Good Girls Don't

by Rosalie Lario

  Gloria shot a dirty look at Nadia. “You know what. He’s not from around here.”

  Nadia laughed. “You mean he’s white and not Hispanic.”

  Gloria harrumphed and crossed her arms. “Lord only knows what that man is into. Is he even Catholic? He could be—”

  “He’s a billionaire,” Nadia interrupted smoothly. “One of the owners of Everly Publications.”

  That shut Gloria right up. Her mouth dropped open and she turned to give James a much closer look.

  Lyssa winced. Crap.

  Freed from Gloria’s glare, Nadia made a funny face at Lyssa.

  Shut up, Lyssa mouthed at her. The last thing she needed was for her mother to decide to hook them up now that she knew James was wealthy.

  Nadia rolled her eyes. “Hey Gloria, why don’t you take care of the place settings? I’m going to start setting the meat on the platter so Lyssa can bring it over.”

  “Sí, sí,” Gloria mumbled. Still distracted, she wandered off toward the picnic table they’d claimed upon arrival.

  “Nice,” Lyssa muttered. “Who knows what she’ll do now that she knows James could ‘provide for me’, as she likes to say.”

  Nadia gave an unconcerned shrug. “I had to say something to zip her trap. Your mother is such a racist.”

  She wasn’t wrong there. Though Gloria didn’t talk about it, Lyssa knew she’d faced a good deal of prejudice when she’d first come to the city. But that didn’t mean she needed to treat anyone who wasn’t Hispanic like the devil, and, unfortunately, she often did.

  “So.” Nadia’s eyes gave a mischievous glint. “I figured he must be hot, because why else would you hook up with him after just one night—”

  “Shush,” Lyssa whispered, glancing toward her mother. Even though she knew Gloria was too far away to hear, the mere thought of her ever finding out about that made Lyssa feel like throwing up.

  “But dayum, chica, that man is smokin’.” She made a sizzling sound. “I mean, if it had been me, I would’ve had him back in my room five minutes after we met.”

  Stifling her laughter, Lyssa turned back to James. He was running after the football that was rolling across the field after an off-target throw, and the movement highlighted his nice, firm ass through his jeans. Add in the gray sweater he wore, and he looked every bit the male model she’d initially thought he could be.

  He bent to snatch up the football just as Carlos ran up behind him. When he turned. Carlos told him something, and James grinned and ruffled his hair, much like she often did.

  Her chest grew tight and achy. Seeing the two of them together did funny things to her. She hadn’t expected that.

  “It’s gonna work,” Nadia said softly.

  Lyssa whirled to see Nadia observing the two males closely. Her friend’s words made her stomach flutter with anxious butterflies. “You think so?”

  Nadia nodded without moving her gaze. “If it were just Gloria then I’d say no way, but look at how he is with that kid.”

  The problem was, Lyssa couldn’t stop looking. She couldn’t deny it, James had a natural ability with kids. At least he did with her nephew.

  Carlos nodded his head and grabbed the ball, racing away. James laughed and jogged into place to await the next throw.

  “It’ll work,” Nadia repeated.

  God, she hoped so.

  When Nadia quietly loaded the burgers and hot dogs onto the metal platter they’d brought with them, Lyssa took it to the picnic table.

  Her mother finished setting the plastic ware onto the heavy-duty paper plates she’d laid out and then glanced toward Carlos and James. In her native Spanish she asked, “Is he really a billionaire?”

  “Don’t start.”

  “What?” Gloria threw her hands into the air. “Is it a crime for me to want my daughter to be taken care of?”

  “Mami,” Lyssa said in a tone of warning.

  Gloria scowled, but after a brief pause she added more softly, “I just want to make sure you’re okay. I’m not going to be here forever, you know.”

  Just like that, Lyssa’s frustration melted away. In its place came that very familiar worry and despair. “Don’t say that. You’ve got a lot of years left in you. The doctor said you were—”

  “Things don’t always turn out the way you want them to,” her mother murmured. “I just want you to be prepared for every possibility.”

