Here Comes Trouble (4 page)

“Hawthorne?”

The questioning mention of his name came from the man who’d entered the lobby and walked by him. Matthew hesitated. The other man’s face looked vaguely familiar. He was dark skinned, almost Matthew’s height, with a wiry build and dressed casually in a polo shirt and slacks. The watch on his wrist probably cost half of Matthew’s annual salary.

“Do I know you?”

“Matthew Hawthorne? You don’t know me, but we know the same people.” The stranger retraced his steps. “I’m Lewis Diaz.”

“Whoa, not
the
Lewis Diaz, son of Major League Baseball player Juan Diaz?”

The corners of Lewis’s mouth creased as he chuckled. “One and the same. I played ball myself, but my career wasn’t as successful as my father’s. An injury forced me to stop playing much sooner than I wanted to.” He extended his hand.

No wonder he’d looked so familiar. Lewis was almost an exact replica of his more famous father. Matthew took his hand and shook it vigorously. “It can be hard to come back from an injury. I suffered a multiple leg fracture in college, which ended any chance I had of playing professional football. Nice to meet you. Where’s your father these days?”

“After he retired, he moved back to the Dominican Republic.”

Matthew nodded, then furrowed his brow. “Wait a minute, how do you know my name? You said we have mutual friends?”

“Well, sort of…” He trailed off, which made Matthew even more curious.

“Which friends do we have in common?”

“For starters, Lorena Vega.”

An uneasy sensation settled over Matthew. “You know Lorena?” He had a feeling Lewis Diaz didn’t need grant-writing assistance.

From the corner of his eye, he caught movement in the entryway. Both men turned at the same time, and Lorena stood there. Right away he noticed she’d removed her glasses.  

“Hi, sweetheart,” Lewis said.

Sweetheart?

“Hi.” Lorena’s eyes avoided Matthew, and she moved to stand beside Lewis. Wait a minute; she’d touched up her lipstick. Had she touched up her perfume, too? The subtle fragrance was definitely stronger now. “I thought you wanted to meet at the restaurant.”

Lewis’s voice dipped low. “I wanted to surprise you.”

Matthew still hadn’t moved, watching the exchange, watching Lorena. He struggled to get a grip on what was happening. Lewis placed his hand low on her back. Too low. In fact, he didn’t like Lewis touching her at all in that familiar way, as if he did it often.

Lorena looked uncomfortable. “I see you two have met.”

Matthew finally found his voice. “So…you two are a…couple?” He could barely get the word out. His throat tightened, as though someone had slipped a noose around his neck and was in the process of choking the life out of him.

“Something like that,” Lewis replied.

Something like that?
What the hell did he mean? Either they were or they weren’t.

“I’ve met your sister, Cassidy, too, when we double-dated with her and Antonio.”

Double-dated?

Matthew felt as though he was having an out-of-body experience and hovered above the scene in disbelief. When did Lorena start dating again? She should still be single. Enough time hadn’t passed since their relationship ended. How could she be involved with someone else already?

“Oh.” He looked at Lorena, who at the moment seemed to be fascinated by the pattern in the carpet. “I didn’t know that.”

“We should go,” she said to Lewis.

Lewis extended his hand to Matthew again. “Nice to finally meet you, Matt. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Matthew,” he corrected. He gripped the other man’s hand and gave it a hard pump.

“Right.” Lewis laughed easily. “Ready, sweetheart?”

If he calls her sweetheart one more time…

Lorena nodded, and they walked to the door. Matthew hesitated for a moment, and then he found himself in the awkward position of following them out. His eyes lowered to where Lewis’s hand remained right above Lorena’s sweet little tush, as if he had every right to touch her. He clenched his fist to keep from knocking it away.

Jealousy had its vicious talons wrapped around his throat. How far had they gone? Had he seen her naked? Had he made her cry out his name in the sexy, hoarse voice she used whenever she was overcome with pleasure?

They all rode down in the elevator. The two of them spoke to each other, and he stood quietly, bewildered, trying to figure out how this could have happened.

Outside, despite the late hour in the day, the heat from the sun still lingered. A Porsche 911 Turbo Cabriolet sat in front of the building with the top down, taking up two parking spaces.  It looked as if it had just been delivered, brilliant and shining like a brand new ruby. Lorena and Lewis went to it, and Matthew continued to move, going through the motions even though he felt disoriented.

“I’ll talk to you in a couple of days, Matt,” Lorena said.

Their gazes met, and in her eyes, he thought he saw the same regret stealing through his body.

“Count on it.”

Her eyes widened a fraction before she got into the car.

As Matthew neared his own vehicle, the Porsche roared by him, moving way too fast in the parking lot.

“Show off,” he muttered. He stopped, watching it disappear as it dipped around the corner, out of sight.

He’d broken off the relationship, but he didn’t like seeing her with another man. He pulled his sunglasses from his pocket, slipped them on, and then ambled over to his vehicle.

