Mad for you in Madrid (Building Love Book 3) Page 17

  “Why didn’t you say anything to me? I could have used your guidance. You could have pointed out to me what I couldn’t see for myself.”

  “Perhaps we should have. We couldn’t be sure our instinct was correct. And we wanted so badly to believe Elias had found a match . . .”

  “What about me, Mama? Weren’t either of you worried whether I would ever find the right match?”

  “Of course. We’ve longed for the day you find the woman of your dreams. We didn’t think you needed our help.”

  “I can’t believe you didn’t say anything to me,” Daniel pretended to grouse. “The one time I could have really used your kick in the ass . . .”

  His mother laughed, the sound light and bubbly. “Go get her, son. Let me know when you do. I will discuss with Papá what kind of private plane we should buy. I will bounce your children on my knee no matter what the cost.” She gave him a kiss and headed out the door.

  Daniel closed the door behind her, wondering if getting Lori back was going to be as easy as buying a plane.

  Chapter 28

  Lori released her father’s hand to read an incoming text. The message was from Daniel. I tried to give you loving advice but I screwed up how I said it. I came across as judgmental. I value our relationship. A moment later, another line appeared. I’m sorry.

  Lori’s heart pounded while she reread the message. Another flash on the screen brought a new message.

  If you’re willing, I want us to be more involved. Have a meaningful relationship.

  Hope fluttered in her chest, like a little bird testing out its wings. Her fingers trembled as she typed. I shouldn’t have started the fight. I overreacted. I’m new to saying what’s on my mind and I didn’t know how to handle honest feedback. I was wrong to walk away. I’m sorry.

  His text was immediate. Guess we both overreacted. Let’s forgive each other and move forward. I want to spend time with you.

  “Are you okay, Lori?” her father asked. “Your face is flushed.”

  Her chest hurt from not breathing. “I’ve never felt better.”

  Her phone vibrated again. I fixed the situation with the Internet. The post was publically retracted. I also spoke to Mama. No harm will come to you or your mother. In fact, Mama said you are lovely.

  Her fingers raced across the screen to respond. Really??? You are the king!

  An emoji of a crown appeared, followed by a smug smiley face. So I’ve been told.

  By Elias, right? she texted back. He’s begging to be a subject of your royal court.

  Yes, and I’m going to hire him. I hope he doesn’t turn out to be the court jester.

  In the middle of her texting a smart-ass retort, his next message appeared. Come back to Madrid, Lori. I want to talk to you in person. Stay with me. Indefinitely.

  Before she could answer, an ellipse appeared to show that he was typing more. Her fingers stilled. Her heartbeat raced.

  Please?

  She bit back a smile. His simple word felt as powerful as the sun. Maybe. Is gelato involved?

  Absolutely. Amaretto. In more ways than you can imagine. Get over here ASAP and I’ll demonstrate.

  She pushed back her chair from the table. “I’ve got to go, Dad.”

  Her father’s face fell. “Already? When is your flight?”

  “Who knows? I’ll be staying in Madrid a while longer.” A grin spread over her face. “We can make dinner plans if you’d like.”

  “Yes, definitely. I’ve missed you, Lori.”

  She walked over to her father and gripped his shoulders in a hug. “I’ve missed you too, Dad.”

  “Are you going to be staying at Daniel Vega’s house?”

  “Yes. How did you know?”

  “Because you smile like a woman in love. Come, let’s walk out of the airport together. I’ll see you to your taxi. If you’re in a rush, I can call your mother to let her know your return to America will be delayed.”

  “Thanks, I’ll call her myself. It’s time she and I talked.” Lori paused and took a deep breath. “I hope I can make her listen.”

  “You will. The fact you are going to try makes you a better person than I was.”

  “No, Dad. Not better.”

  “Okay, braver.” Her father’s eyes crinkled the way she remembered. Back when she was young and they were happy. This particular expression was her favorite. A warm glow from her father made especially for her. “I’m proud of you,” he said.

