LATER THAT NIGHT, after saying goodbye to his brother, Felipe tapped on Emilia’s front door. He took another glance at his phone and the text he’d received in response to his, which had enquired if she’d made it home safely and how she was feeling.
I’m okay. Eva is staying the night at her friend’s place. Come over and keep me company if it’s not too late.
After witnessing her demoralising date tonight, wild horses couldn’t have kept him away. She didn’t need him to look out for her, but he hated the idea that she might be feeling vulnerable and alone. Seeing her out with another guy tonight, all dressed up and hopeful only to be so badly let down, had sent his protective urges into overdrive.
They weren’t an item, but he hadn’t expected to feel so...jealous, so possessive and invested in her happiness. He’d even abandoned his beer and switched to soft drinks after Emilia had left the bar, just so he could drive to her place and check up on her.
The door swung open and she stood on the threshold. His heart thumped excitedly. She’d changed out of her dress into jeans and a sweater. She looked relaxed and welcoming and unbearably beautiful.
‘Hey, how are you feeling?’ he asked, leaning in to brush her cheek with a kiss.
‘I’m good. Come in.’ Her smile for him was just the ego boost he needed. It lit her eyes as if, right then, he was the only person she wanted to see.
But he was fantasising, and he couldn’t afford to overthink his possessive feelings. They were understandable, as he’d said to Thiago, considering how well they got on and after everything Emilia had been through—losing her husband, raising their daughter alone and moving countries. And of course the amazing sex had complicated things, distorting his perspective.
Felipe followed her into a modern living room filled with comfy sofas, contemporary furniture, lamps and potted houseplants. A dog, he assumed Luna, greeted him with a thumping tail before sloping back off to her faux-fur dog bed.
‘Coffee or wine?’ Emilia asked, the wide neck of her sweater slipping to reveal one tanned and freckled shoulder and the lacy strap of her bra.
‘Better make it coffee. I drove here.’ Felipe released an internal groan of frustration. He was so drawn to her brand of effortless sophistication and unassuming sex appeal. Only he’d come to support her, not to seduce her. But resisting her now that they’d been intimate and knew each other so much better would not be an easy task, especially if she kept looking at him in that way.
‘Thanks for coming over,’ she said as she prepared his coffee. ‘I think I was still a little in shock when you texted. When I got home to find Eva’s message and an empty house, I almost burst into tears. Thank goodness for Luna.’ She glanced gratefully at the dog, who thumped her tail in response.
‘I’m sorry you had such a bad experience tonight,’ he said, removing his jacket and taking the cup of coffee from her. ‘Although you handled yourself impeccably. You were firm and classy. But forget about that guy. He wasn’t worth your time,’ he added as they sat side by side on the sofa.
Emilia had obviously been sitting there before he arrived. Her half-full glass of wine sat on the coffee table next to an open book. Felipe placed his mug on a coaster and turned his attention to Emilia, taking her hand in his. ‘Are you truly okay?’
She nodded, vulnerability clouding her stare. ‘But I just can’t do it any more,’ she said with a shudder. ‘I was going through the motions of dating for Eva’s sake. Ever since her father died, she worries so much about me being alone, and the last thing I want is to be any sort of burden to her. I want her to be young and carefree like her contemporaries.’
‘Of course you do.’ Felipe nodded in understanding even as he processed his disappointment that she was done with dating. ‘You’re a wonderful mother. A role model, not a burden. I’m sure your strength is inspiring to her.’
She blinked, gratitude shining in her eyes. Her fingers curled tighter around his. ‘Thanks Felipe. What would I have done without you these past couple of weeks?’
Felipe’s heart soared that she valued his friendship, except a huge part of him wanted to be more than her friend. Was that just his over-protectiveness at play? He still wasn’t looking for a serious relationship, but that smile of hers was addictive. He wanted to be the man to put it on her face.
‘I’m sorry that you’ve been unlucky with your dates,’ he continued, sliding his thumb back and forth over the back of her hand—touching her was second nature. ‘You deserve so much better. It’s not supposed to be that hard.’
And if she was finished with dating, where did that leave them and his hopes that they could spend more time together?
