Emery
There was a ton of coverage about my letter to the press over the following five days but I ignored all of it. I hadn’t turned my phone back on and I wasn’t missing it. I knew I needed to get on having a new number assigned but I was enjoying my lazy, happy days with Rafael, which meant I was in no hurry to do anything practical. When she needed to talk, Kaya texted me on Rafe’s phone, something I apologized to him for every time but he just laughed, said his stuff was mine and told me not to worry about it.
Because I’d promised Kaya I wouldn’t do any sightseeing until she arrived, Rafe and I kept our outings simple. Each day at some point he took me to Starbucks, which I loved. We would then go to lunch or dinner, depending on what time it was.
On Friday, we went into town a little early because, although he worked the majority of the time from home, he had to go into the office. This was because he’d needed someone in the tech division to pull all of the data from his laptop and transfer it to a new one. I felt terrible since the reason the laptop was busted had everything to do with Elvis knocking it off an outdoor coffee table with his plumage, but Rafael didn’t care at all.
While we were there, he was pulled into a brainstorming session with a few members of the Barcelona team. I’d only realized a few days before what he did, so seeing it up close and personal was interesting. Because Rafe was so casual and unassuming, I was surprised when he told me he was in charge of international social media marketing for his family’s business, CS Markets. This meant he oversaw a global staff of over a thousand people—and further, it meant that he traveled around the globe to the main CS hubs as needed.
With him in the conference room brainstorming, I got to explore his office and what I found was that it didn’t match up with what I knew of him as a person at all. To me, Rafe was a big, warm, affectionate man— but his office didn’t give that vibe at all. The glass and steel furnishings were cold and lifeless, and other than one framed photo of the entire family at Mateo and Ava’s wedding, there were no personal accents anywhere.
Since he’d given me his password and told me to feel free to use his computer, I took a seat behind his desk and got onto the internet. One thing led to another and before I knew it, I was looking at real estate in Spain, specifically within a ten-mile radius of the Cruz house. Everything I saw was beautiful, but my eyes kept going back to the eyesore of the bunch. Although the landscape was overgrown and the plaster on the exterior was peeling, something about the listing called out for me to check it out. Giving in to temptation, I clicked on the picture.
There was a lot of info to take in about the country house that had been built in the early part of the twentieth century. There’d been a substantial amount of updating done over the years, but my guess was that had stopped around fifteen years ago. The kitchen was awful and I didn’t care for the black and white tile that had been used too liberally around the house but most everything else had a certain charm to it. Although the house had fallen into disrepair, I thought the bones of it seemed solid—and the view of Barcelona was unparalleled.
I was so engrossed in going through the pictures that I didn’t hear Rafe come back into the office. When he spoke, I jumped about a mile. “What’s so fascinating, Dulce Niña?”
I must’ve looked as guilty as Elvis did whenever he was caught stealing things. I shifted in the chair uncomfortably as I bit my lip and blinked up at him.
“Emery,” he laughed, “what the fuck? Are you looking at porn or something?”
I scrunched my nose and rolled my eyes. “No! Nothing like that, but you’re going to think I’m nuts when you see what I’m doing. Come look.”
He shook his head as he came around the desk and looked at the screen. I looked up and watched his face as he realized what I’d been looking at. Instead of giving me a look like I was nuts, he smiled. “It’s a house.”
“I know it’s dumb but I was bored so I started exploring and one thing led to another…”
“It’s not dumb,” he assured me. “In fact I’m quite happy to see you looking at real estate here. This house, though. It’s kind of a wreck, no?”
I got excited as I leaned forward, put my hand on the mouse, and clicked to enlarge the pictures. “You’re saying that because the landscaping is a mess, but that’s an easy fix. Look closer and you’ll see that the bones are so, so good.”
He made a hmm sound as I took us to the next photo, which happened to be the view overlooking Barcelona from the wraparound terrace on the second floor.
“That’s stunning,” he admitted.
Excited, I kept going. “Look at the beams in the bedroom. As huge as the room is, it looks so cozy.”
He nodded as he came in closer, his chin just against my shoulder as I went through the next few photos. “That black and white tile, though.”
