Here Comes Trouble (15 page)

Lorena’s arm froze midreach. She turned her head slowly to look at him, her heart thumping wildly. She didn’t know what to say after such a declaration.

“You have me thinking about marriage and babies and forever.”

She stared down at her plate, her throat tightening. “I don’t know what to say. I…” Her voice thickened.

“You don’t have to say anything. Hey.” He prodded her face back toward him with gentle fingers.

She loved him, too. In fact, she’d loved him forever, but fear kept her from telling him. It was too soon, and how could she trust he wouldn’t hurt her again? 

“I—”

“Shh. I said you don’t have to say anything.” The intensity of his gaze turned her mute. “It took being without you to realize how important you are to me. It’s like there was no one else before you, and I don’t want there to be anyone else after you. I want you. Just you. You and me. Forever. Always.” He cupped her cheek, and she closed her eyes to lean into his hand. “I’m going to prove it to you, Lorena. I’m going to show you that I’m ready for a serious relationship, and I want it with you. I just need you to trust me a little bit, okay?”

She opened her eyes and nodded.

“I’m going to woo you,” he said with a smile, melting her heart. “You won’t regret taking me back. I promise.” 

****

Matthew was a man of his word. When he said he would woo her, she had no idea how focused he’d be. She should have known, because he didn’t do anything halfway, and he met every challenge with the tenacity of a bulldog.  

Over the following weeks, they spent even more time together than they had the first time they were a couple. They took turns staying at each other’s homes, and on Fridays, when he didn’t have to work, they met for lunch. She looked forward to these lazy summer days, happy he chose to spend an hour or two on his free Fridays with her.

He never showed up empty-handed. One day he brought flowers, another day truffles from her favorite chocolate shop. Still another day he showed up with a couple of paper sacks in hand, after driving all the way to the north side of the city to pick up a hunk of her favorite cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory restaurant. They’d devoured the lunch he brought, sitting on a blanket in the shaded grass behind her office building. With her back against his chest, she’d eaten the entire piece of cake. When he came over later that night, she showed her appreciation and worked off the high-calorie indulgence.

They also worked out together and double-dated with her brother and his sister. They attended baseball games in the luxury of a private suite, thanks to Matthew’s brother. Derrick’s company had a suite at club level, where they ate delicious food, good-naturedly argued with the other ticket holders, and rooted for the home team, the Atlanta Braves. 

She worried that he’d grow tired of seeing her every day, but that thought eventually disappeared when she didn’t see any signs of him easing up. Something else had changed about this second time around for them, too. Before, she’d been intimidated by how other women fawned all over him when she’d attended a couple of his coaching sessions at the community center. She’d often felt ignored and less than feminine in her casual clothes when confronted with the challenge of the other women’s attentions.

Matthew would bend his head and listen closely to whatever they had to say, a way he had of giving someone his undivided attention. She’d put up with it, swallowing down her insecurities as the women flirtatiously touched his arm or reached up to whisper in his ear.

He continued to offer his attention, but she noticed he kept an appropriate distance from them now. Unlike before, he introduced her to everyone, making sure they knew who she was, using words like “my girlfriend,” “my better half,” “my future wife.”

My future wife
. She still hadn’t recovered from that one. Every time she thought about it, happiness filled her, and her heart did a little tap dance of pleasure.

By his behavior, she could actually believe he’d changed, and that he did love her.

****

One night, they sat together watching a baseball game. They’d fallen back into their routine of watching sports together.

“Ah, come on!” Matthew yelled from the sofa in Lorena’s living room. He grabbed his head in dismay as a player for the Phillies hit the ball up into the stands, sending two players to the home plate and ending the game with a 6–4 win over the Marlins.

Lorena jumped to her feet. “Yes! Yes! Yes!” she cried out, pumping her fist. She got in Matthew’s face. “You owe me twenty bucks.” 

“Get out of my face.”

“Sore loser. Suck it. You owe me.” She started doing a victory salsa dance.

“You’re overdoing it,” Matthew warned.

She ignored him, tossing her head from side to side so her hair swished across her face. She spun around, continuing to move her hips, kicking her feet and dancing to her own private melody.

“Loser,” she sang.

“All right, Victor Cruz, simmer down,” Matthew said, referring to the Puerto Rican NFL player who salsa danced after each touchdown.

“Suck it.”

He’d had enough. He rose swiftly from the sofa and picked her up. She let out a little scream and a laugh, her legs going immediately around him.

“I got something for you to suck,” he said.

Lorena placed her hands on his shoulders. “You’re supposed to do the sucking,” she reminded him, her voice filled with laughter.

“Suck what?”

“Suck deez!” She shook her breasts in his face.

“You’re out of control, you know that? I’ve created a monster.”

