Читать книгу The Wedding She Always Wanted - Stacy Connelly, Stacy Connelly - Страница 9

Javy hoped the restaurant wasn’t as bad as he remembered. That after spending half the night wrestling with a Shop-Vac, feeling like he was trying to drain an ocean, he’d been too tired to clinically assess the damage. Sheer exhaustion must have made everything appear so much worse than it really was.

He was wrong.

The bathroom in which the pipe had broken and the area beyond showed the most damage. The force of the water had broken the concrete slab, cracking the Saltillo tile and flooding the place. He could see where the drywall had wicked water up a foot from the baseboards, darkening the paint like poorly done mountainscapes. The bathroom vanities were warped and waterlogged. Even some of the tables and chairs, with their elegant carving and colorful Mexican tile accents, showed signs of damage, a loss that hurt worst of all.

The harsh reality of day made the hours before seem even more like a dream. Last night he’d held a beautiful woman in his arms. Then the clock had struck midnight and poof! He’d been up to his ankles in flood damage.

After all the hard work and worry about the restaurant, he should have collapsed into bed, grateful for the few hours of shut-eye. But memories of Emily’s kiss had tortured him. He’d wanted to kiss her from the moment he spotted her at Kelsey and Connor’s engagement party. He’d anticipated the challenge of cracking her cool veneer and drawing out the woman beneath. But he hadn’t expected to experience the instant rush of heat and desire as Emily caught fire in his arms or to find himself in danger of getting burned.

Even when he’d finally drifted off to sleep, Emily had filled his thoughts. In his dreams, she’d stood right in front of him, but when he’d reached out, his arms had gone right through, and she’d disappeared.

Javy wasn’t much for dream interpretation, but he did know he’d never had a woman he’d just met creep her way into his subconscious. Granted, Emily was stunning, but he’d dated his share of beauties—maybe even more than his share. Women who enjoyed the chase as much as he did and played by the same rules—all fun and games and no one got hurt.

He’d learned from his mistakes—and the one time he’d gotten in over his head and nearly drowned. But something about Emily was already pulling him deeper. He’d meant it when he’d called her brave. He couldn’t think of another woman who would have painted on such a lovely smile and survived that wedding as a guest when she’d planned all along to be the bride. And the way she’d faced the cruel gossip with such class and grace …

He admired her, Javy realized suddenly, a word he hadn’t figured he would associate with Emily Wilson. He’d assumed she was spoiled and selfish and would respond to her canceled wedding with a tantrum and a trip to Cannes or to some other rich-girl playground. She’d impressed him with a quiet composure and courage that threatened to get beneath his skin, and he wasn’t sure he liked it.

So don’t call her. It wasn’t like he didn’t have enough on his plate right now with the restaurant to repair. But he had the uneasy feeling that out of sight would not mean out of mind where Emily Wilson was concerned.

“It’s bad, isn’t it?”

Forcing his thoughts back to the restaurant, Javy turned to Tommy, the manager who’d discovered the burst pipe. He’d returned to Delgado’s after realizing he’d lost his wallet sometime during his shift. Javy hated to think of the damage several more hours would have caused if he hadn’t.

Yeah, it was bad, all right. Bad enough to bring back memories from ten years ago, when he lost his father, his fiancée and nearly lost the restaurant, as well. He could still remember the feelings of helplessness that had nearly overwhelmed him as everything he knew and loved threatened to disappear.

He’d been little more than a kid, so Javy supposed he should cut himself some slack, but he’d never forgiven himself for the fire that occurred on his watch.

At least now, the business and their finances were on firmer ground. He wouldn’t need Connor to bail him out, and this time Javy wasn’t the one at fault.

Focusing on the work to be done, he said, “We’ll fix it. We’ll have to shut down for a few days, but after that the restaurant will be up and running again.”

He glanced over at the younger man, hoping to see some enthusiasm in the kid’s expression. Instead, he was treated to a look of slack-jawed distraction. “Hey, kid, I’m giving one hell of pep talk here. Least you could do is pretend to listen.”

“Yeah, um … what?” A slow flush climbed the younger man’s face, and Javy figured out why as soon as he heard the female voice behind him.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

Javy waited a second before he turned to face Emily Wilson. He knew damn well he’d look as besotted as Tommy if he didn’t. The brief respite did little to prepare him. Kind of like no amount of time with your eyes closed could ever prepare you to look straight at the sun, Javy didn’t think he could ever get used to Emily’s breathtaking beauty.

The fancy gown, upswept hair and dramatic makeup from the night before were gone, replaced by a powder-blue camisole top, white capri pants and beaded sandals. A headband pushed back her golden blond hair, and only a hint of makeup kissed her face.

