Bare In Bermuda (19 page)

After putting on the underwear she'd bought to go with the dress, she slipped into it and zipped it up the side. When her silver shoes were strapped into place, she gave herself a look in the mirror.

“You look fantastic. You feel fantastic. Life is fantastic.”

The door to the room opened, and Eduardo entered. He wore a black suit with a stark white shirt left open at the collar.

“Hey handsome,” she said. “Don't you look delicious.” The words came out of her mouth, but she had no idea who was saying them. Not once in her life had she ever complimented a man so boldly.

“Henna.” He scanned her from head to toe. “You are so perfect it makes me want to cry.”

Best compliment ever.

“You are a vision in gold.” He walked up to her and kissed her shoulder. “I wish I had something gold to give you to wear tonight that rivaled your loveliness. But I don't. So I promise you,” he lifted her hand and kissed her knuckles, “I will not forget how divine you are at this moment the next time I am near somewhere that sells appropriately expensive jewelry.”

She trembled girlishly at his compliment. “Okay.” She giggled. “I mean…thank you.” She stood a little taller and a bit more confident. “I thought it might be too much, but if you like it, then that's all that really matters.” She took her hand from his and smoothed her hands across the lapels of his jacket.

“What do you mean too much? You're perfect. What else would you wear for cocktails?”

“I don't know.” Of course she knew. She had a black silk wrap dress in the closet that was her go-to dress when she had no idea what to wear. That dress had been on the schedule for the cocktail party. “Should we go?”

He placed his hand at the small of her back and guided her out of the room and to the elevator. Her mother and Aunt Midge were already waiting at the closed doors when they arrived.

“Ladies,” Eduardo said. “You're lovely.”

“Stop it,” Aunt Midge trilled like a coquette. “You're wearing your dress for the wedding.”

“I can go shopping tomorrow,” she said. “It just felt right for the mood I'm in.”

“You look gorgeous,” Aunt Midge told her. “Like a movie star.”

“Why thank you!” She leaned in and gave her aunt a kiss on the cheek. “I feel like a movie star.”

“Don't you think it's a bit much?” her mother asked.

“Nonsense,” Aunt Midge said. “Flaunt it while you got it, kid. What do you think, Eduardo? Henna looks fantastic, don't you think?”

“She is a vision,” he said. “I am sorry our day together has come to an end. Perhaps tomorrow, we can repeat the experience.”

The elevator doors opened, and Henna looked up at him. “I don't think I can spend the day at the aquarium again. I really do need to go shopping for a new dress.” She sincerely hoped he got the hint. She really did need to go shopping, and then there was her spa afternoon with Eden.

“We can go into Hamilton tomorrow morning,” he said. “I will take you shopping, then for lunch.”

They stepped onto the elevator. Aunt Midge gave her arm a squeeze. “Say yes,” she instructed.

“I'd love to go.”

The elevator came to a halt at the lobby. Eduardo stood back as the women exited. “Henna,” he said. “Join me. I am not ready for our day together to end just yet.”

“I...” She looked over his shoulder to where Aunt Midge gestured wildly and mouthed the word “go” over and over again. “I'd love to join you.”

She took Eduardo's arm and let him lead her into the party. The first people they greeted were his parents, Inez and Enrique. After talking with them for a while, they moved on to Pilar's family, then friends, more family, and finally to the bar.

When they had a moment of relative privacy within the crowd, she looked at him. “You are introducing me to everyone you know like I'm the best discovery you've made since you realized girls and boys were different.”

“I am.”

The bartender approached, and Eduardo ordered the martini she'd requested and the same for himself.

She smiled, not wanting to reveal to anyone around them how annoyed she felt. “Don't you think that's a bit much?”

“No. I'd like everyone to walk out of here wondering if you and I might start sleeping together. Then, when they find out we are, it won't be such a shock.”

“Two things,” she said. “One. I thought we were going to be discreet in front of our families. Two. What makes you think they're ever going to find out we're sleeping together?”

“One—” The bartender arrived, interrupting Eduardo. When the drinks had been set down, he continued. “One. I am being discreet. I am also being enamored of you. Which I am. I want my family to see that I am wholly taken with you after our day together. They don't know that we're lovers. They just think we had a marvelous time together and made a connection. This is the most natural thing in the world. Two. They'll figure it out no matter what we do. I am not going to apologize for the fact I want to be near you.”

