“It’s the truth.” He dipped his head as if to emphasize his point.
The warmth of his palm along her neck seeped into her, spreading into her chest. His thumb brushed her jawline, pleasure humming through her at his tender touch.
“I appreciate you sharing this with me. Trusting me enough to tell me,” he said, his voice a deep rasp that at once both soothed and excited her.
“I do,” she answered, moved by his sincerity. Grateful it was him by her side here. “You’re a good man, Luis Navarro.”
Overcome by a rush of emotions, Sara leaned forward to press a kiss on his cheek. His fingers flexed along her nape and she found herself nuzzling his cheek with hers. Unwilling to break their contact.
“I have my moments,” he teased, a puff of his breath tickling her ear. “But if there’s anything I ever do that exacerbates a trigger.” Luis leaned back, his dark eyes intently on hers. “If something or someone else does, don’t hesitate to tell me. Don’t hold back. I want to help any way I can while you’re here.”
His words were like a splash of cold water, startling her awake from a dream-filled slumber on the back patio.
What was she doing?
They were alone upstairs. There was no need to pretend she and Luis were a couple behind closed doors. It was foolish to let herself get caught up in thinking they could be a real one. Her life was centered in New York, making calculated moves to expand her business interests and proving to her family that she could be successful in her own right.
Luis’s caring, empathetic concern was an innate part of what made him such an amazing person. He’d treat anyone else the same. She’d do well to remember that they could not allow the forced proximity of their situation to cloud their better judgement.
He was here as a favor. She, despite needing his help, was here to prove that she didn’t need saving. Not by her family. Not by a long-distance boyfriend she had dated for the wrong reasons. And not by the nice guy she had sweet-talked into being her partner in crime, for a brief period of time.
“Th-thank you,” she mumbled. Untangling their fingers, she slid backward until she reached the corner of the mattress. Purposefully distancing herself from unrealistic expectations she couldn’t, wouldn’t, allow herself to entertain.
“I’ve got it under control,” she assured Luis. “Though I’m sorry if you felt ambushed by my mother this morning.”
Confusion clouded his dark eyes and wedged between his brows. “Not ambushed. Just a little out of my depth. But it’s all good. I’m serious, if you need—”
“Right now, what I need is to get ready for the day and figure out how to deal with my parents.”
Pushing herself off the bed, she crossed to the left side drawers, intent on retrieving a bra and panties so she could escape to the bathroom. Sure, this was classic avoidance of a problem, but maybe a cold shower would clear her head.
“This Brady Bunch style of parenting can’t last long,” she complained. “I’m sure they’ll go back to their old ways soon and won’t be hovering like they are right now.”
“I thought you wanted them actively involved in your life?”
“Not like this!” Anger surged through her, and she slammed the drawer shut. “I don’t want them checking up on me out of guilt. Or responsibility. Because I was so emotionally screwed up that I turned to bingeing and purging. I’m not a patient or a charity case. That’s not what I want from them. Or you.”
“Wait a minute!” Luis shot off the bed, his broad shoulders and full height dwarfing the room. His affronted scowl menacing. “I doubt they see you that way. I certainly don’t.”
Sara huffed out an exasperated breath. Aware she was behaving irrationally, yet too overcome with doubts and desires and the inevitability of their situation that she couldn’t contain herself. She cupped her forehead in one hand, as if doing would calm the scattered, scared thoughts running a hamster race through her mind. In reality she wasn’t sure whom she was frustrated with the most.
Her parents, for realizing too late her need to be accepted by them?
Luis, for making her feel and want in ways that would only hurt when the time came for her to leave?
Herself, for craving the sense of belonging she found with him, despite the inevitable heartbreak if he came to view her as someone who simply needed saving? Forget his beautiful words moments ago, he’d simply meant to boost her. Not woo her.
Suddenly overwhelmed with self-doubt, Sara hurried to the wardrobe, where she snatched her sundress off the round doorknob. The clear plastic hanger clattered against the wood.
