Page 33 of Fixed Up Ever After
She hadn’t even realized she had been bouncing her leg until she felt a hand on her thigh. She recoiled and Javi pulled back, but not before she missed the hurt expression on his face. Regret and shame washed over her like a tidal wave and she instantly reached for his hand to pull it back to her.
“I’m sorry. My family always makes me jumpy. It’s not you.” Above anything, she needed him to know that her tumultuous feelings had nothing to do with the man sitting next to her and everything to do with the people awaiting their arrival.
His face was set into a hard expression, brow furrowed, and jaw tense. “What are you not telling me, Lola?”
And wasn’t that the million-dollar question? She wanted to open her mouth and blurt out why she was acting like a skittish cat around water, but if she did that, the tears would start coming and she didn’t want to face her family with red-rimmed eyes. They didn’t need any more ammo against her.
She should tell him. She wanted to tell him, but her lips weren’t forming the words. She fought the tears that stung her eyes, avoiding his piercing gaze. “I can’t…”
She didn't finish that thought because the car came to an abrupt halt, nearly throwing her against the seat in front of her. “Here,” the man said from the front, looking at her through the rearview mirror.
She hadn’t paid any mind to where they were and it surprised her how quickly they got to the hotel. It was a typical luxury place her parents would stay at with a slew of valet drivers waiting to park cars that cost more than their houses. It was at least fifteen stories tall and if she had to guess, she would presume their hotel had a spa area and several dining locations. One she was certain her parents bought out for her sister’s rehearsal dinner.
Lola was prepared to ignore Javi’s question and had her hand on the handle when he reached out and placed his hand on the door to keep her from leaving. The heat of his body radiated off him and couldn’t keep herself from looking in his direction.
He was angry, but her gut feeling told her he wasn’t angry with her. “Lola,” he started again, “are you going to be okay going inside?”
She would have to be, wouldn’t she? Lola dug deep within herself and pulled out what she hoped would be a convincing smile. “I’ll be okay. Let’s get through the initial meeting and I can fill you in a little more when we are in our hotel room.”
Javi didn’t seem happy, but he released his hold on the door and let her out. She took her opportunity to escape, hearing Javi move behind her. The door to the truck had been propped open and she started getting their things out. Or at least she tried to until Javi shooed her away and got them out himself.
“I can take my own suitcases, it’s really not a problem,” Lola tried to argue, but Javi shut her up with a searing look that sent her squirming under his gaze and squeezing her thighs together. She stopped arguing after that.
Steeling herself for what was coming, Lola took a deep breath and led Javi into the lobby of their hotel. A giant rock waterfall cascaded down the first floor into a small koi pond. Off to the right was a bar with a seating area, leading out to a courtyard.
Sitting at a circular table in the middle of the bar were four people she recognized. Only her father noticed her at first. Travis Roberts stood up, shaking the table in his excitement. Lola found herself smiling back at her father, a little of the earlier tension easing…that is until her mother, Luciana, and sister, Marisol, turned around.
Sitting next to Marisol was a tall, white man with dirty-brown hair. She had believed seeing him wouldn’t affect her because she held no love for Archie, yet her stomach churned, threatening to discard her breakfast from earlier.
Lola could picture his hooked nose and thin lips. The way his eyes reminded her of a murky swamp. Her body froze as Archie slowly turned around. When he saw her, he scowled, before quickly changing his features into a toothy smile he used a lot with clients.
“Dolores, so glad you could make it,” his voice—had it always been that smarmy?—greeted her from across the room.
Before she had the chance to address him, her father engulfed her in a hug. She smelled the cigar smoke on him and it reminded her of summer nights at their childhood home in Florida when she would cuddle next to her father under the stars. “Princess, it’s been too long.” Her father pretended to scold her, but the gleam in his eyes gave him away. “You are such a sight for sore eyes.”
“I didn’t realize you were bringing anyone.” Her mother’s voice invaded her senses, coming up beside her father.
Luciana and Travis could not have been more at odds with each other—appearances-wise. Her mother was of Mexican descent. Thick black hair that had been straightened almost every day of Lola’s life. She remembered seeing her mother’s naturally wavy hair once and how much her mother complained about it. Her mother was slender with soft curves. She had large brown eyes and lashes that nearly touched her eyebrows.
Her father was a white man whose family immigrated from England in the nineteenth century, opening up their own business that specialized in wine production. Her father inherited the company as his birthright and it would now be passed down to Marisol and Archie. Which was fine with Lola, she told her father as much when he tried to make the sisters partners in the business. Lola vehemently refused, knowing there was no universe she could work well with her sister, especially now that she would be marrying Archie.
“Dolores, did you mention bringing a plus one on the invitation? We are only allowed a certain number of people into the venue and—”
“Mother, I made sure to add a plus one.” Lola kept her voice level as if the roles were reversed and she was the mother to a petulant toddler. “I sent it back and let Marisol know. I also mentioned it on our phone calls during dress shopping.”
Her mother looked affronted as she turned her attention to her oldest daughter. “You didn’t tell me this.” It was her go-to response each time she wanted to deflect accountability.
“I’m sure I did, but you know I have so much going on.” Marisol was the only person who could roll her eyes at their mother and get away with it.
“Ladies, ladies. Enough of the bickering. Our family is together. This is cause for celebration.” Her father tried to ease the tension by encouraging them to sit down and enjoy a round of drinks, but Lola could tell her mother wasn’t over the fact that she brought a date. The way she looked at Javi made her skin crawl, as if Javi wasn’t good enough to be the dirt under her Chanel high heels. Her sister insisted they needed to check on the flowers since they hadn’t gotten an update from the store in over twenty-four hours.
Archie, for once, left his nose out of the family discussion and nursed the alcohol in front of him. Lola wanted to dump the contents over his head, but she did her best to restrain herself, even though her sanity was hanging on by a thread.
“Maybe tomorrow, Dad. It’s already been a long day and I just want to check into our room and rest.”
Her father’s face fell, but only for a fraction of a second. “Of course, Lola. Tomorrow we will catch up and I would like to know more about this boyfriend of yours, yeah?” Unlike her mother, his interest seemed genuine and not condescending.
“Right, of course,” she murmured and gave him a quick hug. For appearance’s sake, she gave her mother and sister an awkward hug and nodded vaguely in Archie’s general direction before taking Javi’s hand and leading him toward check-in.
