Jamaica Dreaming (Caribbean Heat) (7 page)

Once when she’d asked him, irritated, why he kept harping on it, he’d told her he felt guilty that maybe she’d come to look for him and he hadn’t been there. He’d gone out to celebrate a colleague’s birthday that night. Julissa, herself, had no idea why she’d been on that highway. If she had gone to see Earle and he wasn’t there, she could easily have let herself in and waited for him. She had a key to the magnificent condo he rented near Riverwalk. It was a puzzle but what worried Julissa more was how The Event had changed something in her so that now she felt adrift. Did she want to continue her singing career? She just wasn’t sure, anymore. She had suffered a terrible accident but she’d survived. Shouldn’t she do more with the second chance she’d been given? Deej teased her, asking if she now felt a responsibility to ensure world peace or find the cure for cancer so Julissa stopped trying to talk to her about it. But, yes, that was what she felt. Well, maybe nothing as momentous as world peace or curing cancer, but something more than merely singing.

Julissa closed the final page of the romance, feeling a warm glow of happiness at the feel–good ending. That was how life should go for everyone, she thought. She watched the flaming colors of the sunset on the horizon for a little while and then was just about to go inside and begin getting ready for tonight when Rihanna’s song belted out. Julissa grabbed her cellphone.

“Hi, Earle.”

“Hey, baby. I’m here at work, missing you.” Earle was a junior associate with Parker and Street, one of Chicago’s oldest law firms. “How’s it going?”

“It’s been a quiet day. They gave me some time to myself and I was here catching up on my reading. How’s the Shepherd case coming?” Earle was part of Aaron Shepherd’s legal defense team Shepherd was the Chicago Bears’s linebacker who’d been charged with murdering his pregnant wife a year ago. Julissa thought he was as guilty as hell and should get a couple life sentences but she hadn’t shared this opinion with Earle.

“Good. Real good. Looks like something went wrong with the chain of evidence. We can create reasonable doubt with that alone, but we’re working on a couple other angles as well.”

He sounded gleeful. Julissa was happy for him but the idea that Shepherd might get off scot–free sickened her. This was new to her, too. Before The Event she’d never minded when Earle talked about what he did or the strategies he used to get obviously guilty clients off. Now his stories made her wince.

“Anyway, so I was thinking I’d come down over the weekend…”

“What?” She hadn’t been paying attention and had lost the thread of the conversation.

“Weren’t you listening, Julissa?” He sounded annoyed. “I said, I’d really like to take a break from this case. I was thinking I’d come to Jamaica.” His voice deepened. “I’d love to see you. Would be nice to be with you in the islands. Romantic, you know.”

Julissa felt a squirming sensation in her stomach. “Earle, I told you I don’t need a babysitter. I’m doing okay.”

“Are you?”

“Yes, Earle, I am.” Why did she even have to argue about this with him?

“Well, it’s not about that, anyway.” His voice took on a mollifying tone. “I just want to be with my baby. Isn’t that a good reason for me to come? Come on, now, Julissa, I miss you.”

Julissa squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath. Why didn’t he understand? “Earle, I’m taking some ‘me’ time. I told you that when you raised this before. I just want to breathe.”

“And you can’t breathe when I’m around? What do I do? Use up all the oxygen or something?” He chuckled, but there was an edge to his words.

“Maybe that came out wrong,” she conceded. “Look, Earle, I miss you, too.” Did she? Suddenly, she realized she wasn’t sure about that. “But, I like being here on my own. I feel, I don’t know, free.”

“I don’t get you,” Earle snapped. “You ‘want to breathe.’ You don’t feel ‘free’ around me. Where’s all this coming from Julissa? You’re hitting me with some deep shit here.”

Julissa didn’t answer right away, trying to marshal her thoughts. “Earle, I told you I was looking forward to getting away from Chicago for a while. I’m not saying anything new. We agreed, or I thought we’d agreed, that you wouldn’t come.”