I nodded. “It’s got to go. But wait ‘til you see the stone and brick walls in the dining room. There’s so much character to this house it’s crazy. They don’t build things like this anymore.”
He let out a bleh noise when I got to the kitchen. “I know, I know. I agree that it’s one of the ugliest things ever. Whoever had the idea to paint biblical scenes on the cabinetry wasn’t pulling from a full deck. Look beyond the terrible painting and you’ll notice that the kitchen itself is large and airy.”
He made a sound of agreement as he reached out and put his hand over mine on the mouse. Shrinking the pictures, he scrolled to the pricing and square footage information before he scrolled up to the address. Seeing it, he chuckled. “This is less than a mile and a half from my parents’ house.”
I nodded. “I had the search narrowed to a ten mile radius.”
He nodded and said, “smart,” as he reached across the desk and picked up the phone. The call he made was done in rapid fire Spanish that I struggled to decipher. Aside from figuring out that he was talking about the house to someone, and that he’d told whoever it was that I didn’t speak Spanish, I had no clue. When he hung up the phone, I stared up at him expectantly.
“Who did you call?”
“The estate agent,” he answered. “Grab your purse—we’re meeting him there in an hour.”
My eyes just about bugged out of my head. “We are?”
Crouching down, he swiveled the office chair so that I was facing him. “Of course we are, Miel. I want you here with me permanently, and for that to happen we need a home of our own. I’ve wanted to start the hunt but I felt like you probably needed a little more time to acclimate to the idea of making a life here in Spain. You’ll find when Kaya gets here on Monday that Alejandro has been pumping her full of facts and information to lure you into staying. The three of us have been conspiring by email.”
My stomach was full of butterflies as I bit my lip and looked at him from beneath my lashes. “You don’t think this is nuts? We’ve only known each other for a week.”
He set a hand down on both of my thighs and squeezed gently. “To some people it might seem nuts, but you need to remember that you’re talking to someone whose parents got married five days after they met. The moment I met you I knew something big was happening. For the whole first night, I thought maybe I was going crazy but the following morning when you came out of the guesthouse and I saw you in the light of day I knew nothing else mattered. I’m in love with you, Emery.”
I made a choky little gasping noise as my eyes got watery. “You are?”
He chuckled huskily. “Mi Dulce Niña. I brought you home to Spain because I knew you were it. You are everything to me. Of course I love you.”
I sniffled and gave him a wobbly smile. “I love you too.”
His answering smile was so big I knew I would remember it for the rest of my life.
“I want to hear that from you every day for the rest of my life,” he rasped as he stood and pulled me up from the chair. Wrapping one arm around my waist, he held me close and cradled my face with his other hand. “You make me so fucking happy, Miel.”
The look in his eyes as he stared down at me was the biggest gift I’d ever received. Part adoration, part joy, it made me weak in the knees. I smiled up at him adoringly as he tilted my chin and lowered his lips to mine. The kiss he gave me then was so good I nearly wept. When he raised his head I was breathless but ecstatic.
“I love you,” I murmured.
“Love you too, Miel. Now let’s go find a home.”
* * *
When we pulled down the drive and parked in the circular driveway in front of the house, I knew I wanted it. I was practically buzzing in the passenger seat of the Range Rover as Rafe parked.
“Should I tell him we don’t even need the tour since you’re already picking out furniture in your mind?” Rafe teased.
I snickered as I leaned over and jabbed him with my elbow. “You hush. I want the tour.”
He laughed as he got out of the car and walked around to get me. Opening the door, he held out his hand and helped me down before sliding his fingers through mine. As we walked up the front path, the agent opened the door. After introducing himself to me, Fausto Sandoval guided us into the house.
I squeezed Rafe’s hand in excitement as I got my first look at the space, which, incredibly, was even better than the online photos.
“All six of the bedrooms have attached bathrooms and dressing areas. The electricity was upgraded in two thousand two and there’s radiant heat beneath the floor in the master bedroom and bath.”
