Chapter 2
“T hank you, Santa.” The chubby angel wearing a plastic tiara patted Zack’s cheek with a sticky hand. She scooted off his lap, trailing her fingers on his pant leg. Her mother offered an apologetic smile and dabbed at the outside of his thigh with a wet wipe before he could stop her.
He shifted his foot. “It’s okay. This goes with the territory.”
“If you’re sure ...”
Snagging the wipe, he dipped his head and finished the job. “Don’t worry about it.”
The girl waved as they left the area decorated to imitate a living room and headed into the nearest booth.
Zack pulled the collar away from his skin and shifted the padding that represented his belly. The Santa suit was hot and he couldn’t wait to slide out of it. He was only doing this gig as a favor to his father, whose regular Santa came down with the flu.
In the couple of hours he’d been impersonating St. Nick, one toddler peed on him, another upchucked a stomach-turning combination of ice cream and half-digested hot dog, and a little hellion kicked him in the shin. This, after his mother told him he’d get nothing from Santa based on his inappropriate behavior.
The bright spot in his day was meeting Regina Wright. She was the first woman who’d stirred his interest in some time and reminded Zack that he was alive and had needs. Until his gaze fell on her wedding ring and his heart nose-dived into his stomach. But there was her comment about choosing a boyfriend, which was curious if she was married.
His fascination with Gina made him uncomfortable, but it didn’t stop him from watching her all afternoon, at least when he wasn’t busy with the kids. He tried, but couldn’t keep his gaze from straying in her direction.
His sister would say he was displaying stalker like tendencies. The only good thing was that when Gina’s assistant caught him staring the first time, he’d been careful not to make that mistake again.
Regina’s actions as she moved around her booth were confident and purposeful, that of a woman who knew her stuff. She was pleasant to her little customers and her brilliant smile made him want to be on the receiving end of it. From her interaction with Luca, Zack knew she was a wonderful mother. Loving, but not overindulgent. Firm, but not abusive.
When his mind strayed to what her husband was like, Zack dragged his attention from Gina and focused on the business his father wasn’t paying him to do. His parents had built the plaza ten years ago and still owned and rented several of the shops. This treat was a tradition he’d only heard about over the years. He and his twin, Eli, had missed out. They had been away at college and, after finishing, remained in America, where they were contractors in the information technology sector. He’d stayed away too long. At thirty-five he had an established business, but his personal life was dull and lacking.
Until a year ago, he’d been engaged. His fiancé, Alana, was American, so he spent most of his time with her and flew home once or twice per year. Life had been wonderful until it went off the rails.
The buzzing at his hip startled Zack, and he reached for the phone he’d forgotten was inside the suit. He swiped the screen and peered at it, certain his eyes were fooling him. One blink and he wondered whether he’d summoned Alana with his thoughts. He dragged a hand over his beard, and a shower of silver glitter fell onto his suit. His mother had playfully insisted on adding that bit of fairy dust, as she called it.
He put aside his impulse to ignore the call and answered. “What can I do for you?”
“Isaac. Is that you?” Alana asked, her tone husky.
“Who were you calling?”
“You, of course.”
Her breath caught on a tiny sigh and would have weakened him a year ago, but had no effect on him now. At least, none he wanted to acknowledge. He glanced across the way at Regina, who was packing up her station. “So, tell me what you want.”
“I ... I wanted to touch base because we need to talk.”
“It’s been almost a year since we’ve been in touch.”
“I know, but I’ve been thinking ...”
She didn’t continue, and Zack didn’t urge her to speak. Alana could be persuasive, and he refused to be caught in her web. She’d had him tangled so badly, he couldn’t see through her shenanigans, which she eventually tried to blame on him.
“Um ... I want you to think about our relationship. To give me another chance.”
Zack sat up and propped his elbow on his thigh. “Hell no. What makes you think I’d be stupid enough to put you in a position to hurt me again?”
She sighed, and he pictured her tugging the thick braid she sometimes wore in a bun. “People make mistakes, Zack.”
“I agree, but a do-over is not on the cards for us.” Smirking, he asked, “Did your friend, client, or whatever he was to you, not turn out to be all you bargained for?”
“You don’t have to be nasty about it.”
“Don’t tell me how I should feel or how to react.” He scanned the surrounding area to be certain no one could overhear him. “We shouldn’t even be having this conversation.”
“We could have had it ages ago if you’d answered my calls.”
He huffed and adjusted his position so he wasn’t looking at Gina, but at the vendor selling chocolate reindeer, butter cookies, and gingerbread men. The Sleigh Ride instrumental blasting through the nearby speakers only worsened his mood, and he snapped, “I’m under no obligation to listen to anything you have to say. You cheated. I walked away. It’s over.”
“You never allowed me to explain properly.”
“This is a bad time.” Zack let out another huff, conscious that he sounded bad-tempered, but he was past caring. “I can’t do this here.”
“When can we talk, Z?”
“I’m in Jamaica.”
“It’s not as if you’re on the moon.”
“You’re not listening to me.” He took a few seconds to clarify what he wanted to say. “If we talk, we’ll simply be moving in circles. There’s no going back for me. What you did falls into non-negotiable territory.”
“What about forgiveness? Doesn’t that count for something?”
“I’d forgive if there was any evidence you cared about my feelings. If I hadn’t caught you, you’d still have been playing me for a fool.”
“You know that’s not true.”
“Do I?”
When she didn’t answer, Zack said, “Thanks for the call. I really have to go.”
He pressed the end icon and took several deep breaths to calm himself. The heat scorching his neck and face was almost unbearable, so he made a bee-line to the snow cone vendor, who served him a paper cup with shaved ice and a mixture of strawberry and mango syrup.
Several bites later, the roof of his mouth was stiff and frozen, but the numbness didn’t matter. Far worse was the memory of how devastated he’d been when he found out Alana was stepping out on him.