are my favorite. I love them.”
“Really?”
“Yes. They’re stunning, thank you,” I say, wondering how he could possibly know to get me peonies. “I’m just gonna put them in water, I’ll be right back.”
I scurry to the kitchen, fish out a vase from underneath the sink and arrange the beautiful bouquet. When I’m done, I place them in the center of my dining room table, grab my purse again and head back to a waiting Victor.
“Okay. I’m ready!” I say, locking my door behind me.
“Then let’s go,” he says as he grabs my hand and pulls me in the direction of his car. “You look beautiful tonight.”
“Thanks, so do you.” He chuckles. “Well, not beautiful, handsome, you know what I mean.”
“I gotcha!”
Victor helps me in the car. “So where are we going?”
“We’re going to my hotel.” He grins and closes my door before I can reply. I feel the heat rush up to my cheeks and panic strikes me. He gets in the car and I can do nothing but stare at him in horror.
“What’s the matter?”
“What do you mean we’re going to your hotel?”
“Babe.”
“What?”
He laughs. “Relax.” He grabs my hand and starts to massage my palm with his thumb. “You just found out something kind of shocking about me. You must have a lot of questions and I want you to be able to ask them without being interrupted. We’ll order room service and talk. I promise you nothing more than that will happen.” He gives me the knee melting smile. “Unless you want it to.”
“Talking is good. Let’s focus on that, okay?”
“Let’s focus on that then,” he says with a wink.
We make it to Victor’s hotel in record time. He holds my hand and leads me through the hotel to a room on the top floor. He opens the door and motions for me to enter first. I’m blown away by the sheer size of his room. It’s more like an apartment. The living room area alone is the size of my living room and dining room combined. Being here with him makes me nervous and I hope that he’s serious when he says we can focus on talking.
“Make yourself comfortable. I’m gonna get us the room service menu so we can order dinner.”
I plop down on the oversized couch and try to calm my nerves. He said we would talk and nothing more. In order to get through this evening, I have to allow myself to trust that he was telling the truth. Victor came back with the menu and we ordered dinner.
After our meal, we sat together on the couch, my feet up, tucked under my behind. Victor is holding my hand in his.
“Listen, Ellie, I can’t say for sure that I know exactly where this is going between us, but I do know that I want to find out. I haven’t been able to get you off of my mind since I met you in the bookstore.”
I sigh, debating between being honest about how I feel or playing it cool. I decide that if I am going to give this a go, I need to try and be honest with him as well as myself. “I’ve thought a lot about you too.”
“That’s good to hear,” he says, bringing his hand up to stroke my cheek with his thumb. Damn it but that feels good. “Okay. So now that you know what I do for a living, I’m an open book. Ask me anything you want to know.”
I try to form a coherent thought but it’s not easy with him touching me. Even the gentlest touch from Victor gets my mind jumbled. I take a breath and quickly regain my composure. “How long have you been a singer?”
“Well, I started working toward becoming a singer when I was very young but I signed my record deal when I was 17. I released my first album when I was 18 and the rest is history.”
“What made you wanna do this?”
“My mom was an aspiring singer when she was younger. I grew up watching old videos of her on stage with this little band she had. It looked like fun so I started singing. My mom was in heaven. I think she lives vicariously through me.”
“Why do you sing Spanish music? I mean you were born and raised here, so why not English?”
“Well, I guess because it’s what I grew up listening to. My mom was always playing Spanish music around the house when she was cleaning or cooking.”
“Have