The Wrong Man (7 page)

She’d wanted more than his hand on her wrist. She’d wanted him to kiss her.

Chapter Eight

Memorial Day weekend. Backyard barbeque. Salsa music blasting from wireless speakers. Nothing like good food, music, and friends to remind a person of the important things in life.

Tomas carted a tub filled with ice, sodas, and beer out to the back yard and set it against the side of the house. Dozens of people occupied the wooded property. Some sat around tables playing dominoes and cards. Children chased each other and played hide-and-seek, using the scarlet oak and dogwood trees dotting the yard as hiding places.

He’d bought this place on a whim. At the time, the house had been in a shabby state and the grounds overrun with weeds. From what he understood, no one had made an offer on it in over a year. By the time he and the real estate agent completed the as-is sale, he’d purchased the property at fifty-percent below market value. The bank had practically thrown it at him.

A few friends thought he was a sucker for buying it, but with the house fixed up, no one could deny its beauty. Working off and on while commuting from his apartment, it had taken a long time to get the property to its current state. He’d gutted the entire inside and renovated the sprawling ranch into a four-bedroom with an eat-in kitchen. Even better, he could proudly say he’d done most of the work himself.

Coming home after a long day of work was like finding peace in a storm, and problems lost their importance once he drove up the dirt road to the front door. He would sit on the porch with his feet propped up, sipping a beer or an iced tea—depending on his mood—and stare out at the still waters of his very own lake.

He couldn’t believe how far he’d come since Santa Clara, Cuba.

“Oh good, more drinks!” someone squealed. Three scantily clad women bum-rushed him and each grabbed a can from the tub. They wore almost identical cut off shorts and tube tops. He wasn’t sure who they were or who they’d arrived with, but they were a welcome addition to the festivities.

“
Gracias
, Tomas,” one of them said, batting her lashes at him.

“You can thank me properly later,” he quipped. She giggled and walked away. He’d had his eye on her friend, but if she wanted to show her gratitude, he wasn’t opposed to it.

He rejoined his buddy Ryan at one of the outside tables and sat where he’d left his plate of food. Ryan was eating a hamburger and keeping an eye on a group of kids on the tire swing near the lake.

“When does Shawna get here?” Tomas asked. Ryan had come over early to help him set up and get started on the grilling so there’d be food ready when the first guests arrived.

“In a few. She should be here any minute now.”

Tomas pointed. “There she is.”

He paused, pleasantly surprised when he saw Talia followed behind Shawna, who had her hands full with Madison and the diaper bag slung over her shoulder. Ryker ran ahead of them to join other kids playing with a puppy someone had brought. What had prompted Talia to show up? Although he’d pushed for her to come, he never had the impression she actually would.

A pair of designer sunglasses with detailing on the temples perched on her head, and her colorful, strapless dress left her shoulders bare for his hungry gaze. Today she seemed sullen, as if some problem or issue weighed on her mind. When she glanced in his direction, he held her gaze for several moments before she looked away.

“Don’t mess with her,” Ryan warned, having seen the look they exchanged.

Am I really that bad
? Tomas wondered. “Something’s wrong,” he said.

Shawna and Talia came over and greeted them, and both men stood to give them their chairs.

“Keep your seats,” Shawna said with a wave of her hand. “I’m going into the kitchen to warm Madison’s bottle.”

Tomas’s gaze fell on Talia. “What are you doing here? Are you lost?”

Shawna answered before she could. “Leave her alone. She’s had a rough day.”

“Oh really? Then I should be flattered and honored you dragged yourself all the way out here to my little home,” he said.

“You should be flattered and honored every time I’m in your presence,” Talia said.

Tomas chuckled and tilted the chair back on two legs, affecting a relaxed pose but acutely aware of her. His gaze strolled from her kissable-looking shoulders to her delicate ankles. Being a devoted fan of all things female, he noticed how the strapless dress skimmed her curves and showed off the tempting rise of her breasts. Again she wore heels, making her shapely legs look longer and laying bare manicured toes painted an electric blue. An unusual but interesting choice.

