Chapter Twenty-Three

Dinner had turned into dessert and then that had turned into hitting a local bar.

Veronica wouldn’t have minded it so much if Tomás hadn’t told her, Nora, and Gabe on the drive there that Mia seemed to be doubting their fake relationship.

What the hell had she meant about women’s intuition anyway?

She wished Tomás would’ve found a way to tell her that before she’d happily agreed to Brian’s suggestion that they go somewhere else for drinks. Veronica thought she’d handled dinner pretty smoothly. But that was before she realized Mia was analyzing her and Tomás under a microscope.

“Let’s just text them and say one of us isn’t feeling well and we had to go home,” Tomás said.

“See, this is what happens when you lie,” Nora accused. “You can’t stop.”

Gabe looked at him through the rearview mirror. “It’s your call, brother. If you don’t want to go, we don’t have to go.”

Veronica turned in her seat to face Tomás. “I agree with Gabe. This is your decision.”

Although part of her couldn’t ever turn down a challenge, she knew this wasn’t something she could control.

Tomás seemed to think about it for a few minutes. “Let’s go. She can’t prove anything tonight. Might as well have a good time while we can.”

“Hell, yeah!” Gabe yelled.

Tomás met Veronica’s eyes. “Are you still in this?”

She smiled and yelled, “Hell, yeah!”

By the time Veronica had finished her third beer, she was ready to hit the dance floor. The band at The Flamin’ Oak was pretty good, and she’d been tapping her foot to the beat of every song so far. It had been a few years since she’d been out dancing. And she quickly decided she didn’t want to wait one second longer, especially since Mia had been peppering her with questions since they’d gotten there. It was as if she was interviewing for the job of Tomás’s girlfriend.

And with every beer, she’d moved her chair closer and closer to Tomás. He smelled so good. She didn’t know if it was his cologne, his shampoo, or just him. Whatever it was, she couldn’t get enough of his scent. Desire was burning her skin, and a familiar ache electrified every nerve. If she didn’t stand up soon, she was going to end up on his lap.

“Let’s dance,” she yelled into Tomás’s right ear.

He whipped his head in her direction and looked at her as if she’d just asked him to take her to the North Pole. “You want to dance? With me?”

“Um, yeah. That’s why I said that.” Veronica shook her head at his silly question.

Tomás’s eyes flicked over at Mia, who was now chatting with Brian. “I’m not really a dancer,” he said.

Before she could question him, his brother leaned over him and said, “Don’t believe this guy. He’s probably the best dancer in the family—well, after Mom anyway.”

That surprised Veronica. “Well, now you have to dance with me. I need to judge you myself. Come on!”

She grabbed Tomás’s hand and tried to pull him out of his chair. It took a few tugs and a big strong push from Gabe to finally get him on his feet. The band had just started a new song, and many other couples flocked to the dance floor.

At first, Tomás just stood there still as statue. So Veronica took his hands and placed them on her shoulders. Then she wrapped her arms around his waist and stepped closer. “All right. Let’s see what you got, Mr. Horse Whisperer.”

For a second, she thought he was going to drop his grip and walk back to the table. But she saw something flash behind his eyes and felt his fingers dig into her flesh a little more. He pulled her against him, but tensed up a little at the initial contact of their bodies. Slowly, he slid his hands from her shoulders down to her hips. He gripped them softly and began to move.

The feel of him against her revved up her desire even more. He was strong and steady, but her knees felt weak and she moved her hands to his shoulders and hung on to him as if he were her lifeline.

The sound of a single trumpet filled the bar as a familiar banda song began to play. Veronica and Tomás stepped in perfect unison to match the beat. At first, Veronica watched as their feet moved backward and forward. Then she focused on Tomás’s long legs, his hard chest; finally she met his eyes. He was watching her too.

Veronica’s pulse quickened as if it were trying to keep time with the music. All of a sudden, she was breathing too fast, but also not fast enough. The room around them blurred out of focus until it seemed as if they were the only two people on the dance floor. He held her eyes with his searing gaze. Veronica couldn’t help but feel like she was the only person or thing that mattered to him at that moment.

She was taken aback by her body’s response to his. She decided to make some light conversation to get her mind off all the ways it was imagining how Tomás might hold her in other positions.

“I wasn’t sure if you were just going to leave me here and go back to the table,” she admitted.

Tomás pulled back to meet her eyes. “Really?”

“Well, I basically had to drag you.”

