Chapter 32
Chapter Thirty-Two
VERA
“Aye, V. You going to get some work done today, or are you trying to nail something else?”
I whipped my head to see Joe standing there staring at me with a smirk on his face. I was getting work done. I was just taking a little break.
“Shut it, Joe. I am working!”
He laughed. “Yeah, it looks like it. I still can’t believe you bagged her. She is one hot piece of ass. A few light years out of your league, huh?”
I glared at him, stepping more into his personal space. “First. Do not ever call her a piece of ass in front of me. Ever. She is a person, Joe. Treat her like one. Second, If I ever hear you talking about another woman like that again, I will call your wife. Now get back to work.”
“Yeah, sorry, boss.” I turned around without another word and I groaned. Men could be disgusting sometimes. Most of the time.
“Wow, hit a nerve, did he?” Nico came up beside me and placed his hand on my shoulder. I turned to him and rolled my eyes.
“Get it out. I know you’ve got something to say.”
He chuckled. “I just don’t see it, man. She’s hot—”
I cut him off with a glare. “I mean, she’s a beautiful woman and you’re…
you. She’s professional, and put together, and you work in construction.
She seems a little high maintenance for you.
Don’t you normally go for the down to earth types, or women with actual jobs? Not corporate sex in heels types?”
“Actual jobs? Do you think she’s playing a simulation game or something? She owns the company, Nico. What does that even mean?” I asked, frowning at him. Nico was one of my best friends, but sometimes I wanted to slap him.
“I know, I’m just saying—”
“Get your head out of your ass, man. She’s perfect and I’m trash, is that what you’re saying?”
“No, V… Well, yeah. I mean just look at her. How did that even happen? Is it a pity thing? Is the sex that good?”
I’d punch him if Cara wasn’t watching us. He had a point, though. She was all of that and so much more and I was… me. I wasn’t even her type normally, and I did think about that a lot more than I should’ve.
His words had doubt creeping into my head, and it didn’t go unnoticed.
“Ah, V, you know I’m just shooting the shit with you.
She’s a hell of a woman and you got her.
Don’t listen to me, okay? I don’t want to know about your sex life, but I can tell you’re not a charity case to her.
She hasn’t stopped looking over here since we got here, and she’s definitely not looking at me like that. ”
“Like what?”
He smiled and I turned to look at Cara. He was right, she wasn’t looking at him. She was looking at me in a way that made my chest ache. She was so incredibly beautiful and her smile wrapped around me like a warm blanket.
“Like she’s in love, amiga.”
Love. Four letters that held so much power. Could she really love me? It was obvious that I was in love with her, but did she feel the same? Was I really that lucky?
“You think?”
He nodded. “Si, V, I do. You’re lucky. Not many of us can find someone that looks at us like that. Don’t be estúpida and fuck it up, yeah?”
I had no intention of losing her. I had worked hard to get her and I was keeping her. I’d make sure of it. He was right. She was perfect, and maybe I didn’t deserve her, but she had picked me and I’d never take that for granted.
After a few more minutes of exchanging smiles and winks, I had to walk away. A second longer, and I would’ve said those exact words. Work wasn’t the place for that.
“Let’s get back to work.”
The week sped by in a blur of work, taking care of Nyx, and spending time with Cara.
It was finally the weekend, but she had plans with her best friends, so I was all alone.
She’d invited me along, but I assured her I’d survive on my own.
I didn’t want her to get sick of me and I wanted her to know it was okay if we didn’t always spend time together.
I was struggling not to text her every second, but I’d survive.
My phone rang, distracting me from my thoughts about Cara and I smiled when I saw it was my cousin, Maria, calling.
“Hola, Maria.”
“Hola, V. What are you doing?”
“Nada. Just got in from work. ?Que pasa?”
“Nada. Want to meet at Freddy’s for a beer?”
“Si. Let me get out of my work clothes. Give me about an hour?”
“That works for me! See you soon, prima.”
I smiled. “Adiós.”
An hour and a half later, I was walking into the little hole-in-the-wall bar in town. It wasn’t as nice as Queer Quarters, but the beer was cheap and the company was great.
“Hola, V!” Maria waved over to me as soon as she spotted me.
“?Ay! Maria.”
I sat next to her at the bar and she already had a cold Modelo waiting for me. “Your usual,” the bartender said with a wink.
I thanked her and turned back to Maria. “Cheers.”
Maria looked towards the bartender then back to me. “Si. To nice bartenders.”
I furrowed my brow and looked at the bartender who was still looking at me as she was preparing someone else’s drink. When she finally walked away, I leaned closer to Maria. “What was that about?” I asked.
“She likes you, V. You should get her number.”
I shook my head, taking a sip of my beer. The bartender was cute. Short blonde hair. Low cut top and short shorts. But I wasn’t interested. On a normal day, maybe. But now?
“No, thanks. I’m with Cara, remember?”
“Oh, yeah. Your girlfriend we haven’t met yet. You never told me what happened in Bali. Were you together before then?”
“It’s complicated. We weren’t official before then, but things had happened.”
“Oh? Things? What things? You know what, actually? Don’t tell me. I don’t want to know about your sex life.”
I laughed. “None of that, unfortunately, except when we met. Just feelings expressed between the two of us.”
“The speed dating thing, right?”
I nodded. I’d told only Maria about that night. Well, not everything, but I’d mentioned I met a beautiful woman. Then, when Cara and I started the fake dating agreement, I’d talked about her more but my family knew we were only friends.
After Bali, I confessed to Maria the whole thing and my feelings for her. Maria was the only person in my family I could trust not to judge me on the whole thing. My brothers would’ve said I was pathetic.
“Hey, you know what? You should invite that girlfriend of yours to Lia’s game this weekend. We all want to meet her, V.”
I hesitated, unsure how that conversation would go. “I don’t know if that will be her scene. I also don’t trust Miguel to be nice. He’s been rolling his eyes every time I talk about her.”
She scoffed. “He’s just a dude. And he’s your brother. He’s going to be protective of you. There’s no harm in asking her. We all want to meet the woman who has you all tangled up in love’s web.”
“Who said anything about love?” I asked, knowing damn well how I’d felt about Cara since we met. I never used to believe in love at first sight, but maybe that was because I’d never seen Cara before that night.
She glared at me without saying a word and I rolled my eyes. “Fine. I’ll ask her if it gets you to stop looking at me like that. You’re too smart for your own good.”