One Perfect Man. Lynda Sandoval

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СКАЧАТЬ moment of guilt for demanding the same for this job. A quinceañera was nearly as elaborate, and her time was at a premium. Feeling better about it, she took his hand. “Okay, Tomás. You’ve got yourself a deal.”

      He released a breath and clasped her hand between his. “Thank you. So much. You won’t regret this, Erica.”

      She laughed. “Remind me of that when I’m going nuts trying to plan this festival, all the weddings, and Hope’s party.”

      “Can I…” he swallowed “…do you need the money up front?”

      “No. I generally take payment the night of the event.” She didn’t miss his look of relief. The guilt tried to resurface, but she pushed it away. The man had agreed to pay. “I’ll need your approval for expenses, though. Those I’ll bill as they occur.”

      “No problem. And listen.” His tone lowered to a gentle, almost conspiratorial purr. “Go wild. If I have to assume a little debt for this thing, I’m okay with that. Just make it—”

      “Perfect?”

      He smiled. “Too much to ask?”

      “Well, it’s a tall order.” She wish he’d keep those off-limits dimples to himself. Gay man or not, they made her stomach flop. “But I’ll do my best for your daughter, Tomás.”

      “That’s all I’ve ever tried to do. I wouldn’t ask more from you,” he said, his words soft and…slightly troubled?

      They spent the next few moments exchanging phone and fax numbers, addresses and e-mail information—conduits to modern business function.

      Feeling calmer, or at least more resigned, Erica extracted her PalmPilot from her briefcase. “I’d like to meet Hope as soon as possible.” She consulted her planning calendar. “I’ll be heading to Santa Fe tomorrow morning, but I’ll be back next week. Monday. I’ve actually rented a place here just until the festival is over.”

      “You’ll be spending that much time here?”

      “I’ll be back and forth, but I do want to keep a close eye on the site.” She shrugged. “Short-term rental was cheaper than a hotel, and more convenient.”

      “Well, that’s great. It will be nice having you close.”

      Her stomach tightened, and she chose to ignore the comment. “What works for you, dinnerwise?”

      He seemed to take her lead, turning all business. “Monday?”

      She shook her head. “Actually, that’s my moving day, so probably not. Tuesday?”

      “Hope has a softball game that evening. Wednesday?” he offered. “Dinner. At our house, so Ruby can meet you, too.”

      Erica glanced up sharply. “Ruby?”

      “My grandmother.” He grinned. “She says it makes her feel younger to be called by her first name, so we humor her.”

      “Sounds like my kind of woman.” Erica looked forward to meeting her. “Wednesday looks clear.” She glanced at the business card he’d given her, which listed an address in Rociada, AKA out in the boonies.

      He seemed to read her mind. Again. “If you’d like, I can pick you up.”

      Not good. She always preferred to have her own transportation at hand, her own escape hatch, if you will. “Thanks, but I’ll drive. Just give me good, clear directions.”

      “No problem. Six too early? We’re more than happy to work our dinner hour around you.”

      She smiled genuinely at his consideration, thinking how nice it would be to know someone in town. And now that she knew his preferences, it would be easier to kick this unexpected and futile attraction she felt. “Six it is. Thank you.”

      “Bueno. Come hungry. I’m a whiz in the kitchen.”

      “You’ve got a deal.”

      Tomás headed for the door but stopped with his hand on the knob. He turned. “Erica? There is, ah, one other thing you should probably know.”

      Uh-oh. His words put her on instant alert. “Yes?”

      His mouth spread into a slow smile, almost as though he knew the effect it had on her stomach, almost as though he liked knowing it. “You misunderstood me earlier,” he drawled, a mischievous gleam in his eyes.

      “Oh? How so?”

      “I’m…not gay. Not even a little bit.”

      Chapter Three

      Tomás’s grandmother, Ruby, kept him company, sipping her nightly cup of green tea, while he washed up the dinner dishes and filled her in on his day just the way she expected him to—starting at the beginning and going straight through until the end. He’d just gotten around to explaining about the business arrangement he’d reached with Erica.

      Lamplight mellowed the mango-colored walls to a peachy gold, and the air remained redolent with the smells of chicken and green chile. His daughter was, as usual, cloistered in front of the computer in her room, working on homework—he hoped. She had finals in a few weeks and was a conscientious student. In any case, he had every parental control known to man on the computers in this house, so he didn’t harbor many chat-room nightmares about Hope. He still wished he knew a little more about how she spent her time on that darn thing sometimes.

      “So, anyway, she thought I was gay,” Tomás told Ruby, with a rueful smile.

      “The event planner?”

      “Yup.”

      For a moment, his grandmother just grinned. “Well, did she mean happy or homosexual?” She knew full well which.

      Tomás snorted.

      Ruby sipped, swallowed, then shook her head. “I don’t know what possessed people to change the meaning of a perfectly acceptable word,” she mused, mostly to herself. “It’s confusing for everyone, and homosexual is as serviceable a term as any.”

      “You’re missing the point, Rube. A good-looking, single, twenty-eight-year-old woman thought I was—”

      “You don’t date. What’s she supposed to think? And I didn’t miss the point, I was just thinking aloud.”

      “How would she know I don’t date? Today was the first time I’ve ever seen her in person.”

      “It’s the vibe, sonny.” She grouped the fingertips on one hand together and shook them. “You give off a vibe.”

      He pondered his reflection in the window over the sink. “Maybe I need a new style. Or a tattoo. Something manly, like a power tool.”

      “Oh, don’t be silly. What do you care if she thinks you’re homosexual anyway?”

      “I…I don’t.” He wasn’t truly bothered by Erica’s mistake, but it was fun to joke about it. If he’d given it more СКАЧАТЬ