  For once, she was proud of herself too. “Confidence. A piece a cake.” A taxi cab pulled up to the stand and she kissed her father good-bye on his stubbly cheek. Without hesitating, she rattled off Daniel’s address in Spanish to the driver. The man nodded and headed to Madrid.

  My Spanish pronunciation can’t be as bad as I thought. Maybe nothing about me is really as bad as I thought. She dialed her mother’s cell phone.

  “Lori? Why are you calling me? Did you miss your flight?” Mom’s voice was high and squeaky.

  “Nope.”

  “Oh. Good.” The cool tenor of her mother’s voice returned. “I saw your father.”

  “I know.”

  “We had a talk . . . It wasn’t too bad, actually. He apologized to me.” Her voice grew softer. “Can you believe it?”

  “Yes.”

  “You can? Well, it knocked me right off the courtroom chair. He promised everything will go smoother between us from now on.”

  “I know.”

  “You know? How do you know? Lori, are you all right? You’re sounding very cryptic . . .”

  “I’m fine.” Truly fine. For once in my life. “I saw Dad at the airport. I’m glad we bumped into each other. We finally talked.”

  Lori paused, waiting for her mother to respond. A few seconds passed in complete silence. Holy crap. My mother is speechless. “I need to work out some issues with you, Mom.”

  “Business first.” Her mother’s professional voice was back, and in full force. “What are we going to do about the mess you made in Madrid? I founded Cayne Corporate Communications to create positive publicity messages for our clients. Our job is not to drag them down. Especially not from a scandal we caused. I’m not pleased to suffer a potential fallback either.

  “Mom, it’s not—”

  “It’s not what, Lori? Not your fault? It’s never your fault. Yet it’s always my problem to clean up your mess. This is a lot worse than spilling coffee on a client, or drowning your desk in powdered sugar. We’ll have to discuss this when you get home. What time does your plane land?”

  “Doesn’t matter.”

  “Not funny, Lori. This is no time to be cute.”

  “No, it’s time to be truthful.” Lori inhaled deeply and conjured up her inner strength. The kind of toughness Daniel knew she had. The kind she now knew resided deep within her. “I’m staying here in Madrid. With Daniel Vega.”

  “What?” her mother yelled, along with several curse words.

  Lori cringed from the outburst. She pulled the phone away from her ear. If the cab driver spoke English, he’d be getting an earful, too. “Daniel and I are seeing each other.”

  “The Internet said you were engaged to his brother. What the hell is going on over there?”

  Lori moved her phone an entire foot away from her ear. “Daniel’s brother Elias asked me to fake an engagement with him. He needed me to help him out of a sticky situation. I agreed to help Elias out. Daniel is the man I’ve been dating.”

  “Even if what you’re saying is true, it is not acceptable to date a client. You know that. Everyone in corporate America knows that. There are too many things that can go wrong. Which this fiasco perfectly demonstrates.”

  “A relationship with Daniel isn’t something I anticipated.”

&
nbsp; “That’s irrelevant. The point is that you put my business at risk.”

  Lori bit her lip until the pain made her stop. “I am sorry to have upset you. Daniel already straightened out the Internet situation. He doesn’t want your business harmed any more than I do.”

  Her mother exhaled, and her voice grew soft enough for Lori to place the phone against her ear again. “The entire problem has been resolved. Are you sure?”

  “Almost. We do have one remaining problem. It’s between you and me. I need you to show me that you care about me, Mom. Not only for your business’s sake. You didn’t ask me how it’s going with Daniel. Don’t you want me to be happy?” Lori pushed the phone harder against her ear. “Mom? Are you there?”

  “I’m here. I didn’t realize you and Daniel are so seriously involved. You’ve only known him a few days. Be careful with men, Lori. I know I just said some positive things about your father. Don’t be fooled into thinking everything will work out in the end. Men will cripple you if you let them.”

