Читать книгу Sensual Winds - Carmen Green - Страница 11

Doreen held her stomach as it pitched during the bumpy landing. The bagel and cream cheese she’d eaten before takeoff now felt like a Michelin tire in her stomach.

Nerves were getting the best of her. She didn’t like being the bearer of bad news or flying in rainstorms.

But a much larger problem loomed as voluminous as the clouds that suffocated the Florida sky. She hadn’t broken up with a man since college, almost ten years ago. She’d been really cocky last night with Emma, but in the soggy light of day, she’d stared into her mirror and saw her unlined, amber-colored eyes, and the chicken in them was real.

How was she going to tell Lucas, a man she secretly crushed on, that his relationship with Emma was over? Oh, and it was nice building this house with you long distance. Goodbye.

This morning when she’d gotten up, she’d still been angry at Emma, and even now the anger simmered within her. She wanted to cry, but all she could do was squeeze out a throat-burning burp. Doreen pushed her fingers into a steeple formation around her forehead while she stared at the floor.

What were the appropriate words to end another’s engagement?

I’m sorry, but Emma doesn’t love you anymore.

Emma sent me to break up with you.

Emma’s an idiot.

Oh, and by the way, I have a crush on you.

All of it was just wrong.

The plane bounced as it landed and taxied to the gate, and her stomach gurgled loud enough for the lady across the aisle to glance at her sympathetically. She watched the rain slant against the window, then unbuckled her seat belt and stood with the rest of the passengers.

She retrieved her computer from the overhead compartment and silently waved goodbye to her luxurious accommodations in first class. If Emma wasn’t going to clean up her own mess, she was at least going to pay for a first-class garbage cleaner.

Lucas watched Doreen in the two-piece black suit circle the baggage carousel, knowing she wasn’t his fiancée, but had been dispatched by her. New York women wore black as if it were prescribed by a physician exclusively for them.

She was tall with a face like Vanessa Williams, except her color was a few shades deeper, reminding him of honey. She had an amazing body, curvy in places women were meant to be; soft and slim in all the right places, too. Her hair reminded him of summers in the Keys, with the way it hung down and breezed airily over her shoulder as she searched the airport. She looked down and saw the unmoving baggage carousel; her hand slid up to her neck and she stepped back, resting her weight on her left foot, hand on her hip.

He was disappointed because his engagement was over, but he couldn’t help but feel he’d been granted a reprieve. One thing he did not understand: why didn’t the loss seem greater?

Still he watched Doreen. Her collar was open, and she caressed her neck as she perused the baggage claim area and consulted her watch. Men noticed her, but she was oblivious to them, her actions indicating her schedule was tight. She kept reading a card she took out and reinserted into her pocket repeatedly. Was she practicing what she was going to say to him on behalf of Emma? Apparently this wasn’t a game to her.

Finally the last of his heart broke with a clap of thunder.

Doreen’s back bowed and he stepped out of the shadows.

He was no longer engaged, and he needed to let his ex-fiancée’s assistant know that he knew.

Lucas put his hands in his jeans pockets as he walked up behind Doreen, who was digging for her phone. “You don’t have to call me. I’m here.”

Doreen turned around, her mouth kissable and open. She closed her eyes and shook her head. “She’s not coming, Lucas. I’m—I’m here to break up with you for her. I’m so sorry.”

The baggage carousel surged behind her and she turned to watch. Lucas wasn’t one for mystical or symbolic signs, but his mother would have said that meant to move on. Why wasn’t he surprised?

He shook his head. This was so Emma. They were so wrong in what they’d done to themselves and, more important, to Doreen. Who exactly did they think they were? Hollywood celebrities?

He touched Doreen’s arm and she looked at his hand, then his eyes.

“We haven’t officially met, but I feel like I know you already. Lucas McCoy. Terrible way to meet, but it is what it is.”

“You do know me, Lucas,” she said, touching his hand. “I’m so sorry.” She then did an unexpected thing: she hugged him.