“Oh, I am flattered and honored,” he said with a lazy drawl. “
Mi casa es su casa
. Help yourself to anything you want.” He waved his hand with a flourish.

“That’s awfully generous of you. Anything?”

His steady gaze locked on her. “Anything.”

Heat flickered in her eyes before they skirted to the table. The teasing between them had escalated to full-on flirting, but she must not be completely comfortable in the new role. Probably because it had been a while since she’d had to pull a man in. Certainly not while she was married, but with her body she had the tools to do it.

Recently divorced women were a unique breed. Seldom in a rush to get into another serious relationship, they presented the perfect opportunity for a short fling.

“I’ll keep that in mind. For when I want something,” Talia said, facing him boldly now.

Their friends watched the exchange between them closely, and from their raised brows, he suspected they were just as intrigued by the conversation as he.

He let his gaze lower to her mouth. She wore a shade of lipstick slightly lighter than her skin, drawing attention to the bee-stung temptation of her full lips. He pushed his hair back from his face and her gaze lifted to follow the movement. His throat seized and his hand paused for a fraction of a second before falling away. He knew women, and there was no mistaking the look she sent him. He recognized lust when he saw it.

“When you want something, don’t be shy. Make sure you ask for it.” He saw the heat in her eyes again, but this time she didn’t look away.

“I’m going inside to warm the bottle,” Shawna announced, grabbing Talia’s wrist and dragging her toward the house.

Ryan leaned toward Tomas. “Okay, I know you pretended to be her man at the housewarming party, but tell me the truth. Is there something going on between you two?”

Tomas turned to his friend. “Not yet.”

Chapter Nine

Talia observed Tomas out the kitchen window. Funny how you could see someone and not pay much attention to them. Then one day, the blinders come off and all the characteristics you’d overlooked suddenly become apparent. He used to annoy the hell out of her, though she’d be a liar if she claimed not to have noticed his physical appeal. Overall, she saw him with new eyes now.

She’d never had any desire to venture this far out into the “boonies” before, where the houses were few and far between, but all of a sudden she was glad she’d called Shawna and invited herself on the hour-long drive. She took a swallow from the can of soda she picked up on the way inside.

“Stop looking at him,” Shawna said from behind her.

“Nothing wrong with looking,” Talia responded. She turned away from the window.

To get to the kitchen, she and Shawna had passed the living room and she’d hung back to take a peek, curious to get a better handle on Tomas and his personality. The room was filled with large, traditional furniture in dark hues. A chocolate couch and a black leather recliner with a cup holder had clearly seen better days but looked comfy. He had a collection of miniature classic cars stacked on shelves behind a locked glass case that loomed almost to the ceiling. The floors looked like the original hardwood had been stripped and refinished so they gleamed under the overhead lights, and in front of the fireplace a beige area rug with running horses on it added a warm accent to the masculine room.

Above the fireplace mantle, an enlarged photo hung in a gold frame. A considerably younger looking Tomas, perhaps in his late teens and with longer hair, smiled with people she assumed must be his mother and three brothers. The boys all looked alike, each good-looking in his own way, though Thomas stood out because of his lighter colored eyes. His parents had blessed the world with four handsome young men.

When she’d entered the enormous eat-in kitchen, Talia had placed her purse on the table and walked over to run her hand along the six-burner Viking range, which suggested Tomas had a love of cooking. Surprising, as she’d never expected him to be the cooking type. Where she’d gone for light and bright in her own kitchen, he’d chosen walnut cabinets and polished steel handles. Being nosy, she’d opened the Viking refrigerator and found it filled with foodstuffs—fruits, vegetables, juices and the like. Clearly Tomas would never starve to death out here far from civilization.

With Madison on her hip, Shawna stood at the counter fiddling with the bottle warmer. Madison babbled happily, as if she knew she was about to be fed. “You know what kind of guy he is. He’s a flirt and a womanizer,” Shawna said.

“I don’t want to sleep with him.” Not entirely true. The more she thought about it, the more attractive the idea became.

“I hope not. What you’re going through will pass. Divorce is not the end of the world.”