“What am I going to do with you?”

Before he could answer the question, Fatima appeared at his other side as if she'd popped out of the floor. Henna chocked on the mouthful of martini as her heart thumped in her chest. Fatima had the look of a woman who would not be easily placated. A string of words came out of Fatima's mouth. She spoke fast, energetically, through clenched teeth, and in Spanish.

“Should I leave you two?” she asked.

Eduardo roped an arm around her back. “No.”

“Yes.” Fatima looked at her in a way that made Henna grateful the woman didn't hold a drink in her hand. She strongly suspected that Fatima wasn't above tossing martinis in people’s faces.

Eduardo edged his drink away from Fatima before picking it up. “No.” He must know something that she only suspected about Fatima.

“Yes.” Fatima stared at Henna.

“I'm going to go and check in with my family,” she said. Fatima was Eduardo's problem to solve. She walked away from the duo, going directly to where her mother and aunt sat with her brother.

“He's a dish, isn't he?” her mother said, leading them to a table. “Reow.”

Henna stared at her mother. “Mom! How much have you had to drink?” Her gaze found Eduardo who spoke with Fatima at the bar.

“We're both three Manhattans down,” Aunt Midge said. “I'm feeling no pain.”

“I may be married,” her mother said. “But I'm not blind.”

“Let me tell you honey,” Aunt Midge said. “If I were ten years younger, I'd be all over that.” Henna felt slightly ill as she tried not to envision her beloved aunt getting up to the same things she and Eduardo had done just hours earlier.

Her mother looked at her. “I was too hard on your dress. You look very pretty. You blend with the Colombians. I'm still not sold on silver shoes with a gold dress, but it works.”

“Is that actually a compliment?” she asked.

“Of course, it is,” her mother said. “That Eduardo really does seem taken with you. Just don't do anything outrageous. This is your sister's time to shine.”

Leo sat down next to her, setting a beer bottle on the table then handing over a rocks glass to both their mother and Aunt Midge. “I would love to hit that Gloria.”

“Why would you want to hit that pretty girl?” Aunt Midge demanded, smacking Leo upside the head. “What kind of a man are you?”

“Not hit her like beat her.” Leo cringed from Aunt Midge. “Hit her like....” He looked from his aunt to his mother. “Henna you explain.”

Her mother and aunt looked at her.

“He wants to make love to her,” she said, borrowing Eduardo's phrase.

“Ohh!” her mother and aunt cooed.

“Make love to her? Seriously Henna?” Leo laughed. “So you and Eduardo seem awfully chummy. How were the caves?”

She turned to stare at her brother, yet his question went unanswered. “You know you're not a bad looking guy. You're actually really cute. But seriously…you want to hit her? How about you go over to her, tell her she's beautiful—”

“She knows she's beautiful,” he said. “Telling beautiful girls they're beautiful never works.”

“It doesn't?” Aunt Midge wrinkled her nose. “What works? Telling her she's ugly?”

“You might be surprised at how well the backhanded compliment works.” Leo nodded at the three of them. “For example. Henna—”

“I can kick your ass,” she said. Not true. She hadn't been able to beat up on Leo since he'd hit puberty, but fear of her potential kept him in line.

“Henna,” Leo persisted. “Every great beauty has to have a flaw, which is why that gap in your teeth works so well for you.” He sat back in his chair and grinned. “The backhanded compliment. Aunt Midge…”

“Just stop talking.” Aunt Midge raised a warning finger. “You ever wonder why you're thirty years old and single? That's why.”

“I may be single, but I am rarely alone.” Leo nodded.

Her mother smiled. “Sweetheart,” she said. “You are my only son, and I love you with all of my heart. But the simple truth is, every girl you've ever dated has had self-esteem issues. I used to think it was because you had a big heart and took pity on them. Now I see very clearly what the problem is. Nice girls with healthy opinions of themselves would walk away from you the second you let one of your backhanded compliments fly.”

“Mom.” Leo leaned forward. “That's a bit unfair.”

“No.” Her mother touched Leo's cheek with her hand. “It's accurate.”

“Face it,” Henna said. “Every relationship you've had has been a psychosexual nightmare of neediness and betrayal. By the way, do not ever introduce me to or give my name and number to any woman you meet until you seek help for your issues.”

