to Andre had been immediate and intense, though a bit disconcerting. She had not been looking for a romantic entanglement, and certainly not with a thirty-three-year-old who was pursuing his undergraduate degree. However, at six foot two with a slim, toned physique, a voice that melted her heart and a smile that made her stomach do flips, Andre had stirred up a passion in Riana that she had not been able to contain. He was exciting, energetic, sexy and gentle—a combination that had been impossible to resist.
“What’d you get?” she asked again, praying that he had at least passed the exam: they had pulled so many all-nighters while preparing for it, even though they had taken a few breaks from the books to do other things.
Andre didn’t answer. Slumped down in his seat, his long legs extended, his booted feet crossed at the ankles, he stared dully at the test papers crumpled in his fist. His full bottom lip was tucked under his front teeth, and the stunned expression on his handsome features was alarming. If it was any reflection of the grade he had received, Riana knew he must be crushed.
Andre was a construction worker, sporadically employed, who took classes between jobs and had only one semester left before finishing his bachelor’s degree, with plans to become a civil engineer. On the surface, he appeared to be an easygoing guy who took things in stride, but beneath that calm facade Riana knew there was an intensely driven man, preoccupied with succeeding.
Without looking over at Riana, Andre handed her his test paper, a blank expression darkening his caramel-brown face. “See for yourself,” he mumbled in a dispirited tone.
Riana eased the document out of Andre’s hand, unfolded it, and then let out a gasp. “Andre!” She pummeled him with a fist. “Ninety-four! And I was worried you’d failed!”
Grinning in a boyishly mischievous way, Andre leaned over and touched his lips briefly to Riana’s, breaking out of his fake sullen mood. “Me, fail? I don’t think so. If you knew me better, you’d know that when I focus on something, or someone, I don’t give up until I get what I want.”
Riana slapped him playfully on the arm and shoved his test paper back at him. “Oh? And what exactly does that mean?” she teased right back, relieved that their study sessions had paid off, in spite of so many interruptions.
“I got you, didn’t I?” Andre replied, his brown eyes bright with a sheen of satisfaction.
Riana shook her head and forced a half smile, knowing what she had to say, and knowing that her words might hurt. “Yes, I guess you did…for a while. You know, hanging out with you has been great fun, Andre, but I’m returning to San Antonio tomorrow. I’ve accomplished what I came to Houston for, so I have to get back to work.”
“I know, I know,” Andre mumbled rather grumpily. He ran a hand over his close-cut hair and then shifted back in his seat, eyes focused on the ceiling, obviously frustrated with the situation. “Couldn’t you stick around for a few more days?”
“Impossible.”
“Oh, so I guess Sweetwater Finance can’t function a day longer without you, can it?” His words had a hard edge, conveying his irritation.
Riana chewed her lip. Why did Andre have to make their parting harder than it had to be? She wasn’t going to lie: she was eager to return to work and assume her new position as vice president of commercial loans at the company where she’d worked for seven years. Her career was finally taking off and she had a busy life back home waiting for her. After laboring in every department of the financial firm she was about to enter the select ranks of upper management, where she would earn the kind of money she deserved. Nothing was going to sidetrack that. While many women her age were longing for a serious romantic relationship, a husband, a house in the suburbs and a few perfect children, that was not what preoccupied Riana. Not now, at least.
“Whether or not Sweetwater Finance can get along without me is not the point,” she told Andre, shaking her head.
“Well, what is?” he tossed back, looking at her in a way that let Riana know he expected an answer he could live with after she was gone.
“We both knew my stay in Houston was only a temporary thing. We agreed to a no-strings-attached relationship, remember?” Impulsively, Riana reached out and massaged Andre’s neck, wishing their situation was easier to fix. “I’m not happy about leaving you, either, but this is the way it has to be.”
Andre covered Riana’s hand with his, gripping tightly, as if holding on to her now would help him hold on to her forever. “We could do a long-distance thing, you know? San Antonio is only a couple of hours away. Every other weekend. I could take vacation time. We could…”
“No, Andre. That’s not what I want,” Riana cut him off. She didn’t want to scramble around and try to patch together a relationship that, she kept telling herself, had run its course. She didn’t want to sit around and wait for his phone calls, think about him all the time, live for his next visit, exist on the edge of potential disappointment. The stress of such an arrangement would be too unnerving, and a clean break was the only way she could ever handle leaving. He had to accept her decision. “It’s time we went our separate ways,” she calmly told Andre.
“Why you gotta sound so final? We can still stay in touch.” He jerked away now, turning angry.
“Because tonight has to be our last night together,” Riana answered, wanting to bring closure to this crazy, wonderful, out-of-the-blue affair and end it wrapped in his arms. Andre was not like any man with whom she had ever been involved. He had turned her emotions inside out and turned a fleeting attraction into a dangerously seductive whirlwind romance, pulling her into a steamy liaison that had evolved with heart-stopping speed. As impulsive as the affair had been, Riana had no regrets, and the only way she could get on that plane the next day and say goodbye was to convince herself that their paths had simply crossed unexpectedly. That leaving now was the best thing to do. That at least she would have sweet memories to hold on to, to remind her of this blissful time.
Andre slid closer and traced an index finger along Riana’s cheek, somber dark eyes fastened on hers. “I really don’t want you to go.”
“I have to.”
“I’ll call you every day,” he insisted, not hiding his anguish over the imminence of their parting.
“Don’t. Trust me, Andre. It’s best if we don’t try to make more of our time together than it was. When I get home, I’m going to be swamped at work, consumed with learning my new job, and too busy to handle a long-distance relationship. Let’s leave it as it is, okay?”
“Riana. It might take time and patience, but we could work it out. We can visit back and forth, talk on the phone, try to keep this together. I love you, you know that, don’t you?”
A wave of uneasiness rose inside Riana. Love? Oh, I wish you wouldn’t say that, she worried, unable to deny that she had feelings for Andre. But love him? No, she didn’t dare consider that: he had made it clear that he planned to stay in Houston once he finished school. She was building her career at Sweetwater Finance and had no plans to leave San Antonio anytime soon. Why struggle to fit Andre into her life? Why force a relationship to stay alive when it might be best to let it go? Their lives had intersected at the wrong time and there was nothing to do but accept it.
With a sigh, Riana laced her fingers through Andre’s and gave his hand a firm squeeze. “I’m not happy about this either, but we’ve gotta do what we’ve gotta do. However, I have to say, I will miss the hell outta your blueberry pancakes and whipped butter cream,”
