She finally caught his eye by hovering in the doorway as he was dismissing someone.
“Ready?” he asked, waving her in with a frown at what she was wearing.
He had asked her to put on something for travel, but she didn’t own anything except her uniform dresses. She had stolen into Mae’s closet for the only clothes that fit her wide hips and ample chest. The pleated skirt was a mustard color, the brocade jacket double-breasted and so dated it had mattresses for shoulder pads.
She smiled a hesitant greeting at Mae’s lawyer who sat with a clerk on the sofa, papers laid out before them on the coffee table. Another man rose as she entered.
Gabriel took the pages from her, reading as he said, “Close the door. This is Mr. Johnson from the American embassy. He’s liaising with the Venezuelan authorities to obtain your emergency passport and issue your permit to enter the US.”
“Oh. Thank you. Nice to meet you.” She shook the American’s hand.
“I understand you’re both very much in love,” Mr. Johnson said, making a facetious V with his lips.
“What...?”
“He’s officiating our marriage.” Gabriel leaned on the desk to affix his signature to the bottom of the contract in a firm scratch. He offered the pen to her. “Which is, of course, a love match and not a work-around for residency.”
She opened her mouth, wanting to say she had come in here to discuss the contract, not sign it. Not do this.
But there was Mr. Johnson, waiting to issue her a passport and the right to enter the US. All she had to do was keep her mouth shut.
She pressed her lips tight and took the pen in fingers that felt nerveless and clumsy. Her scrawl was jerky and not the least bit pretty. In fact, she couldn’t recall the last time she had written her whole given name.
Gabriel handed the document to the attorney then looked to Mr. Johnson.
Right there in front of Mae’s desk, where Luli had stood a thousand times, she spoke vows to create a life with Gabriel, then signed another piece of paper and was pronounced his wife.
“You may kiss,” Mr. Johnson said.
Gabriel was suddenly very close. Bigger. His eyes seeming to turn a dark, hunter green. He was asking her a silent question, one she couldn’t interpret, let alone answer.
The heat of his palm settled against the side of her neck. The width of his chest blocked out the world while his head came down.
She had wondered about kissing. There had been one, a very long time ago. It had been wet and off-putting and—
Conscious thought disappeared as the smooth heat of his lips grazed hers, once, twice. It caused a buzzing sensation, almost ticklish. Maddening. She found herself pressing into her toes, rising so her mouth more firmly met his, soothing the crazed feeling and suddenly his lips were fully sealed over hers.
Surprise held them both still for one heartbeat. Then his mouth moved in a lazy, curious taste of hers, parting her lips with the movement. Fireworks detonated under her skin and exploded against her closed eyelids.
A gasp caught in her throat, but it was the shock of having so many sensations accost her. His faint taste of bitter, black kopi, the scent of his aftershave on his smooth cheek, the sweep of his tongue that somehow sent a wrecking ball into her middle and another into her pounding heart.
She splayed a hand over his chest. His kiss grew more devouring. She found herself squeezed up against the solid wall of his chest. His hard arms felt strangely good, if overwhelming. She was barely aware of what she was doing, moving her mouth against his out of instinct. Her arms unfurled to twine around his neck and she let her weight rest more fully against him as a drugged lassitude kept her in this wonderful place. She wanted to do this forever, mouth sliding against mouth, easing slightly then coming back with a deeper hunger. It was glorious.
He lifted his head and a noise of loss caught in her throat. His hands moved to her upper arms and he set her back a step, expression smoothed to something unreadable. He turned his head to look at Mr. Johnson. “Thank you.”
It was like a bucket of cold water. Her head was still swimming, but she figured out that their kiss had been for the benefit of their small audience, not something that had affected him the way it had affected her.