Forever Summer (6 page)

“I don’t think so.  However, I do accept your apology.  I’m going to my own room and try to get some sleep.  I normally don’t drop off like that – alone or in my employer’s place – but I’m afraid I’m fighting a bit of jet lag.  I’ve never been a good traveler.  Assuming I can take your word for it, and you’ll keep your distance, I’ll see you tomorrow.  Goodnight, Mr. Rodrigo.”  She entered the elevator, but he stopped it from closing.

“In view of all we’ve been through together, including a very pleasant, if uninvited kiss, you really should call me Gabe.”  He smiled at her, showing off the same dimples his daughter sported.

“Not funny.  Goodnight.  Gabe.”  He let the elevator close and went back to his rooms, still smiling.

“Well?  Did you apologize?”

“Yes, Mamá, and she is not going to quit after all.”

“
Mijo
, what were you thinking?  Summer is not one of those crazy fans of yours.”

“Obviously not, Mamá.  In fact, I think if there was an anti-fan club for me, she would be the president.  Do you know I offered her free front row tickets tonight, and she declined?”

Araceli smiled at her son.  “Could it be that the famous Gabriel Rodrigo has finally met a woman who is not falling all over herself to get his attention?  I was beginning to wonder if such a woman existed.”

“Not only is she not impressed, Mamá, I believe she is actually put off by the whole Gabriel Rodrigo persona.  She doesn’t seem the least bit impressed with the singer, the entertainer, the millionaire, the father, or even the man.  She has made it clear, especially after tonight’s fiasco, that she is not the least bit interested in any aspect of my life other than Marisol.”

“How refreshing.”

Gabe smiled at his mother and kissed her cheek.  “Believe it or not, I agree.  Now, let’s go to bed.”

“Gabriel, not everyone is like Marisol’s mother.”  Her son tensed and eased away.

“Goodnight, Mamá.  I will see you in the morning.”

Chapter Four

Summer finished packing early in preparation for the flight to Paris and went downstairs to have a cup of tea.  She turned on her cell phone and dialed Paris.

“Alo?”

“Abuelita?”

“Summer?  How are you,
Chiquita
?”

“I am well,
Abuelita
.  How are you?”

“Muy bien, mi vida.
  From where are you calling?”

“I’m in London, Grandma.  I’ll be in Paris later on today.  Can I come by tonight?”

“How wonderful,
Chiquita!
 But of course you may come over.  You know you are always welcome here,
mi corazón.
”

“
Bueno pues
, Grandma.  I will see you this evening.  I love you.”

“As I love you
, cara
.  I cannot wait to see you.”

Summer hung up the phone with tears in her eyes.  Her grandmother was one of the few people on this earth who cared about her and that she bothered to keep in touch with.  It had been over a year since she’d seen her due to her work schedule and traveling, but they called each other often.  Her grandmother had tried since Summer was a child to make up for her father’s lack of interest after her mother had died, especially after he’d remarried. 

Isela, her step mother, had never wanted to play the part of parent where Summer was concerned.  She’d learned to fix her own hair and pick her own clothes by herself from the time she was nine and Isela had let go her nanny and maid.  Then, when Isela and her father had begun their own family, she might as well have been invisible. 

Once Summer had finished high school, she stopped going back to Argentina for visits, even for the holidays.  She had two half sisters she barely knew, and she and her father were virtual strangers. She’d never really gotten to know Isela, much less her two daughters, always feeling like the starving street urchin looking into the full restaurant and watching people gorge themselves.  Isela sent her to boarding school within a year of her marriage to her father, and she hadn’t been back ‘home’ for longer than a few weeks at a time since.  She had gone on and on about how good it would be for her.  Apparently she’d either failed to meet Isela’s expectations as a product of the school, or she’d changed her mind about the importance of boarding school, since she hadn’t sent her own daughters away.  If it hadn’t been for her grandmother intervening about paying for Summer’s college, she’d probably still be paying for student loans.  Apparently her father had overridden his wife’s opinion that it would be good for her character and independence to pay for her own education.  He’d paid for tuition, books, and a dorm during her undergraduate work.  Then she’d gotten a teaching job and paid for her living expenses during her graduate work.  Considering that her father was a multimillionaire, for all practical purposes, Summer had lived a modern day Cinderella story.

Although her mother had left plenty of money for her in a trust fund, she couldn’t get to it until she was thirty, her mother no doubt thinking that if Summer ever required financial help, her father would see to her needs.  Either her father took it for granted that his second wife would take care of her or he just didn’t care enough to take care of her himself.  Either way, she’d made it a point not to ask him for anything, despite getting through some pretty lean times.  As soon as she was able to pay her own way, she did so and had ever since.  As a matter of fact, she’d made a very good living doing consulting work.  Becoming a tutor and translator for Gabriel Rodrigo’s daughter seemed as much like a working holiday as it did employment. 

Thinking of her new boss brought a blush to her cheeks.  It was that kiss.  She couldn’t get it off her mind.  Before she’d realized what was happening, before she’d pushed him away and given him a piece of her mind – in English and in Spanish – she’d lost herself for a few moments in that kiss.  Try as she might, she could not completely get it off her mind.  Speak of the devil, there he was with his entire entourage giving last minute instructions to everyone.

