Page 1 of His to Love
Chapter One
Patton
“Alejandra De La Cruz is here to see you, Mr. Nash.”
Alexa.It had been a few years since I’d seen my best friend’s little sister. “Send her in, Callie.”
Back in Houston, Luciano De La Cruz and I had been lifelong friends since kindergarten. His family had always been exceptionally good to me after my parents were killed in a house fire when I was just sixteen.
When I told him that the resort and spa my brothers and I had just opened in Austin was hiring, he asked me if I could interview his sister for a massage therapist position. She’d just finished studies at her vocational training school to become one, and was looking to get her foot in the door. It was my honor to hire his sister after all his parents had done for me.
But he wanted me to formally interview her anyway. Luciano knew she needed to feel confident that she earned the job on her own, not just because she was Luci’s baby sister. So, I played along.
Meeting her at my office door, I opened my arms. “Alexa, I’m so glad to see you.”
Shyly, she ducked her head as she moved into my embrace. “Patton, I’m so happy you’re giving me the chance to interview to work at your beautiful resort.”
I let her go and turned to lead her into my office. “Take a seat, Miss De La Cruz.” I wanted to give her the full interview experience. “I’ve read your resume and must point out that you have no on-the-job experience. Can you tell me how much training you’ve had with actual clients?” I took my seat behind the desk, steepling my fingers as I awaited her response.
She held herself with poise, her posture perfect, hands placed neatly in her lap. She looked every bit the professional we were looking for. “Mr. Nash,” she played along with me without having to be prompted, “my training at the Academy of Therapeutic Message was extensive. While learning about the various muscles and the way to properly manipulate them, I also received daily hands-on training. The program was eighteen months long, and the number of massages I have given is well over two hundred.”
“Over two hundred?” I found that impressive.
Her attire was also on point for the position she was after. Her long, dark hair was pulled back into a nice and neat ponytail. She wore a white button-down shirt tucked into a pair of black slacks, and black flats.
“Yes, Mr. Nash, over two hundred. I have perfected my technique for visceral massage, which focuses on the abdomen. It is a very helpful massage for people who experience back pain, have had internal injuries, and even those who suffer from constipation.”
“Sounds like great therapy.” I could already see that she’d be a great part of the team we were building at Whispers Resort and Spa. But there was one major concern.
“Alexa, I did read your resume, so I know you’ve got what it takes to become a member of the staff here. The therapies and techniques you’ve trained in sound like they’re exactly what we’re looking for. My concerns lie in how your parents will take you moving to Austin from your home in Houston. I know how protective they are. And, may I ask, what is the plan for your accommodations if you have to relocate?”
I could see her squirming as she pressed her lips into a thin line, but only for a moment before she looked into my eyes. “My parents have made arrangements for me to live with a deacon from the local church if I am employed by you, Mr. Nash. Deacon Soliz and his wife have agreed to allow me to stay with them, as their son has been gone for the last few years. He’s attending UCLA, so he moved to California. They say they’ll be happy to have someone around the house again now that he’s gone.”
Alexa had been sent to a private Catholic school as a girl, while Luciano had been allowed to go to public school. Her parents always spared nothing to keep her out of harm’s way. It was a little hard for me to believe that they would actually be on board with her moving so far from home.
“Alexa, let’s talk as old friends for a moment. I know the sheltered life you’ve lived for twenty-two years.” Luci and I had been ten when she was born. She was what Mrs. De La Cruz called her little miracle— and Alexa had always been treated as such. “Are your parents behind you working and living two and a half hours away from them?”
“Patton,” she said, her dark eyes shining, her full lips curving into a smile, “I would not be here if they were not behind me on this. They trust you—you know that. And they trust the Soliz family. They believe I am in good hands.”
And she would be—with me at least. Her naivety was something that worried me though. She’d lived with her parents even after graduating high school. She’d gone to community college after that for a couple of years before going to the vocational school. All the while she’d lived at home with her parents.
Moving to Austin, living on her own—this would be such a huge change for her. I wasn’t sure she was ready for the real world. “If you have any concerns about the people you’ll be staying with, youwillcome to me, right?” I wanted her to know that I would always be there for her, no matter what. “Your brother is my best friend. I won’t let anything happen to you. But I want to be sure that you’re ready for all the changes that will happen if you get this job.”
“I want to gain some freedom from my parents, Patton. I love them dearly, but they’ve held me back from so many things. I mean, I had to take my cousin Baldo to prom because they didn’t trust anyone else to take me.” I could hear the exasperation in her voice, but she looked shyly down at the floor while she spoke, her hands wringing in her lap.
“I’ve been kept away from the world in many ways. Never allowed to date.” She looked at me with pleading eyes. “I’m twenty-two and I’ve never been allowed to go out on a date. Not that I’ve been asked.” She blushed a little at that. That she’d never been asked out came as a shock to me. Her shyness must put men off—there was certainly nothing wrong with her looks. Or anything else about her.
I shook off my thoughts as she continued. “But I want to shed that skin and grow a new one. And I can’t do that with my loving parents hovering over me all the time.”
She was right, they did hover. But how would she cope with this sudden freedom? I had to make sure she knew that I would be there for her. “Alexa, as long as you understand that you can come to me with anything, any problem, any worry, anything at all, then I think this might be a great opportunity for you. But independence isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. There will be bills to pay, and you will be responsible for yourself out here.”
Nodding, she seemed as if she’d been thinking about that. “I’ve got my own car that I would like to start making the payments on, so my father doesn’t have to any longer. He’s given me so much in my life, and I’d like to be able to take the financial burden off his shoulders. And I’d like to take the stress off my mother as well. I know she feels entirely responsible for my well-being. Has Luciano told you of her heart condition?”
He had not. “No.” I frowned. Strange, that he would keep something so serious from me.
“Perhaps he didn’t want to worry you, since you’ve been so busy with building this place and getting it up and running. He said you oversaw the interior design.” She looked around my office in approval. “And may I say that you’ve done an amazing job. This place is beautiful.”
No matter how busy I’d been, I would’ve wanted my best friend to know that I had time for him to lean on me over his mother’s health. “How is she, Alexa?”
