by Mara Jacobs
Darío finally spoke. “Why should you have known?”
“Oh, little things. Like he had to go to the office a lot last summer.” At Darío’s questioning frown she clarified, “He’s a high school teacher and hockey coach. There’s no school in the summer, and hockey’s played in the winter.” Darío nodded his understanding, and motioned with his hand for her to continue.
“Last summer he used the money we’d set aside for Invitro Fertilization for a Hummer.”
“What is a Hummer?”
“They’re these huge cars that kind of look like a tank, and no one with any sense would spend over $50,000 on one. Thank God they’ve stopped making them. Just not in time for me.”
“Oh yes, a Hummer. Several players on the Tour own such vehicles.”
Feeling she had just insulted his friends, she said, “Oh, I’m sorry.”
He waved his hand. “It’s fine. I too believe that these vehicles are a bit…” Just as the word popped into her head, he finished, “Ostentatious”.
“Anyway, I should have known then. But I thought it was just the stress of trying to conceive. They warn you about that when you first start seeing the doctors. They tell you that infertility can put a strain on a marriage.”
“The man is a…what’s the word you say here? Douche,” Darío said.
Katie smiled. “No. That’s just it, he isn’t really. He’s a good person, and was a good husband…”
“Until he impregnated another woman. A girl, really.”
“Yes,” her voice became quiet once more.
“The man is a fool,” Darío whispered.
“No, he’s not a fool. He’s just a man. And when the going got tough…”
“Maybe he’s not a fool. But the man has no character.”
Katie was about to contradict Darío, to tell him that for most of their marriage, Ron had been a good husband. A great husband, even. That the pressure of trying to have a baby was too much for them. He broke in his way – by having an affair.
But she broke in her way as well. She became distant, she saw that now. She hadn’t seen the signs of Ron’s straying because she was immersed in her own self-pity. Knowing that their inability to have a child was her fault had made her withdraw from Ron. She’d felt she’d failed him. Failed herself. The only time they’d had sex was when it was conducive to conception. And even in those times it was cold and clinical, all intimacy gone.
He had reached out to her several times and she had always turned away.
Ron wasn’t a douche. He was a man who made a mistake. But hey, if Darío wanted to think he was a fool with no character, well, she’d just let him.
Darío didn’t even know this man Ron and yet he wanted to throttle him. As he pulled the car into the valet area at the Imperial he took another glance at Katie. Her outburst over, she was now deep in thought. That was not good. Her beautiful face no longer held the smile it had all evening. Her delicate brow was scrunched into a frown. He longed to bring her smile back but was ignorant as to how.
As the valet took his keys, Darío hurried to the other side of the car to help Katie. He would have anyway – his Mamá had drummed that into his head well enough – but he thought Katie may actually need help getting out of the car and walking into the hotel.
She did need his help. She tried to wave him away and made it as far as the lobby door, but the huge revolving door was too much for her and she turned to him with a helpless look in her eyes.
He didn’t say a word, just put one arm around her shoulder and tucked his other hand through her arm, pinning her to him, and proceeded through the doors and across the ornate lobby.
Two Tour players were just leaving the hotel bar and met Darío and Katie at the elevator banks.
They said their hellos, the players obviously waiting for an introduction to Katie, who only nodded and smiled at the two men. Darío knew Katie would never see these two men again. She would probably never see him again. And yet he felt a duty not to tell the players her name when they could obviously see she was severely inebriated, and had probably already labeled her for accompanying him to his hotel room.
He could have explained, but chose not to. Let the men think what they wanted. Many of the Tour players partook of the women at each tour stop, and the majority of them were married. Though the married ones were much more discreet after Tiger’s scandal.
The elevator arrived and the other two players waited for Katie to board. Darío gently held her in place. “You two go ahead, we will wait for the next one.”
The players gave him knowing grins, and stepped into the elevator. Darío pushed the up button again as soon as the one carrying his fellow players was on its way. When the next elevator arrived Darío nudged Katie inside.
Once inside he loosened his hold on her. She seemed to take it as some kind of cue and separated herself from him altogether. That had not been his intention. He liked holding her. Liked how her body fit with his. She was taller than the women he was usually attracted to, almost taller than himself, but that didn’t bother him.
Her hips met his, her waist was at a perfect level for his arm to slide around. Her breasts met his chest. In theory. He had yet to feel that particularly tempting sensation.
She moved to a corner of the elevator and steadied each hand on the railing. Her knees bent slightly. She seemed to be bracing herself for the ride. She looked adorable, almost childlike.
“What room are you in, Katie?” he asked, his finger hovering over the button panel.
This seemed a very serious question to Katie and her eyes stared hard at the carpet in concentration. It came to her in a flash and she raised her head, smiling as though she had just solved a difficult equation. “Thirty-five fifteen.”
Darío pushed the button for the thirty fifth floor and then went to the other corner of the small cubicle, also resting his hands on the railing. He noticed that Katie’s knuckles were nearly white with the effort to hold herself steady. Their hands almost met on the back wall railing. He tried to nonchalantly ease his fingers to hers, his body still lamenting the loss of contact. She seemed to notice the movement and her gaze moved to his hand. He held his hand in place.