Gabriel Rodrigo looked better in person than he did on paper, if that was even possible.  About six feet two inches tall, he was one of the most handsome men she’d ever seen, much less kissed!  He was lightly muscled, dark-skinned, with wavy black hair and dark eyes.  Any woman would kill for his long, curly eyelashes, and the dimples in his smile – not that he smiled very often – changed him from being austere and reserved to being friendly and welcoming.  It was the difference between Gabriel Rodrigo the entertainer and Gabe, the friend and family man.  For her, it was probably better to just think of him as Señor Rodrigo, her boss.

Summer gathered her luggage and personal belongings, paid her bill and started walking toward the group to receive her instructions.  Halfway there, Marisol shouted a greeting and ran to meet her.  She smiled and bent down to hug the little girl.

“Good morning,
Chiquita
, how are you today?”

“Muy bien, gracias,
and you
?”

“English or Spanish?  Better not to mix.”

“English, please, Summer.  My daughter speaks to her grandparents in Spanish most of the time as well as to the staff.  I would prefer that she practice her English.”

Unable to keep from blushing as their eyes met, Summer nodded.

“I trust you slept well?”  She was even lovelier with the added color in her cheeks, and she was already quite lovely.

“I did, thank you.  Is there something you require before we reach Paris, or should I just take a cab to the airport, Senor Rodrigo?”

“So formal.  Please call me Gabe.”  When she only raised one eyebrow in question, he continued.  “All the internal staff calls me Gabe, so please follow suit.”  No comment.  “You’ll ride in the limo with my family, Pablo, and me.”

“We can read some more on the plane, can’t we Summer?”

“Absolutely.  As a matter of fact, we have a few new books we got yesterday, remember?”

“You bought books?  Out of your own money?  That’s not necessary, Summer.  The chauffer and bodyguard always have money on them for such things.  Just tell Pablo what you spent, and you will be reimbursed.”

“Thank you, but the books were a gift for Marisol.”

“I prefer that you not spend your own money on my daughter.  I don’t want to feel as though I owe you anything or give the wrong impression to others about our relationship.”  Another raised eyebrow accompanied by a tightening of her jaw and straightening of her shoulders.  “What I mean is …"

“I know exactly what you mean, Señor Rodrigo.  I thought all that had been cleared up last night.”  She reached inside her purse and pulled out a receipt.  “There you go.  That’s the receipt from the bookstore.  I also bought her tea, although I’m afraid I don’t have the receipt for that.  You’ll have to either take my word for it – on second thought – I’ll print out a credit card receipt.  Obviously trust is not big on your list of virtues, not that I blame you of course.  For someone with your undeniable … charm … you must have such a problem with women having hidden agendas.  I assure you, I do not fall under that category.”  With that, she turned and walked outside and hailed a cab to the airport.

“Papá, you were not very nice to Summer, and now she is angry.  She was only being nice, Papá.”

Gabe took a deep breath.  “You are right, Marisol.  I will apologize to her when we are all on the plane.”  Although he’d answered his daughter, his eyes never left the woman who’d just stormed off after telling him off – for the second time during her very short employment – as she got into the cab.  He felt like a jackass.  Perhaps he should’ve listened to his mother more closely when she reminded him that not all women were alike.  The way Summer had said, or rather sneered ‘undeniable charm’ left little to the imagination as to what she really thought about him, and he couldn’t say he blamed her. 

Summer Alvarez was an enigma.  For an employee, she certainly wasn’t afraid of losing her job or offending her employer, not that he hadn’t deserved every last word she’d said.  Her background check showed that she’d come from money, yet she had worked and supported herself for several years.  She certainly didn’t act like an heiress.  There was definitely more to her than met the eye, and he had a strong drive to know her whole story, although he couldn’t begin to fathom why.

****

As she had before, Summer sat in the back of the plane by herself and was the first to arrive.  As soon as the plane leveled off, Gabe got up and took the seat next to her.  She reluctantly turned to meet his gaze.

“Summer.  It seems I owe you another apology.”  No comment.  He scrubbed his hand down his face.  “I don’t blame you for being mad.  I was an ass.  It was nice of you to treat Marisol to the tea and the books.  Believe it or not, I did not think you had ulterior motives.  How do you raise just that one eyebrow?  Never mind.  It wasn’t you personally I was referring to, truly.  I’ve been falsely accused of fathering children, asking women to marry me, and any number of lies.  Between you and me, Marisol’s mother became my wife under false pretenses, and by the time I found out, Marisol had been conceived, and I was unwilling to end the marriage.”

Having her full attention, he proceeded to tell her the story he’d shared with only three other people to include his parents and his manager.  “Margarita bribed a hotel employee to get into my room and wait for me after a show.  Being much younger and stupid, I allowed her to stay the night.  A month later, she contacted me and told me she was pregnant with my child.  We married.  A month after that, she said she had a miscarriage, although she never went to the hospital.  Giving her the benefit of the doubt, I tried to make the marriage work.  By the time I realized she wasn’t really interested in anything other than my money and fame, she really was pregnant.  Despite everything, I wanted the child, even though she did not.  Marisol was born early, and she needed a lot of care, and her mother simply wasn’t interested.  I bribed her to stay and cancelled all my engagements and stayed home with Marisol, which agitated her mother even more, since she was no longer living the fast life.  Six months later, Margarita was killed in a car accident.  She and her lover were on the way to the airport to begin a new life together with the money I’d bribed her with.”  And he couldn’t believe he’d just spilled the details of his vile marriage to a virtual stranger.