Island Affair (Keys to Love #1)(69)
Luis had no idea if Sara had spent much time around her niece and nephew. Based on the tentative banter she shared with her brother and his quiet wife, and Sara’s admission that she wanted to get to know her siblings better, he’d guess probably not. And yet her ease with the friendly daredevil here on the beach suggested she wasn’t a novice. Or maybe she was simply a natural.
The thought tugged at a dream he hadn’t allowed himself to even consider since Mirna’s death. One he’d be foolish to entertain now.
From the moment Carlos and Gina’s oldest had been born seven years ago, Luis had happily changed José’s dirty diapers and handled feeding time. He had even walked the floor in the middle of the night when the little guy suffered with colic and Carlos was on shift, but Gina needed some sleep. He also babysat so the couple could sneak out for the all-important occasional date night. It’s what familia did for each other.
Like the weekend he and Enrique had tag-teamed baby duty so Carlos and Gina could check into a local Airbnb. She’d refused to go out of town. Worried about being too far away and the baby needing her.
Memories of the longest forty-eight hours of his years as a doting uncle rushed in on Luis.
Rock-paper-scissors battles between him and Enrique over who’d get to choose night feedings over poop diaper changes. Discovering José’s dislike for strained peas and how far the seven-month-old could spit a mouthful of green mush. The number of shirt changes Luis had made thanks to José’s projectile vomit, eventually giving up on wearing a shirt at all to avoid more dirty laundry.
By the time Sunday rolled around, Enrique had touted their nanny stint as the best form of birth control ever invented. Cementing his status as the consummate bachelor.
Luis had volunteered for regular bi-weekly date night duty. And decided to ask Mirna to marry him.
Six months later, she died from the injuries of her car accident, after revealing the truth of her deception.
Luis dug his fingers in the hot sand, betrayal bitter on his tongue. Picking up a fistful, he watched the grains fall at his side, the wind carrying some to fan across the sheet.
Life and love could be equally as fleeting. Whisked away by a force beyond your control.
Another bitter fact he’d learned on the job, surrounded by tragedy and loss, was the importance of cherishing life’s blessings. Appreciating what you had. Because it could be gone in an instant. He’d seen enough tragedies, comforted enough survivors, to know this as a certainty.
Maybe finding out about Mirna’s deception had been a blessing. One he’d been too hurt, too shell-shocked, to understand.
“?Oye, vienes o no?”
Sara’s question, spoken in a Spanish accent that would impress his mami, had Luis’s gaze shooting up to meet hers.
She stood, knee-deep in the ocean. Head cocked to the side, one hand fisted on her jutted hip. A challenge sparked in her blue-green eyes. Her string bikini begging for him to untie the scraps of material and show her exactly what happened when she challenged him with an “Are you coming or not?”
If only.
Brushing his hands on his board shorts, Luis rose to his feet and ducked under the umbrella’s edge.
When an enticing mermaid beckoned with her sexy siren call, even he wasn’t strong enough to resist.
*
Luis shed his tank, dropping it in a black pool on their sheet and sending Sara’s pulse into overdrive.
He strode purposefully across the sand toward her. His eyes still shielded by those damn Ray-Bans, a smug grin spreading his lips.
Her stomach clenched, lust tingling in private places at the sight of his gorgeous body. She knew he kept himself in amazing shape. He had to for his demanding job. But good Lord, the man was sin and sex and so many things Mamá Alicia had warned her about when Sara first hit puberty.
No way Sara planned to heed that warning now.
She gulped. Trying to act cool and composed. Intent on not ogling him.
Totally failing.
The glorious slopes of his pecs rivaled the ridges and curves of his six-pack abs for her attention. The wide breadth of his magnificent shoulders tapered to a slim waist, dragging her gaze to his obliques and the tease of his board shorts low on his hips.
Luis’s feet hit the shore and she stood paralyzed with desire. In four strides he reached her. His hands cupped her hips, his thumbs hooking on the strip of material.
“I caught you,” he said, his voice a low rumble.
She arched her neck to gaze up at him, her heart tripping, stuttering, then heading off to the races again.
“Maybe. Maybe not.” Looping her hands around his waist, Sara walked backward, leading him deeper into the water. “Maybe I wanted you to.”
His cocky grin broadened to Cheshire cat level.
The cool ocean lapped against her lower back and she sucked in a quick breath. Caught in the swirl of hot lust. In danger of being sucked into the staggering undertow being in Luis’s arms elicited.
His fingers tightened around her hips and she drew to a stop.
Luis took another step, closing the gap between them. His wet skin, slippery with sunscreen, hot from the sun, pressed against her stomach. Her breasts brushed his chest, their sensitive tips straining against her flimsy top, desperate for his touch.
She ran a finger along the edge of the waistband at his back, dipping her fingertip inside. His erection stirred against her pelvis and she savored his reaction. Reveled in the knowledge that her attraction, the desire consuming her, was mutual.