“We’ve bothered you. Please ignore us,” Julia said softly and motioned for her cousins to turn back around.
Linda ignored her. “A pilot! That’s so interesting.” The word came out sounding more like sexy. “Staying for the party tonight?”
“Maybe.” His gaze was on Julia. Why did that make her stomach flutter?
“Oh, take Julia, then. Someone needs to get her out of the house,” Maria said.
“No. I can’t,” Julia said.
“Got it.” He motioned for the check.
Wait, did he want to take her to the party? Her? That hadn’t happened in...she couldn’t remember how long. “It’s not you...it’s...I’m not allowed to go,” she said.
He sat even straighter, as if he was angry. “Your husband won’t let you out of the house?”
“I’m not married. It’s just...” Her cheeks flushed like they did when she was embarrassed. She blew out a breath. “RW Harper has a restraining order against me. I can’t go within ten feet of Casa Larga.”
He sat back in his chair and stared at her. She could see herself in his glasses and hated how small she looked. How fragile. She straightened her back.
“That’s right. Our little Julia wants to sue Mr. Harper,” Maria explained. “As if a lone woman could take on one of the most powerful men in America.”
Linda shook her head. “Should’ve waited until after the party. Nothing this exciting has ever happened here.”
The pilot shook his head as if he was...what? Amused? She rushed on. “Look. Someone has to stop that menace. It’s bad enough that his oil derricks are out there—” She motioned toward the ocean. “We know what happens if one of them starts leaking. But now he’s going to build in snowy plover habitat! He must be stopped. They’re endangered.”
“Come on, chica. You’re getting worked up over little birds again. And we have company.” Linda smiled at the man. “Good-looking company.”
“What’s Harper building?” he asked.
“She doesn’t know. It’s a rumor, that’s all,” Maria said.
“I’ve seen tracks by the nesting sites. A man like Harper doesn’t care who he hurts.” That last part came out tight, as if her throat was closing. Why all the emotions today? She grabbed Maria’s beer and took a sip.
Linda chimed in. “You need proof before you can sue someone like Mr. Harper. You should’ve waited.”
“Proof?” he asked.
“Yes. I think he’s got plans inside Casa Larga. I’ve seen contractors go in there. Lawyers. A carpenter. If I could just see the plans, understand what he’s developing—” She stopped. Why was she telling him this? What if he worked for Harper? “I’m not the kind of woman who breaks into a man’s home. I swear.”
“I could help you.”
His voice. Something about it thrilled and teased her. Her gaze was riveted to his mouth. The scar on the bottom added an extra zing to a pair of full lips. What would it be like to kiss that scar? Or kiss any part of a man? It had been so long...
Maria elbowed her.
She blinked. “How?”
“I’ll get you inside. Harper is expecting me. Come as my date tonight.”
“¡Órale, chica! You can dress as pirates and go undercovers.” By the twinkle in her eye, Linda was messing up her Spanglish on purpose. Her cousin meant sheets, not covert missions.
His lips lifted and her insides turned to mush. For just a second there he looked like...no. She couldn’t think about Matt. Projecting those feelings onto a stranger would get her into trouble. Deep trouble.
“Why do you want to help me?”
“‘Someone has to stop that menace.’” He repeated her words. “Like to see you do it.”
Why? He didn’t know her from anyone. It was more than likely that Harper had messed with this guy, too. Get close to a pirate and you get robbed—she’d learned that the hard way.
But Linda was right. Nothing this exciting had happened around here. The last time she’d been inside the mansion was with Matt. She’d need a strong male by her side to shield her from those painful memories. “Pick me up at Bougainvillea Lane, 3C. Need directions?”
He half snorted. “I can find it.”
With only three streets, Pueblicito was probably the smallest town he’d ever seen.
“Your churros, mister.” Ana, the waitress, deposited a heaping plate of the crispy, twisted doughnuts in front of him.
