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He hesitated as if he was ready to do more than grab her arm, but then he backed up. She couldn’t stand the disappointment and the anger at his attitude.
“I broke up with her before I left New York.”
“Convenient.”
“Jasmeka.”
“What do you want me to say?” She blew out a breath, trying to calm down. The last thing she wanted to do was behave like the stupid woman who didn’t know she had been used and when to move on. “She’s here, and it’s obvious she’s come to claim you.”
He grumbled and thrust both hands into his hair. “Carmen’s never been the pushy type. She’s always just let me have the space I needed.”
How could he fall for that ploy? Jasmeka could see through it, and she hadn’t been in Carmen’s presence more than a few seconds.
“You told her you needed space and didn’t break it off?”
“I very clearly told her she was free to see anyone else, that we were no longer lovers.”
Jasmeka felt somewhat better about him not compromising his ideals, but he was confused. She picked up on it in the way he had backed up and stopped touching her. He was trying to figure out which one of them he wanted more, and she wasn’t having it.
“I suggest you go tell her it’s back on because I’m no longer available.”
“Jas.” He reached for her, but she moved away.
“Go, Miguel.”
He remained where he stood. “Why are you being like this? I don’t understand.”
“Of course you don’t. You’re a man. Please, just leave.”
The stubborn thing didn’t budge. She ground her teeth together, trying to keep a grip on her attitude. Control was slipping fast. His beautiful gaze bore into her as if he tried to read her very soul. The fact that he wasn’t defending himself or at least fighting for her drove her nuts. Why did she have to feel so vulnerable? He had no right to bring her to this point after a few days, especially since they’d only been messing around. It was nothing serious.
Your problem is you know it could get serious.
She bit off a moan, and regret brought pain to her chest. There was the problem. She always spoke truth to herself if not to everyone else. Miguel, even with his trust issues and his anger, could be someone she could love. She didn’t love him yet, but there wasn’t a doubt in her mind that she could be crazy about him. A lot of guys had crossed her path, and she had dated some. Not until David did she ever fall in love. Maybe it was because deep down David and Miguel were similar. Not that she thought she could love Miguel because he was David’s brother. More like they both had such sincere hearts, as if neither of them knew just how much love they had to offer, but being hurt had closed them off.
Wait, doesn’t that make me some kind of Florence Nightingale type, thinking I can heal them?
She groaned again. “Are you going to tell her you’re staying here in Texas?”
The words “with me” hung on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn’t make herself utter them.
He hesitated.
“That’s just what I thought. Get out!” This time, she shoved him toward the door, and he didn’t fight her to stay. When she had him in the hall, she slammed the door and locked it. Tears sprung to her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. She swiped at them. There was no sense crying. She had lost in the arena of love again. No big deal. Maybe the next one.
Chapter 10
“Isn’t this great?” Thiago slapped Miguel on the back, grinning like an idiot and waving around a silver flask. He claimed it held nothing but juice, but Miguel knew better. “Our whole family all together.”
Miguel stayed where he was, allowing his father’s arm to remain slung around his shoulders. He wasn’t up to fighting the old man, who kept trying to get him to commit to staying. Miguel’s attention strayed repeatedly to Jasmeka. She knelt on a blanket she had spread over the grass, and she wore a tropical patterned covering over her bathing suit. He already knew what she looked like with nothing on, and it didn’t stop his mind from drawing up the image in his head. They were together only a few times, and it was far from enough.
Then there was Carmen. She had no qualms about exposing herself, and why should she? He knew her body too, and she freely showed it, dressed in a bikini that left so little to the imagination, it bordered on indecent. He’d caught his brothers staring at her more than once.
“Miguel,” Carmen called, waving her arm from the end of the platform that extended over the water. Her long dark hair was plastered to her face and shoulders. She gathered it and slung it onto her back, giving exaggeration to her movements to cause extra bounce in the right places. “The water’s great. You should come in.”
Miguel wondered why she insisted on speaking Spanish when she knew everyone in his household was fluent. He suspected it had to do with her separating him from Jasmeka. Both his family and Carmen had Mexican roots, while Jasmeka didn’t. As superficial as it was to make the distinction, he knew she made it, and Jasmeka noticed. From her first day, Carmen saw how often his gaze drifted to Jasmeka. Her response wasn’t to question him but to cling tighter and to remind him of his life back in New York.
Aunt Rosa strolled up to Miguel and Thiago. Her hair had been scraped into a severe bun at the back of her head, not even a strand being allowed to escape. She wore a black dress with three quarter length sleeves and black diabetic sneakers without socks. He winced when he saw her, wondering how she wasn’t catching fire in the heat.
