Otherwise Engaged (10 page)

He slid wrong.

He’d slid into
base like this many times before—not head first and not with both feet
first but in a split. It was a signature move he’d developed over the years. It
seemed more dramatic and maybe even a little more hard core. But this time,
something went wrong.

Rain fell over
and groaned in pain. Of course, everyone came over to see what was wrong. Of course,
he’d given himself the most embarrassing injury possible in front of both
Carolina and Daphne not to mention a whole bunch of other extremely hot women.

Maybe it was
karma, maybe it just wasn’t Rain’s day, but Daphne’s words from a few days ago
had definitely come back to haunt him. Rain pulled a groin muscle in the
process of that would-have-been-stellar slide home. Yeah. The game was over at
least for him after that.

Daphne rode
with him back to the hotel. Julio drove them. The three of them mostly just
stared out of the windshield into the near semi-darkness of twilight with only
Julio attempting to make conversation. When they got back to the hotel, Julio
asked Daphne to call him the next day. She said she would. Rain told himself he
had no right to get jealous about this. No, he wasn’t getting jealous. He was
trying to look out for a friend. This Julio guy was a total player. After all,
it took one to know one.

Back in the suite,
when Rain sat on the couch with an ice pack held to his groin, he gave Daphne a
sour look. She laughed.

“What’s so
funny?” he wanted to know.

“That’s what
you get,” she said, her smile fading just a little.

“I’m still
better than him,” he grumbled.

“At baseball,
or
?...
” The corners of her lips quivered with a smile.

“In general.”
He shook his head. “I just don’t get it. Why him?”

Daphne sat on
the opposite end of the couch and clasped her hands together in her lap.
Such tiny shorts.
“Does it really matter if she’s happier
than she’s ever been with anybody else?”

He cringed at
Daphne’s word choice. Anybody else? Had she really had to say it that way? “Did
she talk to you about us?” Rain asked, her question having provoked a question in
him. “Back when we were dating? Did you two
?...
”

She shrugged
and suddenly became very interested in her fingernails.

“Does that mean
she had bad things to say?” He winced, not really wanting the answer, but
needing to know.

“She loved you,
Rain. A lot.” Daphne worried her lower lip with her teeth. “She probably still
does.”

“What did she
say to you about me, though?”

“Nothing she
didn’t tell you eventually, I’m sure.”

He shook his
head. “Why can’t you just tell me?”

“I’ll tell you
this much.
If you really love her?
You shouldn’t hurt
her. Don’t
break her heart again
,
Rain
.
Please.”

“What is that
supposed to mean? You don’t think I should try to get her to leave that idiot
who’s clearly wrong for her, do you?”

“Why exactly do
you think he’s wrong for her?”

“He’s got that
stupid smile. And that laugh. And—and he’s
gotta
be hiding something. No one’s that nice just ‘cause,” he said.

“You seem to
know a lot about him from the cumulative few hours you’ve ever been around him
in your life.”

“Does he know
about me? Does he know how close Carolina and I were?”

“Yes. And he
still treats you like family. He knows how much you mean to Carolina.” Her tone
cracked a little on Carolina’s name.

“Doesn’t he
feel threatened by me then?” Rain asked, a little offended by the idea that the
guy wasn’t even acting a little jealous. Was fool Manny that secure? Or did he
just not care if Carolina got stolen away?

“He wants her
to be happy no matter what. He’s hoping that means being with him. But he’s not
going to stand in her way, no matter what that means,” Daphne said quietly.
“She said…she said that he encouraged it when she told him she wanted to invite
you to the wedding. He even said that he wouldn’t fight it if—if she
thought she had made the wrong choice and wanted to walk away. If
anything…changed…this week.”

Damn. That
bastard had found yet another way to make him look bad. “You mean he didn’t
throw a fit or anything? He probably wouldn’t even care if I took her away.”

“It’d destroy
him. But it’d be even worse for him knowing that he’d forced her to choose
wrong and he never had all of her heart,” she said. “When you really love
someone, you want to see them happy, and you do whatever you can to make that
happen. Even if it means sacrificing your own happiness.” He didn’t like the
I’m-judging-you tone Daphne’s words had taken on.

“How do you
know all of this?” he said.

“We’ve talked
about it.”

“With him or
her?”

“Both.”

“Why would he
tell you these things?”

