Playing With Fuego Part 22

She translated for the Garcias, and the three of them conversed for a couple of long minutes while I tried to catch a word here and there. Banco was bank...barato was cheap. That didn't bode well.

"He says they have the same problem as you because it's hard to sell anything right now. That's why he wants to buy yours instead of trying to sell his so he can buy something bigger. He wants to a.s.sume your mortgage."

If that was one of the conditions, this was going nowhere. "Good luck with that. I had to jump through a thousand flaming hoops to a.s.sume my own mortgage when Emily left. They wanted me to refinance."

"Ronaldo knows Juan. They'll work it out."

In other words, Ronaldo could work one of those Latin deals under the table, while I couldn't. I hate those shenanigans except when they work out well for me, and this did. In fact, it was the white knight rescue I'd thought was impossible. "And everything's on the up and up?"

Mari nodded. "You lose your initial investment, but you get to walk away. No more debt and your credit rating won't take a hit."

Walk away to where? It would mean I didn't own a home anymore. Sure, I could probably buy one just like mine on another floor for a hundred thousand less, but I had nothing for a down payment, and probably couldn't qualify for a new mortgage by myself anyway.

It was way too soon to think about moving in with Mari. I loved her and I even dreamed about growing old together, but we'd never talked about a life like that, not even once. Jumping into something after only three months of dating was crazy. I'd done that with Emily, and it had ended in disaster.

Besides, Mari hadn't exactly asked me to move in with her. The last woman she'd lived with burned her with a felony charge. As best I could tell, she was happy shuffling back and forth between my place and hers. It was safe, a way for both of us to have all the best things about a relationship with none of the pressure.

Not that I have anything against a little pressure. Marriage between two women is legal in New Hampshire. I could maybe drop an engagement ring into her Christmas stocking. No rush...just something to pencil in at a future date when we both realize how magnificently this is working out.

"Daphne?"

"I'm thinking."

I could rent something, maybe over on Brickell so we could be closer to each other. One-bedroom apartments were going for a third of what I'd been paying on my mortgage, so I'd have enough left over to have a life with fashionable clothes. And I wouldn't have to buy generic toilet paper anymore.

"Okay, what would I have to do?"

"Say yes and give Ronaldo a copy of your loan papers. He'll take it from there."

"Yes." The moment the word left my lips, it was if I'd broken the shackles and stepped free for the first time in three years. I found myself celebrating joyously right along with the Garcias, and Mari looked like she'd just negotiated world peace.

We ran back upstairs to make copies of the doc.u.ments, and after delivering them to Ronaldo, returned to my place, where I walked from room to room as if saying goodbye to it already. A small apartment within easy walking distance of Mari's would be perfect.

"Daphne,with Juan's help, this paperwork could go through pretty fast, but I don't want you to feel rushed about anything. You can stay with me until you decide what to do."

Well, there you go. I guess that put us on the same page...not ready to live together, even though we hardly spent a night apart. That said, what I really wanted was a commitment, not something as dramatic as a bent knee proposal, but something a little more promising than putting me up while I look for a place to live.

Not that I have anything against bent knee proposals.

"Though if you're planning to stay in Miami, it would be silly to move into my place for just a few weeks and then move out again. Just come live with me."

Hold that thought.

"What do you mean if I stay in Miami?"

She huffed softly and slumped onto the couch. "You're the one who talks about the big corporate job you missed out on because you came to Miami to be with Emily. Now you're free to go if a job in Boston is what you really want."

I hadn't thought about that job in weeks, or for that matter, leaving Miami. "Is that your way of telling me I shouldn't make the same mistake I did with Emily by staying here to be with you?"

"I didn't say that at all. I just don't want you to stay with me if it means you'll have regrets."

In the first place, it wasn't even relevant because there wasn't a job offer to consider. And in the second place, "Why would I even look for another job if I'm happy here?"

"Are you?" She patted the couch beside her and wrapped an arm around my shoulder when I sat down. "I remember when all you wanted was a way out of Miami."

"That was before I met you."And admittedly before I'd had the pleasure of watching the symphony from box seats, eating dinner aboard a private yacht, and skipping past the rope lines to get into the hottest clubs on South Beach. Miami really is the Magic City when you have access to money.

I wish I hadn't thought about money when I was trying to make a point about what a difference Mari had made in my outlook. The real changes had happened in my head and heart the moment I quit fighting the Latin culture and embraced it, especially once I understood why feelings about Cuba ran so deep. This was now home and I wanted to be here.

"How could I love you and not Miami? You're practically one and the same."

"Is that a good thing?"

"It's a great thing." I snuggled into her side and trailed my fingers lazily along her forearm, smiling to see goose b.u.mps rise in the wake. "There's an old saying"-nothing as colorful as snoring mangos-"that happiness isn't getting what you want. It's wanting what you already have. That's where I am, Mari. I'm happy because I'm with you."

"That's nice...I like that."

"So where are you?" I wasn't looking for an ego-fortifying list of plat.i.tudes. I needed only to know that she thought what we had was special.

"We have a Cuban saying too. It won't sound as sweet as yours but it goes, no hay mal que por bien no venga. There is no bad that doesn't come to good. Delores meant to hurt me, and instead she gave me a beautiful gift because I met you."

Of all the things she'd ever said to me, that was far and away the most romantic. That and her statement that she loved me were probably the most I'd get. Plus her invitation to come live with her permanently. And her concern for my financial well-being and worries about my future regrets.

If all that wasn't Mari expressing herself, it was only because I hadn't been listening. One of us was holding back, but it wasn't her.

"I would like to live with you. And maybe someday we'll take an even bigger step than that." I was too chicken to look at her so I nuzzled my head under her chin. "I always hoped I'd get married one of these days."

She didn't answer me for a few seconds, which made me worry I'd gone too far. Then I felt her arm tighten around my shoulder and her lips press against my temple.

"I always say people should dream big."

Bella Books, Inc.

Other Bella Books by KG MacGregor.

Malicious Pursuit.

House on Sandstone Mulligan.

Just This Once Sumter Point Out of Love.

Secrets So Deep Worth Every Step Sea Legs.

Photographs of Claudia Rhapsody.

Shaken Series: Without Warning.

Aftershock.

Small Packages Mother Load.