  “Mom, the only thing crippling me, is me. I’ve stunted my own growth. It’s time I made my own decisions. To do what’s right for me. I need to put my own needs first. Not your business. Not even you, Mom. Me.”

  “How can you—”

  “This doesn’t mean I don’t love you,” Lori interrupted. “I will always be here for you. I promise.”

  “Doesn’t sound like it,” Mom harrumphed.

  “It’s time I learn to love myself. Take a chance on life. Do what makes me happy. Grab the brass ring. Before all the great opportunities in life disappear. Leaving me alone. Sad and frustrated.” Lori’s throat tightened. “I don’t want to be bitter. Or resentful. If I keep living in your shadow, ignoring my own chance to grow, I know I will be.”

  “Lori . . .” Mom’s voice trailed off, leaving Lori’s name hanging in the air.

  “I love you, Mom. I will give you everything I have for Hotel Vega Madrid’s publicity campaign. Daniel said he liked my concept. Finishing up the work won’t be hard to do.”

  “When are you going to finish it?” her mother asked, her voice hollow.

  “A day or two. After I’m done, I’m staying in Spain for a while. I’m hoping things will work out with Daniel.”

  “He’s a man, Lori. Men disappoint. What happens if things don’t work out?”

  “Then I’m going to do what I planned on doing anyway. Take a vacation.”

  “How long will you be in Spain?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Two weeks maximum is company policy. After that, you have to return to work. I can’t let you flout company policy simply because you’re my daughter.”

  “Mom, I’m taking time off. I don’t know how long. Maybe a month. Maybe longer. I’m staying in Spain indefinitely. If you have to release me from your payroll, I understand. I’m sorry. I love you. I’ll email you the information later today. Bye.”

  Lori clicked off the phone and leaned her head against the taxi’s back seat. The scenery changed around her. Madrid, and the start of her new life, only minutes away.

  Chapter 29

  Daniel waited for Lori outside his brownstone home. Her last text said she’d be arriving a few minutes from now. The short wait was aggravatingly long. When a taxi finally stopped in front of his sidewalk posts, relief flooded him. Daniel grabbed the taxi’s handle before Lori could change her mind and order the driver to U-turn.

  Lori got out from the cab and immediately wrapped her arms around his neck. He buried his forehead in her hair. “I am sorry.”

  “Don’t apologize. I shouldn’t have pulled a disappearing act. Either time.” She let out a little laugh. “After all, I’m no Las Vegas magic show.”

  “No. You’re better than that. You’re Daniel Vega’s magic show.” He leaned over to whisper sexily in her ear, “I’d love a private viewing.”

  A tap on his arm distracted him. He turned to see the cab driver holding Lori’s luggage. Daniel handed the man a thick wad of euros, more than enough money for the man to go away.

  “You were saying?” Lori prompted. Her big, dopey grin no doubt matched his own. “Something about my being the magic in your life. I’d love to hear more.”

  He held her tightly around the waist and kissed her deeply. “In what language?”

  “Spanish. Everything sounds sexier in Spanish. Besides, you are a Spaniard. I would never change a thing about you.”

  “How about my stubbornness?”

  She shrugged. “Eh, you can keep it, I guess. It gives me a challenge.”

  “Hmm. That was unexpectedly easy. How about my grouchy disposition? Can I keep that too?”

  “Something to consider. Given my own temperament, it’s a redundant trait for a couple to have.” She shot him the same smile he’d first been attracted to back in Las Vegas. Shy. Open. Reaching out through her heart. Oblivious to her own beauty, and her effect on him. He willed his libido to ease up on the tightening in his pants. Down, boy!

  “Are we a couple?” she asked. “I’d like to be.”