‘Right?’ She nodded in agreement. ‘I mean I’m not even looking for love. I’ve had that once.’ Her eyes landed briefly on the framed photo on the table—her and Eva and a man that was obviously Ricardo. ‘I was just hoping for a little fun,’ she said, ‘like the night we went out—nice food, great conversation, no games. That was easy. You made me feel uplifted. But I can’t go through another date like tonight’s. Not even for Eva. I know she’ll be disappointed with me, but it’s just not worth it.’
She looked down at their clasped hands and compassion swelled in his chest. He would be her friend if that was all she wanted.
‘She’ll understand,’ he said, resting his index finger under her chin and tilting it up so their eyes met. ‘You two are wonderfully close. But the downside is that you know each other so well emotionally. Talk to her and explain how you feel. Just because you’re not ready to date now, doesn’t mean you won’t be one day.’
Although a huge part of him had hoped she might want to date him again...
She nodded and glanced at the photo once more. ‘Eva and I are close. Losing her father hit her so hard. She was very withdrawn for a long time.’ She sighed and Felipe squeezed her hand. ‘Of course, I worry that I’m messing her up even more because I’m the only parent she has now...’
Felipe shook his head adamantly. ‘I’m no expert when it comes to teenagers, but if it’s any reassurance, she seems like a very intelligent and switched on young woman.’
A soft smile touched her lips. ‘Thanks for listening, Felipe.’ She snagged her bottom lip with her teeth, drawing his attention back to those soft, kissable lips. ‘Sometimes I forget that Ricardo isn’t here. I’ll have a bad day at work or a parental worry and my first thought is to discuss it with him. Then, with sickening shock, I remember that he’s gone and that, whatever the dilemma, I need to deal with it alone. It sounds silly, but it can be so tiring.’
‘Not silly at all.’ Felipe took her hand in both of his, his offer spoken before he could overthink the impulse. ‘I know it’s not the same, but you can call me any time and I’ll listen, help out if I can. I’m alone too, so I get it, only I don’t have the responsibility of a child of my own. But seriously, just call me.’
‘That’s very thoughtful of you.’ She blinked and swallowed as if struggling to find the words. ‘I hope I didn’t ruin your evening, too. What must your brother think of me?’
Felipe made a dismissive sound, wishing he could hold her in his arms, kiss her and chase away all her fears and doubts. But she was strong. And fortunately she didn’t need him to take care of her, because he was no good at that.
‘I’m not particularly happy about him noticing,’ he said about Thiago, ‘and I let it slide because he’s getting married, but he thought you were beautiful, which you are.’ He grinned, partly joking about his brother and partly serious. It seemed where Emilia was concerned, the possessive feelings, the jealousy, no matter how unfounded, were here to stay.
She stared, her eyes flicking between his as the tension between them seemed to crackle. Oh, how badly he wanted to seduce her again, to show her just how beautiful and amazing she was, to worship her body with his until he’d replaced her humiliation from earlier with memories of passion. But he needed to tread carefully. Emilia was feeling understandably vulnerable and alone, and he’d really only come here to check on her. She didn’t need a saviour and he couldn’t be one. He was no longer serious commitment or husband material.
‘Tell me more about Ricardo,’ he said instead as he glanced at the picture of them together, steering the conversation out of danger and deliberately bringing up the man who had been everything to Emilia.
She eyed him curiously, some of the tension leaving her. ‘You really want to know?’
‘About the man you loved?’ he asked. ‘Sure.’ Felipe didn’t see Emilia’s husband as competition. Strangely he wasn’t jealous of Ricardo Gonzales. Their marriage and their history was theirs and theirs alone. He certainly wasn’t looking to replace the man, even if he could have. It was just that Ricardo Gonzales had excellent taste in women.
‘You might have liked him, actually,’ Emilia said with a soft smile. ‘He was a runner too. He completed the Montevideo marathon six times, before Eva came along.’
‘Impressive.’ Felipe nodded, urging her to continue. ‘How did you meet?’
She relaxed back into the sofa and placed her other hand over his in her lap, so now his hand was sandwiched between both of hers. ‘He was travelling after graduating from UBA. He was sleeping on the floor of a friend of mine before taking off to backpack around Brazil. I knew after our first date that he was the one, but we were also great friends.’