  Lyssa dug into the pad of her thumb with her fingernail. “Okay,” she muttered because she sensed her mother wanted to hear it. But the scenario her mother suggested was one she couldn’t accept. If not for her sake, then for Carlos’s. He couldn’t stand to lose any more people in his life.

  Turning to where Carlos stood across the clearing, his arm raised to throw the football, she cupped her hands over her mouth. “Lunch is ready.”

  Carlos wasted no time. He tucked the ball into the crook of his elbow and raced her way, yelling something she couldn’t hear to James.

  James followed at a more leisurely pace. His eyes locked in on her, and the force of his gaze froze her to her spot.

  “Here, let me make you a plate,” Gloria said to Carlos.

  Out of the corner of her eye, Lyssa vaguely noticed her mother moving around, plopping potato salad and green beans onto Carlos’s plate. However, the majority of her attention was riveted to the man who approached. He looked so strong, so confident, and something about that made her so hot.

  He’s not for you.

  He never was. She’d only been lucky enough to get a taste of him for one night. Even if they hadn’t been at odds over Martin, nothing could ever have worked between the two of them. They were worlds apart.

  James stopped right in front of her, murmuring so only she could hear, “Carlos is a good kid.”

  She nodded her head. “He’s great. I’m lucky to have him in my life.”

  When he opened his mouth to speak again, Carlos’s voice cut over him. “Come on Titi, James. Come eat.”

  Giving her a lopsided grin, James reached past her to snag a hamburger bun from the table. His arm brushed against hers, filling her with heat even through the layers of clothing separating them. His strong, masculine scent flooded her senses, the combined effect of his touch and smell making her feel woozy.

  Never let it be said the man lacked pheromones. He had them in spades.

  Nadia picked that moment to sidle up to her. When she saw the expression on Lyssa’s face, she gave her a big smirk.

  Shut up. Lyssa put some distance between her and James, glaring daggers at her best friend. Nadia’s smug face told her she was in for a world-class teasing later.

  “Titi,” Carlos said, breaking the silence, “James told me he owns a magazine.”

  “Really?” Holding back a smile at the awe in her nephew’s voice, Lyssa reached for a plate and began loading up on food.

  “Can you tell me what you do there?” Carlos eagerly asked.

  James slid onto the long, narrow seat and began to regale Carlos with stories of demanding celebrities and photo shoots gone awry. Every now and again he’d shoot her a grin or a wink.

  The whole time they ate, her mother was uncharacteristically quiet. The shrewd expression on her face made Lyssa more than a little nervous.

  Carlos, on the other hand, wouldn’t stop talking. Thankfully, James handled it like a pro. He didn’t seem to grow weary of the boy’s constant barrage of questions, which was more than Lyssa could say for herself.

  “We interviewed Adam Soleman last year,” James was saying to Carlos. “Do you know who that is?”

  Carlos’s eyes widened and he gasped. “Isn’t that Shadowman?”

  “Yup, the actor who plays him.”

  “Did he show off his superpowers?”

  Laughing at her nephew’s innocent question, Lyssa exchanged a glance with Nadia. The approval she saw there made her shoulders go loose. That was more confusing than anything. She shouldn’t care what Nadia thought about James.

  B
efore she knew it, lunch was over and they were cleaning up. To her surprise, she’d actually enjoyed herself. Any fears she had about James being around her family had been quickly alleviated by the ease with which he presented himself. It was easy to see why he was a top-level executive, even if it was a family position.

  Now she had a new worry. Carlos seemed obsessed with James, which made things more difficult. It wasn’t as if James was going to be around. She’d only invited him here so he could meet her family. See why it was so important to her that she grow her business.

  “Hey James, you wanna play some more football?” Carlos asked as soon as they were done cleaning up.

  “Hold on there, big boy.” Nadia scooped Carlos up from behind, giving him a big squeeze. “Didn’t you promise me a walk around the lake?”

