Island Affair (Keys to Love #1)(10)
The intense, squinty-eyed look Luis slid her way had probably caused men twice her size to cower. Not her. She didn’t have the luxury of backing down.
“If you’re not comfortable with me paying you for your time, how about if I make a donation to a fund the fire station supports? Or something along those lines? I know I’m asking a lot. So, I’m willing to do something in good faith as a thank-you. That’s only fair.”
He shook his head, and Sara’s heart sank. Without thinking she grasped his forearm, anxious to reach him. “Luis, please,” she whispered. “I wouldn’t ask this if I wasn’t desperate for your help. Please, don’t say no.”
Something flared in his eyes at her ragged plea. Something dark and intense. Conflicted. The muscles in his arm flexed under her fingers as he clenched his fist.
“I’m not saying no to you,” he finally answered. “More like to the sane voice in my head telling me there are a hundred reasons why this is a terrible idea, and only one that makes it right.”
For the first time since Ricardo had bailed on her, the sinking sensation in the pit of Sara’s stomach changed course and buoyed.
“And that one reason is?” she asked, hesitant. Hopeful.
Luis covered her hand with his, sandwiching it between his callused palm and muscular forearm. Strangely, the warmth of his skin soothed her rattled nerves.
“While I may not be my familia’s wild child—that role is easily filled by my idiot younger brother—I understand the pressure and guilt that comes with disappointing your parents. Even when it’s someone else’s fault or beyond your control,” he said. “You’re asking for seven days, and it just so happens that’s exactly how much time off I have.”
Elation shot through her like the starting pistol at her last half marathon.
“Are you for real? You’ll do it?” she asked, her heart racing.
He dipped his head in answer. “You need help, and I need some way to fill the empty days off ahead. Sounds like a win-win if you ask me.”
Yes! He said yes!
Euphoria fireworked inside her, brightening the dark sky that had loomed over her family’s vacation. Sara squeezed Luis’s forearm with gratitude, a rush of thank-yous tripping off her tongue.
Mamá Alicia’s voice wormed its way through Sara’s head, a stern warning dampening her glee. Cuidado con lo que pides.
Sí, Mamá Alicia, Sara silently promised, she’d be careful what she wished for. But this was a prayer answered. No way could she be anything but thankful that she’d crossed paths with Luis Navarro.
Granted, convincing her family wasn’t going to be easy. Especially given that she and Luis had so little time to learn everything they possibly could about each other.
It was no small feat. But something about her hunky, serious but sweet lifesaver told her they’d be fine.
“Okay then,” she told Luis, “let’s do this.”
Chapter 3
Luis turned right onto South Roosevelt Boulevard to exit the airport, a little shell-shocked at his current situation.
Beside him, perched nervously on the edge of the black leather passenger seat in his truck, sat an intriguing woman he’d known less than thirty minutes. Yet he’d just agreed to lie to her parents—no, her entire family—about a make-believe relationship. A harebrained idea that could only end in a mess.
Resting his left elbow on the driver’s side windowsill, he massaged his temple in a failed attempt at easing the headache threatening.
?Qué carajo estás haciendo?
That’s exactly what Carlos would ask. Part of Luis wondered the same thing. What the hell was he doing saying yes to this kind of crazy?
One lesson he’d learned firsthand, lying to your familia, even when you believed you had good reason, never worked out.
Ask his baby brother.
Their relationship hadn’t been the same since Enrique’s lie of omission.
Maybe Sara’s wasn’t as grave.
Yeah, right, that was lame rationalization. Who was Luis to judge what her family would think was grave or not?
Big lie or small one didn’t matter. Years of Catholic school and his mami’s occasional smack upside the head had drummed into him the folly of even the smallest fib. Adding to the promised fires of hell, he hadn’t missed Sara’s quick sign of the cross when she admitted that lying to her mom in the first place is what had gotten her into this mess. If her parents were anything like his, instilling their faith in their kids from the cradle, Sara had to know this charade would blow up sooner or later. With no good to come of it.
Then again, shared faith or not, her mom and dad seemed different from his. Luis couldn’t remember a time his parents had ever made him feel less than or lacking. In any way.
The fact that hers did was pretty messed up. It made her bid for an ally this week even more irresistible.
“Oh, I could get used to this view. It’s so beautiful.”
The awe in Sara’s words mimicked her wide-eyed expression. She leaned forward to peer out the front windshield at Smathers Beach on their left. Luis pressed back against his seat so she could look out his window, too.
A few food trucks and water sports equipment rental vendors lined the road and sidewalk along the public beach. Tall palm trees held watch over the creamy sandy shore and patchwork color of towels, chairs, and blankets. Swimmers dotted the shimmering water. Some splashed out by the sandbar while others floated on tubes and rafts soaking up the sun’s rays. Along the water’s edge, a few couples strolled hand in hand.