in the car she dared to look at him. He looked neither shocked nor horrified. Which she took as a good sign. “We can still call and cancel,” she offered.
“No.” He flashed her a cocky smile. “I’m looking forward to it.”
She gave him a few directions as he steered the car toward her uncle’s neighborhood. It was much like hers, but a little older, a little shabbier, a little more working-class. The houses were small, but built early enough in the California property boom that the yards were spacious and well shaded with fruit trees.
It wouldn’t compare to his condo on the beach—let alone the house in Harleston Village, but somehow she had the feeling he wouldn’t mind. Ward was remarkably unfussy and unpretentious. Wealth didn’t seem to impress him much. And she knew from the dive he’d taken her to in Charleston that he valued good food over ambiance. And if there was one thing her big, extended family did well, it was good food.
He turned the Lexus onto her uncle’s street and she offered once more, “Last chance to ditch?”
His grin broadened. “No way. Anything that has you this nervous, I’ve got to see.”
Her grumble of indignation was cut short, because a moment later he pulled the car to the curb—nearly half a block away because of the cars lining the street. Even from the safety of Ward’s car, she could feel the energy and excitement buzzing around her uncle’s house. Some of the kids had started a game of soccer on the front lawn. A couple of the older teenagers were slouching grumpily on the front steps, all defiant bravado. Music could be heard blaring from the backyard. Someone had already fired up the grill and the air was laden with the pungent sent of charred oak.
On any other day, the sights, sounds and smells of a family cookout would fill her heart with pure joy. Today it only rattled her nerves. She didn’t expect Ward to turn up his nose at her relatives. He just wasn’t that kind of guy. She was less confident about all of her relatives being completely welcoming to him. She didn’t get along with everyone in her extended family and there was a chance some people would see toting a celebrity along to a family dinner as a way of showing off. But even deeper was her fear that this afternoon was going to shift their relationship in some subtle way. And that the change might be even more important than the one that had taken place last night.
Then, she’d merely taken him into her bed. Now, she was truly letting him into her life.
Ana didn’t seem to relax much once they reached the party. And Ward was too cued into her moods to enjoy himself if she wasn’t having a good time. Enjoy himself much, anyway.
Nilda, Ana’s mother, greeted him with barely repressed joy. If Ana hadn’t warned him that she’d never brought a guy home, he might have been surprised by Nilda’s speculative gaze and exuberant hug. Nilda squeezed him so affectionately, he nearly couldn’t breathe.
“I warned you,” Ana muttered under her breath once he was released.
Juan, Ana’s father, was more naturally reserved. A balding, gray-haired man, he carried himself with a sort of old-world dignity that belied his diminutive height and expansive girth. He shook Ward’s hand firmly in a way that told Ward he was being sized up.
Somehow he doubted that either his profession or his wealth were in his favor. “My Ana,” Juan said seriously in heavily accented English. He stood close enough to Ward not to be overheard. “She is like a rose, delicate, beautiful…” He waggled his hand in an iffy gesture. “But the stem of the rose is tough. You can’t easily separate it from its bush. If you are not careful, either you will get scratched, or you will crush the blossom and then it will wither and die—” he snapped his fingers “—very quickly. You understand?”
Ward nodded. “I do, sir.”
Juan gave him one last assessing look and then slapped him heartily on the arm. “Very good. Come and have a cerveza.”
After that, Ward didn’t talk to Ana for another hour or two. Her father guided him around, introducing him to friends and relatives. Most of the men had congregated in the backyard, whereas the women had holed up in the kitchen. This far inland, the temperature was warmer. The weather was unexpectedly warm for February and the ice-cold beer was all