She probably thought she looked casual, but to Javy, she still looked classier than any woman he’d ever met. The low thrum of desire kicked up again, vibrating along every nerve in his body.

“I wanted to stop by and see if everything’s okay. Obviously it’s not,” she said as she looked around the restaurant.

“It’s going be. I was just telling Tommy, we’ll be up and running in no time.”

“Of course,” she agreed faintly, a worried frown pulling her eyebrows at his pat response.

The compassion in her gaze caught him off guard, tugging at something in his chest and drawing out everything he wanted to deny, until a part of him longed to confess the feelings he’d buried since the moment he’d stepped inside the restaurant. That the damage left him heartsick; that he didn’t know how long it would take before the place was up and running again; and that he worried that even then, the inevitable changes couldn’t possibly live up to the way the restaurant had been before.

Emily lifted a hand to push her hair back from one shoulder, and the diamond bracelet she wore caught enough light to send prisms dancing across the restaurant. For a crazy second, Javy thought of the fake diamond engagement ring he’d bought for Stephanie.

Simulated, the salesgirl had called it. It had been all he could afford at eighteen, and as a symbol of his foolish teenage love, the diamond had been 100 percent genuine. But to Stephanie, the ring had been a cheap knockoff, and his best had been nothing but second rate.

Shoving aside memories—as well as any asinine thoughts of spilling his guts—he asked his young night manager, “Do me a favor, will you, Tommy? Move the damaged tables and chairs into the back, okay?”

Puzzled, the younger man asked, “Um, where do you want me to put them?”

“Just try to find some place out of the way.”

As the younger man grabbed a carved chair in each hand, Javy turned back to Emily. He still wasn’t sure why she’d come to the restaurant, but this definitely wasn’t the way he wanted her to see it.

He was proud of his parents’ place, of the hard work and dedication that had made Delgado’s into a neighborhood landmark. He would have liked to show it to her at its best—on a Friday night, with the music blaring and every table filled by happy, hungry customers.

Not now, not like this, with the damp smell of stagnant water already replacing the restaurant’s once mouthwatering aromas of peppers and spices, and with unwanted emotions and memories creeping past his defenses.

“What are you doing here, Emily?”

At his question, soft color slowly bloomed in her cheeks—like the petals of a rose unfolding. The effect was so beautiful and so stunning, he would have sworn she did it on purpose if he hadn’t been pretty sure such a thing was impossible.

“I shouldn’t have come. It was a mistake. I was thinking that I could help, but it’s not like I can do—” she waved her free hand to encompass the mess around them “—anything.”

Even without Emily’s pronouncement, Javy would have bet the restaurant that major remodeling work was not her forte. That her experience was with hair dryers, not handsaws, and that the only nails she was familiar with were the ones painted a delicate pink on the tips of her fingers and toes.

But he also knew from listening to Connor moon over his girlfriend years ago that Emily could sing and dance. She’d been in dozens of beauty pageants and plays while growing up. That she was a skilled equestrian and had been an honor student. He could only imagine she’d honed those talents at college and in the years since.

Yet, for reasons he couldn’t begin to imagine, she was ready to dismiss all that with the flick of a wrist to help him. The curiosity urging him to discover all the reasons why told Javy his mistake would be in asking her to stay.

In the end, he didn’t have a chance to say anything. The front door opened, letting in a blast of heat and sunlight and a prayer in Spanish as his mother stepped into the restaurant. At work, she normally wore the same style dress as the rest of the female staff—a colorful blouse and embroidered skirt. It was strange to see her there dressed in a plain olive T-shirt and khaki pants. Her haste to leave the house showed in her hair, which she had left loose to fall to her waist. It had to be his imagination that overnight more gray seemed to shoot through the dark strands.

“Dios,” Maria breathed, shock and dismay filling her expression.

“It’s not as bad as it looks, Mama,” Javy said immediately, not wanting to consider her reaction when she saw the worst of it.

“It’s bad, Javier. Like the fire …”

Javy flinched at the reminder of his failure and the disaster that had almost destroyed them. “It isn’t,” he insisted. “It’s not that bad. I can fix it.” His voice trailed off as for the second time, he lost his audience in the middle of his inspirational speech.

Maria stared at Emily, but unlike Tommy’s wide-eyed infatuation, disapproval was written clearly on his mother’s face. “Solo tú, Javier,” she murmured. “Only you.”

Realizing Maria was speaking Spanish to exclude Emily, he glanced at her, an apology in his eyes, and drew his mother aside. “Only me what, Mama?” he asked in English.

“Only you would bring a girl to the restaurant now. Bad enough you have a different girl in here every other week, but today? It is a disaster, and you bring a date.”

His dating, or more specifically, his refusal to settle down, had long been a point of contention between them, one he refused to get into now. “We aren’t on a date,” Javy argued, but Maria would hear none of it.