Instinct made him hug her back, but the man in him enjoyed the feel of a woman who genuinely wanted to comfort him. He caught his breath and let his mind race back over the last months to all the signs he should have paid attention to. All the questions he should have asked. The additional trips to New York he should have taken. He needed to officially end things with Emma.

Doreen stepped back.

“There,” she said, looking embarrassed. “At least I feel a bit better. I’m still sorry, though.”

“Don’t apologize unless this was your idea.”

Her smile was quick. “It definitely wasn’t.”

“Emma and I should have had a conversation on the phone and saved a whole lot of money.”

“Sometimes those conversations are the hardest ones to have, Lucas. I guess that’s why she couldn’t come. I’m not making excuses for her. I’m suggesting that she just couldn’t say the words.”

Doreen shrugged and turned to look at the luggage. Her hair was gorgeous as it swung well past her shoulders, cut into a shagged V, ending between her shoulder blades. The cut didn’t make sense to him, but it looked good.

“You expecting a bag?” he asked.

“I am.”

“So you’re the bearer of bad news? This in your job description?”

Pain seemed to shoot up her right cheek and end in her forehead. All of the muscles moved and she stopped them with her fingers, and he was sorry he asked.

“Yes, it is.”

“What color is your suitcase?”

“Red.”

“Not black? That’s good. Easier to spot.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. He wasn’t usually so sarcastic. He searched for another line of conversation, but he decided that silence in the midst of the airport noise was better.

Her bag popped up, and like a New York woman Doreen reached past businessmen and wrestled her bag off the conveyer. Men stepped to the side, some acting scared, others laughing. She ignored them and him.

“Doreen, let me get it.” Lucas eased it from her hands. “How long are you intending to stay?”

“I have a flight out tonight, but I thought perhaps we’d have time for a bite and I could see the house.”

“First thing’s first. Leaving tonight isn’t going to happen. While you were flying down, all of the flights going out for today were canceled. You see that long line over there?” Lucas pointed to the row of people snaking up and down like the security check-in line.

“Yes.” She looked crestfallen, her mouth hanging open.

“That’s for flight reservations to get out of here.”

“That’s terrible.” She looked even more uncomfortable. Her black bag slipped down her shoulder and landed in her fingers. She looked like she was thinking of her next move. “I need to get back.”

“Not happening tonight. Let me borrow your phone.”

Lucas dialed Emma’s number and she picked up immediately. “How’d he take it?”

His heart didn’t skip a beat as it had earlier when reality had set in. It hadn’t yesterday or last month. His body didn’t go through any of the physical transformations it used to at the sound of her voice. None of the reactions happened that used to happen, and he knew they were over. He hadn’t heard her voice in two weeks, and for a second he wished their end could have been different, but they’d been over for a while and nothing would change that.

“I’m taking our breakup just fine, Emma. It would have been better if you’d just come out and told me, though.”

Doreen walked off and he appreciated her discretion.

“I’m sorry, Lucas.”

“Yeah, me, too. Why couldn’t you just tell me it wasn’t working for you?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t want to get into an argument. I could ask you the same thing.” There was no accusation in her voice, just a bit of melancholy.

“I’d hoped we could have fixed whatever was broken this weekend.”

“I’m not a piece of wood that can be crafted. We would have had a chance if you’d stayed up here, but you chose to go to Key West.”

“You’re right. But work took me up there to New York and brought me back here. Had you not agreed to come here, I wouldn’t have started with you,” he said gently. “This is the last thing I wanted.” His family was so small. Just him and his mother. While she was alive, he wanted to be near her.

“I know, sweetheart.”

She relented her tough New York stance, the ball-breaking woman she’d sometimes become when she had to have her way. He’d loved to watch her move between both worlds, though she’d done it rarely the last few times he’d seen her. Lucas blamed himself. He should have known then she was making a permanent change. He doubted he’d ever see this side of Emma again—if he ever saw her again.

