Island Affair Read online

  He’d known her less than a day. Yet somehow, he felt certain there’d come a time when he’d count it among the best days he’d ever had.

  “Here’s another tidbit for that ‘Why He’s So Hot’ list you’re compiling about me.” Tucking a hand in the arms she still kept folded across her chest, he gave a little tug that had her stumbling forward a step while he backpedaled.

  “More like my ‘Why He’s So Annoying’ list?” she countered.

  Again with the sass. He liked the color it brought to her cheeks.

  “If you don’t want to find me, or pretty much anyone in my familia, on the dance floor, don’t start the music. C’mon, they’re playing one of my favorites.”

  He watched the playful grin dawn on her face. Slowly. Hesitantly. Then in all its full glory, like the sun peeking its hello across the sky when he was out for an early morning run. It transformed her classic features, rounding her cheeks and crinkling the corners of her eyes. Invigorating him at the idea that his words had brought her this much pleasure.

  “Is that a promise or a threat?” she teased.

  Luis halted, and Sara bumped into his chest with an “oof!” He palmed her hips, holding her soft curves firmly against him.

  “Cariño, with me, either one could get you into trouble.”

  The endearment felt natural when it came to her. If him calling her sweetheart bothered Sara, she didn’t show it. Instead, she tipped her head back on a husky laugh that had lust tightening his jeans.

  And damn if he didn’t feel like a red snapper caught on the end of her fishing pole. Only, fool that he might be, he wasn’t squirming to be released.

  * * *

  Sara sighed in full-on swoony appreciation.

  There was something seductive about studying a man who looked at home on a dance floor. His hips fluidly moving to the beat of a quick-tempoed salsa or merengue. Swaying to the sultry rhythm of a bachata.

  She watched as Luis guided her mother in another spin around the open area between the outdoor bar at El Meson de Pepe and the small stage where the band played. Enclosed on three sides and raised a couple feet high in the air, the stage provided shelter from inclement weather. Although the thin walls also kept out the breeze wafting in from the ocean. That’s probably why the three men had recently returned from their first set break, refreshing drinks in hand.

  “Your mother appears quite taken with your young man.”

  Sara turned to her left to find her father standing next to the wooden pillar she leaned against. A warm, heartfelt smile deepened the wrinkles around his eyes and mouth.

  She followed his gaze back to where Luis and her mother stood, facing each other, in front of the band.

  “She certainly does,” Sara murmured.

  Under the glow of the streetlamps dotting the area and the hanging lights over the patio bar, Luis held her mother’s hands in each of his while patiently demonstrating, once again, the one-two-three-four count footwork for the bachata. “Loose-hipped” would never be a description used for Ruth. Still, she seemed hell-bent on trying to add the little hip hitch on the four and eight beats that came so naturally to Luis. Like so many other moves he made.

  Yes, Sara had definitely taken note of how deftly he mastered the dance floor, even in well-worn work boots and loose-fitting jeans that hung low on his trim hips. As had a group of middle-aged women seated at a nearby table openly ogling the handsome firefighter.

  She and Luis had danced a salsa and bachata together earlier. Then, with Sara’s pulse still racing after the floor-sweeping dip he’d shocked her with at the end of a salsa, they’d swapped partners. He’d gently swept her mom up in his strong arms, then followed up with Carolyn. Much to their delight.

  Despite Jonathan’s good-natured cry of, “Show-off,” to Luis, Sara’s brother had rallied long enough to trounce on her toes a few times before she cried uncle.

  Ultimately, Luis’s contagious pleasure on the dance floor coupled with the lively music had diffused any sign of her family’s earlier discord. After taking the time to teach them a few basic steps, he was the hit of the evening with pretty much everyone. Even sour-faced Robin had been convinced to join him for an easy merengue.

  Sara knew she should be thankful. She hadn’t seen her mom so full of life and laughter in . . . well, ever probably. Luis was single-handedly winning over them all. Just like she’d wanted.

