Amor.
Chapter Nineteen
Carolina looked stunning in her new dress and sexy high heels. Her legs were toned and tan. The way her hips swayed when she walked down the street caused him to literally salivate. But Enrique knew this “relationship” had been nothing but an unlabeled whirlwind. And things that started fast, ended fast.
What did he want? He was attracted to her, and by the way she grinned at him and acted nervous around him, he could tell she was enamored with him, but that wasn’t enough. They didn’t live near each other. They had different lifestyles, different ideas on everything from religion to relationships. While she was currently challenging her ideas about tradition and family, deep down, Enrique couldn’t shake the thought that their lifestyles were too incompatible, and he would never ask her to choose between himself and her family.
But this was becoming more than just a hookup.
He was crushing on her, but with so many things stacked against them, his gut was telling him that this would go horribly wrong. Washe possibly considering a long-distance relationship? He knew how difficult and painful the distance would make their connection.
And, even worse, if this ended now, she had already created a rift in her close-knit family because of him, though clearly it wasn’t just about their relationship—she was asserting healthy boundaries. Even so, he didn’t want to be responsible for creating drama.
Enrique pushed his confusing thoughts away and focused on the day ahead.
“Are you hungry? What would you like to eat?”
She gave a sly smile. “Anything—but Mexican.” Enrique laughed. He was such a cliché—Mexican food was his favorite type of food, but he, too, wanted something different after indulging in Julieta and Linda’s nonstop cooking.
They looked at a few dining options, and Carolina picked a quaint French restaurant for lunch where she ordered the salade Niçoise and Enrique had steak frites.
Carolina swirled her blood orange soda in her glass and made direct eye contact with Enrique. “So, Enrique, do you date a lot?”
Enrique gulped down his own glass and cleared his throat. “Honestly, I used to. But not much lately.”
She leaned forward. “Why? What has changed?”
He hated to be put on the spot. But clearly, she was trying to see what his intentions were. What were they, anyway?
“Well, I mean I was meeting women on apps.”
She winced and his gut clenched.
She brushed her hair out of her face. “I understand. That’s what people do nowadays. I’m not judging. I just have never understood that. How do you know if you have anything in common with someone by a picture?”
Enrique stifled a laugh. Because he hadn’t cared if he had anything in common with these women. They were hookups—plain andsimple. He translated his thoughts into a more palatable answer. “I agree. You can’t. I mean, there are profiles and personality questions that help, but it’s usually based on physical attraction.”
She nodded. “And you never found any nice women on the apps?”
Was she really that naive or just testing him?
“I’ll be honest—I wasn’t really trying to get to know them.” Her face fell. Back in for the save. “I wasn’t looking for anything serious—back then.”
“And now?” Her fork pierced an olive, and she popped it into her mouth. Her full lips were so tempting.
“Now, I’m open to any and all possibilities.” He pulled at his shirt. Was the heater on? Enrique considered diverting her attention to a new topic, but he had some questions of his own. “And what about you? Why have you never dated?”
Her eyes glazed. “Just too busy with work and school.”
Enrique reached across the table and held her hand. “Nope. That’s not just it. Your parents are clearly dying to marry you off—to someone other than me, but that’s beside the point—and you’d do anything for them, so if you truly wanted to, you would. Even if you were busy. So, what’s the real reason?”
She turned her attention back to him, then looked down toward her feet. Her voice softened. “You’re right. I could say that it was that I never met anyone I liked, and I guess that’s partially true, but I never really looked, either.”
Enrique wasn’t going to let this go. He was incredibly curious about why this beautiful woman had never wanted to date anyone other than him. “Because...?”
“I don’t know.”
Enrique knew he shouldn’t push. She didn’t know, and that was fine. But he was dying to understand her. And more importantly, figure out if she was just using him to rebel or actually liked him as aperson. “That’s fine if you don’t. I’m sorry, I don’t mean to press. You’re hard to read sometimes, and I’m just trying to figure you out.”
