V
ictoria had her iPod firmly plugged into her ears as she poured over her books and design plans. And not because she was intent
on ignoring Eric. Their argument had been long forgotten. He’d been a fool to tell a woman like Victoria, who was just now
enjoying her independence, that women didn’t deserve some time alone once married. He was lucky she hadn’t packed her bags
and left that night. But she hadn’t. She’d apologized to him, as soon as he got home from having dinner with his father. Even
before he could tell her
he
was sorry. So they’d spent the night enjoying a late swim in the pool and talking. If that counted as their first date, it
was perfect, because he learned tons of little things about her, like that beer made her throw up. And big things, like how
many kids she wanted. And huge things about himself, like maybe he’d like to see what she looked like with her belly swollen
with a baby someday. Crazy. Insane. But the thought had definitely been there.
So thanks to his father’s good advice, she wasn’t angry with him. But she was annoyed. Eric hired two guys to put up crown
molding, and the constant hammering was driving her crazy. It wasn’t doing much for him, either.
He tapped her shoulder. She pulled out one of the earbuds.
“Want to go out to lunch? Get out of here for a while?” He motioned toward the door.
She sighed, turned her music completely off, and nodded. “Sure.”
All the large projects in the house were complete, but the finishing touches needed to be done before the open house. Crown
molding was one of those details that made a house stand out.
“They’re awfully slow,” Victoria said, as they drove away from the house. “They’ve been at if for four days.”
“And when they’re finished, I’ve hired guys to redo the lighting in the backyard.”
“What? The lighting is fine. Why do that now?”
He pulled into the parking lot of a little family restaurant. “It’ll look better.”
“But the lighting is fine.”
“Fine is not good enough.” Besides, as soon as they were finished, the house would go on the market, and he honestly couldn’t
deal with the fact of moving out yet.
“Then why didn’t you have the work done simultaneously? That’s going to add another week to your building time.”
He took her hand. “Next time I’m going to make you my project manager. You’re good.”
“Why aren’t you worried? You wanted to be done by the end of September and it’s close to the end of October.”
He pulled her into his arms and backed her against the truck. “I guess I’m enjoying myself too much to be worried. Just think,
next time we go swimming, the lights in the backyard will be awesome. But maybe we’ll leave them off and swim naked. What
do you say?”
She smiled. “I’m ready for you to see me naked, if that’s what you’re asking.”
He lifted an eyebrow. He and Victoria were having such a good time, he didn’t want it to end. Although he probably should
have been worried about getting the house on the market—and he would be later—right now he couldn’t have cared less. “Let’s
have lunch first. Then if you want to take your clothes off, I’ll kick those guys out.”
“No. Please. Let them finish.” She laughed. “But I’ll give you a rain check on that naked business.”
He kissed her and then, with a wink, pulled her toward the restaurant. “I’ll take it.”
Eric spent a week looking for new properties to renovate, but he didn’t come across anything promising. So he decided to put
shutters in the extra bedrooms where Victoria had hung drapes. When she got home and saw what he was doing, she wasn’t pleased.
“The drapes looked good and were inexpensive,” she said, pointing out the absolute truth.
He seriously needed a new project. Instead he’d cooked dinner and convinced her to play board games with him. His mother and
Jaqueline had been gone ten days. And when he looked around the house, he admitted that he could have gotten all those minor
fixes done in a couple of days. And he shouldn’t have put the shutters in. He’d wasted two weeks. Hell.
But as Victoria raced around the Monopoly board, he smiled. Their relationship had gotten better and better every day. And
that was worth the extra house payment he’d have to make. “I’m going to hire a Realtor. I think we’re ready.”
“Sure you don’t want to redo the fireplace? Marble might look good,” she teased.
“No, smart-ass. I’m done.”
“You also owe me two hundred dollars for passing Go.”
He shoved the board aside. “How about two hundred kisses instead.”
“Sorry, I’ve got work to do tonight. I spent all my free time playing this game.”
He ignored her and crawled across the floor, climbing over her. “Victoria?”