“I know your business is important, and your mom,” she said. “You know I don’t need my family, and I didn’t mind the idea of moving away from them, but it’s New York I’d miss.”

“You’re a hustler, baby. You love your job, the pace of the city, and the wheeling and dealing. Key West is too sedate for you.”

“NYC is in me, Lucas.” Emma laughed softly and he joined her. “Just like I know it’s not in you.”

“Come on, now. I liked New York well enough,” he said. “But there comes a time when you have to follow your priorities. Money isn’t everything. Family, love, all mean something to me.”

“We hadn’t had love for a while. I never had the guts to ask you to come back here when it wasn’t in your heart, Lucas. I just hoped you’d want to and you never did. If you’re honest, you’ll find out you stopped loving me a while ago, but honor made kept you pursuing our relationship. Now I’m going to let you go.”

“Wait.” He sighed her name softly. People were coming in from the rain, but he focused on none. “I’m sorry, Emma.”

“Me too. I’ll never forget you.” Her voice cracked. “You’re a really good man.”

He turned, looking at Doreen and her brown highlighted hair. Crouched over her bag, she pulled out a coat and was unzipping compartments in search of something else. Every minute or two she’d scoot up to keep up in line. Why was she in the car-rental line anyway?

He pulled himself back to his phone conversation. “Listen, Emma. No more flights are going out tonight, so Doreen will be here overnight. Maybe a couple nights, depending on the hurricane.” He rubbed his eyes, ready to hang up and drink a beer to forget this day.

“No problem. Tell her to call when she’s on her way home.”

“Okay. Well, I guess this is where we part.” Lucas dropped his head to end the call privately.

“Goodbye, Lucas.” The words still hurt just a little.

“Bye, Emma.”

As Lucas ended the call, thunder clapped so loud people in the crowd ducked, including Doreen.

“We’d better get going,” he said, handing her the phone. “It’s over. Thanks, Doreen.”

“I’m sorry.” She looked around. Everywhere but at him. “You can leave me,” she said. “I need to make a hotel reservation.”

“You can stay at the house. There’s more than enough room.”

He’d seen her happy and now she’d lost her glow. Now that her job was done, she seemed lost. “I don’t want to impose, Lucas.”

Lucas grabbed her bag, her words raising his ire. He turned around and Doreen bumped right into him. “Ow, sorry,” she said, so close he could smell the mint from her gum.

He steadied her but didn’t let her go. “You’re not imposing, it’s not a bother, and I don’t want to hear any more about it. You were in the wrong line anyway. All of those people,” he said, as he gestured to another line of people that had wrapped around a bank of phones, “are waiting to make hotel arrangements. You’re in the car-rental line.”

Her gaze ricocheted from the line, the signage and back to his. Thunder boomed again and she shook. He moved closer to let a skycap by with a cart full of unclaimed luggage.

Her breasts grazed his chest and her hands slid up his arms. “That’s so loud.”

Lucas didn’t move. God wasn’t being cruel. Life had just dealt him a fair hand. He hadn’t felt breasts in eight months. “Don’t tell me you’re scared of a little thunder.” Lucas almost didn’t believe her. But this was Doreen. The woman who’d walked in a marathon for breast cancer because a friend of a friend had suffered with the disease and she’d wanted to help.

He waited for the familiar sizzle of lightning and she shivered and nearly covered her ears in response to more thunder. “Sounds like the building is being demolished.”

She looked up as if she half expected something to fall from the sky. Each time thunder rumbled, she sucked in her lips and shook just a little. She wasn’t going to like it down here. Lucas grabbed the bag again, watching her.

“Born and raised a city girl, right?” He carefully stepped away from Doreen and guided her to the short-term hourly parking lot and his truck. He placed the luggage in the bed, secured the covering and held her door while she got in.

“Small town in New York State called Oswego. I told you before, I used to go to my grandmother’s house every summer in North Carolina. But I never got used to the storms. Now I go to a friend’s house so I’m not by myself.” She looked at the grayish sky with concern.