It was a lot of space and I loved every single inch of it. We explored it all, each room getting me more excited than the last. My level of enthusiasm rose exponentially as we walked out of the kitchen onto the terrace that had the incredible view of Barcelona, because I felt as if Rafe had fallen in love with the house too.
As much as I loved the interior, it was the outside that sealed it for me. The agent left us alone while we walked it, the two of us talking out the interesting things about the property as we went. While there was a ton of overgrown weeds and shrubs, the trees that lined the property were mature and in perfect health. I had no problem visualizing how incredible the landscaping would look or how much Elvis would love the yard. There was a surprisingly new in-ground pool that was nice, but in no way matched what the yard needed to be. Rafe concurred when I pointed that out.
“The footprint of the pool is too small for the property and the dark liner matches nothing about the house. On the other hand, it shows us exactly how much space there is back here, underneath all the overgrowth. I love how private it is and I can see how easy it would be to secure the property in a way that would please the security team.”
Letting go of my hand, Rafe wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me into him. “It needs a lot of work. All of the windows need to be replaced, the plumbing will need to be upgraded as well as the heating and cooling system and I’d have to do another overhaul of the electric system to keep up with the amount of computer equipment I have in my home office.”
I nodded. “The kitchen and all of the checkered tiles have to go and I’d want to have all of the dressing rooms and bathrooms redone in some way, some more than others.”
Rafael grinned as he looked down at me. “You love this house, don’t you?”
I bit my lip and grinned as I looked away. “I do, but there’s no rush. We have all the time in the world to look at others.”
“Got it,” he said as he slid his hand back into mine and began to guide me back toward the house. “Let’s tell Fausto that we’re finished here.”
I wanted the damn house so bad I was practically salivating, but his wanting to leave told me he wasn’t as into it as I was. I reminded myself that good relationships involved compromise. I further assured myself that we would find another house that spoke to me as much as the country house did—we just needed to look for it. The most important thing was that I had Rafael—and that was worth more to me than any house, no matter how beautiful or inviting the house in question was. Squeezing his hand, I leaned into his arm and smiled up at him as we walked.
“No sexy smiles while we’re somewhere I can’t touch you, Miel,” he groaned.
I giggled as we stepped up onto the back patio and walked into the house through one of the French doors. Fausto hurried over to us like a good salesman.
“What did you think?”
I knew Rafe was going to tell him we weren’t interested, so I prepared myself to leave the most perfect house ever.
“We want it,” Rafe announced, “but it’s overpriced for the amount of work that needs to be done to bring it up to speed. Draft up an all cash offer that’s eleven percent below asking price and take it to the owners. If they accept, I’d like to close as soon as possible so that I can get the architectural firm my parents used for their renovation out here. The sooner we can get the ball rolling the better.”
I’m surprised my jaw didn’t crash through the tile on the floor. “Really?” I squealed.
Rafael squeezed my hand as he turned and smiled down at me. “Of course, Dulce Niña. This feels like us.”
The only thing that kept me from throwing myself into Rafe’s arms was the fact that the agent was watching. When I turned his way, Fausto looked suspiciously like he might do a jig. Even taking eleven percent off the price, we were still looking at well over six million dollars. “I’ll get the paperwork drafted and submitted as soon as I get back to the office,” he said cheerfully. “Between the three of us I have no doubt that they’ll accept. They knew they’d take a bit of a hit, but what you’re offering is more than fair.”
Two hours later, we got a call letting us know that he’d been right—the offer had been accepted. Wasting not even five seconds of time, Rafe spent the next hour calling moving companies in Malibu and making arrangements. Money talked and he booked a team to empty out my house the next day. After he finished setting that up, he called Jandro and told him that he’d hired someone to empty out my Malibu rental. Although he didn’t mention the fact that we’d bought a house, he did say that I was staying in Spain.
I felt a little weird about people packing my house without me there but Kaya got on the phone and assured me she’d oversee it. With the size of the team Rafe hired it wasn’t expected to take more than four hours, tops. When I said I didn’t want to burden her with that she assured me that nothing would make her happier than to have me living in Spain since she was moving in with Alejandro in Barcelona. I couldn’t imagine a scenario in which I could be any happier.