She smiled. “What?”
“You’ve done a great job with this house. And with my room at my mom’s house.” He studied her pretty face. “Thanks.”
She kissed his lips in a feather soft brush. “You’re welcome, Eric.”
Tonight was Halloween. Eric waited excitedly for her to get home from school so they could attend the Argentine Club Halloween
dance. Unfortunately, the holiday fell on a Tuesday night and she had classes. He rented a knight suit to surprise her. The
darn thing was hard to get into, too.
When he heard her car pull up, he positioned himself by the front door. Victoria walked inside, bags and backpacks hanging
from her arms, and when she spotted him, she screamed. Then she started laughing and dropped all the bags on the floor by
her feet. She reached forward and lifted his face mask. “Oh my God, I love it.”
“Your knight in shining armor, ma’am.”
“Mmm.” She ran her hand up and down his chest, which was covered in soft spongy stuff that looked like metal. “You are one
sexy knight.”
“Careful, ma’am. This costume is tight and I can’t risk having it stretch in the wrong places.”
She gave him an evil look from the corner of her eye and her hand traveled down. But much to his disappointment she stopped
at about his navel. “I’m going to go get dressed,” she said. “Stay put.”
“I can’t move. Don’t worry.”
She laughed and disappeared down the hall and into her bedroom. When she came back, she was wearing a short white dress with
an apron like the ones home store employees wear, with the words
The Home Wrecker
written across the chest. The front pockets held a variety of plastic tools. On her head she wore a matching scarf, and her
legs were encased in knee-high boots.
“Wow,” he said.
“You get it?”
The only thing he got was instantly aroused.
“I couldn’t find anything that went with being an interior designer. But this was pretty funny.” She pulled out a robe. “I’m
going to wear this at the club, too, because the outfit is a little bit revealing.”
Not revealing. Sexy. And short. “You are the best home wrecker I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with.”
She laughed. “Well after seeing you, I sort of wish I’d chosen a princess costume.”
“I could tear all this off, get in a pair of jeans and a baseball cap and spray sweat all over my chest, and go as a sweaty
construction worker.”
She narrowed her eyes. “There will be children at this event. I think we’d better save that look for my private enjoyment.”
She slipped the robe over her costume, adjusting the apron over the robe. “There we go. Better.”
“I don’t agree.”
“Come on,” she chuckled. “Let’s go. I feel guilty that I didn’t help set up this year. I usually spend all day before Halloween
making sure things look great for the kids.”
Eric couldn’t remember enjoying anything more than he had this corny Halloween party at the Argentine Club. The women had
the entire meeting hall decked out with spooky spiders and webs, and black and purple streamers. And on the tables were various
games that the kids could participate in. They stationed him with a couple of other guys at a bowling table. He had a great
time encouraging the kids. The little monsters, goblins, and princesses ran from booth to booth, picking up goblin tickets
that Victoria said they would cash in for prizes at the end of the night.
During the dinner break, after all the games had been picked up, he sat beside Victoria at his parents’ usual table. For tonight
everyone brought simple salads or finger sandwiches and, of course,
empanadas
in a major potluck. No one cooked, and they used paper plates, which made it nice for everyone.
“That was a blast,” Eric said, and discreetly kissed Victoria on the cheek.
“Victoria created all these activities years ago,” Antonio said with obvious admiration. “The kids look forward to Halloween
night all year.”
“So what happens after dinner?”
“Costume contest onstage,” Victoria said. “Adults included.”
“The winner gets the witches’ brew,” Antonio explained.
When they’d arrived, every person donated five dollars to the witches’ pot. There were a couple hundred people here tonight.
Eric widened his eyes as he looked at his father. “So the winner gets about a thousand bucks?” he asked in amazement.
Antonio leaned across the table. “Yeah and last year little eight-year-old Mariela won. She was so excited. The women all
made her mother promise that Mariela could use the money any way she wanted. Can you imagine being a kid and winning all that
money?”
Eric grinned, sitting back and enjoying the night. The only thing that would have made it better would have been if his mother
was here, too. She and Jaqueline would be back that weekend, and he knew his father was counting down the days.