It struck him that there wasn’t any pretentiousness about Doreen. She was honest about her fear and he didn’t feel right teasing her like he would have Emma. He’d have to be gentler with Doreen.

He got in and coasted to the automated exit, paid the fee and accessed the highway before taking an early exit and driving through the residential streets.

The first thing he noticed was that Doreen didn’t have an open magazine on her lap like Emma would have. Doreen was looking at the houses, muttering that she liked this or that. She rolled her window down even though a light mist fell from the sky.

“That is so sweet,” she declared, pointing as they drove by a small, weather-worn white house. “How much do you think it’s going for?”

He’d checked into the house for investment purposes just a week ago. “Just short of a million dollars. Nine twenty-nine, to be exact.”

“No! Slow down. I need to see that again. What’s inside?”

“Two tiny bedrooms and one bathroom still decorated in the seventies green and yellow. Been in the same family for four decades.”

He drove on and had to wipe the dopey grin off his face before she saw it.

“They’re crazy. They might get three hundred thousand, but not a penny more.”

He couldn’t tell her they’d already received three full-price offers.

“What took you to New York City?” he asked.

“An internship with Regents Cable. I worked for a few different companies and then Regents called. They had an excellent educational program that paid for me to get a degree, so I went back to school. Things are finally falling into place and I’m being promoted to director of special events.”

“Is work all you do? Isn’t there someone special in your life?”

She looked kind of wary. They’d never ventured into this territory before. Before, they’d been protected by the rules of his engagement to Emma. Now their status was different.

“There isn’t anyone, but I’m happy.”

Her gaze was intelligent and assessing. He felt like he was on one of the court shows his mother was fond of watching when she was home. Right now, she was in Cairo, sightseeing and having the time of her life, no doubt.

“If I’m getting too personal, just let me know.”

Doreen crossed her left leg over her right. “I’m letting you know.”

Lucas took a mental step back. “All right, city girl. I’ll leave you alone.”

“Thank you.”

The unapologetic stop sign had been thrust into his face, halting his forward trajectory down the road of her personal life.

There was time, he knew, but everything was happening at breakneck speed, and for some reason he felt the need to know so much about her. But he didn’t rush. He was sorry he pressed Doreen.

The silence stretched as he drove the back roads, cutting through the residential neighborhoods he loved to scout.

“That blue house looks familiar. I know that sounds ridiculous because I’ve never been here before, but the white spindles on the front porch, the picket fence leading to the curb…Is that the first house you renovated?”

How long ago had he described that house to her? Seven, no, eight months ago? How many conversations had they had since then? He looked at the house and pushed back his baseball cap.

“That’s the one. You have an incredible memory.”

“Are the owners still there or was it resold?”

“No, they’re still there. He’s a former mayor and she was a state senator of Ohio. My guys built them a garage last month.”

“Too small a job for you?”

“No, I was finishing my house.”

“Right. Sorry.” The tension in Doreen’s face was etched around her mouth and forehead. “What’s that clicking sound?”

Lucas pulled over and shut off the engine. “Just wait a couple seconds and look in that direction.”

“It sounds like a herd of horses.”

“When have you ever heard a herd of horses?” he teased.

“On TV.”

“Just watch. Listen.” He touched her shoulder, his fingers grazing her soft dark hair. A man could easily learn to love holding the strands all night long.

Just as the thought shocked him, the rain had the same effect on her. It stormed up the block like the infamous running of the bulls, overpowering the truck, thumping the roof, causing her to flinch. Her shoulder bumped his and he chuckled.

Doreen punched him in the thigh.

“What did I do?” he protested.

“You’re laughing at me.”

“You should see your face. You look like a kid. Like you’ve never seen rain before.”

“I’ve seen it, but I’ve never heard it like this before.” They sat there for a few minutes as she watched it rain all around them. “I feel vulnerable out here. I left New York and it was a beautiful day, and now I’m trapped here and I can’t leave. I feel as if I’m not safe.”

