Island Affair (Keys to Love #1)(19)

“Hey, everything’s going to be okay,” he assured her.

Gently, he squeezed her shoulder. An I got you squeeze meant to reassure. Instead, she stiffened. Her brows furrowed, wrinkling her forehead, telegraphing that she felt anything but “okay.”

Concerned, Luis swiveled to face her, releasing her shoulder to drape his forearm across the back of her bucket seat. “Sara, what’s going on?”

“I just . . . I need this to work.” Knuckles white, her fists tightened on her purse strap as she stared out the front windshield. “I need to not be the cause of more worry and stress for my parents. Especially my mom.”

“More? What do you mean?”

Her slim shoulders rose and fell on a heavy sigh. “It’s nothing. Never mind.”

Luis ducked down, trying to catch her gaze. “You sure?”

“Yeah. I mean, um, it’s nothing you need to be bothered with.”

Whatever Sara was keeping from him didn’t seem like it was nothing. Not based on the way she hedged, refusing to look him in the eye.

Co?o. The word shot through his head like a warning flare, its red flame lighting the sky. Several other choice expletives, much stronger than damn, followed it.

Fifteen years on the job dealing with victims hiding info for one reason or another. Growing up with a younger brother who’d skirted the line of deviant behavior as a teen. They’d taught Luis the signs pointing out evasion of the truth. But he had also learned that pushing wasn’t always the best option.

“We’re on the same side here, remember?” he told her, purposefully keeping his voice low, his tone measured.

She fell back against her bucket seat, chin tilted up at the roof. Her slender neck exposed, Luis noticed the rapid beat of her pulse.

“Whatever it is, you tell me when you’re ready. No pressure.” Gently he combed her blond tresses behind her ear, marveling at the silky softness.

He didn’t stop to question this strong compulsion to soothe her. Even though it made no sense.

Hell, they barely knew each other. He rarely let people outside his immediate circle get close to him. And yet, in only a few short hours with Sara, he found himself captivated by her. Trusting her more than he trusted most people outside his immediate familia.

Carlos would tell him to get his head out of his ass. Stop finding ways to avoid his own problems by focusing on someone else’s.

Stubbornly, Luis ignored his older brother’s imaginary advice.

The seat leather groaned its protest as Luis shifted toward Sara. “If your goal is to put your mom at ease, convince her that you’ve found the most amazing man to be with, I can totally help with that. This’ll be a walk in the park ‘cuz, well, I’m pretty amazing.”

She lolled her head to her left, shooting him a raised-brow, are-you-kidding-me glare.

He winked, and a few seconds later a corner of her lush mouth twitched before slowly stretching into her sweet smile.

“A real papi chulo, huh?” she teased.

“Damn straight.” He tapped his chest with his other palm. “Hot-guy material. That’s me.”

Her low chuckle sent a shiver of awareness shimmying over him. Lust pooled low in his body. The urge to kiss her, to turn that sexy chuckle into a groan of desire, hit him, hard and fast.

“I don’t know how the three of us manage to fit in your truck,” she mused.

He frowned, his thoughts stuck on the delectable idea of sampling her lips. “Three?”

“You, me, and your ego.” She flashed a cheeky grin.

“Funny,” he groused, actually, relieved to see her spunk reviving.

“I’ll be here all week. Maybe you can catch my show.”

“Ha, I’m in your show, sweetheart. All the . . . What did you call me? Oh yeah, all the hunky parts. I got those covered.” He gave a lock of her hair a playful tug. Inadvertently the back of his hand brushed her bare shoulder, heightening his desire to touch more of her soft skin.

Sara cupped his elbow.

Luis figured she meant it as a request for him to back off. Immediately he moved to withdraw his hand, but her grip tightened, holding him still.

“I’m nervous,” she whispered. The raw sincerity blanketing her beautiful face gutted him.

“Truth?” he asked.

Lips pressed together, she nodded.

“If we’re confessing here,” he admitted, staring intently into her eyes. “I’m a bit nervous myself. But I’m also really looking forward to spending the week with you.”

Desire turned her blue-green irises into tumultuous waves, echoing the lust that blew through him with hurricane-force winds. When she glanced down at his mouth, then tugged her bottom lip between her teeth, Luis nearly groaned out loud.

She shifted toward him. The smallest, most infinitesimal of movements. Her gaze slid up to ensnare his and he found himself drowning. In her. In this intense need to feel her lips against his.

Unable to resist her pull, Luis leaned in. Slowly. Careful to watch for any hint that he was misreading her signs.

Instead, Sara met him halfway.

The air thickened around them. Hot. Heavy. Humid with their mingled breath. Tangy with her citrusy scent.

It was crazy. This attraction, swift and strong, arcing between them.

Her eyes drifted closed. Luis’s gaze traced a thin blue vein faintly crisscrossing one of her pale eyelids. The slight flush tinting her high cheeks. It was inevitable, his need to taste her sweetness. Undeniable in a way he’d never experienced before.