Mari laid her e-reader on the floor at her feet and sat up in her chair, leaning in my direction. “What are you saying?”
So many words threatened to tumble from my lips. Promises I considered making a hundred times, but we were at a cliff, the two of us. A precipice we could either glide down together or fall to our doom if not handled correctly. It wasn’t the time to scare her away but gently coax her over the ledge to a new beginning.
“Mari,” I said leaning further in my chair. I wanted to reach out and grab her hands, but I kept mine firmly planted. “I like you. I can see us together. Working on one project or the next, but together.” The together part mattered the most.
Her eyes glistened with something, and it drew me from my chair until I stood in front of her looking down. I reached out my hand and pulled her from her seat. Without the tall heels she enjoyed wearing, the height difference between us was amplified, forcing me to tilt my head enough to see her.
“But not in Africa,” she said.
I cupped her jaw. “It doesn’t matter what country we’re in as long as we’re together.”
There was more to say, so much more, but I couldn’t wait to taste her any longer. I brought her close and slipped my lips against her. She squeaked out in surprise but opened her mouth to me. Mari tasted of oranges and sunshine. A future with family and friends. She was everything.
She moaned as I wrapped my other hand around her back, my growing erection pushing into her stomach, but it couldn’t be helped. I wanted to lose myself in her and vice versa. Mari held my future in her hands.
“Oliver, wait,” she said pulling back to gather a breath.
I panted beside her, placing small kisses against her neck. “I can’t wait any longer.”
“What about Pierce?”
That stopped me in my tracks. “What about Pierce?” Now wasn’t the time to talk about my cousin. He wasn’t involved in this.
“I made an agreement with him.”
22
Mari
Twenty-four hours had passed since the last time Oliver’s lips touched mine, but the taste of him lingered on my tongue. He drove his scent into my senses and I couldn’t clean him out. I walked down Main Street enjoying the shops and trying to use the quiet of the morning to clear my mind, but nothing worked.
When I pulled away from Oliver with Pierce’s name on my lips, he looked like I’d taken a knife out and stabbed him in the chest. We parted quickly but left so many questions unanswered. I’d made an agreement with Pierce, and my project had money on the line. It wasn’t about me, but those I would hurt in Guatemala if I left them stranded without funding. I wanted to run away with Oliver, but I had responsibilities. Promises were made. This situation was bigger than either of us.
Yet, at the same time it felt as if my heart was breaking at the thought I would continue to spend my time as Pierce’s fiancée. What if in the future something came up, and I had to kiss him? Would it be cheating on Oliver? Could I do it even for the money? I lied to the townspeople, I lied to my parents, and worst of all, I lied to myself. I agreed to Pierce’s contract before I stopped to think about what it would entail. But at the time I hadn’t met Oliver.
I skipped breakfast with Pierce that morning in exchange for a walk. I had too much guilt in me to sit across from him at the breakfast table and pretend nothing happened. My universe changed yesterday morning. Oliver tossed everything I thought I understood about life right out the window and then he swapped in a million alternatives.
Most of all, he forced me to admit that yes, I did like Oliver. Yet, I was required to be Pierce’s fake fiancée.
What happened to my life? I was so sure I knew what I was doing in San Francisco. Everything was laid out in front of me, but a few stupid decisions tossed that path down the drain. It took a year or more but I finally found a semblance of stability in Guatemala and charted out a new course path for me.
Now there I was in Pelican Bay facing a whole different scenario. Why was it as soon as you thought you had everything figured out the world tipped upside down and tossed away your best plans?
How did I go back to Guatemala and leave Oliver here? Yet how did I stay here with Oliver and not return to Guatemala with the funding I promised? I couldn’t quit the project. I wouldn’t quit the people I’d left behind in Guatemala.
The smell of freshly baked bread wafted into the air and my nose drew me through the bakery door before I had time to stop and consider my actions. I still hadn’t decided if these women were friend or foe. I grew up around women who said one thing to your face and another behind your back, so I hesitated. Women were not to be trusted in my social circles, yet something told me these ladies were different.
The brunette I met the day before with Tabitha embroidered into her bright pink apron greeted me with a smile.
I ordered a blueberry muffin and took a spot at the same table I’d use the day before. The small bakery was empty except for an elderly woman with a long gray braid she had twisted over one shoulder. She sipped from a delicate teacup and watched me with her eyes just barely peeking over the top of her teacup.
“Pearl, have you met Mari, Pierce’s new fiancée?” Tabitha asked as she placed my muffin and tea on the table in front of me.
Pearl smiled, but she used too many teeth. “It happened quickly between you two. Didn’t it?”
My cheeks turned pink as I thought about Oliver and not Pierce. “Yes,” I said with a shrug. “We just knew it felt right.”
The bakery fell silent as I nibbled on my muffin, losing myself in my thoughts again. Was there any way I could maintain my agreement with Pierce to be his fiancée for the next five months yet still end up with Oliver as my hero in the end? It didn’t sound plausible.