“Look, I felt you deserved the truth since you agreed to this farce. But I don’t expect you to be a therapist or another medical professional assessing me. I have enough of those already.”
Jaw tight, hands stuffed deep in the pockets of his khaki walking shorts, Luis eyed her stoically.
“I’ve gotta get in the shower; everyone’s already downstairs,” she said, her voice stiff and uncomfortable. Nervous that by sharing, she’d changed the course of their friendship. Afraid that, as had happened with others, her disorder might wind up causing a rift in their budding relationship.
Without waiting for his response, Sara brushed past him, her shoulder grazing his muscular arm.
“It’s not within me to ignore someone who needs my help, Sara.”
Luis’s softly spoken entreaty held an undercurrent of conviction and promise she couldn’t ignore. Not when his white knight tendency was what had drawn her to him in the first place.
She paused in the bathroom doorway. Staring at their reflections in the medicine cabinet mirror, she met his gaze. Honest, steadfast.
“I know,” she told him, her heart yearning for something she couldn’t quite put her finger on. Afraid to even try. “I wouldn’t ask that of you. It’s just . . . Isn’t there some way we can go back to yesterday afternoon? When we were simply a girl and a guy agreeing to be a pretend couple in order to hoodwink her family. You know, normal vacation fun?”
A corner of his mouth curved up in that sexy half grin she found way too enticing for her own good.
“That’s what you want? The Key West sun and fun experience tourists write home about?” he asked.
She nodded, hoping he’d go along with her bid to move on from their argument.
“That I can definitely give you,” he promised.
A promise she found herself excited to help him keep.
* * *
After wrapping up a short call with her assistant early Saturday evening, Sara strolled into the open kitchen area at the rental house. There she found Jonathan with his cell phone propped up on the granite counter as he video chatted with Susan and William.
“Here’s the mermaid magnet we bought for you at the aquarium today after we rode the train.” Jonathan held up the glittery clay memento along with another one shaped like a pirate ship. “And here’s one for you, buddy.”
Catching her brother’s cheek-splitting grin and the matching openmouthed “ooohs” from her cute niece and nephew whose sweet faces filled the entire phone screen, Sara grinned back. Her father was right; parenthood and marriage to Carolyn had softened her once solely career-focused brother. Oh, he still loved his job, but he now lived for his family. No more jumping at the chance to pull a double shift and potentially get in on an interesting case that came into the hospital’s ER. This was the man who could perform his three-year-old’s ballet routine. Proudly.
This last trait endeared him to Sara even more. It had her thinking maybe it was time she quit distancing herself to avoid being hurt by Jonathan’s old propensity to give her the brush-off. They weren’t the same people anymore. At least, she and Jonathan weren’t. Robin might be a different story.
“Hi, guys,” Sara singsonged, swooping in to press her face next to her brother’s. The image of their matching blond heads, high cheekbones, and blue-green eyes in the smaller box at the top of the screen drew her gaze. Her smile widened.
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“Aunt Sara!” William cried, squirming his little body with so much excitement he fell onto his side and rolled out of the picture for a few seconds.
“Aunt Sar-bear!”
Sara’s grin softened at little Susan’s use of the silly nickname her father had gifted her with years ago when she was about Susan’s age. Silly, yet it never failed to warm her heart.
“Are you two staying out of trouble? Not giving your other grandparents a hard time?” she teased.
“Yup!” William crawled back into view, his shaggy hair, the same dark brown as his mom’s, mussed from his antics.
“I’m aw-ways a good girl. Cwoss my heart.” Susan’s tiny finger drew a cross in the center of her chest, a little off from the exact location of her heart, which, had Robin been here, she might have corrected.
“Yes, you are, sweetie,” Sara confirmed. “And William, I know you’re being the best big brother. That’s why I keep telling your dad he has to bring you both home lots of presents.”
“Yay!” Cheers rose from both kids, who clapped their approval.
“Ease up there, Sister,” Jonathan complained, elbowing her in the ribs.
