Island Affair (Keys to Love #1)(56)
She’d simply have to make sure not to put him in a position requiring him to do so. She owed him that much.
“Yes, I’m going to mass tomorrow. I meant to tell you that earlier, Mother.” Swiveling around to face her mom, Sara sank back against Luis. Trying not to miss the warmth of his arm, no longer holding her securely to him. “It slipped my mind when I got that call from my assistant confirming my upcoming guest posts and shoot dates.”
Lacing her fingers with Luis’s on the table again, she gave his hand a squeeze. Trust me.
“I was hoping you wouldn’t mind us skipping brunch and golf so we could spend time with his family.”
Luis stiffened.
Regret nipped at Sara’s conscience, and she brought their joined hands to her chest. She cradled them against her racing heart and silently pledged to make things right.
Her mom’s expression brightened. A breeze blew her short pixie cut bangs off her forehead, a reminder for Sara that not even a year ago her mom had still worn a head wrap to cover her patchy hair. This ruse was meant to ensure nothing marred her vacation. That remained Sara’s main priority.
“I think it’s a marvelous idea for you to spend the day with Luis’s family,” Ruth said, her smile widening.
Sara offered a wobbly smile in response. Well, at least one of them thought so.
Chapter 12
“Like I said, just drop me off at a coffee shop while you go to mass. I’ll hang out there,” Sara repeated.
Luis shook his head. No way was he going along with her idea.
“Why not?” she asked, heaving a disgruntled sigh as she leaned against the bathroom doorjamb.
The bathroom’s overhead light streaming behind her and the soft glow of the bedside lamp turned her blond waves a burnished gold and cast her face in soft shadow. There was no mistaking the hint of frustration in her hushed voice.
“Not an option,” he reiterated. The same answer he’d given her the first two times she’d outlined her idea for how they’d convince her family Sara had gone to mass without the complication of involving his in the increasingly tangled web the two of them wove.
He turned away to grab a T-shirt out of his drawer, then shrugged it on, momentarily blocking her from his view. Gracias a Dios for small favors. At least she’d slipped on a pair of black shorts under the silky spaghetti-strapped mini pajama dress barely covering her shapely ass.
He was finding it hard to concentrate on his rationale for refusing to go along with her latest scheme.
When she’d stepped out of the bathroom earlier wearing the pale blue nightie Luis had nearly swallowed his tongue. One look at the low-cut design, the slope of her perky breasts on marvelous display, and the front of his shorts had instantly tightened.
She’d scurried to her side of the drawers, grabbed the shorts, and hightailed it back to the bathroom. Her cheeks flushed as she mumbled a, “Sorry, I forgot something,” and shut the door.
His body’s instant reaction to her sexy nightclothes solidified his decision to not share the bed with her. Sara’s “just friends” mantra taunting him.
Ha! In his life rulebook, friends didn’t lust after each other this badly. Didn’t daydream about sliding the other’s pajama straps off her delicate shoulders, trailing kisses down her elegant neck, filling their palms with the other’s luscious curves.
What he wanted to do with her would take them definitively out of the friend zone.
He was a short fuse away from marching across the bedroom, swooping Sara into his arms, and carrying her to the queen-sized bed where they’d both learn how amazing they would be together. Because make no mistake, based on the chemistry sizzling between them, he was absolutely certain the sex would be mind-blowing.
Instead, he grabbed a pillow off the bed and dropped it on the hardwood floor in front of the white nightstand. He’d have to find an extra blanket. A comforter or duvet would be a better option. Sleeping on the floor didn’t bother him, but his back would appreciate something with a little cushion between him and the hardwood. If all else failed, he could grab the shaggy sky blue rug from their bathroom and drape a sheet over it.
“What are you doing?” Sara asked as he strode to the wardrobe and tugged on the knobs to fling both doors open wide.
“Looking for something I can use to make a pallet,” he grunted. “I figure the bed’s kinda small, maybe sharing isn’t the best idea after all.”
Not with the horny impulses he harbored.
Pushing aside their hanging clothes, he checked behind them for extra linens. No luck. The gauzy multicolored material of one of her sundresses caught on his thumb. The image of her wearing the outfit seared his brain. Followed quickly with one of him peeling it off.
Not helping!
He shook his hand trying to dislodge the distracting dress. The plastic hanger clattered against the top of the wardrobe as it swung violently on the metal pole.
Okay, so he was a little amped up. Dipping his big toe into the freaked-out pool he rarely swam in. Basically, doing a piss-poor job of hiding it or dealing with it now that Sara’s family wasn’t around and he didn’t have to pretend.
But co?o! The situation was snowballing out of control, and this Conch who’d never even seen snow was wide-eyed by the avalanche of repercussions that had been tumbling their way all day.