“Does it
matter?” she snapped. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she said, “We
have a lot in common. I know where he’s coming from.”

Rain stared at
her. She looked so sad all of a sudden. He had the urge to reach out and hug
her, but he didn’t because moving was painful at the moment. Besides, her stiff
posture and stormy expression gave him the impression that the last thing she
wanted at the moment was any sort of physical contact with him. They sat there
in silence for a while.

Eventually, she
stood and said, “I think I’m going out to the terrace.”

“Wait,” he
said. “I want to talk about that kiss yesterday.” He still hadn’t apologized,
and it’d obviously rattled her, so he felt like he should say something.

“Well,” she
said. “I don’t.” She went outside without saying another word.

That night
after she went into her room, he hobbled over to the door and stood in front of
it with the ice pack still pressed to his groin. He lifted his
hand,
prepared to knock so many times he lost count. He
never did, though. After standing there until his feet hurt, and because his
groin was still killing him, he went back to the couch. He flipped on the
television and stared at Q.V.C. with unseeing, glazed eyes until he conked out.

Chapter Fifteen

The next
morning, Daphne dragged herself out of bed at way-too-early-in-the-morning
because there was a lot to do that day. It was time for the spa day and
rehearsal dinner. She was exhausted already, and she hadn’t even started the
hours of fun and excitement yet.
A whole day with Carolina.
Was she ready for this? She felt bad that she even had to ask herself the
question when it came to one of her oldest friends, but that didn’t change the
fact that it was on her mind. Taking over her mind was more like it.

She’d been
avoiding Carolina when she could since getting there. She was worried the real story
about Rain would come out if she didn’t. She didn’t know how she felt about this
playing games and keeping secrets for Rain.
Especially if it
involved him kissing her.
That hadn’t been fair.
At
all.
She’d been completely taken off-guard by that and hadn’t been able
to get back on track altogether yet.

She also didn’t
know how she felt about the Carolina-Rain situation period. She was pissed at
Carolina for some irrational reason for having this hold over Rain. More of a
hold than Daphne had thought any woman capable of. And she was pissed at Rain
for being sneaky and underhanded and greedy and, and, and—

In love with Carolina?
No, was she really pissed at him for
being in love with Carolina? Couldn’t be.

She stared at
herself in the mirror above the sink. She ran a French manicured nail over her
bottom lip as she pondered this question. So what if he was in love with
Carolina? What did that matter to her? There was no way she could be angry
at
him for that. Not still. She thought back to all those
college days when she’d wished Rain would see that he and Carolina would never
work together because all they ever did was fight and notice her. She thought
she’d gotten over that, but had anything really changed?

Of course it
had. She was older now. Smarter. Right? Besides, even if Rain had no problem
with the wedding at all, she had to know better than to fall for a womanizer.

She froze at
the sound of a soft knock on her door. She peered at the door as if it would
help her better believe what she’d heard. When she didn’t call out or respond
in any way, she heard a voice on the other side of the door.

“Daphne?” Rain
called. “Can I come in for a sec? Are you, er, dressed?”

She took a deep
breath, considered telling him to go away, and then realized she had to see him
sooner or later. They were supposed to go to the rehearsal dinner together
after all. Not to mention the actual wedding.

Pulling open
the door, she raised her eyebrows, did her best to look annoyed even though
every time she saw his stunning face she wanted to melt—and it’d gotten
worse since the kiss—and said, “Yeah?” He really did have the most
gorgeous hazel eyes.

He took a few slow
steps into the bathroom, his limp not nearly as bad as it had been yesterday. “I’m
sorry about the kiss. That was over the line.” He licked his lips, which made
her think of how they’d felt moving over hers yet again. “I’m going to talk to
her today. Before the rehearsal dinner.” He ran a hand through his short black
hair, which left it sexily rumpled and just a bit spiky. “After you guys get
done with the spa stuff. I know, I shouldn’t have drawn it out this long.” He
gave her a plaintive look. “It wasn’t fair to you. And you’ve been such a good
friend to me. Always.”

This was what
she wanted, right?
To have it over with, one way or the
other?
So she had no idea why she felt so crappy at the idea of Rain
telling Carolina how he felt. She’d known all along—wanted him to do it
and get it over with if he was going to do it. Still, she felt a rock in the
pit of her gut. She suddenly felt like she was going to throw up.

