What Happens in Mexico...Stays in Mexico

Chapter Twelve

Gazing around the airport, Sharra gave a heartfelt sigh.  She didn’t want to leave Puerto Vallarta…at least not yet.  The thought of returning to the states and reality didn’t seem a bit inviting.  But when Matt had shown her the tickets first thing that morning, she could see the determination in his eyes.  As much as she wanted to stay to experience the heartbeat of Mexico and get to know her new husband better, she knew he was still worried about what had happened to them in the jungle.

She’d expected a ticket back to Fresno, so she could get her life in order, but Matt had informed her in no uncertain terms that she was coming with him to San Francisco.  When she’d stiffened at his high-handedness, he’d hastened to explain since she still had a few days left of her scheduled vacation, he wanted her to spend the time with him.  Finish their honeymoon.  Since she wasn’t looking forward to seeing Frank and explaining the fact she’d fallen in love with and married another man…twice, she’d let him think he’d convinced her. 

Besides, she really did want to be with Matt for a little longer.  They needed the time together and they had some decisions to make about their future together.  So in reality, he would have been hard pressed to get rid of her, especially after the wonderful ceremony last night.

She smiled as she thought back to her wedding…well, at least the one she remembered.  It had been so beautiful, so sweetly romantic.  More than she’d ever hoped and dreamed of.  A far cry from the stuffy church Frank’s family grew up in, with its pinched-faced pastor who always looked so disapproving of her.  And she found she couldn’t regret not having an overblown reception at the equally conventional country club.  Frank’s mother had invited over five hundred guests, most of whom Sharra hadn’t even met, and she hated the maroon and gold trimmings the society matron had insisted were this years perfect flourishes!

No, this tiny white draped church with its smiling priest and congregation of a bedraggled horse and gap-toothed driver had been perfect.  The flickering lights and traditional ceremony was one she’d never forget.  Just like the reception for two Matt and Sharra had shared on an ocean-scented balcony.  Beautiful, intimate, filled with love and passion.  She wouldn’t have changed a thing.

And her wedding night wasn’t half bad either.  A grin split her face and she hugged herself.  No, it was a thousand percent better than any honeymoon in Paris.  Until she’d met Matt, she’d assumed sex was a pleasant twenty minute activity that she would have on schedule two or three times a week.  She’d never imagined the mind-blowing passion of a quickie in the shower, or that hours could be spent touching and tasting each other until you couldn’t take a second more and the need overwhelmed you.

Frank had made her feel totally inadequate, but one night in Matt’s arms had shown her that wasn’t true.  He seemed to have a constant erection when she was around.  In fact, if her husband’s loud groans and earthy shouts during their lovemaking were any indication, she was damned good!

“You ready to go, honey?”

Her husband’s voice jerked her back to the present and she turned.  Matt looked delicious in his tight jeans, blue T-shirt and dark jacket.  More cosmopolitan than she’d seen him before.  Her laid-back tourist lover was gone.  Only the bristly chin remained.  Sighing at the loss, she nodded.

“I just want to visit the ladies room before we get on board.”

He smirked as he dropped a kiss on her lips.  “Hurry.  I want to be in the air and going for entrance into the Mile High Club as soon as we can.”

She felt herself go red at the idea of having sex on a plane with people all around them.  “Matt!”

Bursting into laughter, he hugged her.  “You should see your face.  Christ, woman.  It’s our honeymoon, remember?  I haven’t touched you in…about an hour and a half.  I’m dying here.”

More warmth flooded her as she joined him in amusement.  “You’re insatiable.”

“Yup,” he inclined his head, completely unconcerned with the moniker.  “But only with you.”

“I love you.”

His smile broadened.  “I know.  And I really like that part about being married.”  He kissed her again and took her carry-on bag.  “Now go do your business.  I’ll meet you at the reception desk and then we’ll board.”

She nodded and turned toward the nearest bathrooms.  Sharra always made a point of going before she got on a plane or train.  She hated the small cubicles they had on board.  Often she wondered if she was claustrophobic.

Her mind was on tiny silver rooms and not on where she was going, and it was for that reason she ran into the person striding towards her.  She hit him with a muffled thud, dropping her purse.

“I’m so sorry,” she gasped as she bent to retrieve her bag.  “I wasn’t watch—”

“Sharra?  My God!  Is it you?” 

Icy shock traced down Sharra’s spine.  Lifting her gaze, she saw to her utter horror, her fiancé—ex-fiance—Frank standing in front of her.  Her throat closed down and she could only stare at him in mute surprise.

