His Bahamas Affair (The Albury Affairs) (9 page)

God she felt so stupid,
and weak! He was right when he said she couldn’t buckle to her fears anymore.
It wasn’t just her life she was making miserable anymore, Reno had gotten roped
into it. And if she knew anything about him, it was that the man was determined.
Now his focus was on her and getting her life on track and with his kind of
strength she had no excuse for letting that psycho plague her life any longer.

She padded barefoot on
the hardwood floor to his spacious kitchen. She loved his home and though it
resembled a picture in a catalogue it was beautiful. The living room faced the
ocean and when the sliding doors were opened the sounds and scents of the ocean
floated in. And the floor to ceiling windows allowed her to watch the roaring
ocean from the comfort of the couch. It was probably why his bedroom faced the
ocean too. It was beautiful to wake up to.

Loraine wanted to cook
for him to show her appreciation. She had been a wreck the night before and he
had taken care of her. She hadn’t even realized she had stripped naked before
him until he stepped into the shower stall to turn off the jets. He’d dried her
off and carried her to bed without a leering look or comment. Not many men
could accomplish that, even with the best intentions.

But Reno…he wasn’t like
most men. He wasn’t like Pierre.

Her hand stilled over
the bowl of eggs she was beating. She’d never permitted herself to think that
name let alone say it out loud. It had been one of her ways of coping,
pretending that she never knew his name or his face, that it never happened and
it was all a bad dream. She had actually achieved in making him faceless in her
nightmares except for those haunting grey eyes.

Her body shivered. The
look in those eyes as he stared down at her, his body looming inches above hers
would stay with her forever.

Mon
Coeur
…

The beater fell out of
her trembling hand and into the glass bowl with a loud cling.

She could still hear
those soft spoken words as he whispered wetly in her ear. Then he’d kissed
right behind her ear before taking her lobe into his mouth…

“No!” she yelled loudly
until her own voice rang in her ears. “You are not doing this to me anymore. I
got rid of you once, I’ll do it again!”

She picked up the
beater with enforced determination and continued until the eggs were fluffy.
She chopped two chilies, one red, one green and added them to the eggs. Then
she chopped the dogs and bacon that were already cooked and left on the kitchen
counter and added them to the mix. She grated some cheese and added a sprinkle
to mix before she poured it all into the skillet.

She busied herself with
making butter toasts and orange juice, filling her mind with a grand brunch
menu and drowning the thoughts of Pierre until he was completely gone. She was
going to use cooking as her new therapy.

Cooking and Reno.

* * * *

Reno was dragged out of
bed by the beautiful aromas that came from his kitchen. No one had ever used
the area before except for the microwave and fridge. Everything that was in the
kitchen was put there by the interior decorator he had hired. Even though he
knew he was never going to use any of those appliances because he had his meals
at the resort or brought from the resort kitchen, he still wanted it. He wanted
to know how it felt to have something, not because he needed it but just
because he could afford it.

Georgia couldn’t cook a
lick and he couldn’t trust Riana with any of the appliances, especially the
knives, during her depression. So who was cooking? Loraine or Melody? Though
they were the only two possible choices, he was a little skeptical that either
of them even knew what a skillet looked like. Table cutlery sure, they dined
like royalty because they were wealthy, but if they knew the difference between
a curving knife and a saw was something he doubted very much.

Reno leaned against the
separating wall between the kitchen and the living room and watched as Loraine
moved around the kitchen still in the shirt he’d dressed her in the night
before like it was a normal part of her routine. She actually looked like she
belonged in there more than he did.

Reno felt his heart
lurched as he watched Loraine more carefully, completely oblivious of his
presence. She did look like she belonged there, just like in his bed. It had
been wonderful slipping into the bed next to her and watching as she
unconsciously rolled toward him until she had herself tucked into his side and
under his arm.

He realized at that
moment it had never felt natural sharing a bed with Georgia. He’d never felt at
home in his ex-wife’s embrace in bed or anywhere else they were together
because Georgia never felt like a wife. He’d always thought that titled belong
to a woman a man chose to spend his life with. He’d understood marriage as a
commitment not to be taken lightly, a partnership with strict rules of
operations because he was a grown man in command of all his faculties. Making a
choice to enter into it with the woman he loved and was a hundred percent sure
he wanted to be with her for the rest of his life, forsaking all others.

But watching Loraine,
experiencing all those emotions that came with spending time with him, he
realized he’d never felt like that with Georgia. With Georgia, the one thought
that ran over and over again in his mind was how many more hours until he got
to fuck her again. It had been complete lust that had driven that relationship.
With Loraine, he thought more about when he’d get the chance to hold her again
and just feel her small, soft body against his.

Of course he thought
about sleeping with her but not in the ways of his fantasies about Georgia,
crude enough to have a priest hire an exorcist. He could only equate his need
to have Loraine as like drinking aged scotch after waiting years for it to
mature. No rush no fuss, just taking his sweet time enjoying her after waiting
longingly to have her.

Loraine was the type of
woman he saw himself making a commitment to and living up to everything that
was expected of him and so much more.

If only he had the
right number of zeroes in his bank account.

“Hey! How long have you
been standing there?” Loraine took a moment from what she was doing and smiled
at him, her entire face beaming with happiness.

It was great seeing her
happy after the tough night she’d had. “Long enough to make sure I’m not seeing
things. Since when do you cook?”

She chuckled, bending
over to pull something out of the oven. “Since I graduated culinary school a
few months ago. Didn’t I tell you about that?”

