Endless Summer Nights (24 page)

Chapter 8

R
odrigo couldn’t take his eyes off Sidney, watching her here in his home. It felt right, the way he knew it would. They set the table together and placed the entrées on it, and Rodrigo helped her into her chair before sitting across from her.

“You look leaner,” he commented out of the blue. “You have more muscle.”

She appeared pleased that he’d noticed. “That’s because I’ve been working out.”

“Don’t tell me you’re on a diet.”

Rodrigo refilled her glass as a smile fanned across her lips. She always smiled with her eyes, and under this lighting, her brown eyes sparkled. Her lush mouth, one of his favorite parts of her anatomy, was covered in a glossy shade of red.

“No, I’m not on a diet. I exercise more now, but you know I’m a picky eater,” she reminded him.

“You can’t go wrong with any of these dishes, and I know you have a hearty appetite when you enjoy your food.” At her stricken look, he hastily added, “That is a compliment. Food is meant to be enjoyed, after all.”

“So we’re back to that again.”

“What?” he asked, feigning innocence but knowing full well to what she was referring.

“I said it before, and I’ll say it again. I apologize for finishing your pasta primavera, okay? But I didn’t want it to go to waste.” She shrugged.

One night in New York she’d taken him to a restaurant in Little Italy where they’d ordered a mountain of food that included appetizers and plenty of fresh garlic bread. It had been so refreshing to find a woman who enjoyed a good meal as much as he did.

“I could have taken it in a dog bag.” He removed the lid from the container in the center of the table.

She giggled. “It’s
doggie
bag, and we were going to the theater afterward. We couldn’t have taken it with us. I did you a favor by not allowing the food to go to waste.” She looked up at him through her lashes, and his heart stopped. Time stood still for a moment. But the moment passed when she bowed her head to straighten the napkin across her lap, a smile still floating at the corners of her lips. “And I was hungry. Very hungry,” she added.

With his elbows on the table, he rested his chin on his interlocked fingers. “Being with you in New York was the best time I have ever had visiting your city.”

Her eyes met his across the table, and he saw sadness there again, just as before. He wanted to find out more about what it meant and where it came from, but he sensed now wasn’t the time to pry. “You made sure that I received the full New York experience,” he said, “so I will do the same for you.”

“Oh, really? What do you have in mind?”

He didn’t answer but began to spoon soup into a bowl. “This is
caldo verde,
” he explained. “It’s a popular soup from Portugal. It contains collard greens, potatoes and sausage.”

“Did you hear my question?”

She looked adorable sitting there, a fine wrinkle on her brow, demanding an answer. He decided to torture her a little bit longer. “I will explain everything later. For now, eat.
Bom apetite.
”

* * *

By the end of the meal, Sidney was almost certain she’d died and gone to heaven. The rest of the dishes consisted of food equally delicious to the soup, including a steak grilled to perfection and covered in a secret rub. She tried to pry the recipe out of Rodrigo, but to no avail. The entire delicious meal was shamelessly devoured.

Across the table, he smiled at her but said nothing.

“Go ahead, talk about my appetite,” she said, dabbing her mouth with the napkin.

“No, you’re sensitive. I’ll leave you alone,” he said, but he didn’t stop smiling.

By the time they made it to the living room with glasses of wine, a sense of contentment filled her, making her wish her stay would be longer.

“What do you have planned for tomorrow?” she asked.

“I’m taking you on a tour of the city.”

“You can take a whole day off like that?” She lowered to the sofa. He picked up a remote and soft music filled the room.

“When you’re the boss, you can do whatever you like.”

A woman’s voice, soft and soothing, came from the speakers.

“Who is that?”

“Elis Regina.” Rodrigo sat beside her.

“She has a beautiful voice.”

“She’s been dead a long time, but her voice is still considered one of the most beautiful in Brazilian music.”

The sound of the guitar and the singer’s voice relaxed her.

Rodrigo turned to her, resting his arm along the back of the sofa. “Do you have a man in your life?”

She blinked. “Where did that come from?”

He shrugged. “Just wondering. I want to make sure.”

“No, I don’t.”

He didn’t respond. He calmly picked up his glass from the coffee table and took a sip of the wine.

“Do you have a woman in your life?” Sidney held her breath.

“No, I don’t.”

She let out the breath she’d been holding. “Tell me what you have planned for tomorrow.”

“Let me worry about that. Just be ready to have all day tomorrow and the day after occupied.”

“And you’re sure no one will miss you at work?”

