The Playboy's Touch (Book 2)

Chapter 23

Enrique

I saw Cecilia everyday for the next week. I knew I was going overboard and her mother was losing her mind everyday I didn’t propose.

People talked about how the girl had snatched up one of the most eligible bachelors and had him wrapped around her finger. Others rumored I had already bedded her and it was out of responsibility and some thought I was being blackmailed. It was ridiculous what people were willing to say about her-all she did was greet me and spend time with me. It was I who sprung this on her. She was just looking out for herself-she knew if I proposed she’d have to say yes, even if she didn’t love me and she knew I didn’t love her.

For five days I saw her-and for five days Rachel avoided me completely. I saw her once in the hall but she turned a corner before I could even see her face. And oh, did I miss her face.

I missed all of her.

The lack of her presence was suffocating and I felt it wherever I went.

One afternoon I was in my office going over ledgers again when my father walked in.

“I still don’t know why you won’t move into the main office son,” he said.

“I don’t consider it mine entirely yet,” I responded not looking up.

I continued to read and take notes in silence. My father was standing in front of my desk saying nothing and it eventually caused me to look up. He was looking at me carefully with his small black eyes and he was frowning.

“What are you doing son?” He asked quietly.

“I’m going through numbers. I just checked-“ I stopped talking when he shook his head.

“No-what are you doing with Cecilia Campos?”

“I’m courting her of course.”

“No..what you’re doing is wasting time.” He said under his breath.

I stood and walked to him. “I thought this was what you wanted-for me to settle down. To marry. To provide an heir.” He shook his head and it angered me. “Father it’s what you’ve been bothering me with for years! I’m finally doing as you wanted!”

“This isn’t what I wanted Enrique! I didn’t want you to marry the first girl that you were introduced to!”

I rolled my eyes and turned away. “She’s hardly the first woman I’ve been introduced to father. And as you wanted-I’m not leading her on or bedded her. I’m courting her like a man courts a woman he’s to marry.”

“And does she know this? Is she aware of your intentions?”

“I’m sure she does, she’s a smart girl. Plus, her mother is overjoyed and just waiting for me to propose.”

He stared at me for a moment, not knowing what to say. But when he spoke I wish he hadn’t.

“What about Rachel?”

I felt ice run through my veins at the mention of her name. I saw her face in my mind, heard her voice and laughter in flashes.

“What about her?” I asked flatly.

“Do you not care about her-about what will happen when you marry Miss Campos?”

“She will be just fine. She introduced her to me after all.”

He looked at with serious eyes. “What about when she leaves? When she goes back home to London?”

I felt as if someone had punched me in the gut.

She was leaving. I had forgotten.

Her time was limited here.

The days and weeks had passed without me noticing.. and she’d be leaving.

I looked up at Father and he was looking at me with sad eyes. He reached out and held me by the shoulders.

“Don’t do this son. Don’t her her slip through your fingers. Any man would be happy to be in your shoes, to have found what you have.”

I took a risk and asked him, “and what is that?”

He just smiled at me and in his eyes he answered my question before he even spoke.

“Love son. You’ve found love.”

I felt my eyes fill with tears. The room began to spin and I had to step away from him.

I shook my head. “No. You’re wrong. I haven’t found that. I don’t love Rachel.”

“Son you’re a fool for trying to convince yourself otherwise. I know you!” He said. “I see how you look at her! How when she talks or enters a room you see and hear no one but her. I see how you cling to every word she says and find amusement in interest in her comments, even if they’re sarcastic and full of irritation towards you.”

I shook my head again. “No father.. we’re friends.”

“And that’s the beautiful thing. You found love with a beautiful woman who’s your friend. There is no greater love than that.” Then he smiled. “It was the same without your mother and I.”

“You’re wrong,” I whispered, feeling the tears in my eyes. I shook my head, trying to erase everything he had said.

I couldn’t be in love with Rachel-I couldn’t.

Father only looked at me and said one more thing before he left. “Don’t let yourself lose her Enrique. You’ll hate yourself if you do.”

When he left I stumbled to my chair. The room seemed to be spinning.

I thought of everything he had said-of every moment with Rachel.

With each passing moment, every conversation and argument she had imbedded herself in me. She had become a part of my daily life-of my comfort-of my home. I tried imagining my life when she left, not seeing her lovely face. Not hearing her snarky remarks or looking into her blue eyes. And at the thought of it, I felt empty.

And then I thought about father. I remembered the way he looked at mother. He worshipped her, everywhere she went and everything she did my dad cherished. There was nothing about her that he didn’t love. I had heard him say that my mother was his very core, that his love for her was the center of who he was.

And the day that we lost her, the day that he lost the love of his life, he was haunted by the emptiness of the house. He looked for her in every corner, expected to see her in every room and yearned for her presence at every moment.

And in that moment, despite my denial and my inner battle to refuse such feelings, I felt something sink deeper in me. A force, an awakening and overwhelming sensation that I knew I couldn’t run from anymore.

I loved Rachel.

It had snuck up on me, dug its way into my heart and very soul.

I loved her.

And my heart wouldn’t let me ignore it anymore.