“Bullshit, Julissa. I never said that. I thought you were talking about your family and all your friends. I didn’t realize you meant me, too.”

“I meant everybody and everything, Earle.” She was sure he’d understood. She’d said it very clearly, hadn’t she? She remembered talking about how much she was looking forward to resting and relaxing between her concert dates, how much she felt she needed the time alone to think about what she wanted to do. Hadn’t he heard her?

“I see. Hmm, well, I’ve a call coming in, so I’ve got to go but this conversation will continue. Bye.”

“I—” But all she heard was the ringtone. He’d hung up without giving her a chance to say ‘good–bye’ or to explain herself further.

Julissa stood there for a minute with the phone in her hand wondering if she should call him back. She didn’t want him to be upset with her, but she didn’t want him to come, either. Sighing, she tossed the phone on the bed and started to get ready for her date or meeting or whatever it was, with Sebastian.

***

Sebastian eased his Mercedes G550 into a parking space at Strawberry Hill and then sat quietly, trying to center himself and relax. It was ridiculous how nervous and excited he felt. He was no schoolboy out for his first date so why did he feel so shaky with anticipation? He uncoiled himself from the SUV and did his best to saunter to Reception. Once there, he sank into one of the thickly cushioned rattan chairs, pulled out his cellphone and dialed her number. She answered on the second ring.

“I’m almost ready. I had a phone call that kept me back,” she said when he told her where he was.

“No worries.”

“I’ll be there in ten.”

Sebastian inched the armchair around, positioning it so he could see the path leading from Reception to the villas. He settled himself in to wait and wondered who had called her. Was it the fiancé? Why was their engagement taking so long? Why hadn’t the man married her the moment she came out of the coma? He would love to ask her these questions but he knew he couldn’t. If anybody introduced the topic of her fiancé, it would have to be her and, even so, he would have to be very careful. He wouldn’t want anything he said to come out wrong or be taken the wrong way. They were still little more than strangers, after all. No, he would have to tread very carefully.

A flash of white moved on the periphery of his vision and his pulse quickened. Julissa had emerged through the shrubbery. She wore a white v–neck silk dress that managed to be both sexy and classy at the same time. A silver satin ribbon tied under her full breasts gave the dress an empire waist. Blue drops the size of his thumb swung from her ears and she wore a matching cuff on her slim wrist. In her hand she carried a silver beaded evening bag while her strappy silver sandals gave her a couple more inches in height. She took his breath away. He couldn’t take his eyes off her.

She must have felt him watching because she looked up. When she saw him, her smile lit her face and Sebastian’s heart did a double flip. He got slowly to his feet as she came up the steps toward him.

“Good evening,” she said. Her smile faltered and she looked suddenly uncertain. “I’m sorry I kept you waiting so long.” His tongue felt frozen in his mouth. “I had a phone call and then the time just… I’m so sorry. We…” She took a deep breath. “We don’t have to go if it’s too late.”

Sebastian realized he hadn’t spoken, hadn’t returned her smile and she’d mistaken whatever she could read on his face.’

“No,” he managed to get out, his voice raspy. “It’s fine. You look wonderful. Like… like….” He wasn’t accustomed to using what he thought of as flowery language, the language of poets. “Like an angel sent from heaven.”

Her smile returned and broadened. “That’s just because I’m wearing white.”

“You’d look like an angel in any color,” he assured her.

“When I was growing up, angels were always white, and their hair was blonde.”

“The artists never saw you.”

She laughed again and looked embarrassed but pleased, too.

“Is that why you like the song
Angelitos Negros
?”

“If angels exist, they come in all shades, I’m sure.”

“There’s an exhibit of Jamaican artists I must take you to,” he said, grabbing her hand. “No angels but I’ll be interested in what you make of the paintings.”

“Are you thinking of buying something?”

“I’ve got a painting by one of the exhibitors. I might be interested in something else. I think she’s going to blow up one day.” Her soft hand in his fit so right he wished the parking lot was further away. They chatted easily about art and other things as they walked. When he pointed his remote at the Mercedes she did a double take.

