of his lust, the hardness between them.
She found herself reaching up for his lips, kissing
him without restraint, eager for his kiss as she felt his fingers digging into the small of her back, as if his will alone would keep her there.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” he whispered against her lips between kisses.
“It’s done now,” she said, cupping his face in her hands, unable to do anything else. “I’m leaving tomorrow.”
He reached down and picked her up. He carried her to a secluded beach spot and pushed her to the ground.
Their final night together on the sand was a melancholic pleasure. They clung to each other for dear life, each one drunk with longing and heartache.
Chapter 17
She stood outside the house with her suitcase, waiting for Antonio’s car to turn up.
After their night together, he had offered to give her a lift to the airport. José and Maria had left for their honeymoon, so her goodbyes to her friends were already said.
Eventually a car pulled up and she got in.
They drove a ways in silence. Then he said, “So, what will you do back in the States?”
“I don’t know. I don’t really have much of a plan.”
They were twisting and turning on the roads that lead out of the village.
Soon the dirt paths disappeared and they were on smooth asphalt as they left the tiny town behind them.
They drove on in more silence. Neither could find the right words. The airport was getting closer and that meant it was almost time to say goodbye—the final goodbye. Soon they would share their last few minutes together, and Donna hadn’t said anything she had wanted to say. She gritted her teeth.
Finally Antonio said, “So you have nothing to get back for? No deadlines?”
“No, I just booked my return ticket for three months exactly.”
The last roundabout finally arrived, signs to the airport appearing. But now, instead of taking the turn that would lead to the airport, he drove around the roundabout and took a different exit.
He drove into the parking lot of an airport hotel and put the car in park.
“Stay with me a night here. I can’t let you go yet. I’ll pay for your return flight tomorrow. It’s no big deal.”
“What?” She felt a strange mixture of longing and anger.
He touched her cheek. “You mean something to me. Something I can’t explain. Please just give me one more night.”
Now she felt angry.
“What do you want from me? A few more hours? One last fuck? I don’t want to be your plaything, someone you can just discard!” she shouted.
“Be my wife then!” he shouted back.
“What? That’s ridiculous.”
“Yes, maybe it is.”
They both sat staring at each other, shocked at what he had just said. Then taking her hand, lifting it to his lips, he kissed it.
“Maybe it’s not that ridiculous. Stay here with me? Dance with me? You don’t have to marry me. You could just spend the rest of your days with me here, living with me, loving me. Would you consider it?”
“I would … consider it,” she said slowly.
“Do you fancy checking in here for the night? You’ll miss your flight and maybe even the next one.”
“Let’s check in,” she said with a smile that took up her entire face as he put his hand under her chin and kissed her gently.
Epilogue
Dear José,
So lovely to see you at our show in Madrid. Thank you for coming to see us. It was your last chance for a while, as Antonio and I will be touring in the US for the next six months.
My little girl was happy to meet your little girl—maybe they can become pen pals while we are away?
I can’t believe it has been seven years since I first turned up in Spain to see you. I do believe I even had a crush on you back then! How funny!
Who would have thought back then that that trip would lead me to my husband? That I would be married with a daughter and a dancing career, all thanks to you!
I would have invited you to the wedding but it was a gypsy wedding, very loud and colorful—I don’t think your father would have approved.
Send my love to Maria and the family, and I know I always say this when we bump into each other, but thank you again for inviting me over that summer. I am happier than I ever thought possible and it might never have happened without you.
Your language exchange partner,
Donna :)
Old Habits (A Doctor’s Romance)
Michelle Love
When stuntwoman Alicia Monterey is injured in an on-set accident, she is stunned to find the doctor who is treating is her high-school sweetheart, Ezra Hemsley. Expecting him to be his old arrogant self, she is surprised when he seems older, changed, humble.
They begin to talk about old times and realize there is still a spark there, but complications arise when an actor from the movie Alicia was working on, Lucas Moore, makes a play for her.
Torn between her old love and a new interest, Alicia soon makes up her mind and begins a red-hot affair with her old love, Ezra. Their time together, however, may be cut short when her injuries, thought to be minimal, are more serious and her life hangs in the balance.
Will Ezra be able to the save the woman he loves, or will their love be destroyed by a tragic accident?
Alicia Monterey sat in the makeup trailer, having her hair fixed exactly like the actress she was about to perform a stunt for. It had been an early call, and now she glanced at her watch. Still only eight a.m. Geez. Alicia wondered if she should tell anyone that she hadn’t slept at all last night, so keyed up about this stunt.
It wasn’t like her to worry. She had been a professional stunt woman for a decade now. Recruited straight from college, following both her dad and her elder brothers into stunt work, Alicia had only known this life. She was fearless when it came to stunt work, loving the adrenaline high, always ready to push her body to its limits all the time.
But it could be lonely, especially for someone like Alicia who was so driven. The only person who had ever matched her adrenaline-junkie lifestyle had been the one person who had broken her heart.
Ezra Hemsley. He looked like some sort of Norse god, tall, broad-shouldered, eyes the color of cornflowers. They had met in college and begun a red-hot affair. Friends warned her about Ezra—he played the field, never got too involved. Alicia had thought she was different, that she’d tamed him, until one day, she had come home from a class to him waiting for her, bags packed. “I have to go,” was all he had said, kissing her cheek and walking out of her life forever.
She didn’t have the time to ask him why. For months afterward, she would walk to class in a fugue state, asking herself what went wrong. After that, Alicia had guarded her heart, never allowing anyone close. When her older brother, Kal, had been killed during a bike stunt gone wrong—that was the only time she had let herself break down. That was two years ago, and now Alicia was finding an increasing need to change. Into what, she didn’t know, she just knew that this life was no longer was she wanted.
The Virgin’s Dance_Older Man Younger Woman Romance Page 23