For a second she’d scratched his leg with her nails, but now she held her hands in her lap.

This wasn’t a case of hysterics. Her fear was contained but just beneath the surface.

The clouds were ominous and the tide high. The storm promised to be strong and it could turn deadly at any time. Hurricane Ana had already proved herself to be formidable and had drifted back out to sea. No one wished for her return, but the Weather Service predicted she’d make landfall again in a couple days.

Lucas looked at Doreen, whose eyes reminded him of the time he’d been in Africa and had seen liquid gold flecked with tidbits of coal. He’d seen nothing more beautiful.

“I won’t let anything happen to you,” he told her. He knew his reassurance might not hold much weight, but she was here because of him. He had to help her get through this.

Doreen didn’t believe him. She folded her arms across her chest, her neck tilted and her eyebrow quirked up on the end. Words were unnecessary.

“Let’s just get to the house, Lucas, and tomorrow your babysitting job will be over.”

This was the first crack in her facade. “Hey.” He unbuckled his seat belt and slid across the seat. “Come on now. I promise not to let anything bad happen to you. All right?” Some of the tension eased from her body and she looked at him and then away. “Are we friends again?”

“Maybe,” she said, and he got the impression she didn’t want to hurt his feelings by calling him a liar to his face.

“Can I hug you? A tiny hug? I’m not trying to feel you up for free or anything.”

She laughed a little, her hands gripping the seat. He wanted her to trust him.

“Please?” he asked.

“Okay,” she said, and to his surprise she reached over and hugged him.

“Oh, my God,” he whispered. “I’m never going to want to stop holding you.”

“Lucas!” She was playing again.

Even with her protest, he still didn’t let her go for another few seconds, then reluctantly, he slid over and started the truck. This was the Doreen he knew. Always getting on him for something. “All right, we’re going. But you’ve got to promise we’ll do that again.”

She laughed, sounding more like herself. “I really do think you have a mental illness.”

“Why? Because I complimented your hugging ability? You don’t hug like a cute girl, with your butt stuck out and a pat on the back. Somebody knows they’ve been touched when they hug you. That’s really good.”

“Thanks,” she said, a sincere smile blooming on her face.

Thunder rumbled. “I better get to the hardware store before you have to swim back to New York. You look like you’re tired of Florida and you’ve only been here thirty minutes.”

“Swim? I don’t know how to swim. I began learning, but never finished. I need a refresher course.”

Her expression was so cute he could tell she was serious, although she was smiling.

“A refresher course.” He nodded. “Not sure they offer those, but you could just get in the water and start stroking.”

“I could try that.”

Thunder boomed and she jumped off the seat, her hands shooting up. “My goodness. I have to stop that.”

“You sure do.” He laughed. “You’re about to scare me to death and I’ll kill somebody.” Lucas looked at her, then at the road. Then at her again. “You’re too old to be screaming.”

“Lucas McCoy, how are you telling me I’m too old for something? I didn’t say that to you last month when you told me you chased down that ice cream truck, did I?”

“There’s my friend Doreen.”

She rolled her eyes and acted like she wasn’t going to smile at him. “Did you order some thunder to get the real me to come out?”

“As a matter of fact, I did.”

“You’re full of it. You didn’t know I was coming.”

“There’s that New York woman I’ve been missing. Florida women are so Southern and sweet. New York women are mean and hard.” He pumped his fist at her and she playfully hit his hand. “See what I mean? You’re mean as hell.”

“I don’t want to be mean to you. I don’t know how to be.” The words settled between them. “We need to talk, Lucas.”

He drove awhile. “And we will. Let’s give it a minute to settle in. Do you like hip hop or jazz?”

“Both.” Her nails were polished this pretty pink color, and he liked that. This was the land of white-tipped nails and shih tzu dogs and year-round tans. Doreen, however, was an original.

