Private Acts (18 page)

She rose from the sofa and helped her sister up.

“Sam, is that you? What’s going on? Is this guy bothering you? Do I need to get a couple of my frat brothers together to have a talk with him?”

They hurried into the living room and Rebekah picked up the extension in there.

 
“No, Adam, no. Tell me what he said.”

“He said he’s coming back tomorrow, that’s what he said. This is the first chance I’ve had to call you, but I can tell you, I’m still pretty pissed by this Miguel guy. He acts as if he owns you or something. Damn, Sam, can’t you stay out of trouble for two minutes? What happened down there? You were supposed to be working.”

“I did work, Adam. I made your clients very happy.”

“Darn it, Adam, tell her the rest of it!”

“Calm down, pregnant lady.” Rebekah rolled her eyes and Samirah bit back a laugh. “He started talking about how much he loves you and he made a mistake letting you go and he needed to know where he could find you. I tried to explain to him we can’t divulge employee personal information, but he wouldn’t listen. He said he’s coming back tomorrow and somebody’s going to tell him where you are because he’s not leaving
Miami
without you. I didn’t like those comments. What’s he planning to do, kidnap you?”

“He said that?” Samirah whispered, clutching the phone. “He said he wouldn’t leave without me?”

“Yes, those are his words. What the hell did you do to this guy—or do I need to ask?”

“He said he loves me?” Samirah said in the same soft voice. She looked across the room at her sister.

A few seconds of silence before her brother replied. “Yeah, he said he loves you.” Quiet again. “Sam, what do you want me to do?”

She was shaking. “Adam, let me call you back, okay?”

“All right. I’ll be up for awhile.”

Samirah set the phone on the table. She couldn’t move on her shaky legs. “Bekah?” She didn’t know what she was asking. She’d wanted to hear those words, but she was so afraid to reach for what he offered.

Rebekah rushed across the room and clasped her sister’s hands between her own. “Do you remember what you told me when I said Rafe and I were going to try to work things out?” Samirah shook her head. At the moment, she could barely remember the day of the week. “You said I should do what makes me happy. So I’m giving you the same advice. If the two of you love each other, don’t waste a lot of years apart like Rafe and I did. Do what makes you happy.”

Chapter Fifteen

Miguel stood on the crowded sidewalk outside the restaurant where he and Samirah had agreed to meet two days ago.
South
Beach
night life was full of pedestrian traffic and cars crept along, creating a traffic jam as their drivers showed off their shiny rides and watched the passersby.

Only seven days had passed since he last saw her, but it felt like an eternity. He couldn’t wait. But how did she feel? She hadn’t revealed much when they talked on the phone, and nervous energy coursed through him. Their brief phone conversation had been used only to inform him that the man he’d yelled at in the placement agency was her brother and to set up this meeting. He worried that even though she agreed to see him, she still might not forgive him.

He swallowed down the fear. There was never a time in his life when he wanted anything so much. Before her, he’d simply been existing, but with her, he’d started to live. She’d brought color and excitement into his world, and there was no way he could go back to
Ecuador
without her.

From a distance he saw her cross the street before she saw him, dressed in two tank tops layered over each other and a long skirt that billowed around her ankles. With so many people milling about, she appeared then disappeared in between them. She must have done her hair in cornrows again and let it out because it flowed down her back in the same wavy pattern as the last day he’d seen her. Large gold hoops dangled in her ears and her wrists were filled with bangles.

Too impatient to wait for her approach, he moved toward her, irritated as several men turned around on the sidewalk to look at her. When she saw him, her steps slowed and came to a complete halt. He kept moving, in between people ambling close together and talking. Past the crowded restaurant tables set up on the sidewalk café-style.

Finally, when he stood before her, he stared at her lovely face and thought about what a fool he’d been to ever let her go. He’d wanted to fly out to Los Angeles to see her right away, but she’d told him she would come to Miami in a couple of days. He’d waited—two days, nine hours, and fifty-seven minutes to see her.

“Hi,” she said, looking vaguely uncomfortable under his intense stare.

He let his eyes travel down the length of her body. Her beautiful breasts sat high on her chest, and the tank tops hugged her curves in such a way he wanted to smooth his hands along the womanly lines. She looked like a goddess with her wild, wavy hair and colorful clothes.

“How are you?” he asked.

“Fine.”

“You look…exquisite.”

“Thank you.” She said the words almost shyly. So unlike her. “How are you?”

A strange conversation for two people who knew each other as intimately as they did. “Not good. I missed you.”

“You mentioned that over the phone already.” He tried not to let the dismissal of his words bother him. He would willingly accept whatever punishment she meted out as long as she agreed to go back with him. “How’s Aarón?”

“He’s with my mother. He’s coming back to
Ecuador
with us.”

One eyebrow arched upward. “You’re being rather presumptuous, aren’t you? I didn’t say I would go back with you.”