  Carlos giggled, dangling his feet. “Oh, yeah.”

  Nadia gave a casual glance toward Lyssa’s mother. “Why don’t you come with us, Gloria?”

  Quickly and efficiently, Nadia corralled Carlos and Gloria and paraded them toward the lake, leaving Lyssa alone with James.

  James blinked at their retreating figures before giving her a wry glance. “Your friend would be a decent event coordinator. She’s good at getting people to do what she says.”

  For some reason, Lyssa thought back to the night when Nadia had suggested Lyssa loosen up and live a little. Those very words had played back in her mind the night she’d met James.

  “You have no idea,” she murmured.

  He glanced toward the clearing with its copse of yellowing trees. “Want to take a walk?”

  “That would be great.” It would give her the opportunity to say what she wanted to say.

  A stiff, cool breeze assailed her as they started in the opposite direction from where her family had gone. She wrapped her arms around her waist.

  James had to have questions, but he didn’t voice them as they walked side by side. Lyssa had to admire his patience.

  “My brother’s wife, Carlos’s mom, died in a car accident two years ago,” she finally said.

  James made a soft noise of sympathy. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

  “He was six years old at the time. My brother was never around. He’s in the army, stationed overseas.”

  Lobbing her a shadowed look, James asked, “He didn’t come back?”

  “Just for the funeral.” He left as quickly as he could afterward, a broken shell of the man he’d been. “I was Carlos’s godmother, so he came to live with me. Since my father had died a few years before that, it only seemed natural that my mother move in with us, to help take care of him.”

  “That’s a big responsibility to undertake.” His arm briefly brushed against her shoulder. “You couldn’t have been more than, what, mid-twenties at the time?”

  “Twenty-five.” She glanced at James, whose jaw had tightened. “I don’t blame my brother. He sort of lost it when his wife died. He was overseas anyway, so I guess it was easier for him to just stay where he was. Maybe he could pretend nothing had happened that way.”

  James scrubbed his hand across his jaw. “That makes it harder on you, though, and on Carlos.”

  She couldn’t deny it. “We adjusted, slowly but surely. My brother sends over every spare dime he can for Carlos’s care.”

  “Money’s just one factor,” James pointed out.

  True. It was a big one in this case, but yes, just one of the factors at play. “As you can imagine, losing his mother and not having his dad around messed with Carlos’s head. It took a long time for him to stop fearing something would happen to me or my mother while he was at school.”

  “That’s tough,” James said.

  Lyssa nodded. “Then, last year, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer.”

  James sucked in a breath, coming to a complete standstill.

  She turned to face him. “It was the worst thing that could have happened, really. Her health insurance policy doesn’t cover all the costs of treatment. And it’s so damned expensive.”

  His expression went soft. He lifted a hand to her cheek and slowly brushed a stray strand of hair away. “So what did you do?”

  She shrugged as if it were no big deal. As if her mother’s illness hadn’t changed her whole life. “Whatever we could. Sold some things. Used her life savings and mine. But the cancer isn’t in remission yet, and she still needs treatment.”

  A breath escaped James’s lungs. When he nudged her toward the nearest tree, she didn’t hesitate. She headed to it and sat down, leaning her back against the trunk.

  James took a seat beside her and stretched his legs out on the ground.

  “You know,” she gave a bitter laugh, “when I started my marketing firm, all I had were hopes and dreams, but I believed I could do it.”

  She let her gaze fall on Carlos, who was running in a zigzag by the lake with Nadia and Gloria trailing at a leisurely pace behind him.

  “Then it started to grow. People believed in my vision. I’m getting more and more clients every month. Building up through word of mouth.”

  “You must be doing well,” James agreed. “Martin wouldn’t be interested, otherwise. He’s a good man, but he doesn’t do charity cases.”

  “I know that my business will grow organically, James. But that will take years.” She turned to face him, willing him to understand the point she was trying to make. The reason she’d invited him here to begin with. “I need more money now. If I have the proper capital, I can make my business explode. I can afford to pay for my mother’s treatments.”