“Thanks.” He ran a finger through the cinnamon sugar and tasted it. He groaned with contentment.
“Hot and sweet?” Her voice was huskier than normal. She licked her lips without meaning to.
He pinned her with his gaze. How she wished she could take off those glasses and see into his eyes.
“So, um, got to go.” She stood before she embarrassed herself further. “I’ll find pirate costumes for us. See you at seven.”
She started walking before realizing that she didn’t even know the pilot’s name. Man, how hard up for a date was she?
“I’ll be there, Julia,” he called out.
Her footsteps stuttered at the way he said her name, but she didn’t turn around. Familiar. Overpowering. Sexy. She fought the waves of desire and kept her feet moving away from the table. The pilot was not the boy she’d given her heart to, no matter how hard she wished he could be. Her one and only love had been shot down in battle ten years ago.
Matt Harper was dead.
Two
Every nerve in his body was firing, demanding him to grab that sweet ass of hers and press her up against the wall. He wanted to kiss the breath out of her lungs and never stop. Hell, he was pathetic. The woman hadn’t even recognized him.
Way to crush a man’s ego, sweetheart.
She walked away and he was powerless to pull his gaze off her. Pathetic.
“Show her a good time, guapo. But don’t break her heart.” Maria waggled her finger at him.
“Won’t be here long enough for hearts to break.” He swallowed the last of his beer.
Linda winked at Maria. “Good. He’s exactly what she needs.”
“A hot pilot to sweep her off her feet and fly away before he gets possessive?”
Linda huffed. “Maria, either dump Jaime or learn to live with him.”
Maria raised her hands. “I was just saying we all could use a little no-strings fun, but Julia deserves it more. After what happened...” She looked at Matt. “Well, she’s been through some stuff.”
She deserved what exactly? Hell, he’d been agonizing over a chick who’d forgotten him the minute he’d left. She’d called him her mistake. He should charter a plane and fly out of Plunder Cove right now.
Even so, the “stuff” worried him.
I have intel, my boy, the kind that destroys an entire family. Is that what you want to happen to her?
Had his father’s threat come to fruition? Was Julia in trouble?
“I’m glad you’re taking her to the party. She needs a little fun in her life,” said Maria.
“Should be interesting.” He said it like Linda had. But instead of the dirty sex she’d implied, his word meant closure. If he got lucky, there’d be both.
Hell, yes, he was going to the party for answers. Why did RW want him to come back? Was it to torture him by waving a gorgeous ex-girlfriend under his nose? Was his father that twisted? If so, Matt would tell the old man off on his way out of Dodge. But not before he made sure Julia was safe.
Those were his reasons for taking her to the party tonight. It had nothing to do with how sexy she looked coming and going. Or all the hot things he wanted to do to her, with her. One no-strings night with her might be just the thing he needed, too.
He’d be her mistake one last time and then he’d leave for good.
* * *
Matt paid his bill and said goodb
ye to Julia’s cousins. On his way to the parking lot, he placed one phone call. “Bring the Batmobile, Alfred.”
There was no doubt that his father owned some uber-expensive sports car he could borrow because speed was the one thing Matt and RW agreed on.
Five minutes later he looked up when a silver Lamborghini Veneno pulled into the parking lot.
“Holy hell.”
Veneno was an Italian word that translated to “poison.” Lamborghini had sold only three of these bad boys for roughly 4.5 million smacks each. Barely able to believe his eyes, Matt hightailed it to the driver’s side.
The window went down and a droll voice from inside said, “You rang?”
Matt leaned his head in the window. “Hey, Alfred. Good to see you.”
His father’s driver, whose real name was Robert, was bald now and more wrinkled than Matt remembered. “You’re still calling me that? I thought you would’ve outgrown your Batman obsession by now.” The twinkle in his eye was a dead giveaway that he was pleased Matt had used the nickname.
“Bite your tongue. No one outgrows the Dark Knight.”