“You don’t have to. I already know you will because I’m not giving you a choice. Don’t say a word,” he added when her mouth opened to no doubt laser him with a smart aleck retort. “Let’s go to the other side where it’s quieter.”

Without waiting for an answer, he weaved his fingers through hers, and she didn’t pull away. As they waited for a lull in the traffic to cross the street, he brought the back of her hand to his lips, closed his eyes, and inhaled the fragrant scent of her skin.

When he opened his eyes, the look in hers cut him to the core. The depth of the pain he’d caused her was there for him to see, and her lip quivered before she turned her face away.

He cursed himself for what he’d done. He would do anything to make it up to her.

The beach side of the street was dimmer without the barrage of lights from hotels and restaurants running along it. The ocean roared on the other side of the trees and greenery separating it from where they stood.

“Miguel, you’re squeezing my hand too tight.”

He loosened his hold, but didn’t—couldn’t let her go. “I don’t know where to begin.”

Those same soul-filled eyes looked up at him, and all he wanted to do was draw her close and promise never to hurt her again.

“I don’t understand what happened,” she said. “You told Adam you love me, but if you do, why didn’t you tell me, and why did you let me go?”

He shook his head at the foolishness of his decision, which had seemed so sound at the time. His lightly calloused thumb stroked across the soft skin of her hand. “Because I was a fool. I let you go because I thought you would never be happy in a little city in a little country in
South America
. All I could think about was all the places you’d visited and I wondered why would you want to stay there with me.” His face tightened as he readied himself to share a piece of his past. “The truth is, I lost someone before, and I didn’t want it to happen again. I was trying to protect myself—my pride, my feelings—because you came to mean more to me than I ever imagined you would.”

He then recounted the story of his mother’s departure for
Colombia
. He also told her about the first woman he fell in love with as a young man. The love he felt then couldn’t compare to the feelings he had for Samirah now, but at the time, the loss had been brutal.

Those episodes in his life helped to form his future relationships, keeping them for the most part casual without certainty or promises for the future. In that way, he would never have to feel the pain of separation again.

* * * *

Samirah listened with sympathetic ears, wondering how any woman could leave her son to follow after a man. She realized how fortunate she was to be close to her siblings and have been raised by two loving parents, even if they were overbearing—especially her father. His love for his children caused him to be overprotective, and no matter how much she resented it growing up, the alternative looked even less appealing.

“I thought maybe my feelings were one-sided,” she said. “I wondered if our relationship was only about sex for you. Less than a year ago, I was in a relationship that ended badly. He lied to me and used me. It was just about sex for him, and I wondered if it was the same for you. Maybe you didn’t feel the same way and…maybe you didn’t even respect me.”

“How could you think I didn’t respect you?” A sharp frown creased his face and made him look angry. “I almost put a man through a wall for you!”

Samirah stared at him in shock. “What are you talking about?”

“Never mind, I’ll explain later.” He took a few moments to gather his thoughts. “I do love you. Because I do, I can’t go back without you. Did your brother tell you I said that, too? My life hasn’t been the same since you entered it. I didn’t know what I was missing, and now that I do, I can’t live like I did before.” His fingers tightened around hers. “It won’t be the same, though. My brother will be living with me. No more skinny dipping in the middle of the night or walking around the house naked.” He hoped to elicit a smile, and he did.

“Are you going to be okay with that?” Samirah asked.

“I’ll learn to live without it.” A smile hovered around his lips.

He said he loved her, but he didn’t make any promises beyond that. Samirah closed her eyes. Dare she take the risk?

“Samirah?” She could hear the heavy weight of worry in his voice.

Do what makes you happy
.

She opened her eyes. “I’m certain I want to be with you, but are you sure? You really hurt me.”

“I know. Let me fix it. Let me make it up to you. There was never a doubt in my mind that I wanted to be with you. It’s because I wanted you so much that I thought it best to cut off our relationship. I thought it would be too hard later when you decided to leave.” He swallowed. “I know I hurt you, and maybe you hate me a little bit because of it, but I need you in my life.” He paused, and the earnest expression in his face tipped the balance in his favor. “Hate me in
Cuenca
.”

“I don’t know how to hate you,” Samirah said softly. “So I guess I’ll have to love you in
Cuenca
.” A slow smile spread across her face.

“I like your idea better.” He smiled back. “
Ven aquí, querida
,” he said, pulling her into his arms.

They held onto each other for a little while before she smirked up at him. “I can’t make this too easy for you, so I have one condition to coming back.”

“You want to hang me up by my toenails? Submit me to Chinese water torture?”

“No. If I come back, no more comments about my singing. I’m singing every day, and you can’t complain.”

 
“Uh, what about options one and two?”

“Miguel!” She punched him softly, her fist hitting nothing but rock hard abs. “It’s a joke.”

“I know,
querida
.” He lowered his head and tasted her lips, kissing her softly. “I’m joking too. I love your singing.”