I would have answered him, but the pool man came back around the house, walking in quick, angry strides to the waterfall.
"I thought you were leaving,” I called to him.
He didn’t look at me. He let his toolbox thunk to the ground and knelt beside the valve box. "I go to my truck, and you yell at me for not finishing the job. So now I finish the job. I fix the waterfall, then I adjust the chlorine so it not burn your eyes.” He flipped open the valve box, took out a wrench, and twisted something viciously.
Grant looked at the pool man, then back at me questioningly.
I lowered my voice and shrugged. "He has a drinking problem, but, well, I keep him around because he’s getting help."
"We can go back inside," Grant said.
I shook my head, and this time I switched to Spanish when I spoke to the pool man. "I’m really sorry to keep asking you to leave. I can’t explain myself to you, but go back to your truck, and if I yell at you again for leaving, remind me that I have a visitor by the pool—a visitor I need to be discreet about.”
The pool man stopped mid twist and stared at me. "You speak Spanish?” he asked.
"Yes,” I said.
"Okay," he said, and then in Spanish added, "And, uh, I’m sorry about those things my men said when they came to clean your pool. They didn’t know you could understand."
He picked up his toolbox, still apologizing about whatever his workers had said, then waved good-bye in my direction and went around the side of the house.
When I turned back to Grant, he eyed me in surprise. "I thought you couldn't speak Spanish. It’s there in chapter one—your dad never exposed you to your cultural roots.”
"He didn’t. That doesn't mean no one did, though.” I should have shrugged and told him, "Well, you can’t believe everything in Lorna’s book.” But it was getting harder to lie to him. I changed the subject before he could ask further questions about where I’d learned Spanish. "Anyway, where were we before that interruption?”
"You were telling me that you were going to dump Michael and give us a chance."
I smiled at him. “I don’t think I said that.”
"You were thinking it, though. I could tell.”
Maybe I was thinking it, but I couldn’t say it. I gazed at the sky, gathering strength, enjoying this last moment before everything turned awkward between us. Finally I turned to him again, looking at eyes that were the same color as the sky.
He grinned and waited for my answer.
I said, "You’ve never had a girl turn you down in your life, have you?”
"Nope.” He ran his thumb lazily across my fingers. “Don’t break my streak.”
He said this so casually, so confidently, offering more proof that celebrities lived above the rest of us, getting whatever they wanted and choosing when to love and when to discard us. "You've never had a girl turn you down?”
He shrugged. "There was Hayley Powell in the first grade.
I asked her to marry me and she stuck her tongue out. Put me right off proposing.”
"Hmmm,” I said, trying to sound analytical. This was hard to do. He pulled my hand toward him, making me lean closer.
The jangling of the toolbox broke into the moment. The pool man stormed back over to the valve box, dropping his toolbox with a dramatic clank. "I taking care of the waterfall now!” he yelled. "You see? So now you no play your little games. It's because Enrique said, ‘Ella cree que su caca no huele.' This is why you are trying to make me loco, no?” In Spanish I said, “Didn’t you explain—”
"Yes, I explain,” he said. "But then you told me you no speak Spanish.”
Oh. I guess I should have mentioned that he’d have to speak to Kari in English.
I turned back to Grant. "I think he's off his medication. Maybe we should let him finish and have this conversation another time.”
I motioned to get up, but Grant squeezed my hand and lowered his voice. "We don’t have to wait for another time. Just say yes."
"Yes to what?”
“Yes to us.”
I leaned closer, keeping my gaze on his hands so I didn’t have to meet his eyes. "It’s not that easy. Things are complicated right now, complicated in ways I can’t explain. But I do like you—I’m telling the truth about that. It's just that there are—” I glanced up and saw Kari standing behind the glass door, mouth open, hands on her hips, staring at us. Grant's back was to her. But when he saw my startled expression, he turned his head, following my gaze.
"Grant!” I called, yanking his attention back to me.
"What?” he asked.
I had to do something. I couldn’t let him turn around again. So I leaned all the way into him, putting my knee on his chair to keep my balance. I took hold of his shoulders and kissed him. And not lightly—this was a don’t-you-dare- open-your-eyes, full-on kiss.
Only I kept my eyes open because Kari was mouthing, "What are you doing?”
With one hand I waved in Kari’s direction, telling her to go away, since I really couldn't say anything at that point. But I stopped waving when Grant wrapped his arms around my back.
Kari glared at me, then turned on her heel and flounced out of sight. She wasn’t happy about this, but at least she knew to keep hidden until Grant left.
Which meant I could stop kissing Grant now. Only, the feel of his hands moving slowly down my back made my heart ricochet in my chest. I didn’t want to move. I shut my eyes, relaxed into him, and didn’t end the kiss for several more moments. When I finally did sit back in my chair, I could only stare at him, breathing hard. I didn’t know what to say.
"I take it that was a yes," he said.
That would be the foregone conclusion, wouldn’t it? How could I say no now? I looked at the empty sliding glass door. "We’ll have to be discreet. No one can know about this. No one can see us together."
"Right,” he said. "Let the paparazzi harass someone else for a while.”
I'd completely forgotten about the pool man until he called over, "I'm done now. Everything is okay.” Then he waved his wrench at me with a sly smile. "I understand now why I think I go crazy. I see the two of you together. …” He apparently couldn’t come up with the word for twins in English, so he said it in Spanish. “Gemelas." Then he headed back around the side of the house, this time with an easy, confident gait.
Grant watched him go. "Gemelas?”
"Gemini,” I said. "You know—the astrological sign." Which strictly speaking is true. Gemini is the sign of the twins.
"Geminis drive him crazy?” Grant blinked in confusion. "I'm an Aries."
I shrugged. "Some people just don’t make a lot of sense.”
He took my hand, as though it wasn’t worth figuring out, and then he kissed me again.
My heart somersaulted in my chest. Maybe I could make this work. Maybe I could find a way to be with him so he’d never figure out the truth. Or maybe after I was sure he liked the real me—not Kari—I could tell him the truth about everything. There were too many maybes scurrying around like mice underfoot, but they were all I had.
He leaned away from me, smiling.
I smiled back at him. "I wish you could stay for a while, but I've got a full schedule this afternoon.”
"That's okay,” he said. "We can get together tomorrow, or the next day. When do you have some free time?”
I stood up and glanced at the sliding door. Still clear. "I’ll check my schedule and call you." Now that I had my afternoons free, I should be able to see him without Maren knowing. He stood up and we held hands as we walked back through the house—this time thankfully without getting lost.