She actually had told
him about being in cooking school during one of their phone conversations when he
would update her about Riana. He just never believed it. He thought it was a
way to get a fully paid holiday to France from her parents.

Her right brow rose as
one fist settled on her hip. “You never believed me, did you?”

Reno chuckled shaking
his head. “No I didn’t, but you still could have gone and learned nothing.”

Her brow rose higher in
indignation. “You know I’m five seconds away from throwing this food in the bin
and let you starve.” She leaned the tray over the sink threateningly, and
that’s when he noticed them. Croissants, he loved them! Were they cinnamon?

He shoved off the wall
and approached her. “Okay, I’m sorry. I’m sure everything is delicious but the
sooner we dig in, the sooner I’ll chew on my words and apologize.”

He reached for the tray
of croissants and she quickly took a step back, her lips lifting in a knowing
smile. “I get it now. You love croissants, don’t you? I should probably throw
them out first.”

She tilted the tray
again and Reno jumped to grab her hand. “I’m sorry. You are a wonderful cook!”

She nodded. “That’s
more like it. Now, help me move the food to the table and I’ll bring your
beloved croissants. I’m starving.”

Reno picked up the
plate of flapjacks and what he could only assume is pimped out omelets and
walked to the dining table. “I wasn’t going to say anything about your diet
plan but, I don’t think it’s working for you.”

“Are you calling me
fat?” she yelled stomping behind him.

Reno took the two
dishes out of her hands and placed them on the table, just in case she decided
to hit him with one. He then pulled out a chair for her but she didn’t take it.
She stood facing him, her eyes narrowed in warning.

“No, sweetheart, I
don’t think you are fat. Quite the opposite. You need to put some meat on your
bones. You’re disappearing.”

Her mouth dropped open
in a gasp and Reno couldn’t help but laugh. He gently pushed her down in her
seat then went round to take his own.

“I’ll get you for
that.”

Reno winked at her. “I
don’t doubt it.”

He served himself a
sample of each dish, skeptical but willing to try it. She’d taken the time to
make him the meal. He took a tentative bite, hoping it would taste as good as
it looks. Reno looked up to meet Loraine’s nervous gaze.

“This is great!” He
took another bite. “I take it back, you’re a great cook!”

She beamed at the
compliment. “Thanks. After taking care of me, cooking for you was the least I
could do.”

Remembering his
conversation that morning with Ruiz and Melody, Reno decided it was a good time
to broach the subject with Loraine. He just needed to put it in a way that
won’t offend her.

“Lori, I’m taking a few
days off, and I was wondering if you’d like to join me?”

Loraine sipped at her
orange juice before she spoke. “Where to?”

He hadn’t figured that
part out yet, but where does someone go on vacation when they already live in a
popular vacation spot?

“How about I give you a
tour of the island?”

Loraine sat back in her
chair and stared at him for a long moment. “Is this because of my nightmares?”

Reno stood up and went
round the table to her. He pulled her off the chair and sat in it and settled
her on his lap. “I have never taken a vacation and that became even more
foreign when I started working at fifteen. I don’t think I even know how to
take one. And since you are currently on vacation, I figured why not bring a
pro along.”

Loraine smiled sweetly
but it didn’t reach her eyes. She ran her hand over his hair and leaned her
head on his shoulder. “Okay. Let’s take a vacation.”

“Gee, don’t get too
excited,” he said sarcastically then tickled her sides.

Loraine squirmed on his
lap laughing out loud. “Okay, okay stop!”

He stopped, holding her
close to his chest. “Let’s try that again.”

She threw her hands up
in a cheer and yelled in a sing song voice. “We’re going on vacation!”

This time when she
smiled, her eyes shone with laughter and it made his heart leap.

Chapter Five

They didn’t go very
far, just up to Nassau. Though Reno trusted Ruiz not to run the place to the
ground, he had attachment issues, like a mother with her new born baby. It
spoke volumes of his dedication to the resort and to Ruiz that he was even able
to make it this far. It surprised her considering it was an inheritance from
his father. Most begrudged children would have sold the place for a quick buck
and some people she knew had done just that to piss off their dead fathers. How
that worked was a wonder. But unlike those rich spoiled kids, Reno had a good
reason to hold a grudge against the man.

Reno rented a one
bedroom apartment unit in the heart of Nassau for them to stay in, was quiet,
private, secure and spacious. Another plus was the affordable price. It made
her feel ashamed for the little respect she had for money, seeing how practical
he was with their spending. They dumped the bags in the unit before they went
to dinner walking to Bayside Grill, a restaurant accredited to have the best
local food. Reno said she needed to expand her culinary knowledge if she
planned to be a caterer with an edge over the others. He ordered a sample of
all their famous dishes, which was a platter of seafood.

The star was conch,
cooked in different ways. There was a conch salad. Reno ordered a lot of this
thinking she was one of those rich girls who thought zero was a size and
counted the number of calories they ingested with every bite of food. She was
about to surprise him, she couldn’t wait to prove him wrong. Aside from the
salad, there was cracked conch, conch fritters and battered and fried conch,
which made her mouth water just staring at the greasy plate. In the middle of
their table sat a jug of local beer and a bowl of guava duff a popular sweet
for dessert. Loraine didn’t waste time digging in.

She tasted the guava
duff first because she’d gained a habit of having her dessert before the main
meal. She started doing so when she was sixteen, the age she decided it was
time to rebel, just to annoy her parents at social dinners with their friends
and it stuck. The duff was so sweet, a downfall to any sweet tooth. When she
was done with that, she started on the battered and fried conch.