Island Affair (Keys to Love #1)(107)

“Listen to her. Your nanny’s a wise woman.”

His mouth curved up and his dimple made another sexy appearance. A spark of awareness sizzled low in her belly.

Dios mío, she should have walked away after she’d pissed him off. She had no business feeling any sort of attraction to him. She had no room for distractions.

Scooping up her binder, Yaz eased around Tomás, heading for the door. He fell into step alongside her, brushing up against her. The hair on his forearm tickled her skin, sending pinpoints of awareness peppering up her arm.

Yaz took a deep, steadying breath only to find herself appreciating his musky scent. Basta, she chided herself. Enough already.

“So you think it’s too soon for me to worry about her?” Tomás asked.

“Uh, yeah.” Yaz tried to focus on his question rather than her unpredictable hormones. “I’ll admit at first I figured Maria was simply a shy child. But every once in a while I’d see a flash of her spunk. Then, when I mentioned the Christmas show, her hand shot up to volunteer. It actually took me by surprise.”

“You and me both,” Tomás grumbled, his chuckle softening his dry tone. “I thought she was kidding when she told me.”

His humble words and easygoing charm were at odds with the man Yaz had envisioned during the weeks of his no-show routine.

“This dance class stuff isn’t really my forte,” Tomás muttered.

“Don’t worry about the recital. If you’re serious about practicing, you’ll catch on. You did a decent job today.”

“But there’s room for improvement?”

“Yeah.”

He threw back his head and laughed, a rich sound that swirled around her, enticing her to join in.

“You don’t pull any punches, do you?” he asked.

“I get the impression you can take it. Though, I guess, I probably overstepped my bounds earlier . . .”

“Man, that apology is killing you. Isn’t it?” He moved quickly, stepping in front of her to block her path.

Keep walking, she warned herself, unnerved that he seemed to read her so easily. That didn’t bode well for a girl with secrets she didn’t want to share.

“You just can’t bring yourself to say the words if you don’t mean them, can you?” The note of respect in his voice intrigued her.

“No, not really.”

“Good. I’d rather hear the truth than some candy-coated lie. I’m a big boy.”

It was like a hand-delivered invitation, but she stopped herself, barely, from letting her gaze travel the length of him.

What she would give for this man’s level of self-confidence. But she was great at pretending. “I take every aspect of dance seriously. Even the father-daughter Christmas routine.”

“And it’s important to Maria, so that makes it important to me. Maybe we have more in common than we realized.”

His naughty grin widened and Yaz gulped. Between his cleft chin, hide-and-seek dimple, and smiling eyes, she could get in some serious trouble with this guy.

The truth was, after her farce of an engagement to Victor had ended, she knew her life had no room for personal relationships. She understood well the sacrifices needed for her to be successful in New York. Papi had given up his dreams of stardom for their family. She owed it to him to see his dream for her come true.

Her heart heavy with the fear of disappointing her loved ones, Yaz edged away from Tomás Garcia’s distraction. “Like I said, as long as you keep practicing and make it to class, you’ll catch on, Mr. Garcia.”

“Tomás.” He placed a hand on her arm to stop her. Heat surged through her at his touch. “My name is Tomás. Encantado de cono-certe.”

Dios mío, he was pleased to meet her?

The man stood less than a foot away, close enough that she could see his five o’clock shadow. Tempting enough to make her wonder if she pressed a hand to his starched, white shirt, would she find his heart pounding as fast as hers?

Ay bendito, she was undeniably losing it.

“Well, uh, Tomás, we’ll see you after the Thanksgiving break.” That gave her plenty of time to get her head screwed back on straight.

“Oh, you will certainly see me after the holiday. You can count on it.” He gave her a cheeky wink, then strode out of the studio.

Her knees wobbled. Those words coming from any other parent wouldn’t have made her think twice. Coming from Tomás Garcia, they made her think about a lot more than what should have been a harmless dance class.