He pressed the button on the radio. “This station plays a little of both at different times of the day. The DJ—Holy Terror—is one of my best friends. His real name is Terrence Jeffries. Used to play for the Dolphins. He’s hard on women, but he means well, and he’s funny.”

“We’ve got some real characters in New York, too. But you already know that.”

Lucas turned down the volume. “You’re right. Let’s go ahead and clear the air. I don’t want what happened between Emma and me to affect what happens while you’re here.”

She looked uneasy. “I don’t want to know about your relationship. I worked for her, and that essentially ended today. It’s a formality once I get back, but she’ll have already moved into her new office with her new assistant, Carl.”

“All the better,” he said.

Assessing and direct, she stared him down. “What does that mean?”

“It means that whatever happens this weekend, you won’t feel obligated to report to Emma. She won’t pressure you into telling her what went on, and you won’t feel as if you have to navigate between two worlds. You’re not obligated to play the straight man for both of us. I’m sorry I even put you in that situation.”

“Oh.” A sweep of her hand sent her hair behind her ear. Silver hoop earrings slid into view.

“Now that’s it’s over between Emma and me, you can tell me if she said anything bad about me.”

She exhaled through her nose and intentionally blinked at him. “Lucas.” The way she said his name made him laugh. A thin line between patience and trouble. And she was short on patience.

He started laughing. “I’m just kidding. All you said was ‘Oh.’ I was expecting something else. Like ‘Thank God,’ or ‘I’m so glad I don’t have to listen to you two anymore.’ But ‘Oh’? It’s kind of a letdown, to be honest.”

Exasperation and relief seemed to make her shake her head. “Aren’t you supposed to be going somewhere?”

“Now you want to get bossy and evil.”

“Just drive before you get into more trouble.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Is it really over?” Doreen asked.

“Yes.”

“How do you know?”

“Because we don’t love each other anymore,” he explained as he turned to look at her. Over her shoulder he noticed the drains were full and made a mental note to call Stephen and report the blockage. Stephen Morales was not only one of his best friends, but also the deputy sheriff. He didn’t chance driving. Not now while his life was swirling with the water, spinning in a new direction.

“Then why did you want Emma to come down here so badly?” Doreen asked him.

“To work out our problems. I don’t believe in giving anything up easily. I have no siblings and only a mother left. I don’t want you to feel sorry for me, but I believe in trying to work out things that I start. If she had come down here, I would have asked her to stay.”

“I have a huge adopted family—”

“You’re lucky,” he broke in, wistful. “I’m sorry. That’s something I’ve always wanted. My mom’s away right now, but she’s the reason I live in Key West. While she’s alive, I want to be with her. Emma isn’t attached to her family. She doesn’t have a relationship with them at all. That was important to me.”

“Did she know that?” Doreen held up her hand. “Of course she did. If you’re telling me, you told her.”

“You know I did, but that’s all right. I feel a sense of relief.”

“No sadness, Lucas? I know I would feel a sense of loss or something.”

Lucas started the car and pulled away from the curb. There was a sense of loss. He’d built a house for a woman he’d thought he’d share a life with. “I’d be an unfeeling bastard if I didn’t feel anything. But it’s not as if I didn’t see the writing on the wall.” He drove in silence for a while.

“You seem so settled about everything yesterday. I thought you were going to take my head off.”

“Doreen, I was wrong for that. Really wrong. It wasn’t your responsibility to field our personal calls and referee our discussions. That shouldn’t have ever happened. That won’t ever happen again.”

“How do you know?”

“Because the woman I get with will never get tired of talking to me.”

Doreen’s fingers plowed through her hair and she tilted her head. He knew that move. She didn’t believe him. “And you know this how?” she asked.

“Because I won’t get tired of talking to her. I’ve got to change, too. I realize that now. Our relationship is over and the love is gone, but maybe that wouldn’t have happened if I’d given her some alternatives. I’ll know for the next time. And there definitely will be a next time.”