She nudged him aside with a laugh, then stuck out her tongue at him playfully and backed away, waving to her sweet niece and nephew. Feeling lighthearted around her brother in a way she rarely had in the past.
After the misunderstanding this morning with her mom and Robin over Sara’s absence, and the emotional toll of sharing the history of her disorder with Luis, the day had actually gone really well. In large part thanks to Luis and his calm, reassuring presence.
He’d charmed her mother, buddied up with Jonathan, and handled Robin’s rapid-fire questions about the island without batting an eye. To Sara’s immense relief, he wasn’t treating her any differently than before their heart-to-heart.
Despite having grown up here, Luis seemed to enjoy playing tourist with them, adding commentary from a local Conch’s perspective during their train ride. When they’d hopped off the bright yellow cab with its black rooftop to explore Ernest Hemingway’s house and the historic Key West Lighthouse, he even accepted her challenge to march up all eighty-eight steps of the lighthouse after admitting he’d never been to the top.
Later, at the aquarium, he’d filled in as their tour guide, providing info on the animals in the touch tank. Robin had peppered him with questions about the conchs, sea urchins, sea stars, and other animals they had the chance to hold. Even Sara’s brainiac sister had been impressed with the conservation facts Luis had provided for many of the other area fish and wildlife.
Sara’s family genuinely liked him. Maybe a little too much. That would make it harder when the time came to announce their breakup. For now though, she refused to think about that.
While her brother continued regaling the kids with stories about their day, Sara tugged open the fridge in search of some sparkling water. Over the conversation inside, she heard a rumbling clatter, like the tumble of clay pieces clashing against each other.
Following the sound, she stepped to the large window alcove that opened to the outdoor patio dining area. Seated at the wooden table, Luis, her parents, and Edward were selecting dominoes from a pile spread between them. During the rare times her family was all together, they usually played cards or Trivial Pursuit. Robin always chose the latter because she kicked butt at it. If Jonathan’s kids had been here, Pretty Pretty Princess or Candyland would have been on the game menu, too.
“Once you’ve picked your seven pieces,” Luis explained, “whoever has the double six starts the game, then play moves to their left.”
He continued with the instructions, explaining that partners sat across from each other. This meant Luis teamed up with Sara’s mother, while Edward and her dad were a pair. Ruth grinned like the cat who ate the last of the delicious sautéed shrimp dinner they’d enjoyed earlier, thanks to a local restaurant’s delivery service.
“Honey, you should come listen to the rules,” Edward called to Robin, who along with Carolyn lay reading a book in one of the loungers next to the pool. “I think the counting and strategizing will appeal to you.”
Sara bit back a smirk. Of course, the mental agility aspect would draw her sister over, not necessarily the camaraderie.
“So, you grew up playing dominoes then?” her mom asked Luis.
He nodded, his big hands deftly situating his pieces, resting them on their long side facing him. “It’s how my brothers, sister, and I first learned addition. At every family gathering, there’s at least one domino table set up. My abuela was a champion. As a kid, my younger brother avoided partnering with her because she used to get upset if he wound up distracted by the TV and missed a key move. She was a fierce competitor, and pretty amazing person all-around.”
The love he felt for his abuela rang in his deep voice. It was evident in the soft smile curving his lips and the faraway look in his eyes as he stared at the dominoes, lost in his memories.
Sara noticed his use of was and she wanted to ask him about his grandmother. He hadn’t shared much more about his family other than basic details to help with their charade. Not even a family photo. She’d only met his younger brother. By mistake. There was no reason why she’d meet any of the others. No reason other than her keen interest in all things Luis Navarro related. And the familia that reminded her of Mamá Alicia’s.