She stared at his hand for a moment, then her eyes moved up his arms.
“Make like you’re taking a swing,” she whispered.
“Excuse me?”
“Pretend you’re setting up at the ball.” There was a small note of command in her voice. Darío liked that. “Please,” she added, and he liked that even more.
She took her hands away from the railing and held them together in front of her, pretending to hold a nonexistent golf club, showing Darío what she wanted him to do. Then, as if she might lose her balance, she quickly grabbed for the railing again and only when she had her composure back did she nod for Darío to proceed.
This was not a completely unusual request for Darío. He was asked lots of times for tips on a swing, or to watch someone set up, or to look at their grip, or if he would show them his. But he was always asked by men, and very seldom in elevators. Still, if Katie wanted to see his set-up, fine.
He pushed away from the railing and stepped into the middle of the elevator where he then addressed an imaginary ball, as if it were the opening drive of the Masters. He looked up at Katie, waiting for her instructions, but did not meet her eyes. He could not make eye contact with her because she was staring at his forearms. He looked down at himself to see if he was doing something out of the ordinary. No, it was a usual set-up. He glanced at her again. Her eyes were still on his arms. She wasn’t looking at his grip, either. No, it was definitely his arms.
He looked at them again, trying to figure out Katie’s fascination. He could come up with nothing. He ventured another look at Katie, and this time…Dios Mio, this time she licked her lips as she watched his arms.
She was aroused? By his arms? It didn’t seem possible, but she finally raised her gaze from his arms to his eyes and there was no mistaking
the look in her sky-blue eyes. Unbelievable. His arms made her hot.
It had been a roller coaster ride the entire evening trying to tell if Katie felt the same attraction he did, or whether she was just happy to meet a professional golfer and make new friends. He’d have sworn she felt the same heat he had when their eyes would meet at the Armadillo. Even as far back as earlier on the course. And when they had huddled together to create the state of Michigan with their hands, he was sure she had breathed him in as deeply as he had her.
He had thought he might get lucky.
But the ride back to the hotel had shot that idea down. First, she had fallen asleep, making Darío realize that she was drunker than he thought. Then she began ranting about her ex-husband, and he wondered if the sexual attraction was all in his head. Either that, or the bitterness she felt for her husband far outweighed her attraction to Darío.
He didn’t want a revenge fuck. He wanted Katie in his bed, all right. But he wanted her sober, willing, involved.
But now, she was making eyes at him in the elevator. He stayed where he was, his body still locked in golf mode.
She slowly pushed her incredible body away from the wall, took her hands from the railing and made the two steps to where Darío stood. He started to break his formation, but her hands on his arms stopped him.
“Did you know,” she began. She seemed to lose her train of thought as he stared into her eyes. She became flustered, and lowered her gaze back to his arms. She stood right in front of him, her head bowed, almost praying over his grip. That seemed fitting, he thought, because he often found himself praying over a shot as well.
She leaned into him, her head as far forward as his. Her set-up identical to his, but instead of gripping an imaginary club, she gripped his arms. Her forehead swayed forward and was stopped by his. She felt feverish against him.
“Did you know?” she began again. “That when you’re on the course, and you are over a shot, just like this.” She stopped. Darío waited, not wanting to break the spell she was putting him under. “That your arms…your arms…are just about the sexiest thing I think I’ve ever seen.”
He waited for her to say more. He wanted her to say more. When she didn’t, he realized she must be waiting for him to say something. He couldn’t. He absolutely could not think of any response to what she’d just said.
All thought of wanting Katie completely sober before taking her to bed flew out of his mind. She obviously wanted him. So she was a little drunk? She had been attracted to him on the course, well before she began drinking.
Just as he was about to break her hold on his arms by putting them around her, he heard a noise coming from her.
A snore. A soft, lady-like snore, but a snore none-the-less.
She had literally passed out on him.
Chapter Five
I’m playing the best golf I’ve ever played right now,
except for when I was playing better.
-Fred Couples, professional golfer
She was blind. All she could see was white. Just a blaring, flash of white.
“Katie? Hey, Kat? You really need to get up.”
Lizzie had opened the drapes. That was the blinding flash. “Lizard, close the drapes,” she whispered.
“It’s nearly eleven. I let you sleep as late as I could. I’ve already taken Chad to pick up his car.You need to get up and get going. We should be leaving for the course in an hour.” Lizzie’s voice sounded like a cannon in Katie’s muddled head.
“An hour? It only takes me a half hour to get ready.” She pulled the pillow over her head in an attempt to block out the sunlight. And Lizzie’s voice. And the monumental hangover she was suffering from.
“I have a feeling it’s going to be slow going for you today, KitKat,” Lizzie said, a touch of sympathy in her voice. “Come on, now. Step one, take the pillow from your head. Step two, open your eyes.”
Not budging, Katie asked, “What’s step three?”
Lizzie chuckled. “A shower. But I didn’t think you could handle hearing beyond one and two just yet.”
“Very intuitive,” Katie said, as she slowly removed the pillow from her head. Tentatively she raised her eyelids. They seemed so heavy, as if something were weighing them down. Sleep crust mixed with dried on mascara.