Rain took one
of her hands between his large, tan ones. Her heart sped up. “Please. Don’t be
angry with me. If I’ve destroyed our friendship by being a jackass…I don’t
think I’d be able to stand that.”

She snorted.
“Please. Friendship? We hardly ever see each other anymore.” She wanted to want
to pull her hand away, but she couldn’t. It felt so
good
,
there between his, pressed against his skin. In fact, she wanted to press even
more of her skin to his. To feel more of this exhilarating thing that was as
thrilling as it was scary.

“I wasn’t
kidding when I said I wanted that to change,” he said. “You have no idea how
much I miss having you in my life.” His hazel eyes seemed so solemn.
More serious than she’d seen them in a while.
“The days
we’ve been here—even with the parts where you were angry at me because I
was a dumbass—have been some of the best times I’ve had in ages. Since
college.”

“What about
Carolina? She’s never leaving New York. What if you have to move there to be
with her? How will we hang out then?” Daphne couldn’t keep the sneer out of her
tone and didn’t particularly want to.

Rain looked
down at their hands. Meeting her gaze again, he released her hand. “We’ll worry
about that when the time comes. I’m not even sure she’ll want to hear a word I
have to say,” he said.

She stared down
at her hands, trying to sort out the thoughts she should be having from the
ones that were determined to get her into trouble on oh so many levels. Why did
he have to be so gorgeous, so close, and so definitely not a possibility?

“So. Are we
okay?” Rain asked.

“Talk to
Carolina today.”

“I promise.
Then will we be good?”

“We’ll see.”
She put a hand on the bathroom door, hoping he would get the hint. And soon
before she did something crazy like grab him for another kiss.

“I never meant
to hurt you. I definitely don’t want to lose you,” he said. Then he walked to
the doorway. Looking back over his shoulder, he said, “I’m going to make it up
to you. I don’t know how yet, but I will. I swear.”

He took a few
steps forward when she didn’t respond, and she shut the door after him. She
sank against the door and closed her eyes, needing a few minutes to compose
herself before she could start getting ready for the big day before the Big
Day.

#

That day, at
the spa, Carolina turned to Emily Rose and started asking her questions about her
friend, Jemma, soon after saying a brief and bare hello to Daphne. Emily Rose
started chattering about Jemma and her husband, Davis, and some cruise they’d
recently taken. Taking the hint, Daphne wandered away from the two.

There was
definitely
a coldness
between her and Carolina.
Carolina spent most of the morning talking to Emily Rose and her other
bridesmaids. She barely said a word to Daphne. So Daphne hadn’t been imagining
the cold shoulder yesterday at the baseball game. Carolina was actively trying
to ignore her.

Daphne sat with
another of the bridesmaids, making small talk as they waited for their turns
for the facials. They both wore white terrycloth robes. The bridesmaid was one
of Manny’s cousins that Carolina had become close to over the time she’d been
dating Manny.

“Carolina seems
so tense today,” the girl said. So she’d picked up on it, too.

“Yeah. Maybe
it’s nerves. The wedding’s tomorrow after all,” Daphne said emptily.

The girl peered
at her. “I can sympathize. I know it’s not exactly the same thing, but my
ex-best friend stole my boyfriend senior year in high school.”

“What?” Daphne
was startled by this swift change in topic. “Huh?”

“It’s just
that…I know Carolina had deep feelings for Rain that will never go away. I know
she loves my cousin, but everybody as a One they’ll never get over. Rain is
Carolina’s
One
. She’s told me a lot about him. Seeing
you two here together…at the wedding…can’t be easy for her.”

Daphne sank
back against the plush chair in which she sat. She was such a total ass. Never
once had she asked herself how this would affect Carolina. She’d just assumed
that Carolina was so in love with Manny that seeing Daphne with Rain wouldn’t
have a huge effect on her. And then that asshole had kissed her right in front
of Carolina. Just to make Carolina jealous. Hurting them both in the process.
Why had she felt something during that stupid kiss that obviously meant nothing
to the callous jerk? Why?

Carolina kept
muttering nasty remarks under her breath for the rest of the day and
disagreeing with everything Daphne said. Every idea Daphne had about anything
was the stupidest thing Carolina had ever heard.

Then came the
waxing. Afterwards, Carolina was complaining about how hers had come out and
that she’d probably have burn marks right before her honeymoon. Daphne was
trying to give her a home remedy involving coco butter when Carolina flipped
out on her.

