Seducing Her Rival (13 page)

“Okay,
amado
.” She strode up to the stage, lifting the skirt of her dress to step up.

And promptly caught her heel on the wires lining the edge of the wooden platform.

She barely had time to drop the chiffon, much less do anything else to break her fall. But she never hit the floor. Strong arms wrapped around her and pulled her upright again. Light twinkled in Lucas’s eyes when she looked at him. “One favor though? Try to keep the stumbling thing to a minimum when I can’t be right next to you.”

Mercedes chuckled the rest of the way to the mic. Then, her arms spread wide, she gave a deep bow. “Where I’m from, people believe in making an entrance. Of course, that wasn’t really the one I’d intended.”

Laughter erupted from those on the dance floor and the ones crowded to the railing on the second level. So many people watching her and listening. On the heels of her terror, a different thought screamed for attention. If all of them made a donation, even fifty dollars each, it would total a little more than Lucas had promised. Considering the cost of T-shirts on board, that kind of donation wasn’t out of reach by a long shot. Twenty thousand from a free cruise. Putting on a dog-and-pony show for that kind of money was well worth it.

She grinned at the crowd, refusing to screw this up. “Welcome to a little ‘Under the Sea’ on the high seas, everyone.
The Little Mermaid
is a tale of love and transformation with some whozits and whatzits thrown in for good measure.” She waved toward a nearby table with one of the prettier centerpieces. “Back home in Queens, there is a group of people known as Better Todays—teens and adults working together to transform their world by spreading hope and love throughout the community. They’ve come to realize that it’s hard to find a better tomorrow unless we start working on it today. It’s my sincere wish, before the night is out, you too will look into your hearts and decide it’s a message worth supporting. And that perhaps you’ll aid us in our work by pledging whatever amount you can manage and send those kids a little love and magic tonight…”

She dove into stories about what the charity did, the kids they’d helped, and the projects they wanted to give life to.

And with every word, her voice grew stronger, held up by the adoration in a pair of brown eyes shining from the edge of the stage.

Chapter Twelve

“This can’t be right.” Mercedes’s voice stirred Lucas from sleep. He didn’t mind; with Mercedes in his bed, reality was so much better than anything his imagina
tion could conjur
e.

He patted the mattress next to him. Not there. Where?

Mercedes strode in from the living room, already dressed in a fitted purple tank top and crisp black walking shorts. As always, she looked amazing—except for the frown line forming between her brows as she stared at the paper in her hand.

“What? Are we in port already?” He rubbed his eyes, staring through the glass wall at the expanse of clear blue water outside.

She waved at the window with her free hand. “Land’s on the other side of the ship. A crew member slid the pledge sheet under my door last night. Something’s wrong.”

“You mean other than I didn’t put mine on there officially since I knew where to send the money already?” Groaning, he sat up. He hurt in places he hadn’t known existed, and he worked out every day when he was home. The woman was going to be the death of him, and he was going to enjoy every step on the way to the grave and go out with a smile.

“No.” She perched on the edge of the bed, still staring at the damn thing like it would change if she looked long enough.

He waved for the paper. A lot of smaller donations ranging from ten to a hundred dollars and then a jump to some larger sums. He eyed the total and sighed; he’d really hoped she’d snagged more than that. No wonder she was disappointed.

“I know it isn’t what you expected—”

“Are you kidding? It’s sixty thousand dollars! Someone has to have made a clerical error and like doubled or tripled the pledges. There’s no way people gave us that much money.” She bounced on the bed like a little kid who’d found buried treasure—incredibly excited but afraid she’d have to give it back.

Her joy spread to him through the mattress and Lucas pulled her in for a searing kiss. “Trust me when I say that’s the real total. Now, there is a chance some people will flake out and not send in their pledges, but you’ll see most of it within the next week or two and some might even send more once they’ve had a chance to check out the charity.”

Still trembling, she kneeled next to him and shook her head. “That’s more than we made in the last three months! Kelsey and I share a place and work out of it to keep costs down, and a couple hours last night brought in more money than any other single thing we’ve ever done.”

“Good reason to do it again,” Lucas said as he rolled out of bed and headed toward the bathroom.

“What do you mean?”

Toothbrush in hand, he poked his head out the door. “I mean, plan another trip for next year with the intent of having an event like this. If you schedule it far enough in advance, you could do a lot of different things that would potentially pull in even more money.”

“More?” She blinked slowly, like the possibility stunned her. “But putting up the cost of the trip and whatnot without a guarantee…”

“No reward without risk, my dear.” Lucas shook his head and started brushing his teeth. When Mercedes hadn’t responded by the time he rinsed and dried his face, he stepped into the doorway again, leaning against the opening. “Tell you what. If this Kelsey chick is freaked by the cost of another trip, tell her that’s what my donation is for—to fund you doing things like this. Hell, I’ll earmark the rest of the donation with that noted on it.”