“I hate the word divorce,” Talia said. Her throat tightened. “Such an ugly word. I still haven’t gotten used to the idea that I’m actually a divorcée. I never thought I’d be in this situation after being married so long.” Even in the last days, when her marriage ran on fumes and she and Carter slept in separate bedrooms, she hadn’t expected this end result. “The ink barely dried on our divorce papers before Carter started seeing that woman. She’s twenty-one years his junior. Barely out of diapers! And you know what he said to me today?” Her neck muscles tensed as she thought about his visit to her condo. He’d come by to drop off a box of her personal items accidentally left at the house when she’d moved out.

“No, what?” Shawna somehow managed to lift the bottle from the warmer and test the warmth of the contents on her opposite wrist, all while balancing her wriggling daughter in her arms. Mothers were a rare breed of magician.

“He said, ‘There’s something I need to tell you and I wanted you to hear it from me first. Paula and I are getting married.’ I swear I almost hit him, but I gave him a good piece of my mind. I tossed out every curse word I could think of and told him to never speak to me again.” The speed with which she’d been replaced still lingered like the aftertaste of a bitter pill.

“Since you work together, that won’t be easy,” Shawna said reasonably.

Talia huffed. “I don’t have anything to say to him, and I don’t want him to say anything to me.” She pretended to study her manicure. “Do you think he was seeing her before we divorced?” she asked quietly.

“I don’t know, Talia. He said he wasn’t.”

They hadn’t made love in over a year before the divorce, no longer able to summon the energy or strength to feign interest in a physical relationship when the emotional one had deteriorated so spectacularly. She had been celibate, but there was no guarantee he’d been.

“Whether he did or didn’t doesn’t matter now anyway,” she announced. “I’m divorced, not dead, and it’s time I get my groove back.”

“Please tell me you’re not thinking of getting it back with Tomas.”

“Why not? He’s single, I’m single. Tomas fits the bill, and you’re right, I already know what kind of man he is.” She’d seen his flirtations, and Shawna had told her about his escapades with numerous women over the years. “I’m not looking for another husband.”

“Your ex-husband has moved on, and so will you—when the time is right.” Shawna could always be counted on to be reasonable and careful.

“What if the time to move on is right now?” Talia asked.

Shawna sat down in one of the chairs around the table, her daughter in one hand and the bottle in the other. Madison took the bottle and gulped greedily. “You just got divorced.”

“So did Carter.” Talia crossed her arms over her chest.

“But you’re not him. Give yourself time. What’s the rush?”

“You’re the most cautious person I know. I probably shouldn’t take advice from you.” Talia softened the comment with a grin.

Unable to deny the truth, Shawna smiled wryly. “Fair enough, but how about this? If you want to start dating right away, let me introduce you to a few of Ryan’s other friends. Or try dating online. Cara found the man she’s seeing on one of those singles sites. It took a few tries, but they seem to be a perfect match.”

Talia returned her attention to the scene outside the window. “Hmm…I don’t know.”

The thought of setting up an online dating profile and fielding offers from amorous men who may or may not be truthful about the details they shared didn’t appeal to her. It meant entering the unknown, and she wasn’t so sure she had the desire to go through the trouble.

“Anybody but Tomas. He’s dangerous and you’re vulnerable,” Shawna warned.

“Dangerous?” Talia laughed. “Don’t worry. I can handle myself. Besides, how bad could he be?”

“Real bad. Don’t get me wrong, I love Tomas, but I don’t know what it is, he gets women to do all kinds of crazy things. They simply forget who they are. He says he moved out to the country because he likes the slower pace, but sometimes I wonder if it’s because he wants to avoid the hordes of women who hound him. He has restraining orders against at least two of them.”

“Now you’ve got me even more curious,” Talia murmured.

“What?” Shawna asked sharply.

“You heard me.”

“I see the way you’re looking at him. Stay away from him. He’s absolutely the wrong man for you.”

Talia studied Tomas, sitting with his legs spread wide, arms crossed over his chest. He didn’t have to move—or do anything, in fact, to have women gravitate to him. Since she’d returned her attention to the window, two had approached, flirtatiously touching his arm. One had gone so far as to play in the hair brushing his shoulder.