Matt and his little brother, Jeff, had pretended to be Batman and Robin for years. They’d christened the family driver “Alfred.” Robert had acted huffy at first but quickly warmed up to the game.
Alfred got out and took Matt’s pack and duffel. When the trunk opened, the new-car smell was close to orgasmic.
“Let me drive,” Matt said.
“Your father nearly killed me the last time I let you drive the Bugatti.”
Matt grinned. “Nearly killed me, too, but it was worth it.” Especially the joyride he’d taken with Julia. He held out his hand and wiggled his fingers. “Keys.”
“Fine. But if you dent this one, I quit.” He placed the key fob in Matt’s hand and climbed into the passenger’s side.
“Surprised you haven’t quit already.” Matt started the car and the engine roared to life.
“Eh, what would you Harpers do without your fantastic driver?”
Matt looked down at the odometer. “Seven miles? I wouldn’t call that driving. Is the old man just petting this car?” Matt saw the flinch before Alfred righted his face to neutral. Something was on the man’s mind. “What’s up? Has my father really become a hermit?”
The man just sighed. “He’s had a hard time, Matthew. I’m glad you kids have come home.”
“Jeff and Chloe are here, too? How the hell did he get them to come back?”
“It’s not for me to tell. Suffice it to say you and your siblings will hear about it tonight.”
“At the party.”
“Yes.”
“That’s not good enough. Spill. What’s he up to? Does it have anything to do with Julia?”
“I can’t say.”
Matt narrowed his eyes. “Can’t or won’t? This is me, Alfred. I won’t tell my father a word you say, I promise.”
Alfred’s gaze focused out the windshield. His arms crossed. The man’s lips were sealed, apparently.
“I have to wait to hear the big news with the whole town?” Matt grumbled.
“Yes.”
Forget that, he’d question one of the staff.
“Before you try to sweet-talk the ladies in the kitchen, no one else knows what your father is planning. He is indisposed for the rest of the day. You’ll simply have to wait a few hours like the rest of us.”
Huh. Matt’s curiosity was growing and so was his sense of danger.
Alfred pulled his safety belt tight. “Try not to run us off the road in the meantime.”
“A little faith, my man. I fly jets now. I think I can handle a little car.” He pressed his foot down and gravel sprayed the empty lot.
“Holy mother.” Alfred crossed himself.
Matt laughed. He cut his eyes toward his passenger. “Relax. Wow, was I that bad as a teenager?”
“Terrifying.” But he said it with a smile. “Always in a hurry to fly out of here.”
“Yeah. I was.”
“I understood you, Matthew. I was a teenager once back in the Dark Ages.” He chuckled. Weird, Matt had never heard him laugh before. It must have sucked to be a driver for the Harpers all of those years. “And it seems you got exactly what you wanted, Captain Harper. You flew away.”
Exactly what he wanted? Not by a long shot. “Sorry I made things tough on you.”
What was his father’s evil plan? Matt would find out tonight with Julia by his side. He’d shield her from any fallout and stop his old man before he could hurt anyone else.
Just like old times.
The Dark Knight drove the Italian poison straight into the villain’s lair.
* * *
Julia paced her tiny bedroom. “I can’t believe I agreed to do this. Why did I agree to do this?”
“Because that pilot was smoking hot!” Linda fanned herself.
Yes, yes, he was. But she still wasn’t sure why he wanted to take her on a date. She was so far out of the dating scene that a guy would need binoculars to find her in the single-girl weeds.
“What am I going to wear to this thing?”
“Not your red dress. I already called dibs on that baby,” Linda said. Both she and Maria were sitting on the edge of Julia’s bed, painting their nails.
Julia opened the window to let the polish fumes out. “I can’t believe I am doing this.”
“You said that already, mujer. Hurry up, you don’t have that much time to get ready.” Maria waved her hand to dry her nails.
