His Bahamas Affair (The Albury Affairs) (5 page)

A dark brow rose. “I’m
sure your parents had a nickname for you when you were a child.”

She snorted, looking
away for a moment. “Yeah, sure. That would be equivalent to living like hippies
for the
Larsons
.”

“Why Loraine Larson,
are you a rebellious little rich girl? You are probably the black sheep and the
bane of your parents’ existence.”

She stuck her tongue
out at him and his humorous gaze turned dark with desire.

“You know, that can be
interpreted as an invitation,” he whispered huskily.

He stared at her lips
for a long moment. Then his head lowered and Loraine’s lips fell open, her
heart beating erratically with anticipation.

“Reno…” And like that
the spell was broken.

Damn
it!
Loraine let out a frustrated breath and turned to face the intruder. It was the
other groomsman who weirdly looked so much like Reno, which didn’t make sense
because he was one of Allan’s friends. It must be true that everyone had a
look-a-like somewhere in the world.

“Yeah, Ruiz?” Reno’s
voice was tight. Loraine smiled slyly. Probably as tight as his tenting pants.

He looked between her
and Reno before he spoke, unsure. “Now may be a good time to… ah…” He looked
down at her again before he turned to Reno.

He was nervous, she
noted and wondered why.
It was a good
time for what?

She turned to Ruiz with
a smile. “Hi, I’m Loraine, Riana’s best friend. Why is it a good time, for what
and why are you so nervous?”

Reno chuckled, his hand
pinching the side of her waist. “Aren’t you direct!”

“She’s kind of like a
bulldog that way.” Allan commented as he and Riana came to a stop beside them.

Reno gave her an
incredulous look. “You let him call you a bulldog but threatened to break my
leg because I call you Crazy Lori?”

“He didn’t teach his
daughter his fond nickname for me,” she responded sarcastically before turning
her attention to Ruiz. He looked even more nervous with Riana standing next to
him. “Hey, are you going to pee or are you going to spill your guts? Which one
is it, because you look like you’re in dire need of a toilet?”

“Loraine!” Riana
exclaimed amid the laughter coming from Reno and Allan. Ruiz just looked even
more nervous turning a light shade of red.

“I’m your brother!” he
blurted out, looking at Riana, silencing the two men. Riana looked at him wide
eyed in complete shock.

“Oh wow, I didn’t see
that one coming,” Loraine whispered in the silence. She looked around to see if
anyone not in their group had heard the revelation. Aside from Matthew and Amy
who looked intently at them from across the dance floor, no one else seemed to
have noticed the bomb that had just been dropped.

Then Riana spoke,
worsening the silence. “But you’re white?”

Loraine gapped at her
friend for a few seconds before a bubble of laughter escaped her. “He says he’s
your brother and you return with ‘you’re white’!” She pressed her lips together
fighting to hush the laughter, when they all turned to stare at her. “I’m
sorry. I know there is nothing funny about this situation, but I wasn’t
expecting that response.” She took a deep breath fighting the laughter harder.
“You know, it tends to happen when you share a
white
father,” She shrugged with a chuckle. “I’m just saying.”

Reno pinched her hard and
she jumped with a yelp. “What the hell!”

“Reno, our father was
white?”

And that killed all the
humor when Loraine realized that when Riana confessed that she knew nothing
about her father, she really meant nothing.
Ah hell!

* * * *

Reno was ready to kill
Loraine for laughing but the confused stare Riana gave him had him frozen. What
exactly could he say? ‘I didn’t want you to know him so I didn’t tell you his
race?’

Reno knew Riana was
only following his lead when he’d asked their mother never to speak of that
man. That day, he’d walked in on their mother trying to explain things to Riana
and he heard the loving way she’d said his name and that was all it took for
Reno to lose his temper and forbid their mother from ever mentioning him in
their home again. She’d tried to reason with him, but Reno had just come from
an all night shift at a textile factory and had only four hours before he had
to be at his other weekend job. He was bone tired and his patience was shot
worrying about everything, including wondering how he was going to finish high
school, if the bills kept piling up. The last thing he needed to hear was the
reason as to why he had to work to help keep a roof over their heads mentioned
under said roof.

He’d yelled at his
mother, demanding that she never tell Riana a thing about that man who was
absent from their lives, like he was some lost hero, when truly, he’d picked
the comforts of his new wife’s money over the family he had started even before
he’d met her. And that was the last time Reno Ruiz Albury was discussed.

“Riana…” What exactly
was he going to say? What could anyone say in this situation? Even Allan was at
a loss for words. He didn’t have to wonder long because Loraine spoke up.

“Don’t question it,
don’t get mad, and don’t get hurt. What’s done is done. No one meant to ambush
you and I’m sure you weren’t meant to find out like that.” She glared up at him
before she turned back to Riana. “The bastard hurt you, but he’s dead. The only
good thing he ever did was procreate three really hot kids. So we are going to
say, ‘thank you asshole have a nice life in hell’, then you are going to hug
your new brother before he suffocates to death. He’s already turning blue from
holding his breath.”

She pulled away from
Reno and moved to Riana, hugging her. “After everything that’s happened we
should be grateful you are gaining family and not losing them.” Then she pulled
away and turned a sharp glare to Ruiz. “Unless he’s here for your money. Then
I’ll gladly help you lose a sibling.”

She looked Ruiz up and
down and from the expression on Ruiz’s face. Reno was sure he was wondering if
she was measuring him for a wooden box coffin.

“He’s so hot it would
be such a waste. You know, you could be Reno’s twin if you weren’t a tan shade
lighter. You look exactly alike, the physic, the eyes, the smile—everything,
except the hair. I like Reno’s hair better; yours looks too much like the
half-naked guy on the cover of an erotic romance novel. The women’s under the
mattress porn.”