“Do you think I do not recognize this girl? The one Connor was seeing all those years ago. The silly girl who did not think he was good enough for someone like her—”

“You’re right.” Emily stepped closer, covering the distance Javy had tried to put between them, and joined a conversation that she was smart enough to realize was about her. “I was a silly girl back then.” Meeting Javy’s gaze, she added in Spanish, “Pero ahora mujer.”

Javy felt his jaw drop, and he ducked his head rather than let his mother see the smile he couldn’t hold back. Muttering beneath her breath, Maria stalked off to the kitchen. As he met Emily’s gaze, he let out a low laugh.

She winced. “I shouldn’t have done that. I’m sorry—”

“Don’t apologize.” As much as he loved his mother, she was a force to be reckoned with, and few people tried. He couldn’t remember the last time anyone had silenced her. He never would have guessed Emily Wilson would be up for the job.

Once more she was showing him she was nothing like the spoiled rich girl he’d figured her for. She had spirit—buried deep, maybe, but still burning, despite what life had thrown at her. She’d shown it at the reception when she’d stood up to the gossips talking behind her back and just now with his mother.

But I am a woman now.

His mother had taught him Spanish straight from the cradle, so he certainly hadn’t needed to think about translating the sentence Emily had spoken in perfect, if unaccented, Spanish. But it was as if his body had interpreted the words before his brain had even had the chance. Emily was a woman, no question about it. A fact both his body and his brain fully appreciated.

“You’re incredible, you know that?”

She gave a questioning laugh. “Because I speak Spanish?”

“No, Emily, not because you speak Spanish.”

Their gazes locked, and the low vibe of desire picked up speed until Javy half expected the windows to start shaking. Another wash of color lit Emily’s cheeks. As incapable of accepting a compliment as she was at recognizing her own worth, she ducked her head and quickly explained, “Foreign language was a requirement at my school. My mother wanted me to take French, but my father thought Spanish more practical.”

“I would have bet you spoke French.”

“Well, I did take French my junior and senior year to make my mother happy. But my father was right about Spanish.”

“So, you did what your father wanted, and you did what would make your mother happy,” Javy said, seeing a pattern she had likely followed most of her life. “What about you, Emily? What do you want? What would make you happy?”

Emily glanced around the restaurant rather than focusing on Javy’s questions. What did she want? Last night she’d come to the conclusion she wanted to see Javy again, to see if that quick start of excitement was due only to the emotions of the wedding, but now, with his restaurant in shambles, satisfying her curiosity seemed selfish.

Her breath caught when she turned back and nearly bumped into him. He’d moved closer as she focused on the damage, and now stood mere inches away. Dark circles lined his eyes, and a hint of beard shadowed his jaw, evidence of the first of many long nights and the hard work ahead.

“I want …” You, she thought, the fluttering in her belly proof of the unspoken words. But of course, she couldn’t admit that. She’d tried telling herself her rash and reckless behavior was nothing more than a reaction to her former fiancé's betrayal. But she’d been unable to push aside the thought that last night had far more to do with Javier Delgado than it did with Todd.

After all, during their engagement, Todd had kissed her good-night countless times, and not once had Emily given in to the urgency to take that kiss beyond a bedroom doorway. Like their wedding, their wedding night was to have been perfectly arranged, a night filled with flowers, candles and champagne. But all the romantic staging in the world couldn’t add what Javy’s kiss had shown her had been missing from her relationship with Todd—unplanned, unstaged, undeniable desire.

Admitting that to herself was bad enough; admitting it to Javy would be giving him an advantage he didn’t need.

“I, um, want to hear more about how you’re going to fix the restaurant,” she said lamely, recalling the conversation she’d interrupted when she first arrived.

Javy didn’t immediately respond, and Emily reminded herself that his dark eyes couldn’t possibly see the thoughts bouncing wildly through her brain … or the desire doing a far more seductive slide through her body. She wasn’t entirely sure she believed it, though, and was relieved when he finally answered.

“Most of it will be cleanup and demolition before I can move on to the repairs. And …”

His voice trailed away as he looked around, and he dug his hands into the back pockets of his faded jeans, showing an uncertainty she hadn’t seen in him before. This other side, this shy, almost boyish side charmed whatever small part of her that hadn’t already been won over by his confident, almost cocky attitude.

“I’d like to do some remodeling.” He shrugged. “As big of a disaster as this is, it would be the perfect opportunity. We’ll have to close down while we make the repairs, so why not make some improvements, as well?”

“Like what?”

He waved a hand to a doorway off the main dining area. “We need to upgrade the bar. Make it into more of a sports lounge. Add some flat-screen TVs, couple of pool tables, electronic dartboards. It’s way too small right now, but we could steal space from the patio. Of course, that would mean building a new outdoor area, but there’s room if we take away a small section of the parking lot. It would be a lot of work but …”

“You could do all that? Tear down walls and everything?”