He rested his arm behind Victoria’s chair. “You should have dreamed this thing up when we were teens.”
“No one would have listened to me back then. I was powerless. But now”—she raised one adorable eyebrow—“I’m the party queen.”
Antonio nodded. “When it comes to parties, her word is law.”
Eric slid his hand onto her shoulder. “I’m ready to let her make all the rules.”
She laughed and stood. “You guys are nuts. I’m going to go get the costume contest ready.”
Eric decided to go to the restroom before the contest began. While in the back, Mrs. Apolonia cornered him. “Eric, since your
mother isn’t here, I thought I should offer a few words of advice.”
“About?”
“Your obvious relationship with Victoria.”
“Okay,” he said, bracing himself. He knew he wouldn’t appreciate anyone’s advice on the matter of his “relationship.” But
he knew that everyone in the club made it their business to butt into everyone else’s life, so he resigned himself to listening.
“She’s a very pretty girl and she’s single, so I can understand why you didn’t waste any time showing your interest in her.”
He shifted in his uncomfortable suit, feeling his back muscles flex.
“And no one can really blame you for seeing the opportunity that she was vulnerable with all the nonsense going on in her
family, to convince her to move in with you—”
“Mrs. Apolonia—”
“Not that she’s blameless. After all she’s a grown woman and could have said no. But when you both flaunt your sinful behavior
here at the club, you make her look—”
“Sinful?” He stopped her before she went on and really pissed him off. “Not that it’s any of your business, but there’s nothing
sinful going on. She and I work together, and though we live together, too, she has her bedroom and I have mine.”
“I’m not naive, Eric. And Susana saw you together at your high school reunion.”
“You didn’t let me finish. I was going to say that even though our relationship has been platonic to this point, I’m not about
to let how things look to others stop me from pursuing a woman I’m definitely interested in.”
“I think that’s extremely selfish of you.”
“Hey.” Victoria came up behind him. “We’re about to start the contest.” She smiled, her gaze bouncing back and forth between
them. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” Eric said. He smiled at the older woman. “Nice chatting with you.”
Mrs. Apolonia shook her head and walked away.
Victoria placed a hand on his arm. “What’s up?”
He hooked an arm around her waist. “She was just… giving me some advice.”
“Uh-oh.”
“Yeah.”
“Don’t listen to her. I never do.” She rested her arms on his shoulders and played with the hair touching his neck.
He smiled gently at the adorable woman who always made him feel better about everything. “What if she might be right?”
“Highly doubtful.”
“She thinks I’m making you look bad. That I’m taking advantage of you.”
She smiled. “Well, you haven’t yet, but a girl can hope that you might soon.”
He wanted to smile again but couldn’t. He released her, stepping back and leaning his butt on a rectangular table. “Vicki,
I know you probably have the same thoughts going through your head.”
“What thoughts?”
He gripped the edge of the table with both hands. “That you shouldn’t get involved with me. That I can’t offer you anything
permanent. That—”
“I haven’t had those thoughts at all.”
“Vicki, let me be honest. I wasn’t planning on coming back home and falling in love with anyone. Not even you. But I think
I am.”
She stared at him, a pink flush appearing on her cheeks. Her expression told him she was surprised and maybe uncomfortable
with his admission.
“And I’m having a hard time having to justify that to anyone. Even you.”
“Justify?”
“Yeah. I love you. And I don’t want to explain why or how it happened or defend it or make promises that I’m not sure I can
keep.”
She still looked stunned. “I’m not asking for any of that.”
He released a breath from deep in his chest. Pushing off the table, uncomfortable in this ridiculous costume, he took a step
toward her again. “I feel like everyone is waiting for me to make a grand statement about my intentions regarding you. My
mom, your mom, our so-called friends, people at this club.”
“Me?”
“Not so much you.” He reached for her, placing the palm of his hand against the side of her face and caressing her cheekbone
with his thumb. “Although I know the fact that I’ll probably have to leave bothers you.”