him.
There are never parking spaces available on the street, except for right now. He skillfully parallel parks and kills the engine. “I can take whatever they’re dishing out.”
I’m not sure I can take it. As he reaches for the door handle, I’m frozen in place.
He glances over at me. “It’ll be okay. Don’t worry.”
I laugh. “How can you possibly know that when you’ve never met them?”
“I’ve met you. They raised you, right?”
“Yes . . .”
“Then they must be great people, because you’re amazing.”
I hold his gaze for a long, charged moment before I look down, overwhelmed by his words and the way I feel around him—dizzy, off my game, aroused, intrigued, afraid. The last time I gave my heart to a man, it was broken into a million pieces. I just don’t know if I have it in me to go there again. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life alone, but sometimes I think that might be easier than risking the safety net I’ve built around myself since I lost Tony.
“Tell me what I need to know about them.”
CHAPTER 10
CARMEN
I’m not at all prepared to take him in there. They know me so well. They’ll take one look at me with him and know I’m attracted to him.
I swallow hard, as nervous flutters in my abdomen make me feel like a teenager in the throes of first lust. That’s exactly how this feels, as if the ground beneath me has suddenly disappeared, sending me spiraling into the unknown.
“If you don’t want me to meet them, that’s fine, too. It’s completely up to you.”
I do want them to meet him, so I dig deep for the courage it’ll take for me to bring him in there, knowing full well what they’ll make of it. “When you meet my grandmothers, be sure to make eye contact. That’s important to them. And it’s often loud and boisterous in the restaurant. You might think something awful must be happening, but it’s just business as usual. If someone wrinkles their nose at you, they’re just asking you to elaborate on whatever you just said. They’re not saying you stink.”
He laughs at that. “Good to know.”
“Abuela, my Cuban grandmother, will invade your personal space. She’s not trying to be intimidating. That’s just how she rolls. They’re apt to kiss you, so be prepared for that, and there’s always lots of touching and whatnot. People who aren’t used to it tend to be surprised by that. My grandmothers and my parents love to complain about everything, but in reality they hate drama of any kind. They’re all talk and no action when it comes to controversial topics. What may sound like a knock-down, drag-out fight to you is just a conversation to them. Left side is Cuban. Right side is Italian. There’s a bar in the middle, and we’ll sit there to avoid showing favoritism to either side.”
His eyes light up with amusement. “I can’t wait to meet them.”
“You say that now.”
He covers my hand with his and looks at me with affection and humor in his gaze. “I heard what you said before about timing and complications and whatnot. But I want you to know . . . When I got to the hospital yesterday and found out they weren’t exactly rolling out the red carpet for me, I nearly had a heart attack. I’ve put years of hard work into my career, sacrificed so much, and the possibility that it could be taken from me because of a vindictive woman . . .”
He shakes his head in disbelief. “But then I got the message that the lovely young woman who greeted me when I arrived was in trouble with my car and needed me to come to the police station. I was so thankful to have an excuse to get the hell out of that hospital. The minute I saw you sitting in that cell, I felt better. The turbulence inside me calmed when we started talking about how we might turn this thing around. You did that for me. After everything that happened with Ginger, I would’ve thought it impossible to feel anything for another woman, especially so soon after that disaster. But you . . .” He shrugs. “I feel something for you, Carmen, and I think you might feel it, too.”
I want to deny it. I want to go back to who I was yesterday morning when I didn’t know this man existed. I was safe then. Nothing