“But…”

“But nothing. Now I’m going to take a shower and you’re going to play tour guide in Cozumel like you promised the day we met. Do me a favor and order some breakfast so we don’t have to fight the crowds in the dining room.”

“For the man who single-handedly saved our playground dreams?” She bounced off the bed and kissed him, resting her hand on his chest, right over his heart. “For that guy, I’d do anything.”

She bounded out of the room before he had the chance to say a word. And really, what was he supposed to say? That he totally supported the playground as long as it was somewhere other than the land he wanted for Rosie’s school? Somehow he didn’t think that would go over so well.

Stepping under the shower spray, he considered the money she’d raised on the trip. Including his donations, roughly seventy thousand added to whatever they had in their coffers already. Given the timeline Mercedes had mentioned, he doubted they even had enough to buy the property, at least not without some sizable grants. He still wouldn’t try to get in their way, but he wasn’t going to stop his people either. The zoning board would come through any time, and his school would keep the land from becoming another warehouse. He’d tell her soon enough. In the meantime, he wasn’t going to feel guilty about snapping up something Better Todays couldn’t afford in the first place.

He had his own promises to keep.

…

After trekking through the ruins of Tulum, they stopped for lunch and shopping in the marketplace. Unsurprisingly, Lucas spent most of his time at the higher-end stores, but when it came to her part of the shopping
excursion, Mercedes dragged him to smaller places selling more affordable souvenirs. After the third comment running along the lines of “That’s a great shirt, but isn’t it a
little
small for you?” when she picked something up, Mercedes laughed.

“They aren’t for me,
amado
. I’m buying gifts for the kids that work with Better Todays.” She picked up a necklace with a piece of very blue turquoise embedded in it. The shade almost perfectly matched Kelsey’s eyes, and she had to buy her friend something for insisting she take this trip.

“What do you mean work with you?”

“Just what I said. The kids know what we’re doing and they help get the word out to schools and parents. Strange as it might sound, they’re more effective at getting our foot in the door than either Kelsey or me. Too many fake charities trying to scam people out of their money these days. People want proof we’re working to keep their kids safe and off drugs and out of gangs.”

Lucas picked up trinket after trinket, turning them over and putting them back without seeming to even look at them. “And adults? How many of those do you have?”

Mercedes shrugged and handed the vendor the items she’d chosen along with some cash. “There are a few teachers and others who help on occasion, but full time it’s only me and Kels. And possibly her sister Eva soon enough if she can’t find a decent job after graduation.”

As they walked further into the marketplace, Lucas frowned. “Why didn’t you haggle with that vendor? I thought bargaining was supposed to be part of the fun of shopping here.”

“If I thought he was ripping me off, I might have, but I saw the three skinny little kids run through the place while we were shopping and he gave them each an apple. I’m not going to bargain down someone who does that.” She felt his eyes on her as she walked away and turned to catch him staring, his brow furrowed. “What now?”

“I don’t quite understand you.”

“Don’t pretend you want to.”

“But I do—if you haven’t noticed.” He caught her in an embrace, giving her a sweet kiss that still tasted slightly of cinnamon from the churros he’d ordered after lunch.

Earnestness that hadn’t been there before gave depth to his brown eyes, so much so that Mercedes swallowed hard and turned away before responding. “Not now.”

“Tonight?”

“
Sí
. Tonight after dinner we each get three questions.”

“Sounds like a party.”

No it didn’t. She hadn’t put any limits on the questions, and he could ask her anything, make her reveal her deepest, darkest secrets before she was ready. So very much not a party. It sounded like hell on the high seas but she wasn’t about to tell him so. For the moment though, the Cozumel marketplace felt a lot less warm and sunny than it had just a little while before, the dark cloud of her mood eclipsing the sun.

…

They sat in the Jacuzzi on his deck, a bottle of merlot and two glasses within easy reach. But instead of drinking, Mercedes rubbed at her biceps under the water like she couldn’t quite get warm. Lucas eased closer and wrapped an arm ar
ound her shoulders.

“We don’t have to do this now if you don’t want to. Getting to know each other is supposed to be part of the fun, remember?”

“If this is your idea of fun, you didn’t have a very entertaining adolescence, did you?”

He laughed and toyed with her hair, wrapping the wet strands around his fingers. “Is that your first question?”

“Only if that was yours.” She leaned back and nipped at his chest. Something about the move seemed forced this time, as if she thought she should do it rather than necessarily wanting to.

He needed to tread carefully tonight. “Truce! It’s still ladies first though.”

“Always the gentleman, or the chicken. I’m still trying to decide.”

“Fine then, I’ll go first. My relationships or lack thereof are pretty much public knowledge. What about you?”

