“No. I should’ve done this years ago.” Carolina turned and walked toward the living room.
“Carolina! Get back here at once!” her mom called out, but she didn’t respond.
Enrique was sitting at the dining room table, wringing his hands, his forehead wrinkled, his fists clenched.
Her father had him cornered. “So, Enrique, do you see yourself married in the next year?”
Being interrogated by Papá was something Carolina wouldn’t wish on her worst enemy.
“Enrique, let’s go.”
Enrique’s brows raised as he stood. “Where?”
Carolina looked at her father, then back to Enrique, then back to her father. She had created this fake relationship as a ruse to keep her family happy. What she was about to do would instead possibly tear them apart—but it had to be done. Enrique had made her want things she hadn’t really wanted with another man before.
There was no going back. The time was now.
“Out on a real date.”
Chapter Fifteen
Enrique wasn’t exactly sure what was going on, but he was grateful to leave Carolina’s house sooner rather than later. He looked back at her father, who was screaming from the table at his daughter.
“Carolina Yvonne Flores! I forbid you to leave the house! I don’t know what happened, but you will not make a scene in front of our guests. I raised you better than this.”
Carolina grabbed her purse as she made a dash for the door. “I’m not eloping, Papá. I won’t even be out late. I’m just going out for the evening. I deserve it. Don’t wait up.”
“Carolina, come back here at once!” he shouted from his seat at the table, but she kept moving.
Alrighty then.
Enrique gulped. “It was nice to meet you all. Hope to come back soon. Have a great night.” Enrique didn’t know what else to say.
He glanced at Tiburón, who just shook his head. “Tiburón, I’ll be back to give you a ride home. I don’t think we’ll be out long.”
Tiburón laughed. “Sure you won’t.”
Enrique clutched Carolina’s hand as they walked out the door. Once they were outside, Carolina’s chest heaved, and tears streamed down her face.
“Are you okay? What happened?”
Her mascara was smeared. “Can we just get out of here?”
“Sure thing, babe.”
He opened the door of his SUV for her, and then got into the driver’s side. “Where to?”
“Anywhere. I just want to be normal for the night.”
Enrique admired Carolina’s bravery standing up to her father. Hell, he still hadn’t stood up to his own father. Ramón had always handled their conflicts, while Enrique tried to remain neutral. That was the role he assumed as the middle child.
She clearly needed to take her mind off her family—he wanted to take her somewhere fantastic, worthy of the turmoil she had just been through.
But Carolina’s spending time with him now clearly had more to do with her independence from her family than her affection for Enrique, who she didn’t really know.
Anticipation built in Enrique. Usually, he just met a girl on an app or in a bar. They would flirt and then go back to his house to hook up. Sometimes they would see each other again, but it would often end before it even really got started, since Enrique had not been interested in developing a relationship.
But this time, it seemed different. He had already spent some time with Carolina, and they hadn’t been intimate yet. It was... nice.