She smiled fondly. ‘I’d been planning to go travelling too, so I changed my itinerary and we explored Brazil together. You really get to know a person when you share a two-person tent.’
Felipe smiled in agreement. ‘I can imagine.’
Still clinging to his hand, her expression changed, as if she was no longer seeing the past, but was firmly in the present. ‘Your brother looks a lot like you. Are you close?’
Felipe shrugged, relaxed in her company, as always. ‘We are surprisingly close, although sometimes I overdo the protective big brother thing. He’s a good man. I’m glad that he’s met Violetta and that she makes him happy.’
Only Thiago’s happiness and the wedding plans, combined with his jealousy over Emilia’s date, had accentuated Felipe’s restlessness, his loneliness. It was as if his career and his string of deliberately casual dates were no longer enough to keep him content. And the only thing in his life that had changed was him meeting Emilia.
‘The family business sounds very successful,’ she continued, dragging him away from the unsettling thought. ‘How many weddings do you host a year?’ She reached for her wine glass from the table and took a sip.
‘I believe it was over thirty last year. Not that I can take any credit. The success is all down to Thiago.’
She eyed him over the rim of her glass, placing it back on the table. ‘I’ve touched a nerve?’
While Emilia was a great listener, Felipe hesitated. ‘Not really...’ He didn’t want to expose his worst flaws to this woman, but Emilia didn’t play games. She wouldn’t use his regrets against him, and she’d opened up to him about all sorts of things tonight.
‘It’s just that sometimes when I see Thiago,’ he continued, ‘I still feel a little guilty that I abandoned Castillo Estates to follow my surgical career. He’s never thrown it back at me, but he had no choice in having to step up and take over the business from our parents after they retired.’
Emilia frowned, her dark stare full of empathy. ‘We all have a choice, Felipe. Thiago doesn’t strike me as a pushover. I’m sure that he’d have followed a different career if he’d really wanted one. Your parents could have employed a manager or sold the business.’
‘That’s true.’ She was so understanding. ‘I guess the guilt comes from in here.’ He rested his balled-up fist over his sternum. ‘So it’s not particularly logical.’
She leaned closer, the passion building in her voice. ‘Because you’re a decent man who cares about people. But it’s like my wise daughter says—you deserve to be happy too. It’s okay to have your own ambition and dreams, and you’ve worked long and hard for your career.’
‘Yes...’
She eyed him sadly. ‘Yes, but...?’ she pressed with a question in her voice.
Felipe dragged in a deep inhale. ‘But I’m aware how my ambition, my career, has also cost me my marriage in addition to burdening my brother with the family business.’ Why was he telling her this? It was as if she’d popped the lid on his deepest vulnerabilities and he couldn’t seem to quell the outpouring.
Her stare softened with understanding. ‘Nothing is ever that straightforward in a marriage,’ she said, knowingly. ‘It’s the most complex and rewarding relationship we enter into. Two people, often from different walks of life, sharing everything—a home, a life, a family. Marriage takes work and commitment and compromise on both sides, and even then that’s sometimes not enough to make it last.’
‘Look at us,’ he said with smile, hoping to lighten the mood—after all he’d come over to make her feel better. ‘If only we’d had all this wisdom in our twenties.’
She chuckled. ‘Indeed.’
Because he desperately wanted to kiss her, he raised her hand to his mouth and pressed a kiss there. ‘Thanks for listening. I was supposed to be the one doing the comforting. That’s why I came over.’
Emilia shrugged, her eyes bright. ‘I like that it’s mutual. And I can’t take all the credit. You’re easy to talk to, too. You make me feel safe and understood, so thank you.’
Felipe looked up from her mouth, his stare latched to hers. He didn’t want to look away. He didn’t want to miss one second of the way she was looking at him, because he recognised the desire in her expression and it matched the urgency pounding through him in time with his rapid heartbeat.
But he didn’t want to cross the line.
‘Your coffee’s probably cold,’ she whispered, her tongue touching her lush bottom lip.
‘Who needs coffee?’ He shrugged, willing her to make the first move, willing her to want him as much as he wanted her in that moment.
He couldn’t promise her for ever, but he definitely wanted more than one night. They could have a good time while they continued to explore this intense chemistry.
It made so much sense. He just hoped she wouldn’t take too much convincing.