“Because you're one to talk,” Leo shot back. “How many men have left you because there wasn't enough room in your neurotic little life for them?”

“Children.” Her mother exhaled. “Enough. Both of you have relationship difficulties. I suggest you work on them. Just not here.”

“Assuming you are correct…” Leo spoke to Henna and ignored their mother.

“We are,” Henna said.

“Thanks,” Leo sneered. “What do you three recommend? Give me your rules of seduction.”

“Tell her she's beautiful,” her mother offered. . “Tell her that she's funny, charming, sweet, interesting—”

“Oh!” Aunt Midge yelped. “Tell her that she's a vision. Uncle Lou used to tell me I was a vision.”

“Girls like that sort of thing,” her mother said. “When your father was courting me, he used to take me dancing. You should go and ask her to dance.”

“You're serious,” Leo said, looking at them. “Should I start quoting poetry, too?”

“That's an excellent idea,” Aunt Midge said. “I know. Offer to take her for a moonlit walk. Tell her that her eyes sparkle like the stars.”

“And hold her hand,” her mother said. “But ask her first if you can hold her hand. Treat her like a lady.”

“Pretty girl like her probably has her fair share of dogs barking at her,” Aunt Midge said.

“A little charm is very effective,” Henna said. “And when the moment arrives, tell her you want to make love to her.”

Leo stared at the three of them as if they'd lost their minds. “I think I'm just going to go back to the bar.” He picked up his beer and walked away.

The three women watched as Leo approached Gloria, she spoke to him for perhaps ten seconds, then he walked back to them.

“That has to be a new record,” Midge said.

“She has a boyfriend,” Leo said.

“She didn't waste any time,” Henna said.

“Not even a second. I walked up to her, and she said—and I'm quoting here—‘I have a boyfriend. He's a prince. A real prince. Not a metaphorical prince. He's rich, adores me, knows kung-Fu, has an Olympic gold medal in fencing, and is arriving on his private jet tonight. Walk away.’”

Henna, Judith, and Midge looked at each other for a moment and started laughing, loudly.

“I like that girl!” Midge said with a thump to the table. “She told you, didn't she?”

“I wonder if he's really a prince,” her mother said. “Imagine. They know royalty.”

“I really like Gloria,” Henna said. “She's scary, but I like her.”

“Whatever,” Leo said. “There are a couple of Colombian cougars over there who have been giving me the eye. You're not the only one who has an appreciation for something a bit aged.”

Her eyes bore holes into her brother’s. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“You're a smart girl, and I'm a keen observer. You figure it out.” Leo walked off in the direction of the bar and went directly to a group of women who could only be classified as cougars, with Fatima at the center. Henna looked away when she realized they were all looking at her. It had to be her imagination.

As more people arrived, she watched Eduardo move among his family and try to make inroads with hers. Eduardo and her father spent an uncomfortably long time talking together.

“I think Fatima's going jump him,” Aunt Midge said.

Fatima oozing around Eduardo since their initial heated conversation hadn't escaped Henna's watchful gaze. Where Eduardo went, Fatima followed. Except for when Eduardo moved near either his parents or Henna’s father. Then Fatima joined the group of attractive middle-aged women Leo stood at the center of. It might be possible Leo had no shame. She'd know in the morning if he let her know how his night went. Which he would do, provided he ended up with one of his cougars.

Eden and Romeo walked to their table and sat down, breaking her study of Eduardo.

“Are you having a nice time?” Romeo asked.

“You missed Gloria shooting down Leo,” she said. “Now that was funny.”

Eden laughed. “She's so far out of his league.”

“Is her boyfriend really a prince?” Aunt Midge asked.

“He is really a prince,” Romeo said. “But he is also like family. His sister, Esperanza, is my father's god-daughter.”

“And Romeo’s ex-girlfriend,” Eden added.

“And now she is my friend,” Romeo said with his grandmother's gift for diplomacy. “We are all very close. He will be arriving soon. I will introduce you. You will be surprised at how normal he is.”

“I've never met a real prince,” Aunt Midge said. “You have a very interesting family. Your grandmother is just a doll. I like her a lot. I was spunky when I was young, too. We have a lot in common the two of us.”