  James nodded, his hand reaching out to cup her cheek. “You don’t have to say anything more, Lyssa. I understand.”

  She let out the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. “I never talk about this with anyone. Other than Nadia, of course. She’s family.”

  “Thank you for telling me,” he whispered.

  His eyes blazed with compassion. He really did understand.

  The knowledge made her heart twist. And the way he looked at her now, as if he wanted to wrap his arms around her and protect her from the world, made her body go soft with longing. She stared into his beautiful blue eyes, reveling in the way they shimmered with intensity.

  How had she gotten lucky enough to be sitting here with him? To have him staring at her like that, even for just a moment. It wouldn’t last, she knew that, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy every minute of it.

  “I know how much a mother’s presence means.” James’s hand dropped and he stared out into the distance. His jaw set. “My mother killed herself.”

  What?

  She gasped, unable to quell her surprise at that unexpected news.

  “Drug overdose, technically, but it’s all the same to me. I was thirteen. Not as young as Carlos, at least. But it was still a shock.” He gave her a glance. “Andrew went downstairs one morning and found her dead on the couch with a needle sticking out of her arm.”

  “Oh my god,” Lyssa whispered. She leaned forward, placing her hand on his arm and rubbing it up and down in an instinctive attempt to sooth him.

  “Those first few days, I was numb. It all seemed like a bad dream.”

  “Did you know she was on drugs?” Thirteen seemed old enough that he might have recognized the symptoms of drug use.

  “No.” He let out a low laugh. “I mean, we always knew something was off about her. She was all highs and lows. Happy one day, wouldn’t get out of bed the other. But that was something we’d seen our whole lives. It was her normal.”

  “Oh, James…”

  “Bipolar disorder.” His lips twisted. “It was one of the things that caused my parents to separate.”

  Lyssa slid her knees toward James, turning to face him full on. “So your father knew?”

  He nodded. “It was a big enough concern that he felt the need to hide her away from his business and social contacts. But not enough that he fought too long and hard when she decided to take the three of us and move back t
o Florida.”

  Her mouth dropped open. “He didn’t fight it, even knowing about her mental illness?”

  Snorting, he reached out and grabbed her hand. She froze but then wrapped her fingers around his. If he needed comfort to talk about his painful past, then she would gladly provide it. “He was too busy working to bother fighting too hard.”

  His words made her heart ache for him. She’d had some bad luck in the family arena, but at least she knew both her parents loved her. Much as she’d lamented their strict Catholic parenting style, she was always conscious that they never would have been so hard on her if they didn’t care.

  Studying their clasped hands, James said, “My father was a hard man, Lyssa. Overbearing. Domineering. I loved him, but I can’t say I particularly liked him. Andrew, on the other hand, strove to become the nurturing parental figure we needed in our lives after Mother died.”

  “He’s a good man,” she whispered.

  “The best.” James’s eyes blazed with heat as he looked up at her. “After he realized he loved Hailey, I told him I’d do everything in my power to win him another venture capitalist so he wouldn’t have to face the board to explain why his biggest investor suddenly backed out. If the expansion doesn’t go through, our company may be in jeopardy. Our family legacy.”

  Her chest wrenched at his words. She knew what she was asking him to give up. How unfair it was.

  “But.” His gaze traveled back to the lake and Carlos. “When I look at your family, all that seems so insignificant in comparison.”

  “I…” She trailed off when she realized she didn’t know what to say.

  “I have to be honest.” James shook his head. “I don’t know what to do here. I don’t know what the right thing is.”

  “I know.” She squeezed his hand. “I know exactly what you mean.”

  “We’ll figure it out. It’ll all fall into place. I know it.”

  His tone was optimistic, but his words rang hollow.

  “I hope so.”

  She didn’t give voice to her big concern. They were running out of time. Martin had promised them an answer on Monday, and that was less than forty-eight hours away.

  “I hope so,” she whispered again.