“A greedy little monster.” She dropped a light kiss on his mouth.

He headed toward the bedroom with her. “I better feed the monster.”

They temporarily forgot about any more sports.

****

“Matt, wake up.” Lorena’s voice penetrated the sleepy fog of his brain. “Wake up, or you’ll miss your flight.”

“Five more minutes,” Matthew mumbled into the pillow.

He needed to get up, but he didn’t want to. He was headed to an IT conference in New York. Almost a whole week without Lorena. He’d tried to convince her to come with him, but she’d insisted she couldn’t take the time off. She needed to wrap up the grant proposal this week, and the proposals for two smaller grants she’d found on her own. She’d chosen not to charge the community center for writing them, inspired by Matthew’s dedication and his work with the children. The two new grants were smaller individually, but together they equated to more money than the first one.

“Come on, sleepyhead.” She nudged his back. When he didn’t move, she said, “Since you’re not getting up, I don’t have to take you to the airport. Don’t blame me if you miss your flight. I’m getting ready for work.”

He felt her leave the bed and rolled over onto his back to watch her walk naked toward the bathroom. The dark mane of her hair fell down her back in a shiny display of rumpled curls. He looked, in masculine appreciation, at the concave curve of her waist just above the sensual flare of her hips. The toned muscles of her thighs flexed with each step she took.

How could he have run from this, letting fear almost make him lose out on such a fun-loving, generous person?

“Come back to bed, woman,” he said. Watching her had stirred his body below the waist and hardened him in preparation to take her. 

She twisted her head, smiling flirtatiously over her shoulder. Her eyes lingered on his erection tenting the sheet, which made him harden even more. With the toss of her head, her silky curls swung across her bare back.

“Come join me in the shower,” she said. Her lips held a mischievous smile as she watched him beneath her lashes.

Man, he loved her!

He had no choice. He bolted from the bed and followed her into the bathroom.

****

Lorena pulled her car up to the sidewalk outside the airport terminal. She and Matthew both had been unusually quiet as she drove down the highway, finding it hard to make small talk. She already missed him.

“Sure you don’t want to come with me?” he asked. His smile didn’t quite make it to his eyes. He felt it, too. The same heaviness. It was only a week—five days, really—but it would seem like forever after the past weeks.

“No, I can’t. I have too much to get done, and you know I’m the speaker at the Latin American Association’s luncheon on Friday.”

“Yeah.” He rubbed his hand down his slacks. “Well, I better go.”

She leaned in for a kiss.

“I’ll miss you,” he whispered when they separated.

“I’ll miss you, too.”

“I’ll call you when I get there.” He reached for the door handle.

“I love you.”

He turned stunned eyes on her.

She bit her bottom lip. “I’ve wanted to say it for weeks.”

He suddenly reached for her, grabbing her face between his two big hands and planting a long, amorous kiss on her mouth. She clutched his muscular forearms, giving as much as she took, her heart racing with happiness. They only came up for air when someone tapped the window on the passenger side.

A female cop frowned in at them. “Keep it moving, please. Find somewhere else to park if you want to make out like a couple of teenagers.”

Matthew smiled at the woman, but he muttered a curse between his teeth.

He swung his gaze back around to Lorena. “I needed to hear you say that.” He took her hand and kissed the knuckles.

“I needed to say it.” They stared at each other.

He shook his head. “I better get out of here before she gives you a ticket.” He snatched another quick kiss before he hopped out of the car and grabbed his garment bag from the backseat. He ducked his head and took another look at her through the glass. She powered down the window.

“Bye,” they said at the same time.

On his way inside the terminal, Matthew stopped on the sidewalk and dropped his bag. With people teeming around him, he lifted his hands toward the sky and hollered, “She loves me!” He turned around to face the car. “I want to hear it again.”

“You’re crazy!” she yelled at him.

They’d captured the attention of other passengers milling about. Some people frowned at their loud display. Others—the romantics—paused and smiled. One man patted Matthew on the back.

“I want to hear it.”

Lorena laughed, covering her face in embarrassed delight. “I love you, Matthew Hawthorne.” She blew him a kiss.

A beaming smile spread across his face, identical to the one on hers. “I love you, Lorena Vega.” He grabbed his bag, and after one last look at her, disappeared inside the terminal.

Lorena shifted the car out of park and pulled into the stream of traffic exiting the airport. She would probably have a smile on her face the rest of the day.

She’d never been happier.

Chapter Twelve

Friday afternoon, Lorena rushed into the office building where she worked. After she left the association’s luncheon, she’d texted Rahab and asked her to check for available flights to New York. The last-minute ticket cost way more than she should have spent, but it would be worth it to see the look on Matthew’s face when she surprised him at the hotel.