“I don’t dance a lot. That doesn’t mean that I don’t like to. Especially if I have a good partner.”

He pulled her a little closer. To her relief, he didn’t stiffen again, and she couldn’t help but notice how nicely her body melded against his.

“I’m a little nervous now,” she blurted out.

“About dancing with me? I swear I won’t step on your feet.”

She shook her head. “Not about dancing. About, you know, keeping up this charade. I just want to make sure Mia is buying all of this. Do you think she’s changing her mind?”

“I don’t know.”

“She’s been interrogating me. I tried to be as vague as possible so I’m lying but not really lying. I think she’s suspicious. Maybe we need to be more handsy.”

It was a risk given her current state of desire for the man pressed up against her. Veronica blamed the music and the alcohol in her system for suggesting such a thing. But she convinced herself she could handle some extracurricular touching. It didn’t have to mean anything. She sure as heck didn’t even have to enjoy it.

Okay, that was a lie. Given the heat coming off her own body, she was definitely going to enjoy whatever Tomás was willing to do.

He chuckled. “Handsy?”

“More PDA, you know. We have to sell it.”

“You’d be okay with… that?”

Veronica wasn’t sure if she was. But another part of her body was making the decisions thanks to the drinks she’d had earlier.

Tomás didn’t wait for her to answer. “How about this? Let’s dance first, okay? No pressure. We’ll figure out what comes next later.”

It turned out that later came about half an hour later.

All three couples ended up on the dance floor at the same time. Veronica decided this was the perfect opportunity to convince Mia.

As soon as Tomás pulled her into his arms again at the beginning of the song, she made sure to lean her head against his shoulder. He smelled like cologne and a hint of alcohol. Feeling emboldened, Veronica reached out and touched the vee of his T-shirt, then slid a finger down his chest, stopping just above his belly button. Tomás jerked, so she pulled her hand away. He surprised her then by putting her hand back where it was.

“You look very beautiful tonight,” he said after a few minutes.

Veronica’s head spun. Was he flirting with her? Perhaps he’d had more to drink than she’d first thought.

“Thank you. You look very handsome.”

She felt him take a breath. “Is this okay?” he asked. “Being this close to me?”

“Yes. It’s fine. It’s nice,” she admitted.

Veronica looked over and noticed Mia looking in their direction. “Maybe we should do more,” she whispered.

Tomás whispered back. “Like what?”

“You could kiss me.” She’d said it without thinking. But deep down she knew it was because she wanted him to. It had nothing to do with putting on a show for Mia.

He raised his eyebrows. “Now? Here?”

She tilted her head up just a fraction, her lips inches from his. “Mia is just a few feet away. I think this is the perfect time for some handsy-ness. Unless you want to wait until—”

“Sometimes you talk too much.”

Tomás whispered the last few words against her mouth. When she didn’t protest, he pushed in for a kiss. It was warm, soft, and tentative.

It was nice, but nothing she couldn’t walk away from. That is until his tongue swiped her bottom lip and jolted alive every sense and every nerve, making the rest of her resolve shatter in his arms. Sighing, she grabbed his shirt with both hands and kissed him back with fervor. His arms wrapped around her body, hugging her as if she might be pulled away at any moment.

And then it was over. Just like the song.

Veronica needed a few minutes to cool down in more ways than one. Instead of taking her seat immediately, she announced that she was going to go to the ladies’ room. Nora said she would go with her.

There was a line, of course, so they took their spots behind five other women.

“You guys looked amazing out there,” Nora said. “Almost like professionals.”

Veronica felt her cheeks begin to warm all over again. “It was all Tomás. He’s very good.”

Her friend nodded enthusiastically. “He’s always been a good dancer. I’ve seen him dance with his mom and abuelita at family parties, but not like how he danced with you. You’re a good partner for him. Also, I’m pretty sure he enjoyed that kiss too.”

She looked over at Nora and saw that her friend had a huge silly grin across her face. Veronica’s face burned even hotter. “Well, um, we had to make it convincing. You know, for Mia’s sake.”

Nora raised her palms. “I believe you.”

She wasn’t sure how to respond to that, so she just smiled at Nora as they both took a few steps closer to the restroom door. She’d been a fool to think she could handle this. They’d only kissed once and her response to it was far from fake.

It was as if he’d flipped a switch in her. She’d gone from thinking Tomás was attractive to wanting Tomás.

They might be on a pretend date tonight, but Veronica was starting to have real feelings.