Taking the bull by the horns, she rubbed her eyes open, threw the blankets from the bed and started to get up.
Big mistake.
“Oh God, Lizard, I think I’m dying,” she moaned. Even that caused her head to ache. She sat on the edge of the bed holding her head in her hands.
Lizzie sat next to her on the bed and began gently rubbing her neck. “You’re not dying, Kat, but you’re probably going to wish you had. Here, hold this to your forehead and eyes.” She handed a cool, damp washcloth to Katie, which she immediately administered to her aching head.
“Thanks, that helps.” Lizzie began massaging the back of Katie’s neck and shoulders. “Oooh, that helps too.” She was quiet a moment, letting her friend’s soft touch work its magic. “And thanks for no ‘I told you to stop drinking’, too.” Her voice mimicked a nagging shrew and Lizzie softly swatted Katie.
“First, I wouldn’t say ‘I told you so’, and second, if I did, I would certainly never use that tone of voice. I’ve only been a stepmother three months, I haven’t perfected that tone yet.” She paused. “But both Stevie and Annie have certainly got me working on it. It’ll be no time at all before I’m a pro at being a nag. Then, watch out.”
After a few moments, Lizzie pried the washcloth from Katie and walked to the bathroom, presumably to run fresh cold water on it. Katie hoped so, because she thought that the cloth may be the only thing saving her from running into the bathroom and doing a little praying to the porcelain god.
She hadn’t thought of that phrase in years. Probably since college and the last time she, or any of her friends had drunk so much that being bowed before the toilet on a Sunday morning was the only form of worship that happened that day.
Her thoughts quickly returned from the past, before they could turn to Ron. Instead, she tried to remember last night, and the events that put her in this sorry state.
Images blew past her. The Armadillo. Her new best friend, Blanche. Chad being in his glory amongst his hometown buds. Lizzie looking out for her potential new client, just as she looked out for all those in her close circle. Binky tempting her to another Margarita. Binky?
Darío.
“Ah, Lizard? How did I get to the hotel room last night?” Lizzie was back at her side, handing her the fresh cloth. She sat down in a chair across from the bed, facing Katie.
She put her feet up on the bed, next to Katie’s behind, nudging her. “I don’t know, KitKat. How did you get back to the hotel room last night?” There was a wicked smile on Lizzie’s face.
Katie looked around the room, taking in everything. “I don’t remember, but I know you undressed me and put me to bed.”
Lizzie looked surprised. “How do you know that?”
Katie shrugged her shoulders. Even that hurt. “Because my clothes, which undoubtedly reek from that bar, are neatly folded on the dresser. Only you would do that, Lizard.”
“Busted. So, you figured that out. What do you actually remember?”
Katie sunk her head back down into her hands and the cool dampness of the washcloth. “Um, I remember you leaving to bring Chad back here. Did that go okay?” She realized for the first time that there were other people on her little adventure last night other than herself. And Darío. She felt guilty about not asking Lizzie about Chad sooner.
Lizzie waved her hand, dismissing Katie’s guilt. “Fine. It was a little tense in the parking lot when he realized I had no intention of letting him drive. But, I won out.”
Like you always do, Katie thought to herself.
“When I took him to get his car he invited me to his parents’ home for dinner this evening. I think he wants to close the deal.”
Katie rais
ed her head and smiled at her friend. “That’s great. Congratulations. Though I’m not surprised. Lizzie Hampton always gets her man. Oops, I mean Robbins.”
Lizzie smiled back at Katie. “Hardly. About always getting my man that is.”
“You did in the end, though, Lizard, that’s what counts.”
She was speaking about Chad, but by the dreamy look on Lizzie’s face, Katie guessed her friend had her husband in mind when she nodded and said, “Yes. In the end, I got him.”
“Wait. You got ready and left and came back and I didn’t hear it?” The thought of not hearing the commotion made Katie realize just how dead to the world she’d been. That thought led back to how she’d come to be in that position.
“I remember staying on with Binky and Darío. Binky and I played a few drinking games…”
“What kind of games did you play with Darío?” Lizzie asked, once again nudging Katie’s hip with her foot.
She was about to say none, but she stopped herself. She searched her memory. Images of Darío’s hand reaching to her mouth flashed through her mind. She decided to ignore her friend’s last comment. “We left. We took Binky to his hotel and dropped him off.” The memories were becoming sharper now, more in focus. She didn’t feel the need to tell Lizzie about falling asleep, nor about her near hysterics as she told Darío about her marriage breaking up. She would just keep that bit of embarrassing information to herself.
“We came here. Took the elevator.” She stopped. She didn’t remember anything after that, but another flash, this one of Darío’s strong arms reaching for her, went through her mind. He had brought her straight here, hadn’t he? There had been no pit stop to his room, had there? Though the idea of sleeping with Darío Luna was not at all displeasing to her, she’d like to be able to remember it.
“And then I took over,” Lizzie said. She sounded disappointed that there wasn’t more to the story. “And here you are with a hangover. God, it’s been so long since I’ve had a hangover. Are they as bad as I remember?”
“Worse. What do you mean then you took over?”
