Island Affair (Keys to Love #1)(32)

A friend who wasn’t a real friend. A lover who wasn’t a real lover.

But in the eyes of her family, he was both.

And in the crazy musings of a woman jilted by her unworthy boyfriend, stressed by her mother’s illness and the need to be worthy of her praise, he felt like he could be both.

Only, she had drawn a line in the sand at Higgs Beach earlier. For smart, protective reasons.

“Friends,” she mumbled at her reflection as she ran a wide-toothed comb through her hair.

“Friends.” Repeated under her breath as she tugged open the bathroom door.

“Okay, it’s all—”

She broke off as she spotted Luis, shirtless, his broad back to her as he faced the skylight, cell phone pressed to his ear.

“Mami, por favor, estoy bien. Don’t worry.” The slope and planes of his muscular back rippled with the roll of his shoulders, as if he was trying to shrug off his discomfort at the same time he reassured his mom he was fine. “No, don’t save me a plate. I’m grabbing dinner with friends . . . Not tonight, it’ll be late when I head back to Big Coppitt. I’ll swing by in the morning.”

He reached up to massage the back of his neck, and had they been more comfortable with each other, if they were really friends, Sara would have hurried over to rub his neck and shoulders herself. A small thank-you in appreciation for him being such a good sport in all this madness.

Instead, she cleared her throat to alert him of her presence.

Luis spun around, and Sara barely kept her mouth from falling open at the sight of his incredibly hot, spectacularly well-defined abs and pecs.

Hello, Men’s Health magazine, meet your new cover model!

An apology furrowed his brow as he held up a finger indicating for her to give him a minute.

Sara couldn’t be sure, but she thought she nodded.

She did not, however, have any luck convincing herself to stop ogling his wide shoulders, broad chest, and the light dusting of dark hair that tapered down to his washboard abs. His light wash jeans hung low on his trim hips, and she had the insane urge to hook her fingers through his belt loops, tugging his body closer.

He shook his head at whatever his mother said . . . good Lord, Sara felt the tiniest trickle of guilt that he was on the phone with his mother while Sara stood here contemplating the successful odds of tackling him to the mattress and seeing just how friendly they could get in the next ten minutes.

“Sí, tomorrow. Te quiero, mami. Adios.”

The earnest note in his voice as he told his mom, “I love you,” warmed Sara’s heart. He really was such a good guy.

She sagged against the doorframe, totally smitten with the complete package that was Luis Navarro.

Luis tapped his cell screen, then slid the phone into his pocket. “Sorry about that. Something went down at the fire station earlier today and my parents heard about it. She texted a few times earlier, asking for details, but we were already here, so I hadn’t answered. I’ll wash up fast. We don’t wanna keep your family waiting.”

He strode toward her, stopping less than a foot away when she didn’t move.

“Everything okay?” he asked, lightly grasping her shoulders.

The heat of his hands on her bare skin curled wantonly through her. Without thinking, she grabbed on to his waistband. Her fingers instinctively curled into his belt loops, turning her earlier musings into blessed reality.

She sucked in a breath, dragging in his musky scent, slightly sweat tinged from their afternoon together in the humid tropical outdoors.

His fingers flexed, their tips pressing into her flesh. She traced the supple skin above the edge of his waistband with her thumbs, marveling at his rock-hard obliques. The pupils in his dark eyes flared.

“Sara?” Rough and gravelly, his voice stoked her desire.

She edged infinitesimally closer. Testing. Tempting. Wanting.

The tips of her gold sandals bumped up against his black work boots.

His gaze lowered to her chest, less than another deep breath away from brushing against his. His eyelids fluttered closed, his long lashes shadowing his tanned skin. He swallowed, and the longing to hitch onto her toes to press a kiss against his throat, lick his tangy skin, overwhelmed her. Surprising her with its intensity.

“Sara.” Her name on his lips was a heady mix of gruff warning and lusty plea.

“Yes,” she whispered, desperate to quench this raging need to kiss him. Maybe if they did it already, sated the attraction simmering between them, it would ease.

Luis bent closer. Sara licked her bottom lip, anticipating his taste on her tongue.

Instead, he pressed his warm forehead to hers and dragged in a ragged breath. Her gut clenched at the innocent gesture that left her wanting to do less-than-innocent things with him.

Desire crested through her like a wave crashing onto one of the island’s coral reefs, strong and dangerous.

“We probably shouldn’t do this,” he said, his breath warm on her lips.

“I figured you were going to say that.”

He grinned, sexy and sure, and her entire body quivered with hunger. “I’m trying hard to remind myself why.”

“Same here,” she admitted.

Heart pounding, she stared intently into his eyes. That damn line in the sand she’d etched between them taunted her. She edged closer to it, her toes temptingly close to crossing over.