Island Affair (Keys to Love #1)(77)
Not quite the Would You Rather question pitting her against his ex that Sara had kept to herself earlier, but she wasn’t courageous enough to put that out there. Yet.
“And on Friday we’ll decide?” Luis trailed off at the mention of the end date of their original agreement.
Sara waited for him to continue.
When he didn’t say anything, she interpreted it as a silent, mutual decision to deal with that when the time came.
Her cell trilled an incoming text message alert. Sara bit back a resigned sigh at the interruption. It trilled a second time, and she reached over to grab the phone off her nightstand.
A message from her mother popped up on the screen: Finished golfing. Ordered clubhouse drinks. Home in 45.
Sara imagined her mom typing the message like she rattled off orders in the OR. Direct. No-nonsense. No emotion, or emoticons, involved.
“It’s my mom,” she told Luis. “Looks like they’ll be here in less than an hour.”
“Okay.” The uncertainty in his single-word response mimicked Sara’s sentiments.
Dejected, she set her phone on the bed, then snuggled back in his arms.
Her gaze cut to her cell, her message app still open. Three little dots hovered underneath her mother’s first message. Seconds later, another text appeared: Love you.
Like the Florida sun peeking through the clouds to cast its rays through the bedroom skylight, clarity brightened Sara’s perspective. Her mom was trying. Making a true effort to change their relationship. So were her dad and Jonathan.
Maybe, instead of stressing about what-ifs, she should simply accept the situation that was before her and make the most of it.
Grab ahold of what she had, instead of worrying what she may not down the road. Therapy had taught her to take it one day at a time. Today had been a marvelous day. Her decisions, her actions, could help it stay that way. Or not. She preferred the former.
Sara sat up abruptly.
Luis frowned. “You okay?”
“Would you rather conserve water and shower with me or save time and shower with me?”
Luis’s face lit up at her question. His lips spread in a wicked smile that had her entire body humming with tantalizing anticipation.
He let out a victorious, “Yes!” then swung his legs off the bed and scooped her up in his arms. “Now there’s a question that requires some research and exploration before answering.”
Oh, she knew they couldn’t avoid the issues that awaited them outside these four walls. But that didn’t mean they couldn’t enjoy discovering all the exquisite ways they worked well together. That’s exactly what she planned to do.
Chapter 17
Luis stepped out of the bathroom to find Sara, dressed in red running shorts and a black sports bra, perched on the foot of their bed. Running sneakers already laced up and her blond hair pulled back in a sleek ponytail, she was ready to head out for a four-mile run together.
“Here you go. One black, no-fluff coffee.” She rose to hand him a supersize mug with the green and white zero mile marker sign plastered on the side.
“Thank you.” Taking the mug, he inhaled the rich, bitter aroma. After the busy night they’d spent getting far too little sleep but engaged in much more pleasurable activities, he’d need a second cup to fuel his day when they got back from their run.
“So, your mom and Robin ultimately decided today’s schedule is the Audubon House, the Mel Fisher Atocha museum, and browsing the shops around the Custom House, right? With a day on my boat tomorrow, right?”
He eyed Sara over the rim of his cup as he took a sip of the hot liquid.
“Are you sure you’re up for that? I mean, if Robin gets on a roll, our only option would be to throw her overboard.” Sara’s face scrunched in a cute grimace. “My parents and Edward probably won’t go for that idea. Now Jonathan, I might be able to convince him.”
Her blue-green eyes squinted as she gazed up at the ceiling like the answer to her dilemma might be found in the creamy paint swirls.
“Or,” Luis bent to drop a kiss on her pouted lips. “There’s no avoiding each other out there. So, you two take a walk or sit on the beach and try clearing the air after I drop anchor at Snipes Point.”
He swatted her butt playfully and eased around her to grab a tee from one of his drawers.
“You gotta admit, she was in a good mood last night when they returned,” Luis reminded her. Setting his coffee next to a photo book on life in the Keys, he hunkered down to rummage through his clothes.
“Because she beat everyone in golf, duh.”
Luis grinned at Sara’s aggrieved tone.
In his familia, Robin’s competitive nature would fit right in with his siblings. But he understood there were different dynamics between Sara and her sister. Unspoken disappointments, no doubt differing interpretations of the slights they’d each felt as children growing up with two highly successful, driven parents who expected the same from their children and may not have given them all the attention and love they wanted. Though Ruth and Charles were doing their best to make up for it now.
Another gray KWFD T-shirt in hand, Luis pushed the drawer closed and rose. “I think it’s pretty sweet your parents want to take all of you on a Mediterranean cruise.”
When he stuck his head through the neck hole in his shirt, he found Sara watching him. He took his time lowering the shirt over his torso, enjoying her reaction. Appreciation glittered in her eyes turning them the color of stormy Gulf of Mexico waters. The same color that had gazed back at him in the throes of passion last night.