No one knew the whole truth, not even his siblings, with whom he was very close. Everyone assumed it hadn’t bothered him a bit when he hurt Lorena. Smiling, happy-go-lucky Matthew wouldn’t let a small thing like a woman’s broken heart get in the way of a good time. Broken hearts littered his past. What was one more?

Jeez. Lorena had a new man.

The haze drifted away, and reality sank in, causing pain to rip through him.

No one knew he’d sat at home the weekend they broke up, hunched on the sofa, tossing back guilt-soothing gin and juice like medicine to ease his conscience about what he’d done to the woman he’d never felt he deserved in the first place.

He opened the door to his SUV in slow motion and sank onto the tan leather seats. He cranked up the air conditioner and closed his eyes, waiting for the temperature to lower as he rested the back of his head against the headrest.

In the past he hadn’t cared when women moved on. Most of the women he became involved with were one-night stands or short-term because he didn’t want a long-term relationship.  When they moved on, it was a good thing. It meant they were over him, and he didn’t have to feel any guilt because they’d both gotten what they wanted.

The way he felt about Lorena dating was new. He’d rather get kicked in the nuts again, preferring that pain to the pain blanketing his body. He’d never felt anything like it, all the more damaging because he’d been completely blindsided.

Lorena has a new man.

He was too late.

Chapter Three

“Are you okay?” Lewis asked with concern in his eyes. “You seem distracted.”

“I’m fine,” Lorena replied. “I have a lot on my mind.”

They sat in a corner of the restaurant, eating Italian food.

“Because of Matthew Hawthorne,” Lewis stated in a flat voice.

Lorena lifted her glass and sipped her water. She didn’t want to hurt Lewis. “You’re wrong.”

“You’ve been acting strangely ever since I picked you up. I’ve never seen you like this. It has to be that Hawthorne guy. Which is why I don’t understand why you’re helping him.”

Lorena twirled linguine coated in a creamy Alfredo sauce around the tines of her fork. “I’m not doing it for free. He’s paying me, and it would be foolish of me to turn away business, even if it’s from my ex.”

She put the noodles in her mouth. This was one of her favorite restaurants, but she had to summon the effort to chew, as if learning to eat for the first time.

“I’m not so sure what you’re doing is a good idea.” Lewis sliced into his chicken parmesan. Without looking up, he inquired, “It’s not going to affect our relationship, is it?”

“Of course not. Why would it?”

“I was just wondering. You’ll have to be in constant contact with him, and he doesn’t act as if he’s completely over you, if you ask me.”

“Don’t be silly. I told you, he prefers short-term relationships, and he’s not the type to settle down. Besides, he cheated on me, and then he broke up with me, remember?”

“As long as he understands you’ve moved on.” Lewis reached across the table and placed his hand over hers. “I know you said you wanted to take things slow, but I care a lot about you, Lorena. I hope you know that. I’m not interested in seeing anyone else, and when you’re ready, I’m ready to take our relationship to the next level.”

It was unfair to compare them to each other, but his touch didn’t have the same impact as Matthew’s did. She didn’t get the same rush of excitement she’d felt when Matthew came in for the kiss. The stroke of his fingertip down the side of her face had been so light, the brush of a spiderweb would have carried more weight, yet he’d made her forget where she was for a while and long for a kiss she shouldn’t want.

Lewis looked good on paper. He had money from the allowance he received as a result of his father’s successful baseball career. He was well traveled and knowledgeable about business and investments. At times she thought him to be a bit showy, but it was a minor negative when compared to his other positive traits.

He spoke several languages, and as a former athlete, he viewed health and fitness with the same importance she did. He was tall and attractive, and ready to get married—downright perfect, in fact. She really couldn’t go wrong with him, and any woman would be lucky to have him shower attention on her.  

So why couldn’t she stop thinking about Matthew?

Maybe because he’d been her first and only lover. Having been a tomboy most of her life, and growing up under the thumb of a protective father, she’d never had much interest in, or experience with, men.

As the only girl, she’d played sports with her father and brothers and was nothing like her more glamorous mother. Her mother was a former beauty queen. She’d been crowned Miss Puerto Rico, and her father loved to tell the story of how from the minute he saw her on television accepting the crown, he had decided right then and there to make her his wife. Over thirty years later, they were still happily married. She’d wanted a relationship like theirs, with the same level of love and passion. She’d found that level of intensity with Matthew, albeit one-sided, and now she wondered if she could ever enjoy a tepid relationship.

Of course she could. Passion was overrated. All the excitement she experienced with Matthew had gotten her nowhere. She needed stability and a trustworthy man who wanted the same things she did. Someone like Lewis. He wanted a long-term relationship, a wife, and children—none of which Matthew had been willing to offer. She couldn’t let his reentry into her life ruin her chances at a good, solid relationship.

She slipped her hand from beneath Lewis’s and threaded her fingers between his. “I do know how much you care about me. Please don’t worry about Matthew. He’s no threat to you.” She smiled.