The image of her beloved nanny flashed in Sara’s mind. Diminutive yet firm when a reprimand was needed, which hadn’t been often. Watchful dark eyes and jet-black, later gray-streaked, hair she wore in her signature sleek bun. The lilt of her Mexican heritage dancing through her Spanish, heavily accenting her English. Sara liked to think Mamá Alicia and Luis’s abuela were probably looking down on them all right now. If so, Sara figured the two older women would be shaking their heads at Luis and Sara’s ruse. Although, after her family’s fun-filled day and the sun-kissed color on her mother’s thin face, Sara had a hard time seeing the error of her ways.
Twisting the cap off her bottle of sparkling water, Sara strolled out to the back patio, feeling oddly at peace around her family. Mostly thanks to Luis, whose calm demeanor seemed to rub off on all of them. Including her.
Robin and Carolyn left their lounge chairs to join everyone at the table. Her sister-in-law stepped around one of the citronella candles dangling on a hook at the top of a waist-high metal stake stuck into the soil near her lounger. Several others dotted the perimeter of the raised porch, while two more candles burned in the sitting area. Orange flames flickered inside the dark glass orbs cradling the candles.
A light breeze blew away the heat and humidity of the day. While the sun’s last rays poked through the tree branches, splaying wispy shadows and light across the backyard oasis.
“Is Jonathan still talking to the kids?” Carolyn asked, motioning with her head toward the kitchen alcove. “I don’t know which one of us feels worse about not bringing them along. But couple time is hard to come by these days.”
Sara’s brother appeared in the large window, holding the phone out toward them. “Say bye to everyone!”
Good-byes and talk-to-you-soons and a “Mommy loves you” from Carolyn chimed in a raucous farewell to the little ones; then Jonathan hung up.
“Anyone need another drink?” he asked.
By the time Jonathan made it to the table carrying several dark green beer bottles for the other guys, Luis had kicked off the domino game by slapping down the double six. Sara’s mom’s triumphant “yes!” coupled with her wide leer drew a rumbly chuckle from him.
“I have to warn you,” Sara told Luis as she moved to stand behind him. “Game night can get pretty cutthroat in our house.”
Resting her hands on his shoulders, she bent down to peer at his dominoes. Luis turned to look at her, his handsome face inches from hers. The corners of his eyes crinkled with the easy smile she had quickly grown fond of seeing. He surprised her with a peck on her jaw that sent tingles tap-dancing their way
down her body.
“We’ll go easy on him, Sar-bear. Don’t worry,” her father promised, sending her mom a satisfied smile. Ruth patted his hand on the edge of the table, punctuating some secret between the two of them.
Sara wasn’t sure whether to be relieved they’d fallen for her ruse with Luis. Or worried about what they might be scheming themselves.
“Oh, I can hold my own,” Luis assured them. “I’m not easily intimidated. Though what I’ve got in front of me should scare you two.” He pointed at Edward and her dad, seated to his left and right.
“That’s what I like to hear,” her mom crowed.
Sara rolled her eyes. Apparently, no one was holding back when it came to trash talk. Not even Luis.
“Do you have a good . . . is it called a hand in dominoes?” she asked him.
“Yeah, ‘hand’ is the right terminology. Same as with cards.” Luis rearranged his dominoes matching ones with the same numbers of black dots on one half or the other. “Does anyone want me to talk us through this first game, provide some options they could choose from based on their or their partner’s dominoes?”
“I’m already Googling domino strategy,” Robin said, tapping away at her cell phone screen. She dragged another chair closer to Edward, her serious game face already in place. “No need for a practice round. We’ll pick this up quickly.”
Jonathan snagged the sixth dining table chair and set it between their parents. As soon as he sat down, Carolyn sank onto his lap, one arm casually draped over his shoulder.
“We’ll watch and learn,” he said, before taking a swig of his beer.
“Here, join me.” Luis scooted his chair back a little, opening his arms for Sara to sit with him.
It all seemed so cozy. A little surreal. An average family snapshot she’d always dreamed of. Her entire family together with her not feeling like an outsider, either too young or too different or too emotionally weak to be an equal.
Time had eroded the age gap once she’d reached adulthood. Regular therapy had helped with the other two.
Island Affair Page 16
