“It’s so gorgeous here.” She leaned in to Rico to make sure he heard her.
He grinned, whipping his hair back from his face as he turned to smile at her. “It is. And what I’m going to show you now will take your breath away.”
That happened just looking at him, Teresa thought. But she was so glad to see pleasure in his eyes, in the easy curve of his mouth, she only said, “I’m ready.”
He laughed and stepped on the gas, sending the little red car hurtling along the road at a speed that brought a laugh from her throat.
The road wound on and Teresa hoped the ride would never end. She could spend eternity like this, she told herself. Beside Rico, off on an adventure together, with the wind in their hair and the sun on their faces. But eventually Rico pulled the car over and turned the engine off.
She looked around and saw a wall of rock spilling down into a patch of trees that looked cool and shadowed. “Where are we?”
“You’ll see.” He got out of the car, came around to her side and opened the door. “Just leave your sandals here. You won’t need them.”
Then, taking her hand, he led her into the cool shade of the stand of trees. Birds sang, the wind blew and under it all, she heard the steady roar of the ocean. But as Rico led her on, her bare feet making no sound on the sandy ground, that roar became louder and she noticed it didn’t have the sighing rhythm that she’d become used to. “What is that?”
He looked at her and grinned. “One moment and you’ll see for yourself.”
Using a series of timeworn rocks as steps, he led her down a narrow path through the trees. The roaring sound was even louder now and Teresa thought she knew what to expect. She was only half-right.
Stepping out into a clearing, she saw the waterfall she’d guessed was their destination. But she hadn’t been prepared for the sheer beauty of the place. It was deserted. Private. Water spilled from a rock overhang into a pond below that then drained down into a river whose twists and turns were swallowed by the jungle surrounding them.
Trees shielded the pond from most of the sunlight. Grass and vines clung to the rock face on either side of the waterfall itself, and the surface of the pond below frothed with the power of the surging water slamming into it.
He smiled at the expression on her face, then turned and led the way along the rocks until they reached the pond.
“This is so beautiful,” she said, looking up at him. “Thank you for bringing me here.”
His smile faded slowly as he looked at her. “I wanted to see it with you. It’s too far out from the hotels and the village for many of the tourists to know about. And most of the locals don’t come here.” He turned his gaze on the waterfall and the surrounding beauty before looking back at her. “So it’s where I come when I want to be alone with my thoughts.”
And he’d brought her here. Shared this with her. Her heart was touched and broken all at once. Who would he share his secrets with when she was gone? How would she bear it, knowing that one day he’d leave her memory behind and move on for good with some other woman?
“Teresa?” His brow furrowed and he set both hands at her waist. “Are you all right?”
No. “Yes. I’m fine.” She nodded, plastering a smile she didn’t feel on her face. “I should have brought a bathing suit.”
His eyes flashed and his lips curved in a wicked, completely tempting smile. “Here you won’t need one.”
A swirl of excitement fluttered to life in the pit of her belly and she went with it. As Rico undressed, so did she, and in a few short seconds, they were jumping into the pool at the base of the waterfall, swimming toward the curtain of water dropping from the overhang.
She hooked her arms around Rico’s neck and pressed close to him, loving the feel of his skin against hers. The cold, clear water fell over and around them, sealing them into a bubble of privacy that seemed to lock the rest of the world away. Here it was only the two of them. And that was just as she wanted it.
When he kissed her, Teresa gave him everything she had, everything she was. She poured her heart into the kiss and hoped he could feel her love in her touch.
His hand dropped to her core and slowly rubbed her center until she was writhing in his arms. The cold water on her skin and the heat he engendered with his touch combined to make Teresa feel as if she were about to splinter. And when her cl**ax hit, she clung to him, their mouths fused, their breath sliding from one to the other and just for that perfect moment, they were one.
Much later, after making love in a patch of sun-warmed grass, the two of them lay sprawled together beside the waterfall. The roar of the water was the only sound and Teresa was torn between sheer happiness and the grief of knowing that all too soon this time with her husband would end.
“What will you do when the month is up?”
She tipped her head back to look up at him. “I don’t know. Go back to my apartment in Naples, I suppose.”
Features grim, he nodded and said, “I’ve been thinking about this, as well, Teresa.”
“Really?” Was he going to ask her to stay? Could he put aside what had happened between them five years ago and allow for a future? Hope, that treacherous little beast, jumped up and down inside her.
“Yes.” He went up on one elbow and looked down at her. All trace of the romantic was gone from his expression. His features were drawn and tight and the hope inside her withered a bit in response.
This couldn’t be good.
“I’ve been thinking that you should not leave the island.”
And just like that, hope was back. She smiled up at him and felt the strangling knots around her heart loosen a little for the first time in years.
“You want me to stay?” Please say yes.
“Yes,” he said. “At least until we know if you are pregnant.”
This was why she rarely allowed hope to inflate inside her like an oversize balloon. Because when the inevitable happened and that balloon popped, the fall back to reality was a crushing one.
Rico didn’t want her. He wanted the child they might have made together. So much for fresh chances. For starting over. He couldn’t let go of the past and she couldn’t change it for him, so they were at a standstill.
“That’s why you want me here,” she said, for her own benefit more than his. She needed to hear herself say it. “Because I might be pregnant.”
“You will admit, there is a good chance you are.” He laid one hand against her flat abdomen as if already claiming the child that might be inside her. “And if you are, you will stay here. With me. No divorce.”