“I don’t need
your bad advice. I don’t need your stupid voice yammering in my ear, I don’t
need you at all, okay?” Carolina snapped.

“What are you
talking about? I was only trying to help,” Daphne said.

“Every since
you got here, you’ve been prancing around like you’re better than everyone,
looking down on everything about this wedding, and flaunting Rain in my face.
You can’t even take the time to be happy for me. You’re so self-absorbed, and
everything has to be about you! Princess Daphne!” Carolina shouted.

“What?” This
was all foreign to Daphne. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I haven’t
done anything.”

“Yeah, that’s
right. You haven’t done one thing because you haven’t been around to. You’ve
been ignoring me. Treating me like I don’t exist since you got there.” Carolina’s
chest heaved. “We used to be such good friends, but now everything’s changed.
You and Rain, huh? I don’t even know why you bothered to come. Either of you!”

Everybody else
hung back, looking stunned and unsure of what to do.
Even the
spa staff.
Not like Daphne could blame them. She wasn’t sure she knew
what to do
herself
.

“Carolina, it’s
not like that. I’m happy to be here. And I want to be in your wedding because
you’re one of my closest—”

“Friends? Yeah
right. Friends are there for their friends. They’re happy for them when they
get married. They call them, visit them,
hang
out with
them! They treat each other like they care. You!
You?
You kiss the one person I’ll always love more than anyone
right in front of my face!” Carolina clasped her hand over her mouth.

The room was
silent in a way that made it seem as if all the air had whooshed out of it. No
one wanted to make direct eye contact with anyone else. The only sound was the
tranquil New Age music the spa played on low volume that was supposed to be
relaxing. Not that anything could have relaxed any one of them at that moment.

Carolina shook
her head violently from side to side and ran from the room. Daphne followed
her. She found Carolina huddled on the restroom floor. The restroom was a
single one—no stalls or anything.
Just a toilet, a sink,
and way too much incense.

Carolina sat
with her back against the wall, scrunched down next to a wicker cart near the
sink that held various types of oils and lotions. Daphne dropped to her knees
next to Carolina and put her hand on her friend’s shoulder.

“Why won’t you
just go away?” Carolina asked between sobs.

“Because I’m
your friend, no matter what you want to believe, and I love you,” Daphne said
simply. She sighed. “This is stupid. I should have told you the truth from the
beginning. I don’t know why I went along with this when I had a pretty good
idea it would create a giant mess.”

Carolina looked
up at her from between her fingers and glared daggers. “What truth? That you’ve
been dating Rain behind my back for years, and you’re pregnant with his baby?”

Daphne rolled
her eyes. “Yes. That truth. Exactly. We already have two secret kids and we had
a secret marriage and we’re also drug mules.”

This got a
small smile out of Carolina, half-hidden behind her fingers, but nothing else.

Daphne sat up
straighter and peered down at her friend. She tried to pry Carolina’s fingers
away from her face, but they wouldn’t budge. Sitting back on her heels with a
sigh, she said, “It’s all made up.”

Carolina
finally looked up at her, her face tear-streaked but still beautiful. Carolina
was always beautiful. She wasn’t even an ugly crier. How could she think Daphne
would ever be able to steal anyone from her?

“What?”
Carolina asked in a wavering voice.

“Rain and I
aren’t dating. We never were. He wanted to be my wedding date to this thing, but
nothing more than that. And I’m pretty sure he only wanted to be my date and
come here because he doesn’t want to see the wedding happen.”

Carolina just
stared at her blankly.

Daphne
continued. “He wants you. He came here for you. You are the only reason he’s
been acting the way he has. He doesn’t have any interest in me.” Those last
words stung her like a seaweed wrap in the eyes when she realized just how true
they were. “It’s all been a show to make you jealous.”

Carolina
laughed. “I’m such a fool. I made a fool of myself.”

“I’m sorry I
went along with it,” Daphne said, suddenly deeply ashamed of herself. What had
she been thinking?

“No, no. It’s
fine. I’m just relieved—no relieved isn’t the right word. It’s just…I
knew I had feelings for him still. I just didn’t know how strong they were
until I saw the two of you together,” she said. Then she paused, and a
reflective look settled over her features. “Maybe I should have guessed it,
though.”