“You want me all to yourself. Is that it?”

“Yes, I do.”

It was nice to flirt with him. Considering how their initial meeting had gone, the relaxed evening was just what she needed, what
they
needed. She was no longer tense and on guard. Spending time with him in his home had made all the difference.

“I may have to take a few calls because this will be an unplanned leave, but you’ll have my undivided attention for most of the day.”

“You don’t have to do this,” Sidney said, although she was glad he was taking this time with her. At least then when she returned home, she’d have new memories to hold on to.

“I want to, and I want you to enjoy your time here.” He took her glass and set it next to his on the table. He held her hand in both of his. “Now it’s time for us to go to bed.” He rose with her hand in his and led her to the bedroom where he slowly undressed her, taking his time instead of the hasty manner in which they’d made love the day before.

He spoke to her in his native tongue, the way he always did when they made love, the words flowing easily from his lips and adding to her heightened state of arousal. He pulled her onto the bed and rolled on top of her, taking little nips of her skin from her neck to her shoulders and down to her breasts. He took each nipple in turn, licking and sucking the dusky peaks. Moving restlessly on the bed, her fingers ran over the muscles of his back.

She took his hand in hers and kissed the palm. She’d missed him so much.

With a gentle push she forced him onto his back so she could sit astride his thighs. She kissed his forehead, nose and mouth, lingering there. The taste of him, the smell of him, almost seemed brand new. Their kisses were slow and leisurely, their unhurried movements similar to those of a couple who knew each other well.

She nibbled on his neck as he cupped the back of her head, using sweeping motions to caress the length of her body. She touched his shoulders, caressed the bulging muscles of his arms and moved over the contours of his powerful chest. Going lower, she licked his nipples and the curve of his pecs.

When she reached the thickness between his thighs, she licked the length of him before taking him into her mouth. His fingers tightened in her hair and he thrust upward. She sucked harder, pulling him deeper. He murmured indistinct words, his voice coaxing and encouraging, and when he couldn’t take it anymore, he groaned and dragged her up onto her back.

He pulled a condom from the nightstand, and soon their joined bodies moved in a slow, sensual dance together. In the quiet of the room only breathless pants and amorous kisses could be heard. Rodrigo rocked back and forth within her until her orgasm reached a crescendo that crashed over her.

Later when she lay curled against the length of him, she listened to his even breathing as he slept. Filled with regret over her decision to let him go a year ago, she wondered if she could be honest now. Maybe she’d been too hasty in denying his proposal. Sadness coiled through her, a yearning for what had been lost after a brief taste of the ultimate happiness. If he wanted to rekindle their romance, if he still wanted to marry her, would she have the courage to tell him the whole truth?

Chapter 9

T
he next morning Sidney dragged out of bed into the bathroom. When Rodrigo returned from a run on the beach they took a shower together, leisurely rubbing soap all over one another’s bodies before they went back into the bedroom and fell across the bed for a quickie.

Afterward, they strolled to a neighborhood bakery where they sat down to potent cups of espresso and freshly baked bread smothered with jam. The rest of the morning was spent walking around the streets of Leblon. Rodrigo took the time to explain the history of the neighborhood. He mentioned that years ago, because of its location and difficulty in accessing it, runaway slaves once used it as a hiding place. A streetcar line eventually connected it with Ipanema, and Leblon—now trendy and cosmopolitan—had grown at a faster pace.

They visited several Brazilian designer stores and other retailers, something he did often to check out the competition. They ran into a few celebrities whom he knew and introduced her to, and eventually they stopped for lunch at his favorite
botequim
in the neighborhood. He ordered them beer made on-site and a number of dishes for her to sample. One was codfish balls and
bolinho de aipim
—manioc balls—stuffed with Catupiry cheese and shrimp. Her favorite phrase became
mais uma,
which meant “one more,” as they sampled the different food available.

The city tour in the helicopter was perhaps her favorite part of how they spent the day. The aerial trip took them past the Christ the Redeemer statue standing thirty-eight meters tall atop Corcovado Mountain. They flew over the Atlantic, rays from the sparkling sun bouncing off the azure waves. The helicopter dipped to the right and they had a clear view of the palm trees and white shoreline stretching from Copacabana to the east side of town down to Recreio beach.

* * *

Back on land, Rodrigo took Sidney to one of the more popular museums and waited patiently while she snapped photos. By the time they returned to Leblon, they were both winding down after the long day. They took bottles of coconut water on their afternoon walk on the beach and watched a group of older women practice tai chi while a few young people jogged along the shoreline.

