when she left to go back to New York he’d have memories of her in his space. He didn’t want that. He wanted their relationship to be uncomplicated. To be a true fling. One where neither of them got hurt.
He wasn’t going to pretend that she didn’t have the potential to hurt him. He had no idea what the outcome would be of an affair with her but he couldn’t resist the thought of having her in his arms. He wanted her.
That was the bottom line and he was going to do whatever he had to in order to get her. He didn’t care if he had to pay the cost later.
All around him were the trappings of success and that made him even more determined to ensure that this thing with Selena worked out. He wasn’t used to failing and he wouldn’t this time. Selena was the first thing he wanted just for himself.
Selena was buzzed and hot and had forgotten the last time she’d had this much fun. Clubbing wasn’t her thing. To be honest it never had been. She’d always been a very studious girl and when she’d met Raul he’d kept her isolated from others. Part of the reason his con had worked so well.
But tonight she didn’t want to think about any of that. Jorge came out of the club and sat down next to her on the bench. “Are you hiding out? “
“No. Cooling down. I haven’t danced that much in years,” she admitted.
“What do you do for fun in New York?” he asked.
“Nothing. I don’t have fun. I just work and go home.”
“All work and no play makes for one big boring life, tata.”
“It didn’t seem so bad until tonight,” she admitted. “It’s a quiet life but also an uncomplicated one.”
Jorge put his arm along the back of the bench and hugged her to his side. “You need to relax.”
“I think you are right. Tonight was a lot of fun. I never guessed that just dancing would be so liberating. I forgot about everything when I was out there.”
Jorge smiled at her. His grin reminded her of her father’s and she felt a pang in her heart. She missed her parents so much.
“That’s the point of clubbing. I think we will have to take you out again.”
“I might let you,” she said. “But I’m worn out now. I am going to call a cab to take me back to my hotel.”
“Hotel? Why aren’t you staying at your old house?” Jorge asked.
“Too many memories,” she said.
He nodded. “Why haven’t you sold that place?”
She shrugged. “I sometimes get income from renting it and I give that money to abuelito. It’s the least I can
do.”
“Tata, you have to let go of the past or you are always going to be stuck in it,” Jorge said.
“I did let go, remember? I live in New York,” she said.
“That wasn’t letting go, that was running away,” Jorge said. “You are punishing yourself by staying away. No one in the family blames you for what happened. You need to forgive yourself.”
“That is easier said than done,” she said.
“Don’t I know it,” he said.
“How do you know that?” she asked.
“I had an affair last year. Carina took me back and she says she’s forgiven me, but I don’t think I will ever feel worthy of her again.”
“Carina is a nicer person than I am,” Selena said. “I would never …”
“I thought so, too. But what I have with her is worth fighting for. I had no idea how much I loved that woman until I thought I’d lost her forever.”
“Love is so complicated,” Selena said. Raul had been able to manipulate her because she’d been totally in love with him. Other people had told her he wasn’t the perfect angel she’d believed him to be but that hadn’t mattered. In her mind and in her heart she’d made excuses for him. She didn’t want to do the same with Justin.
“Yes it is,” Jorge said. “But there is nothing else like it on earth. I wouldn’t trade my feelings for Carina for anything.”
“Did I hear my name?” Carina asked, coming out to join them. “I wondered where you got to.”
“Just visiting with Selena. I don’t think she knows how much we all miss her.”
“We do all miss you,” Carina said. She looked over at Jorge, and Selena had the impression that Carina still wasn’t sure of her man. She might have forgiven her husband, but it was clear that she hadn’t relearned how to trust him.
“I’m calling a cab,” Selena said.
“No, don’t,” Jorge said. “We will take you home. I’m ready to be alone with my woman.”
Carina closed her eyes as Jorge hugged her close and it was almost painful to watch them together now that Selena knew their secret. She wondered if all couples had a secret. Something that bound them together and made them stronger. And she did believe her cousin and his wife would be stronger once Carina knew that Jorge was sincere. But that would take some time.
Jorge went in to tell the rest of her cousins that they were leaving.
“Tonight was fun,” Selena said.
“Yes, it was. It’s not really my scene—I like to stay at home, but Jorge likes to hit the clubs and we have worked out a compromise where we will do it once a month,” Carina said.
“Does that work?” Selena asked.
“It does. I actually like going out with him. It’s not the way I thought it would be. And Jorge has agreed to take ballroom dancing classes with me.”
Selena couldn’t see her cousin doing ballroom dancing, but if it made Carina happy, she guessed that he would do it. “Where do you take lessons?”
“At Luna Azul. Jen Miller, who teaches their Latin dance classes, also knows ballroom and she is showing us a few moves.”
“Do you think Luna Azul has been good for the neighborhood?” Selena asked her, her head clearing from the mojitos she’d been drinking all night.
“I do. They have captured the feel of old Havana in the club. My papa won’t admit it to his friends but he likes going there because it reminds him of the stories his abuelito used to tell of pre-Castro Havana.”
“I need to check it out and learn a bit about the enemy.”
“I think you will be surprised by how much it fits given that they are outsiders.”
Jorge came out of the club and they left. During the ride, Selena sat quietly in the backseat of the Dodge Charger. She thought about Justin Stern and
