She brushed her hand over the back of her neck and nibbled on her bottom lip. “Dex, I know you probably have something big planned, but I’m wondering if we can just spend some alone time together.”
I could take that several ways. I knew what immediately flashed through my mind—her sitting on my face or my dick. But I didn’t want to assume that washerversion of alone time. “Alone as in…?”
“No fancy dresses, no five-star restaurant, no polite talk. Just us.” Her eyes widened as if she realized what I was asking her. “Talking,” she blurted out. “Um, I want to talk.”
I covered my smile with my hand and cleared my throat. “That’s cool.” I grabbed her carry-on and gestured toward the doors. “Ready when you are.”
ChapterTen
SOMEDAY IS TONIGHT
Dexter
“OMG, this is so good.” Charlye bit into her sandwich.
We’d spent the afternoon on a Little Havana Food & Cultural Tour. Our latest stop was Old’s Havana Cuban Bar & Cocina. We’d already sampled empanadas, learned about the art of cigar-rolling, strolled through an open-air market, and had mojitos. Now, we were eating Cubano sandwiches.
I scarfed down the rest of my food and nodded. “Mm hmm.”
“I’m going to be so full. You might have to roll me to the hotel.” She laughed. “Especially if I eat churrosandice cream.”
“I think that’s next.”
She groaned, leaning back in her chair and patting her stomach. “I’ll probably gain the twenty pounds I lost in one day.” Then, she sat up and did a little happy chair dance. “But I’m going to eat anyway.”
I chuckled. “That’s why we’re here. I know you love Cuban food.”
She finished her sandwich. “I sure do.”
After we left the restaurant, we headed to Domino Park. As we walked through the small park, we settled into comfortable silence. Throughout the afternoon, the awkwardness we’d experienced at the airport was gone. We were back to being Dex and Char, and it felt right.
She bumped into me and entwined our fingers. “Thank you.” She rested her head against my arm. “I love everything about this.”
“You’re welcome.”
As the group moved ahead, we trailed behind, checking out the murals, watching the men play dominoes. The next stop was Azucar Ice Cream. It took Char a few minutes to choose her flavor, Café con leche. I ordered Cuban vanilla.
We took a seat on a nearby bench. “Delicious,” she mumbled, eyeing my ice cream. “Trade?” We switched cones. “Yum. I love this one too.”
“I think I like yours better,” I told her.
She bobbed her head. “Me too.” She sighed. “I haven’t been to Miami in so long. It’s a lot different than I remember.”
Curious, I asked, “How old were you the last time you came here?”
“It was right after I moved to Atlanta, so I was about twenty.” She smiled. “I made some terrible choices back then. I was so angry, so frustrated with my life. So lost.”
When Charlye moved, I’d purposely kept my distance for a while. At the time, I’d told myself I was giving her space. But I knew it was because I needed to move on, to reset my expectations, to forget about the possibility of us being together as anything more than friends. Hearing her talk like this, seeing the pain in her eyes, I realized I had no idea what she’d been through, what she’d endured. Obviously, there was a lot I didn’t know about the woman sitting next to me.
She let out a humorless chuckle. “For so long, I felt like a failure, like I’d never find my way. When I came here, I met this older white man. Jack. He told me he wanted to take care of me. I never believed him, but I stayed with him for two years. No one knew about him, not even Elise. And I’d only confided in one person after I ended it. He lavished me with expensive jewelry, whisked me away to exotic locations. Then, I found out he was married, with three children who were my age. When I tried to leave him, he threatened to hurt me and my family.”
Rage, hot and blinding, consumed me. “Did he…?” I didn’t even notice I’d balled my hands into fists until she gripped one and squeezed.
“Jack never hit me,” she explained. “He died several years ago. I found out because his attorney contacted me. He left me a little cash. I used part of it to pay for school.”
“That’s smart.”
“After I left him, I avoided Miami because I didn’t want to face the memory of him. While we were together, despite the gifts and the vacations, I never felt like he truly wanted me. He only wanted to possess me, to own me. Everything felt transactional. There was no emotion behind the attention.”