“Tearing ‘em down is easy. Building them back up takes a little more skill. But I have a cousin who works construction. I know Alex would want to be in on the job. And the staff here. They could help out with trips to the hardware store and hauling supplies. That would make a big difference.”

Emily thought the biggest difference would be keeping his employees involved while the restaurant was closed and they were otherwise out of work. But judging by the casual way he spoke, Javy wasn’t looking for praise.

“Seems like you’ve given this a lot of thought,” she offered, although he didn’t sound as excited as she would have expected.

He gave a short laugh. “Probably more than I should. Maria isn’t big on change. I know she’ll want everything back the way it was … like nothing ever happened.” Despite the easy grin he flashed her, the spark in his dark eyes when he talked about the remodeling had faded.

“I’m sure if you talked to your mother about it, you could change her mind. You could convince her that it will be better than before.”

His handsome features twisted with a wry smile. “There is no better than before.”

Emily wondered what he meant by that, but his cell phone rang and, after a quick apology, he started talking to the insurance company before she had a chance to ask.

As Javy walked into the back office in search of a policy number, Emily took a moment to focus on the restaurant instead of on the damage. A series of photographs covering a wall of the front lobby caught her eye and helped her see beyond the disarray to how the place looked on a typical busy night. Some of the pictures had the faded yellow tint of age, but even without that telltale sign, she could have guessed the timeline by the fashions. She smiled at the sight of large mustaches, feathered hair and bell-bottoms.

In more recent shots, she could almost feel the energy pulsing from the vibrant pictures that caught waiters and waitresses with loaded trays as they ducked between crowded tables filled with laughing patrons. In a few of the frames, she spotted Javy. He wore what she assumed was the typical male uniform, a white button-down shirt and black pants, a sharp contrast to the colorful shirts and embroidered, tiered skirts worn by the waitresses.

His heart-stopping grin was on display in almost every shot, and she tried not to notice the interchangeable women by his side. Blonde, brunette, redhead, he didn’t seem to have a type, except the women had one thing in common—they were all beautiful.

Last night Emily had lain awake for hours, reliving the memory of Javy’s kiss even as she strictly told herself to forget it—to forget him. He had a reputation as a playboy, and that kiss had proved he had the skills to match. She’d be foolish to walk any further down a road that would only lead to heartbreak. But the more she argued how dangerous Javy was, the more … safe he started to seem.

Oh, by three o’clock in the morning she’d convinced herself she was suffering from sleep deprivation. But even at six, after a few hours of sleep, the idea still circled through her thoughts. Todd had hurt her when he’d cheated and lied and pretended to be something he wasn’t. He’d fooled her every step of the way.

But with Javy, her eyes were wide-open. She knew what he was and what he wasn’t, and she had no expectations beyond that. No plans of becoming a permanent fixture by his side in future photos. And as long as she kept that in mind, she had little chance of getting hurt.

She had her own safety still firmly in mind as she wandered around the back of the restaurant, toward the bar and patio. When she caught sight of Maria through the sliding-glass doors, Emily immediately froze. Still stunned by the way she’d stood up to the older woman, Emily doubted she had it in her to go another round. But Maria wasn’t paying any attention to her. With the blazing summer sun outside, Emily doubted she could even be seen inside, and Maria’s attention was firmly fixed on the tables and chairs Javy had asked Tommy to move out of the way.

Emily was ready to slip away unnoticed when she saw Javy walk over to his mother, bend down and urge her to stand.

“Another piece of my Miguel … gone. Soon there will be nothing left.” The words were muffled by the glass, but Emily could hear the devastating sense of loss in Maria’s voice.

“That’s not true. You still have the restaurant, you have your memories and nothing can take him from your heart.” Despite Javy’s encouragement, sorrow still pulled at his mother’s expression, and he quickly promised, “And I can fix the chairs and tables. I can cut away the worst of the damage, sand down the tables and chairs and restain them—”

“It won’t be the same, hijo.”

Maria was too focused on the furniture to see the expression on her son’s face, but Emily couldn’t pull her gaze away from the pain of rejection written across his handsome features. She wasn’t going to be any good at protecting herself, after all. She already cared enough to hurt for Javy. Did she really think she could keep her heart from breaking because of him?

Emily made her way back to the main dining area without Javy or his mother spotting her, and that was where he found her minutes later. “Hey, sorry that took so long,” he offered, his manner completely at ease, but Emily knew better.

She could still see the rejection he was trying to hide in the tension in his jaw and the faint lines between his eyebrows. If not for that brief scene she’d witnessed, Emily might not have noticed. But now she couldn’t not