  “The only thing that can stop us from being together is ourselves. Not our family. Not our jobs.” He kissed her again. The taste of coffee on her lips was way more enticing than any café Americano he’d ever had. “I have no intention of blowing this. I will learn to listen to what you have to say. I will always know your intentions are the best. And I’ll give myself some credit, too. I don’t feel the need to prove myself anymore. If you can accept who you are, I can accept myself as I am too.”

  “Even the fact that you get testy,” she teased.

  “I’ll learn to lighten up.”

  “Any tips for me?”

  “Sure. Only one though. Love me. Because I’ve fallen in love with you.”

  Her mouth dropped open. The mixture of warmth and surprise the cutest expression he had ever seen.

  “Really?” she whispered. Her voice was barely audible over the sound of a Vespa whizzing by. “I never dared to hope I could have such luck.”

  “Love doesn’t need luck. It needs an open heart. You opened my heart for me.”

  “I’m in love with you too, Daniel.” She lifted herself up on her tiptoes to kiss him. “You’ve made me so much stronger.”

  “I didn’t do anything. You made yourself strong.”

  “You made me realize I was weak. It’s hard to break free when you don’t know what’s holding you back. I have you to thank for that. For seeing in me what I didn’t see. For making me laugh when I wanted to cry. For awakening in me the need to do more, and be so much more than I was before. I used to be happy accepting whatever I got. Grateful for life’s crumbs.”

  “I thought I was happy because I believed I had everything in the world. What I didn’t have was the love of a fine woman. Now I have you.”

  “I hardly know what to do with all this happiness.”

  “Get used to it, I guess. With all this drama behind us, there’s hardly a chance to fail.”

  “Hmmm. Are you sure there’s no luck involved with any of this? I’ve heard about the luck of the Irish. It’s time for the Spanish to get in on the act.”

  He kissed her again. “Maybe. If you married me, I’d be the luckiest man alive.”

  Lori gasped and embraced him. “Yes, I’ll marry you,” she said softly. “I can’t wait to start our new life together in Madrid.”

  Epilogue

  Lori waited at Madrid’s Barajas International Airport fiddling with her diamond engagement ring. This time, she wasn’t at the airport to fly back home. Instead, she was waiting for her mother to fly in for the wedding. Six months passed by so quickly. I can hardly believe it.

  In fact, a whole lot of things seemed unbelievable since the night Daniel proposed. The biggest change in her life was mo
ving in with him. His Madrid brownstone had become her Spanish palace. Since Daniel was now her metaphorical prince, she would be staying in Spain indefinitely.

  Ironically, the further she was geographically away from her mother, the tighter their bond had become. Her mother was happy Lori finally found her place to shine, even if it wasn’t working for Cayne Corporate Communications, Inc. The Skype communications they now shared were more intimate than they had ever been in person. Her mother was learning to listen. Lori was learning to express herself. Both women were working on building communication with Lori’s father.

  Lori’s campaign concept for Hotel Vega Madrid packed the hotel with American tourists. Daniel’s company flourished. There would be new hotels for him to build, and for her to tout. Being allowed to create her own publicity concepts finally made the job one she loved.

  “Lori?”

  Lori’s head whipped around at the sound of her mother’s voice. “Mom? I didn’t expect you off the plane this quick.”

  Her mother embraced her in a hug. “I missed you, honey.” She pulled back for a moment. “Let me get a good look at you.”

  Lori laughed. “I look exactly the same. It’s only been six months.”

  “Maybe. But I’ve never seen you look happier.”

  “Thank you, Mom.” Lori hugged her mother tightly. “I found myself in Spain.”

  Also by Stacy Hoff and Soul Mate Publishing:

  DESIRE IN THE EVERGLADES

  Stephanie Lang’s successful career as a television producer can’t give her everything she wants out of life. Her personal goals of writing a romance novel and finding true love languish. Emotionally scarred by her fiancé’s affair with her cousin, she doesn’t have the confidence to go after either goal again. At least she has professional confidence to fall back on; she is ready to produce the company’s next hit show.