“No, you were right the first time. Coming home,” Anamaría stressed. “That’s what this island is.”
Ernesto cupped Alejandro’s shoulder. “He’ll change his mind. Right now, he’s stressed about the insurance mix-up and the bank giving fits about a loan. Pero we’ll figure it out. We always have in the past. And he’ll back off. I’ll work on him.”
Unlike his little brother, skepticism colored Alejandro’s perspective. “Sounded to me like you’ve been hitting a wall trying to talk sense into him. He never listens to anyone.”
“Like I said, we’ll handle the bank. Just don’t let him push you away again. I like having you back.” Ernesto squeezed his shoulder in a reassuring grip.
The hopeful expression on his brother’s face reminded Alejandro of when they were kids and Ernesto begged to be included with the older boys’ fun. Now his baby brother dealt with solving their familia’s problems, while Alejandro fled them.
“I gotta run to the kitchen, wrap up the lunch rush, and start prep for dinner so I can get home to Cece and Lulu. But I’ll see you at Mami and Papi’s later. Okay?”
Anamaría’s advice out in the parking lot before lunch played through Alejandro’s mind. Peek out from behind your camera. Try connecting with those who are important to you.
Like his little brother.
“Yeah, sure, where the hell else would I be with this bum leg.” Ernesto’s grin had Alejandro answering with a smirk of his own. He nudged his head toward the kitchen on the other side of the wall where they stood. “Go on. Besides Mami, you might be the only one to keep him from biting off someone’s head in there. Save the staff. I’m fine.”
Ernesto dropped a peck good-bye on Anamaría’s cheek, then disappeared around the hall corner.
Once she and Alejandro were alone, instead of backing away, Anamaría stepped closer and put her other hand on his waist. The warmth of her palm spread across his stomach, and damn if his crotch didn’t perk up. Craving a much more intimate touch from her.
“What do you say the two of us get out of here together?” she whispered.
Damn, he didn’t know what she had in mind by her offer, but he sure as hell knew what his body wanted. It ached to be with hers. There was no use denying it, at least not to himself. But that need had led him to selfishly hurt her in the past. He couldn’t let that happen again.
Lust urged him to drag her body against his, taste the sweetness of her lips and tongue. Instead, he forced himself to rein in his lust, reaching up to softly trace her jawline with his fingertips. The light streaming in from the patio door danced across her beautiful face creating a mix of shadow and light. Her eyes fluttered closed and he let himself explore the face he saw in his dreams. High cheekbones, straight nose, arched black brows, and lush lips. Details emblazoned on his mind. And in his heart.
Touching her was delight and torture, leading him to pull away before he did something foolish. Something he couldn’t take back that would ruin the tentative relationship they had started rebuilding.
Anamaría’s inquisitive eyes peered up at him intently. Assessing him like one of her patients on a call.
“I know he gets to you,” she said softly.
“Whatever. It is what it is,” he lied.
“You can’t fool me.”
He frowned.
“Or scare me with that mean scowl.”
“Is that so?”
She tipped her chin up with confidence. “Uh-huh.”
The flash of white as she grinned drew his gaze to her wide mouth. His blood pulsed with the desire to kiss her.
“Your dad’s not always an easy person to love,” she said. “He’s demanding and set in his ways.”
“Try hardheaded. Intractable. Inflexible.” He stopped. Hiked a brow. “Should I go on?”
She tipped her head and lifted a shoulder toward it. “If it makes you feel better.”
“This . . .” Gently, he grasped her chin between his thumb and forefinger. “Being with you. Remembering the good times here, instead of the battles I fought with him. That makes me feel better.”
It would be so easy to dip down and press his lips to hers. See if she still preferred the same cherry ChapStick.
“It can’t be easy taking his rejection, when what you want is his acceptance,” she murmured.
Coño, how could she see what he felt for his father, yet not know what lay in his heart when it came to her?
Unable to answer the great conundrum of his life, Alejandro lowered his forehead to hers. Seeking some kind of connection with her. Desperate to soak up her empathy and understanding. Unable to avoid the distressing reality that he couldn’t offer her what she deserved in a partner.
His father had just confirmed that ugly reality.
“Come on, let’s go,” she said.
“The others—”
“Sara took Brandon back to his hotel. Your mom’s behind the hostess counter helping the new girl. She said your abuela’s watching Lulu, so you won’t be home alone if you need anything.”
He grimaced. Spending time with his niece was usually a treat, but after the confrontation with his dad, he needed to decompress. Not put on a happy face for sweet, impressionable Lulu.
“Or you could come hang out at my place for a bit.” Anamaria’s fingers flexed on his waist, and he caught the flash of surprise in her hazel eyes. As if her invite had slipped out unintentionally. Yet she didn’t take it back. “We can, um, use my Apple TV to view your photographs on a big screen. Maybe go ahead and decide on our favorites, while you elevate your leg.”
Her place.
Those two simple words tempted him like a siren’s call luring a ship captain to wreck and ruin against the jagged ocean reef.
He thought about the hangouts and hideaways they’d found as teens when they wanted the privacy they couldn’t find living with their parents. Back when they had talked about getting a place together someday.
Did he want to see the space she’d made her own? Where she ate and slept and watched the romantic comedies she used to love and read her favorite books and lounged in comfy pajamas . . . or out of them.
Hell yeah.
Stepping back, she hooked a hand on one of his crutch bars. “What do you say? My place?”
It wasn’t a coy offer. There was no sexual innuendo in her invitation. But fuck if his blood didn’t thrum through his veins, his body going hard like she’d invited him over to share a private party for two.
“I’m in.”
Her smile widened at his answer. She tapped her hand on his crutch bar, then started backpedaling toward the main dining room and the side back entrance.
Someone stepped into the hallway just as the clouds must have shifted outside, sending a bright stream of sunlight through the glass door. Alejandro squinted, momentarily blinded.
“Come on, let’s go—Oh! Excuse me! I didn’t mean to bump into—Papi!” Anamaría’s cry had Alejandro blinking to clear the spots from his eyes.
Dread swooped over him like a black crow warning of bad luck when he realized that it was, indeed, her father. Shit, this place was like a messed-up familia reunion reality TV show. Who the hell else was going to pop up next? Her mom?