Island Affair (Keys to Love #1)(76)

“Stop.” Luis grabbed her right ankle, holding her in place. “Don’t run from this. From me.”

The loose grip he held on her leg let her know she was free to go if she really wanted to; he wouldn’t force her to stay. The sincerity and conviction mingling in his expression. The truth hidden in the corner of her soul.

They all intertwined, weaving into a rope that tied her in place like one of those beautiful yachts they’d seen at the dock behind the Custom House yesterday.

She stilled. Her breaths coming shallow and fast. She stood at a crossroads, moving in infinitesimal increments in the right direction. One she wanted to go.

But old doubts peered from the shadows. Armed and ready to trigger unhealthy behaviors she’d fought hard to curb. There’d been a time when she would have weakened, gorged herself on junk food or laced up her running shoes desperate to leave those doubt-fueled fears in the dust.

Not anymore.

And yet, while her therapist regularly stressed the importance of open communication, Sara continued to shy away from her sister’s challenging personality and the inexplicable grudge Robin held against her.

Luis gently caressed her shin and calf. Not pushing, not backing off either. She eyed him warily, contemplating her options. Two could play this game.

“Would you rather stay angry and distant with your brother,” she asked him, “or do your part to try mending your fractured relationship?”

His fingers tightened around her calf for a second. Two. Three.

Then he released her leg and clasped his hands on his lap. His serious, tough-guy expression slid into place, blanketing his rugged features and dulling his dark eyes.

Sara stared back, feigning a confidence level her quivering insides belied. They had danced around their family problems. Pushing each other on different occasions. Never head-to-head like this.

Would he wash his hands of the discussion? Of her? Because she’d gone too far?

If so, then he wasn’t the man she thought . . . hoped . . . he really was.

Outside on the street a car honked. A warning that soon their private interlude would be over and her family would return.

But she and Luis had crossed a line in their previously platonic, ignore-the-simmering-attraction relationship. She wasn’t sure if they could go back to their charade as friends. Honestly, it wasn’t what she wanted.

Luis pressed the butt of his palms against his eye sockets as if they pained him. His muscular chest rose and fell on a heavy sigh. “Co?o, we really suck at this game.”

A sputter-laugh burst from Sara’s mouth, expelling her pent-up anxiety. Charmed by his ability to find humor in their tenuous situation, she plucked a green grape and threw it at him. The piece of fruit hit his washboard stomach, then bounced onto his lap.

“Hey?!” he complained.

An amused, self-deprecating smirk pulled at his lips as Luis plucked her lame ammunition from the bunched material of his navy boxers and stuck it in his mouth. He picked up the food platter, moving it to the nightstand on his side of the bed.

Then, with a rakish black brow quirked, he grasped her ankle again and tugged her closer. A rush of pleasure filled her as her butt slid across the peach-colored cotton sheets.

“Ven pa’ca,” he bid, his deep voice encouraging her to come to him. Hands at her waist, he lifted her up so she could straddle his lap.

Sara laid her hands on his bare chest, marveling at her paler skin against his. Different, yet they shared so many similarities when it came to their family lives.

Luis’s hands slid slowly up her back, splaying over her shoulder blades, stopping when they came to rest at her nape. She melted under his tender ministrations. Marveled at how utterly beautiful and wanton she felt in his arms.

Overwhelmed by the swirl of lust and genuine affection coalescing inside her, Sara pressed her forehead to his. Her lids fluttered closed. The scent of ocean water, sweat, and sex surrounded her, a perfume she longed to bottle up and savor later.

“What a pair we are, huh?” Luis whispered.

Sara opened her eyes and met his gaze. Desperate to know what he was thinking. If he was as torn and conflicted about where they stood, about their pasts and the problems they had yet to face.

“What are we doing here?” she asked, unable to keep her doubts silent any longer.

Luis combed his fingers through her hair, tucking the loose tresses behind her ears. Tenderness blossomed in her chest when she noticed he still wore her ponytail holder on his wrist where he’d slipped it on after gently removing it from her hair earlier.

“I’m not sure,” he admitted. “You challenge me in ways I normally resist. But somehow, with you it’s different.”

He ran the pad of his thumb along her jaw, an awed expression in his eyes as they tracked the caress.

“You make me want to try. Make me want . . . things I haven’t allowed myself to want in a really long time.”

Humbled by his admission, Sara tucked her head in the crook of his neck. His strong arms wrapped around her and she nestled in his protective embrace.

“It’s probably just the great sex fogging your brain,” she teased, relying on humor to mask the intensity of her emotions.

His chuckle rumbled in her ear. “Could be. But I’d be lying if I said that was all.”

His honesty sobered her.

“How about if we take this”—she traced her palm lightly over his pec, awed by the combination of his soft skin over the hard muscle—“one day at a time? See where it leads.”