I stared up at Thomas, surprised, then I reminded him, “He hasn’t laid claim to me. We’ve only just met. This is very new. Anything could happen.”
Thomas leaned in close and whispered, “Too true. So I shall look forward to when we meet again, a time when I’m certain he will have chased away those ghosts that haunt your eyes and I’ll remind you of this moment, when the beautiful Kia doubted her power over a powerful man and she’s content in the knowledge that not only did she do very well, but he did too.”
That was so nice, my eyes filled with tears and Celeste’s fingers squeezed tight.
“There is a reason I love him, you know,” she whispered in my ear, my head turned to her and she was smiling.
I fought back the tears and smiled back. Then I looked at Thomas.
Then I whispered, “Thank you.”
His eyes moved over my face then they moved to his wife then his hand came up, his fingers curled around my arm and he gave me a squeeze before dropping his hand and whispering back, “No, my love, thank you.”
I pressed my lips together.
Celeste moved back to my side and guided me forward, murmuring, “We must forge on. It wouldn’t do to burst in gales of tears in a bar.”
She sounded so horrified by this possibility, I couldn’t help but giggle.
I walked them to their car, gave Thomas a hug and a kiss on the cheek then I moved to Celeste and she immediately folded me in her arms and she didn’t do the cheek to cheek to cheek. She pressed her cheek to mine and kept it there.
My eyes started to sting again and I whispered in her ear, “Please, come visit me. I promise to share my treasures with you like you did with me.”
“We will plan, ma chérie.”
“I don’t have a spa, uh… yet, but you can meet my Mom and she’s a really good cook.”
“Better than any spa.”
She was right about that.
Neither of us moved. Neither of us spoke.
Until Celeste whispered, “Why can I not let you go?”
I knew why and I held her closer, whispering back, “Honey.”
Her head turned slightly, her lips almost on my ear and she whispered in a way that sounded urgent, “Please take to heart what Thomas said. I know it must be difficult but this is a good man, ma chérie, trust him to take care of you.”
My heart skipped a beat and I nodded.
“But more, trust that you’re worth taking care of.” She pulled slightly away and wrapped her fingers around my upper arms. “Oui?” she asked softly.
I smiled. “Oui.”
“Très bein,” she smiled back, gave my arms a squeeze, tipped her head to the side and whispered, “Au revoir, ma belle. We will see each other again soon.”
“Soon, Celeste.”
She closed her eyes, pulled in breath, let me go, opened her eyes and grinned at me before she walked to her husband who was standing at her opened door.
She folded in.
Thomas gave me another smile as he rounded the hood and called, “Get back to your friends, love.”
I nodded but stood there and when Thomas started up and pulled away I did it waving and I kept waving until they were no longer in sight.
Then I walked through the bar toward the back terrace and as I did it, Thomas’s words came to me and I stopped looking at my feet and started to look around.
Then I looked back down to my feet because, at a quick scan, I saw Thomas was right.
Four men were looking at me and the last one I caught his eye before looking past him and he smiled.
Holy cow.
I didn’t know what to do with that. I didn’t know how to process it. Ten years ago, I caught Cooter’s eye and back then I felt lucky. So lucky, I didn’t even look at another guy.
And by the time I might look, I wouldn’t. It was too late. I was too scared. I was in too deep.
So it never occurred to me they might be looking.
These thoughts so consumed my head, I was on the terrace and had just begun to turn the corner when I saw Luci cozied up to Sam, sitting very close, her head on his shoulder and I heard her say, “You mustn’t tell her. She’s too vulnerable.”
I stopped and took a step back, rounding the corner, my breath flying out of me.
“Luci –” I heard Sam begin but Luci cut him off fervently.
“No,” she hissed on a whisper. “You cannot tell her of these things, Sam. Never. And I think you see that you must stop doing them.”
“I’ve told you more than once, girl, this was the last job.”
“Yes, you have, Sam, and you also told me that before this job,” she returned.
“This was for a buddy,” Sam replied.
“There will always be another buddy,” she shot back, her voice on the last word pure acid.
“Luci, girl –” Sam started on a growl but I turned, tiptoeing away and then not knowing where I was going. I couldn’t go back, interrupting an intense and private conversation I clearly was not meant to be hearing. But I didn’t know where to go.
So, even though I had half an Amaretto at the table, I went to the bar inside and ordered another one.
Fortunately, I could do this considering Amaretto was an Italian word.
Unfortunately, after I did it, I realized that I didn’t have my purse with me.
Damn.
I tried to figure out how to smile and sign language my way through telling the bartender I needed to run and get my purse when the bartender put the snifter on the bar, started pouring and I saw a bill slide across the bar to him.
I turned to see the man who had smiled at me standing beside me.
Uh-oh.
“You’re American,” he stated and I stared up at him, vaguely noting he was Italian, also vaguely noting he was very good-looking and not-so-vaguely noting I somehow had to get out of this but not knowing how.
“Uh, yes, –”
“The hair,” he explained, his head tipping toward mine. “I can tell by your hair.”
“Oh, right, well then –”
“And you are quite tall. American women are often quite tall.”
“Oh, okay, listen, I should –”
“And shapely,” he went on.
Oh man.
“Right. Thanks, I think, but –”
“I am Angelo.”
“Uh, hi, um –”
He leaned into me as the bartender swept his bill away and left my snifter where it sat.
Shit!
“And you are?”
“Well, I’m Kia, but –”
He leaned in further, I leaned a little back, hopefully making a point and failing when his eyes dropped to my chest and he murmured, “Kia, that is very pretty.”