  If only she could stop her imagination from four-counting the two of them off the dance floor and into a different, decidedly more private space. Specifically, the bedroom they would share for the next week.

  The smooth hardwood flooring at the rental house would prove a much better dancing surface than the bricked walkway here. And if that surface happened to lead to a softer, more giving one . . . namely the queen-sized bed . . .

  Ooh, the thought of a private bachata lesson with Luis sent a delicious shiver through her. Body aflame from her sensual musings, Sara fanned herself with the paper To-Go menu she’d snagged from the hostess stand earlier.

  “This humidity is something else, isn’t it?” her father asked. He wiped the sweat glistening on his brow with a handkerchief.

  Sara lifted her hair up with one hand to fan the back of her neck. “We’re not in Arizona’s dry heat anymore, Toto.”

  Her father chuckled.

  “You know we mean well, right, princess?” Leaning his shoulder on the curved wooden support beam, her dad peered around it. A garish green streaked across his forehead from the neon beer sign above the bar behind her.

  “Most of you anyway,” she murmured.

  “All of us.”

  Biting back a sigh, Sara nodded. She didn’t want to get into it with him, not here. Not this week. Not anymore, really.

  The fact was, unlike with her and Jonathan, the emotional distance between her and Robin hadn’t diminished when Sara reached adulthood. After their mom had been diagnosed, that distance only lengthened.

  “We’re different.” Hands loosely clasped, Sara lifted them toward her sister and Edward. Both born with two left feet, they’d given up trying to master the steps and now rocked back and forth in a slow circle together. “Always have been. Always will be.”

  “Yes, but different doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Look at your brother and Carolyn. Her easy-going manner has mellowed him. In a wonderful way.”

  Watching her brother and his wife bumbling through a partner turn and swing that looked more like the jitterbug than the bachata had Sara grinning.

  “Their relationship has been a welcome example for your mother and me.”

  “She’s good for him,” Sara answered. “He seems more relaxed. More content.”

  “Exactly. And based on what I’ve seen of him today, I’d say Luis is good for you, too. It brings me comfort to know you’ve found someone who’ll take care of you.”

  Guilt and disillusion partnered in a quick merengue beat that hammered in Sara’s chest. She ducked her head. Ashamed by her lie. Yet angry at her dad’s inability to understand that she wanted someone to care for her, not take care of her.

  “Come on.”

  She glanced up at her dad’s words. He tapped the tip of her nose lightly with his finger, a playful gesture he hadn’t done since she was a little girl.

  “Let’s go rescue Luis from your mother’s lack of rhythm.”

  Before she could respond, her father scooted around a nearby couple, sidestepping another as he made his way to her mom and Luis. Sara wanted to call him back, reassure him that she had learned to take care of herself. But her whole life they’d assumed otherwise. First counting on Mamá Alicia to fill in for them. Later assuming her sorority sisters would bolster her. Missing the boat on what she really craved from her family.

  Swiveling along the pillar’s curve, Sara rested the back of her head against the wood surface and faced Mallory Square. She stared at the area that had been teeming with activity a couple of hours ago. Now it lay quiet and empty. Dark shadows and patche
s of light from streetlamps and the half-moon’s glow chased each other across the brick and cement surface. If you weren’t careful, especially near the pier’s edge, danger loomed in the shadowy recesses. Much like her psyche before she’d sought treatment.

  When she’d been diagnosed with Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorder her sophomore year of college, her family threw themselves into information overload mode, researching and educating themselves on every aspect involving OSFED. Suddenly she became a patient case for them to study and heal.

  Mostly, Sara believed her parents and siblings were shocked that they hadn’t been the ones to recognize her struggles. It didn’t matter that her symptoms intermingled binge eating disorder and bulimia, which made OSFED more difficult to detect or diagnose. Or that it lay outside their respective areas of expertise. Sara became the focus of her parents’ attention based on their sense of responsibility. Too bad what she’d actually wanted was their attention borne of love.