Reno was so shocked he
had to laugh. “And you wonder why I call you crazy?”

“Again, that’s why I
call her a bulldog. She’s very protective of Riana.” Allan commented.

Riana took a visible
deep breath before she hugged Loraine. “This is why I love you. You have a
wonderful but weird way of bringing everything into perspective.”

Loraine hugged her
back. “Anything for you Riana.”

Riana pulled out of her
embrace and took Ruiz’s hand. “Come on, we have a lot to talk about, and only
an hour or so to do so.”

Ruiz smiled down at
Riana, instantly relaxing before he turned to Reno. “You coming?”

Reno shook his head.
“No. You two need this time alone.”

Ruiz nodded and walked
away with Riana. Watching the two of them like that, he couldn’t even describe
the emotions that consumed him. Loraine was right. The man was a bastard, but
he did three things right—creating his three children—and Reno loved two of
them beyond measure. Yes, he may not know his brother well but he’d grown to
care for him the two months they had to get to know each other.

“Ow, Don Juan is
showing his true nature again,” Loraine cooed, pulling his attention. “Don’t
worry, Riana will give him a fair shake. Though I think it was a very ass wipe
move to spring this on her at her own wedding. He’s even one of the groomsmen!”

“Allan’s idea,” Reno
hurriedly confessed. Damn the woman could glare! It made him uneasy and he bet
everyone she’d ever settled it on felt the same.

Allan’s eyes widened.
“Gee, thanks for having my back, brother.”

Reno chuckled, pulling
Loraine into his arms. “Who do you have watching Aurora?”

Allan shoved his hands
into his pants pockets with a knowing smile. “Melody is going to watch her and
Mark. Don’t worry about it. Go have your fun, just be here in the morning to
say goodbye or she’ll never forgive me for leaving before she says goodbye to
you.”

The word goodbye made
his chest clench but he nodded. “What are you doing for your honeymoon?”

Allan shrugged his
smile growing to a full blown grin. “Well sailing is out of the question; it
didn’t go well the last time. And visiting a vineyard is too, no point going
when she can’t drink. We’ll just check out some of Riana’s favorite spots then
go back home. The board wants me back at the company in two weeks.”

Reno was a little
confused. Riana had talked about her trip on Allan’s yacht the first time they
came to Italy like she’d enjoyed it, even though she always begged off going
sailing with him when she was in Bahamas. And Aurora loved it; sometimes he
couldn’t get her off the boat without some pleading on his part. And why not a
vineyard, Riana loved wine? Unless…

“And the light bulb
goes on,” Loraine announced.

“For real? She pregnant
again? Already?”

Allan chuckled.
“Completely unplanned, just like Aurora. I was surprised too. She told me
during our wedding dance.”

Reno had been watching
them dance until the sight of Loraine in her dress, exposing her long endless
sexy legs, distracted him. He would have liked to see Allan’s reaction. And why
hadn’t she told him he was going to be an uncle again?

They were having another
kid and so soon after they’d found each other. It worried him a little, but
seeing how happy Allan was and knowing his sister was probably just as happy,
if not more, silenced his doubts.

He pulled away from
Loraine to clap Allan’s hand and give him a hug. “Congratulations, man! I’m
very happy for you.”

When he pulled away, he
noticed the sheen in Allan’s eyes and he felt himself choke up a little.

“Thanks. We’re
ecstatic. And thank you for taking care of her and being a father to Aurora
when I couldn’t.”

“No problem. I was
happy to do it. Happier when you stepped in and took over.”

Allan shook his hand
one last time. “Well, I’ll go make sure Aurora hasn’t broken anything
irreplaceable. You two enjoy yourself.” Then he walked off.

Loraine pressed her fist
to her waist. “He says that like he’s in on a little secret. Does he think
we’re going to have sex tonight?” she demanded indignantly.

Reno pulled her into
the circle of his arms, pressing her flush against his excited body. “What?
Aren’t we?”

She stared up at him,
really stared into his eyes and he could see the doubt and desire in them as
she debated her decision. “Will you be there all night, or will you creep out
in the middle of the night,
wam
-bam-thank-you-Lori?”

Her soft spoken voice
told him they weren’t joking around anymore. She was serious. Reno never stayed
the night after the deed. He always made sure he gave as good as he got, but no
matter how good or how much into the night the sex went, he never slept over.
Depending on the girl, he would either leave right after with a promise to call
if the sex was that great, or he’d wait until they fell asleep before he snuck
out. It was the best strategy with the whiny clingy ones.

But with Loraine it was
different. He had to handle it differently. The best decision would be to walk
away from her right at that moment. She was her sister’s best friend and he
didn’t want to make things weird in case their paths crossed again. But at the
same time, she was Crazy Lori, the girl who he’d dreamed about having ever
since he heard her voice on the phone. That need only had grown worse when he’d
seen her on video chat, witnessing how much she truly cared for Riana.

Yes, she was blonde and
blue eyed, but, she was Loraine, his Crazy Lori.

“How long are you here
for?”

Her brows knitted
together. “Three days, why?”

He smiled at her,
lowering his head to whisper in her ear, “I’ll stay the night and the morning.
All three days of them.”

He heard her gasp, her
hands tightening on his arms. “This is going to be the longest hour of my
life!”

Reno barked out a
laugh, spinning Loraine around on the dance floor. It was weird, but for the
first time in his life, he wasn’t rushing the girl out the door to the nearest
bed after she gives him the green light.

He had three whole days
and this night to enjoy Lori, not just her body but also her company. He
planned to enjoy every minute of it before reality set in and they went back to
their lives, him to his philandering ways and she to her carousing rich girl
life.