He looked exactly as he did before going to the office in the morning.  An elegant three piece, button down suit in dreary brown covered his lean, yet slightly flabby body.  He was sweating profusely, and she wondered briefly why he’d worn such a heavy suit into the heat of Mexico.  Yet knowing Frank, he’d probably have worn it to the beach as well.  His irritated clearing of the throat brought her back to the present.  She forced herself to speak.

“What…what are you doing here?”

He flicked at an invisible piece of dust on his sleeve.  “What do you think I’m doing?  I’ve come after you.”

“After me?” she echoed.

Frank looked around at the hordes of people milling around Puerto Vallarta’s small airport and sniffed bad-temperedly.  “After that man hung up on me, I waited for you to call and you didn’t.  I thought you might have gotten yourself in trouble, so I came to find you. It was all very inconvenient.   I had to put off a very important meeting, you know.”

Anger and surprise warred inside her.  “You worried I was in trouble, but you’re more upset because I messed up your schedule?”

“Don’t take that tone with me, Sharra.  Your last fling has cost me and Mother precious time.  The caterers, the country club, your gown fittings.  Since you weren’t available, I had Mother make the decisions for you.  If you don’t like them, it’s your own fault.  You should have been in Fresno, doing them yourself.  But at least you’ve come to your senses.  You’re here…in the airport and on your way home.  We can catch the next plane home and everything will get back to normal.”

Get back to normal.  She couldn’t help a shudder at his words.  That was the last thing she wanted.  And to her surprise, Frank’s reference of their upcoming wedding made her feel no guilt or anger this time.  The mention of his mother, which in the past would have sent her into a teeth-gnashing episode of fury, did absolutely nothing.  Instead she felt a curious sense of relief.  The last thing she’d expected to feel.  She stared up at him, trying to sort through her confused thoughts.

Why had she decided to marry this man in the first place?  He was handsome, if you liked the every-hair-in-its-place-at-all-times type.  His button down, white color looks were attractive to some women.  And his dark brown eyes were sexy, if he’d ever use them for something other than staring at a balance sheet.  His kisses had been nice, but cold.  She’d never felt as if it really mattered who he was kissing.  There had never been a spark.  That ultimate connection between them.

She’d enjoyed being with him at first.  He’d paid such close attention to her when they were dating.  He’d taken her to expensive restaurants and the opera, all places she’d never been to before.  She’d liked being on his arm.  And he was a gentleman, never touching her sexually.  Other than a gentle good night kiss, he never forced the issue until after they were engaged.

When they’d been seeing each other for several months, she’d told him about her father and what had happened.  The whole sordid story of how he’d taken one of his rich woman clients to bed to convince her to deal with him.  How they’d been discovered in flagrante delicto by the woman’s husband.  Since the man was one of the most powerful tycoons on the west coast, after he divorced his cheating wife, he made a point of destroying Sharra’s father.  Who, like the true coward he was, killed himself in shame, leaving his shocked, grieving widow and twelve year old daughter to pick up the pieces of their life.

She remembered that Frank’s face had gone all serious and still, and she’d thought at the time that he’d been angry with what her father had done.  She knew that was in part why she’d said yes.  His reaction to the devastating blow she’d suffered.  She’d believed him safe…that he would never cheat or lie to her, but now, she wasn’t so sure.  After several months of being engaged to him, she was pretty sure she’d been mistaken about his initial response.  It wasn’t anger at her father she’d seen, but disgust at being involved with someone who’d been part of such a tawdry situation. 

Could it have been his wealth?  He was rich, powerful and successful, but Sharra wasn’t mercenary.  While his money had been nice, it wasn’t what really appealed to her.  She loved her job as a graphic artist and had resented his constant harping about going out and getting a real job.  In fact, she hated the whole lifestyle she had been expected to conform to. 

And later on, he wasn’t all that fun to be with.  They never went to the movies, or on a picnic.  He’d never have thought of a carriage ride through the city or a dune buggy ride in the jungle.  In fact, when she thought back now, she had a hard time remembering anything they’d done that was fun.  Apparently, once the courtship was over, he didn’t think they needed to spend that quality time together.

So why had she said yes?  Why had she stayed with him?  Looking at him now, knowing the intensity of how she felt about Matt, she couldn’t think of one real reason, other than she gotten in the habit of being with him.  And she knew with a certainty that made her smile she’d never loved this man.  Nor had he ever really, truly loved her.  That made everything much clearer.

“Are you drunk?”  Frank waved a hand in front of her face and grimaced.  “My God, Mother will have a fit if I bring you home like this.  You look as if you just rolled out of a cheap Mexican bar.  Do you have something to change into?”

