Page 4 of Rafael

Before Rafael could step free of her tentacles, Bianca grinned, hooked one hand through his arm and covered it with the other, firmly locking them in place. “Perfect,” Bianca said. “I’d love to spend more time with your friends and get to know them better.”

“Uh, no.” Rafael tried to pull his arm free. “My plans didn’t involve a plus-one.”

She smiled up at him. “See how things just fall into place? It’s like magic. Me. You. The festival. It was meant to be.” She looked around. “What do you want to do first? Eat mudbugs? Wrestle alligators or listen to the concert?”

He shook his head. “Don’t you have some girlfriends to hang with? I’d planned on being with my team tonight.”

She blinked up at him. “But they’re gone. Now, it’s just you and me. Don’t you want to be with me? I mean, after the other night at the Crawdad Hole I thought we made a connection.”

Rafael tugged again at the grip she had on his arm. Her fingers tightened, refusing to release their hold. “Look, Bianca, I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong impression.”

“Not the wrong impression at all. Not after that kiss...” She drew in a deep breath and let it out with a sigh. “I could tell it meant more than just a one-time event. It's like love at first sight, or first kiss, in this case.” She leaned into him. “I know you felt it, just like I did. I haven’t stopped thinking about it. You must’ve had a busy week since you didn’t call me.”

Obviously, gentle and subtle wasn’t working on the woman. Rafael peeled her fingers free of his arm and quickly stepped back. “Miss Brolin, I had a little too much beer that night. I never should’ve kissed you. I promise you I didn’t feel anything.”

“What?” Bianca’s eyes widened. “But you had tohave felt something. No one kisses like that and doesn’t mean it.” She stepped toward him.

Rafael took another step backward. “Seriously, I felt nothing.”

“Perhaps we should kiss again,” she said, smiling tremulously. “Just so you know for sure. Your lips could’ve been numb from the beer. I’m sure a second kiss will prove that you really do have feelings for me. That you quite possibly love me as much as I love you.”

“You just kissed me. Again,” he stressed, “I felt nothing.” Rafael glanced around. Where the hell was his backup? Why had they ducked out on him in his time of need?

Rafael gripped Bianca’s arms before she could take one more step closer. “Miss Brolin, I don’t love you. Never have and never will. Don’t waste your time thinking there could be anything between us. There isn’t. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I want to rejoin my friends.”

Her face fell, and tears welled in the young woman’s blue eyes.

Rafael dropped his hold on her arms. “Oh, no, really?” he muttered. “We barely know each other. How could you possibly think we could fall in love over one dance, one kiss and one night in a bar?”

Bianca sniffed. “I knew as soon as I saw you that you were the one.”

“I’m not the one for you, Miss Brolin,” he saidsoftly. “I’m not the one for anyone. I’m not ever going to marry or fall in love.”

Tears slipped down the blonde’s cheeks. “I can change your mind. I just know it.”

He shook his head. “You’re not going to change my mind. No one is going to change my mind.”

She stood with her arms at her sides, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Rafael felt like a heel, having made the woman cry. His natural inclination was to soothe her, to make her feel better. He also knew it would be a mistake and only encourage her to keep trying.

“Oh, Romeo,” she cried.

Before he could stop her, she flung her arms around his neck and crashed her mouth over his.

“Bianca?” a woman’s voice called out.

Rafael barely heard the sound as he fought off the woman with clinging arms like that of an octopus. The more he tried to disengage, the faster her hands moved to another part of his anatomy.

Finally, he grabbed her wrists and held them down. “This is crazy,” he said. “What’s it going to take to get through to you? I’m. Not. Interested. In. You.”

“But I love you,” she cried, twisting her arms in an attempt to free her wrists. “I know you love me.”

“I don’t love you,” he said in aclear, precise way as if speaking to a child. “I never have loved you, and I never will.”

A dark-haired woman rushed up to him and beatat his arm with her fists. “Let go of my cousin. Do itnow, or I’ll call the sheriff.”

Rafael immediately released Bianca’s wrists and stepped back to find Gisele Gautier, the beautiful owner of the voodoo gift shop, glaring at him while pulling Bianca into a protective embrace. She was as dark as Bianca was light. How could the two women even be related?

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