“Wow! How many vehicles do you have?”

“Just two. The Toyota is a company car. The Beemer Lori’s chauffeuring you around in is mine and so’s this. I didn’t use either to go to Hellshire because I might never see them again, at least not in any recognizable form.” He chuckled at the image of a car reduced to a few unidentifiable pieces of metal. Sebastian loved his fellow Jamaicans, but he knew very well that a lucrative trade in stolen cars and car parts flourished on the island. Neither the Beemer nor the Mercedes would last six minutes in some areas.

Their reservation was for eight thirty and they left Strawberry Hill after eight so Sebastian drove quickly, the G550’s powerful headlights brightening the road in front of them. In the air conditioned closeness of the car, Julissa’s perfume, a floral blend with a musky under note, teased his senses. He sneaked a glance at her profile, his gaze drawn to what he could see of her plush lips. The thought of kissing and nibbling them made him hot in all kinds of delightful ways.

She turned to look at him, a quizzical expression on her face. “Well?”

Sebastian realized she’d been talking and he hadn’t heard a word she’d said. What a crass idiot she must think him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t catch that.”

She looked amused.

“I was asking if you’d be at the Ocho Rios concert, too.”

“Yes, of course.”

“I was looking over the packet Carly sent me and, I just realized, there was no mention of where I would stay. Will I come back to Kingston the same night?”

Ah, she’d caught that. He’d meant to introduce it into the conversation at some point over the next few days, not so soon, but now he didn’t have a choice.

“I have a property there. It’s got a separate guesthouse. We thought you could stay there. It’ll save the foundation money you see as, of course, there would be no charge.” He wasn’t telling the exact truth. The idea that he’d put her up was all his and it had nothing to do with wanting to save money. If she guessed any of this, she didn’t say. In fact, she didn’t respond at all. “It’s beautiful. In the hills, and very cool. There’s a pool and you won’t have to cook or anything. I have a housekeeper. She’ll look after you.”

“And, if you’re coming to the concert, does that mean you’ll be staying in the main house?”

“Yes, but, if that makes you uncomfortable, I can easily book myself into a hotel. That’ll be no problem.” God, he wished he could tell what she was thinking. Her face was as inscrutable as any mandarin’s.

Julissa started to say something and then changed her mind and stared out of her window. All he could see was her columnar neck and the curve of her ears. His gaze dropped down to where her dress had gapped a little and he could catch a tantalizing glimpse of the swell of her breast.

“It’s no trouble at all, you know,” he said, gently. He had the feeling he was dealing with undercurrents he didn’t understand. “Ochi has lots of great resorts. It might do me good to experience the island as a tourist.”

She shifted in her seat and the movement brought him another whiff of her perfume. Perhaps when he knew her better he’d be able to read what she was thinking in her dark eyes and in the set of her mouth.

“Or, if you prefer, we can book you into the hotel of your choice.”

“No,” she said. “I’d love to stay at your place. I’m sure it’ll be beautiful. I’d be very wrong to force you out. Perhaps you’ll show me some of the sights over there?” She glanced at him and looked away almost as quickly.

Sebastian only barely restrained himself from yelling a loud “yes.” Instead, he contented himself with a broad smile. “I’m looking forward to it. I’ve actually got a couple things planned already.”

“You have?”

“I do.”

“You’re not going to tell, are you?”

“One of them is a visit to Dunn’s River Falls. I’d love to take you there but I’ll tell you the others when we’re in Ochi.”

“I saw the Falls in one of the brochures. They’re beautiful but, suppose I don’t like the surprises?”

“What’s not to like about good surprises? These are good. I promise.”

“Some are frightening.” She frowned and gave herself a small shake. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be a downer. I don’t know where that came from.”

He would have liked to caress her, squeeze her thigh, show her he cared, but he didn’t want to startle her. Something was wrong. It wasn’t the accident or, at least, it wasn’t the accident alone. She was so fragile, like somebody hiding a deep hurt.