“Easy question; mine are rarely as public as yours.” She stared out at the moonlight gleaming on the ocean for a while before she spoke again. “I know what you meant though. We aren’t so different in that regard, you’re just more prolific in the non-relationships than I am. In the five years prior to meeting you there were a total of three guys who got me out of my clothes. I kept a steady supply of batteries for a while. Then that got too expensive and I invested in a rechargeable boyfriend.” She shrugged, appearing happier now that the first question was over. “I’m actually just going to reword my non-question. What were you like in high school?”

“Still rich and perfect.” This time when she bit him he flinched. “Okay, okay. I was rich, but I was a bit of a nerd. Sure, I dated, but I didn’t come into my own with women until college when I took off on my rounds of very public non-relationships. In high school, I was the guy who tore apart things to see how they worked and then couldn’t put them back together again. It’s how I knew I was destined to work in industry—but on the business side.”

“I can see that. I’m surprised you didn’t drive your parents to the poor house.”

“No, but you should have seen their faces the day they grounded me from my motorcycle and took the keys. I tried to jump-start it with an extension cord. It…uh…didn’t go over so well.” Lucas took a swig of wine, laughing inside at the memory. Of course, then they’d taken his motorcycle away completely, so it hadn’t been all fun and games in the end. “My turn. What do you miss most about being a kid?”

She finally relaxed a little, her eyes still had the faraway look, but she sank into the water and even took a sip from his glass. “The list of what I don’t miss would probably be shorter, but I’ll try to give a top five. The lack of responsibility. Running around barefoot in cutoff jeans. Cartoons. Naptime. Innocence.”

Her voice had caught on the last word, marking it as important as clearly as if she’d written it in flames across the sky. He’d work his way back there sometime, but this conversation wasn’t supposed to hurt her. Already, he was getting what he needed—more peeks inside. “I think this week we’ve successfully recalled how fantastic naptime is. Adults everywhere should definitely take naps far more often.”

Now she laughed and snuggled against him. “Hmmm… You’re a big, bad businessman who faces the proverbial wolves in sheep’s clothing every day of his life. So tell me—other than yours truly—what is it a man like you is afraid of?”

“A man like me or me?” He spent the few seconds while she scowled at him collecting his thoughts. How to tell her enough without telling her too much? “I’m afraid of losing someone I care about.”

“Isn’t everyone?”

“Maybe, but I’ve gone through it once.” He drained the rest of the bloodred wine from his glass. “If you think I’m arrogant now, you should have seen me back in college. I was a piece of work then. I had access to my trust fund and my name opened more doors than I could count. Women threw themselves at me—”

“Last I heard, they still did.”

“Touché, but in fairness, you tripped.” He paused, savoring the momentary break in his thoughts. “I embraced the media machine, feeding them everything they wanted from the heir to a fortune. I had the fast cars, the women, the parties—everything a guy in college could dream of. And then I lost the one thing I cared about. In my arrogance, I had started neglecting the person in my life who mattered the most and I wasn’t there to say good-bye. My last message to her had been one that screamed she wasn’t as important to me as instant gratification. When you lose someone without even the chance to apologize for what you did wrong, it changes you. I never want something like that to happen again.” He let the implication hang in the air between them.

“Who was she?”

Lucas bit the inside of his cheek, trying not to remember that first night at the ballet with Rosie. Trying not to hear her whispers in his head. “It’s not your turn, but if you want to save that for your last question, I can’t stop you.”

In his arms, she shivered again, waiting almost a full minute before responding. “I got the message,
amado
. Your turn.”

Did that mean she would drop it or that she really wanted to know? Part of him wanted to tell her everything, explain why he was building the school, but he didn’t want to ruin the moment by dragging the issue of the property into their discussion. Not to mention how badly he didn’t want to relive that pain. A breeze chilled the air, and the scent of marijuana wafted toward them from some other balcony. Drugs. Drugs were always good for a distraction. “Guess we aren’t the only ones having a party tonight. There’s a question. What kind of illicit substances did you experiment with?”

She tensed and the hand she’d been running up and down his chest took a side road on its path, bypassing the trail to his happy place. “What makes you assume I’ve done any?”

“It’s the twenty-first century and you’re an adult. Assuming you didn’t is kind of like assuming you’re a virgin, and we both know you aren’t that.” He hugged her to him.

He expected her to relax into his embrace again but she actually moved away. When she settled again, she was hugging her knees to her chest. “When I was in college, I smoked pot a couple times. Just casually, nothing big. Then I started dating this guy. He was hot and popular and rich—kind of like you in college from the sounds of it—and Cole loved his ganja. We’d share a joint after sex. Sometimes before we went out. I started smoking more than I should have, and I started trying other things. Everything I could get my hands on that I didn’t think would screw me up long term. If I couldn’t afford it, he got it for me. I lived in a chemically induced fantasy world. And then reality crashed down on me. So I quit him and the drugs for good.”