“What am I going to wear? Harper cannot recognize me or he’ll throw me out.”
“That ought to make a great impression on the pilot,” Maria said.
“Ask Tía Nona. She’s got all sorts of pirate costumes,” Linda said.
“Because?”
Linda shrugged. “She’s got a thing for pirates?”
Julia snorted. “Not hardly. She always harped on me to ‘beware the pirates—especially that Matt Harper.’ Super annoying. He was nothing like his pirate ancestors.”
“You mean the Harpers who sailed pirate ships or the ones who bought our ancestors to work for them?” Maria asked.
“More like traded our ancestors for cattle. Cows were worth more than our people. Harpers are thieves.” Linda blew on her nails.
Maria shook her head. “No, they are pirates.”
Julia didn’t need the history lesson. “Matt wasn’t like any of them. He was...sweet.”
Linda shook her head. “Nothing sweet about that boy. He used to wear black T-shirts, holey jeans and drive that motorcycle like it was on fire.”
She smiled. Man, was he ever sexy on that bike. “He never crashed, not even once. And he drove carefully when I was on the back.”
“He skipped classes,” Maria added. “Brought you home late.”
“Only a couple of times.”
“Stole candy from Juanita,” Linda said.
“He was eight! And he paid her for it. Geesh, I had no idea you guys hated him so much.”
“I stopped caring for that boy when he broke your heart,” Maria said.
“He died, Maria! Fighting for our country.”
Linda shrugged again. “He didn’t say goodbye.”
Well. There was that.
She plopped down on the edge of the bed, between the women who’d been like sisters her whole life. In truth, they weren’t even real cousins since Julia was adopted. Still, the woman who raised her as her own child was Linda and Maria’s aunt, which made her their cousin. Everyone accepted her as a true relative.
Her biological mother had abandoned her, she’d never met her father and the only guy she’d really loved had flown away.
Matt had been the one person she’d trusted not to leave her behind. She’d given her heart and body to that boy.
She’d finally told him she loved him and the next day he’d left for the Air Force academy. No letter. No call. She’d never heard from him again.
Is it me?
She took a choppy breath and her cousins both wrapped their arms around her.
“You’ll mess up your nails,” she said softly.
“Messes can be fixed,” Maria said.
Not all of them. She closed her eyes.
She’d never hold Matt again. Kiss him. Feel his fingers running through her hair, across her skin. Listen to the heart beating so strong and sure in his chest. No more Matt and Julia against the world. He was gone, his ashes scattered at sea.
She’d suffered a brutal period of depression. Pain and loss had ripped through her with an extra pounding of betrayal. She’d imagined seeing Matt everywhere. A figure walking on the sand, a fast car speeding by, some guy going into Juanita’s—they’d all been Matt. Her mind and heart had been shattered.
But she wasn’t alone. Her beautiful cousins and aunts had fought to save her. Hanging on with gentle, strong arms, they’d chipped away at the black night that had swallowed her whole. They’d forced her to blink open her eyes and see the love all around her. They’d helped her pull herself together to cherish the one gift her pirate had given her—the most beautiful and sweet treasure in the world.
“Mama? Where are you?”
“In here, Henry.” She gave her cousins each a smile of gratitude and rose to her feet. “Come help me find a costume.”
Three
“He’s here!” Henry shouted.
Oh, no. “I’m not ready! Tell him...let him...”
She was trying to pull up her fishnet stockings when her boy’s voice carried down the hall. “Hi, my name’s Henry. Nice to meet you. Mama says you’re a pilot.”
“Your mama?” His voice was so deep and rich that it sent shivers up her spine. In a good way. Too bad he was surprised she had a kid. Oops. Didn’t she mention that?
“Help yourself to a beer in the refrigerator. Henry can show you where the costume is,” she called out. “If you feel like slipping out the door, now would be a good time.”
“I’ll wait. You don’t have to hurry,” he said.
Forbidden Lovers Page 2