  As it turned out, Mamá Alicia, the one person Sara had always been able to count on, a person with no formal medical training but armed with a loved one’s intuition, had picked up on the behaviors Sara had hidden for years. Knowing something was wrong. Part of her desperate to stop the destructive behavior. Unable to figure out how.

  “Mallory Square looks different at this hour, doesn’t it?” Luis asked as he sidled over to her.

  “Almost spooky, in a Gothic romance kind of way.”

  “I’ll have to take your word on that. I’m more of a murder mystery reader myself.” He stopped a hair’s breadth from her shoulder, apparently comfortable invading her personal space. Not that she minded. “Are you feeling tired, or can I charm you into one last dance?”

  Squinting down at her under the bright patio lights, his supersize physique a heady mix of power and strength and grace that set parts of her aflutter, this man could probably charm her into doing almost anything. If she wasn’t careful.

  “Who said anything about being tired?” she balked.

  “It’s been a stressful day for you. On multiple levels.”

  “The fun would barely be getting started in New York and Miami.” Though she rarely lingered out late into the night, even for influencer events.

  “I don’t want you to overdo it.”

  Sara’s heart sank with unease at his concern. This was exactly why she had avoided mentioning her OSFED. All day he’d seen her as an average girl, not someone who needed to be treated with kid gloves. If he knew, he’d wind up behaving like the others. Analyzing her food intake. Noting her trips to the bathroom or her amount of exercise. Peppering her with questions.

  She wanted him to be interested in her, Sara. Not the patient with the eating disorder or the sought-after social media influencer. Just plain Sara.

  “Actually, I’ve been standing here considering the idea of getting a tattoo across my forehead that says: ‘I’m fine.’ What do you think?”

  Her belly flip-flopped at the sexy grin hitching up a corner of his mouth.

  “Where? Right here?” He traced a faint line across the center of her forehead with his fingertip.

  Sara held her breath. Savoring the tingles of awareness his light touch evoked.

  “I guess it might be a good conversation starter at all your cocktail parties.”

  He winked and she found herself free-falling through the air like a novice base jumper. Anxiously flailing for the ripcord to release her parachute before she hit the brick walkway with a splat.

  “Whatever has this little worry line marring your beautiful face”—Luis gently rubbed the space between her brows with his thumb pad, and her eyelids fluttered, longing coursing through her—“I’ve been told I’m a good listener. If you want to talk about it.”

  Part of her wanted to be up-front, confide in him her fears of inadequacy.

  But she wasn’t ready for him to look at her differently. As crazy as it might sound considering she’d known Luis for such a short time, she’d truly come to value their relationship. She didn’t want him to see her as less than. Not like her own family did.

  “One more before we take another short set break,” the lead singer announced over the microphone. “An oldie but goodie whether sung in English or Spanish.”

  The opening notes of “Unchained Melody” strummed from the guitar, a swoony bachata rhythm infusing the classic love song.

  Sara pushed off the pillar, its rough wood scraping her shoulder blade. “Oh, I love this one.”

  “That’s my cue.”

  Luis held out his hand, palm up. Sara laid her fingers over his, electricity charging through her when he tugged her gently into his open arms. She landed flush against his hard body, one of his muscular legs wedged between hers. His left hand cradled her right one over his heart. His right palm on the small of her back held her in place, its soft pressure nudging her to follow his lead. She went willingly.

  This time he barely moved his feet in the one-two-three-four count. Instead, his hips cajoled hers into joining him for a sexier, sultrier version of the dance. He looped their clasped hands around his waist, pressing them to his lower back where his T-shirt tucked into his jeans before releasing hers to wrap his arm around her in an intimate embrace.

  His left hand splayed in the center of her back, firm, insistent, as he spun them in a tight circle. She pressed her cheek to his shoulder, lost in the swirl of light and dark as they twirled. Closing her eyes, she breathed in his musky scent, marveling at the muscles rippling across his back as she clung to him. He bent his knees, lowering her with him to the beat. She rode his thigh, lust and desire bubbling to a boil inside her.