Sharra looked down at what she was wearing.  It was one of the bright, colorful sundresses she’d treated herself to.  She loved it and Matt’s eyes had glowed when he’d seen her putting it on.  “No.”

“No?”  Frank frowned again.  “Then what happened to your clothes?”

“That’s not what I mean.”  Sharra struggled for a moment, but then all her hesitation fell away and she was suddenly one hundred percent exactly sure of what she was going to say.  “I mean, no, I’m not coming back to Fresno.  I’m not going to marry you.”

Her ex-fiancé blinked twice, very precisely.  “Don’t be ridiculous.  We’re going to be married in ten days.  The country club is booked.  Mother has your gown all ready.”

“No, I don’t think so.”  Sharra’s voice was serene in its certainty.  “I’m breaking the engagement, Frank.  I’m sorry.  Very sorry to do it this way, but I can’t marry you.  You see, I don’t love you.”

His dark eyes widened as he ignored the second statement and concentrated on the first.  “You’re breaking our engagement?  You’ve got to be joking.”

She shook her head and sighed.  This was worse than she’d thought it was going to be.  Matt was right.  She should have done it over the phone and gotten it over with.  Although, she wasn’t sure Frank would have accepted it even then.  “I’m sorry.  I didn’t even know it myself until I got down here.  All I knew was that I was uncomfortable and needed a break.  But then I realized it wasn’t a break from the wedding plans I needed.”  She swallowed and met his eyes squarely.  “It was a break from you.”

“You think you can dump me in this scruffy little airport?”  His eyes had gone to narrow slits and his whole face tightened.  “Don’t be insane.  You’re my fiancé and you’ll do what you’re told.  I told you I’ll forgive your ridiculous fling, Sharra, but I won’t be toyed with any longer.  It’s time to come home.”

She took a step back from his obvious anger.  “I said I’m not going back to Fresno.  I won’t marry you.”

He grabbed her arm, so quickly she didn’t have time to move.  “You little bitch.  I told Mother you were too flighty, but she said we needed new blood and she could train you to be a lady.  But I’ll be damned if you’ll shame me in front of my family and friends this way.  You’ll marry me or I’ll ruin you.  You know I’m connected, Sharra.  I’ll make it so no one will ever hire you again.  If you think you’re father was destroyed, wait until you see what I’ll do to you.”

Her mouth dropped open at his threats.  Where had the quiet, gentle mama’s-boy gone to?  Or was this the real Frank?  Was this the way he’d become so powerful?  Through cruel intimidation?  Suddenly, she was seeing her ex-fiancé through new eyes.  She tried to pull away.  “Let me go!  There is nothing you can do to me.  I don’t love you and you’re right.  I’m not the right woman for you.”

“Is this about the man you’ve met here?  The one pretending to be your husband?”  Frank’s face went red.  “What is he, some cheap, hustler, Mexican gigolo?  I’ll bet he takes you to all the best bars and cheap motels.  If that’s how you wanted me to treat you, Sharra, all you had to do was ask.”

Anger raced through her at his disparaging remarks.  “You have no idea what Matt is like, and I don’t intend on telling you.  But I’ll give you this much.  He treats me like I’m precious to him and he’s made me know what it’s like to be a real woman.  And he’s not pretending to be anything.  Another reason I won’t marry you, Frank, is that I’m already married.  To him.”

Frank stared at her for a long moment then his eyes became so cold she swore she felt icicles forming.  “Then he was telling the truth on the phone.  You married him.  The day after you got here?”

She swallowed hard and nodded, refusing to tell him anything more.  He didn’t deserve it.  “I fell in love with him, Frank.  I didn’t mean to.  It just happened.  But I’m not sorry.  Except for the part about what it did to you.  For that, I will apologize.”

“An apology isn’t enough!”  Frank’s eyes flashed angrily.  “You cheated on me, you little whore.  Who the hell do you think you are?”  He swept back his hand to strike.

It never got to its target.

Suddenly, Matt was there and if Frank was mad, her new husband was all but raging with fury.  A solid uppercut to Frank’s jaw and the man was down on his ass.

“I’ll tell you who she is,” Matt growled as he pulled Sharra into his arms.  He ignored the murmuring crowd around them.  “She’s my wife.  And no one touches her but me.”

END OF CHAPTER TWELVE

* Chapter One * Chapter Two * Chapter Three * Chapter Four * Chapter Five * Chapter Six * 

* Chapter Seven * Chapter Eight *  Chapter Nine *  Chapter Ten * Chapter Eleven *

* Chapter Twelve * Chapter Thirteen * Chapter Fourteen * Chapter Fifteen * Chapter Sixteen *

* Chapter Seventeen * Epilogue *