On the way back to the house, they stopped at a candy shop and Rodrigo bought her
Pé de Moleque.

“It’s similar to peanut brittle,” she said over a mouthful of the candy.

“Yes, but this one is made with molasses. It tastes better.”

“Everything is better in Rio?” she teased.

“Sim.”

At a local market they picked up fresh vegetables to make a salad to accompany the leftovers from the night before and strolled hand in hand back to Rodrigo’s place. When they opened the door to his apartment, two sets of scampering feet came running toward the front.

“Tio Drigo!” the children called. A young girl wrapped her arms around his waist and a boy who looked about half her age wrapped his arms around one leg.

A woman came down the hall at a much slower pace. “Oh, you have company,” she said in English, doing a poor job of looking surprised.

“Sidney, this is my sister, Branca.” Branca shared the same fair hair as their father.

“I hope it’s okay that we’re here,” she said. She glanced at Sidney.

“Of course,” Rodrigo responded.

He introduced the children, too, and they smiled shyly as they greeted her. Sidney recognized the little girl as the one missing the front teeth in the photo on the wall in the hallway. She looked about eight years old now and had all her teeth.

“I’ll put away the groceries,” Sidney said.

She walked back to the kitchen, and while putting away the food, she heard giggling behind her. The kids were standing in the doorway.

“Water, please,” the little boy said.

She smiled at him and poured a small glassful for him.

“You from New York,” his sister said.

“Yes. Have you ever been?”

“No. I want to go one day. Tio Drigo has many pictures from New York. If I can make it there, I make it anywhere.”

“That’s right.” Sidney smiled and the two kids started giggling again.

Branca came to the doorway and put her hands on her hips. “Leave her alone,” she said in a stern voice. “Come on, children. We go now.”

“They’re fine. It’s okay,” Sidney said as the children hurried out.

Branca paused. “You’re very kind. They can be very nosy.”

“They’re adorable,” she said, unable to keep the wistful note out of her voice.

“They are demanding, but Rodrigo knows how to manage them. He’s playful but firm at the same time. He would make a good father.” She said it as if trying to sell Sidney on his finer qualities. In the background, she heard his voice in the living room with the children squealing and laughing.

“Sounds like he’s very busy out there.”

“Always,” Branca said with a laugh. They both walked out to the living room to find the children jumping all over him.

Branca clapped her hands and spoke in a strong voice. “We have to go so Tio Drigo and his friend can have dinner.”

The kids preceded their mother to the door, dragging their feet and pouting. A look passed between Branca and Rodrigo, and Sidney wondered what it meant. Seconds later, Branca said goodbye and the three of them left.

The apartment became very quiet afterward, an almost eerie silence without the sound of children laughing and playing. They went to the kitchen and worked quietly together. While Sidney prepared the salad, he set the dishes in the oven to warm.

“Everything okay?” he asked into the quiet.

“Sure.”

He poured them both glasses of wine.

“I have something to tell you,” Sidney said. She’d been thinking about this for a while and decided it was time to come clean with Rodrigo. Watching him with the children earlier brought home the fact that he would, in fact, make a great father. If there was any chance of them moving forward after these few days together, she had to tell him the truth. He deserved to know.

“I have something to tell you first,” he said. He turned to her, his eyes earnest and his expression as grave as she’d ever seen it. “I don’t want you to feel any pressure, but spending time with you has made me think about how things could be. I still want to marry you, Sidney. I want you to rethink my proposal.”

“Rodrigo, wait, before you—”

“Shh. Listen to me.” He took her hands and looked into her eyes. “I know you came here for business, but I think fate brought us together because neither of us expected to see each other again. My father is ready to bring you into the family and my sister likes you, too. She feels you have a good spirit, a good aura, and that’s a lot coming from her. She doesn’t like anyone right away.”

He gently squeezed her hands and continued. “I still want to marry you, and I want us to have a family together. I know you love your family, and they would be welcomed here any time they want to visit. I could find a job for you at Moda, working in sales or buying—whatever you feel comfortable with. I’ll do whatever it takes, because I want you to be my wife. To be the mother of my children.”

Her stomach muscles tightened painfully. Maybe if he hadn’t said the last part, she would have told him what she’d started to say before he’d interrupted. Then she would tell him yes, she would be his wife, because ever since he’d asked her a year ago, she hadn’t stopped thinking about it. But hearing him mention children again was crushing and she lost her nerve.

“I can’t,” she whispered.