  Her hips moved in tandem with his, wantonly mimicking the moves her body craved. Secretly seeking his touch in her most intimate of places.

  They dipped, swayed, spun as one. Sara trusting him to lead, allowing herself to let go and simply feel the rhythm. The sensual beat. Him.

  All too soon the love song drew to an end. Around them patrons clapped their praise for the band, but Sara wasn’t ready to let Luis go.

  His arms tightened around her. Ducking his head, he nuzzled her cheek with his nose. Pressed a warm kiss on her temple, the scruff of his jaw scratching her sensitive skin. Tendrils of desire curled through her. Sara fisted his shirt in her hands, her knees buckling under the onslaught of lust he ignited.

  “You are so damn sexy.” His gruff whisper had her body quivering with need.

  Heart racing, her brain screamed for her to back away. She was playing with dangerous fire here.

  But her feet refused to listen. Her body, relishing the rush of emotions, urged her to fan the flames higher. With his back to the well-lit patio bar, his angular features fell into shadow, his eyes pools of deep mahogany, rich with intensity.

  “You really know how to show a girl a good time on the dance floor,” she murmured, hoping to lighten the mood before she combusted in his arms.

  His right palm slid down her lower back to cradle her butt. “That’s not the only place, cariño.”

  Sara melted into him. Far too eager to investigate the “places” where he excelled.

  Someone roughly bumped into Luis, jarring them aside.

  “That’s my little sister you’re manhandling, bud. You better watch it!” Jonathan’s teasing leer lightened his threat.

  His interruption pulled Sara out of her lust-induced stupor, and she realized the crowd had dissipated.

  “Leave them alone,” Carolyn chided. She shot Sara an I’m sorry grimace as she pulled Jonathan back to their table.

  Luis’s hands roamed up Sara’s spine, settling in a more public-appropriate spot, her shoulders.

  Sara dropped her forehead to his chest, embarrassed by her brother’s antics.

  “All my life I missed having a big brother around. Lately, I’m realizing how obnoxious big-brother teasing can actually be.”

  She felt Luis’s chuckle rumbling through him.

  “That’s nothing,” he said. “
Wait till you see my brothers, sister, and me go at each other.”

  The unexpected—unwise—thrill she experienced at the thought of meeting Luis’s familia signaled the folly of her behavior. Abruptly Sara stepped back, out of his arms. Putting the physical distance she should have been keeping between them.

  “I’m sorry I won’t get to see that.”

  Luis tilted his head in confusion, then understanding dawned in his dark eyes. “Yeah, me too. But it’s better not to muddy the water with more lies.”

  Muddy the water.

  His words hung in the humid air between them as they stared at each other. Bar patrons and tourists strolling by, the canned music playing over the speakers, the skateboarder cruising the sidewalk on the street behind them . . . everything faded into the background as Sara stared up at Luis.

  What if it wasn’t lies? What if this could be the start of something special? Something—”

  Stop it!

  She pulled the mental emergency brake on her careening thoughts.

  Holy crap! How had she let this happen?

  Somehow, her simple plan to hire a fake boyfriend had turned into something bigger. Something scarier. Especially for a woman with a terrible dating track record and an unhealthy need to prove herself worthy.

  In short, a woman who had no business falling for a sexy firefighter with a savior complex and his own secret family issue, even if he wouldn’t admit it.

  Not that she was having any luck stopping that from happening.

  Chapter 10

  “Mami, por favor, I’m fine.” Luis wrapped his arms around his mother’s plump figure, giving her a tight hug as she rinsed out the moka pot from their café con leche Saturday morning.

  It wasn’t lost on him that Sara had said the same words to her family and him last night at dinner. But this was different.

  Sara had been, maybe still was, dealing with some mystery health issue that had them all worried. Perhaps with good reason. He needed to find out for sure.

  He, on the other hand, really was fine.

  “I worry about you,” his mami said. “All of you. Have you talked to your sister and brothers today?”