Wooed by You

by Sophia Knightly

  “In what way?”

  “This morning she had another tantrum that made her late to school. She’s already five. I thought most kids outgrew tantrums by then." When the words left her mouth, Isabel stared at him, taken aback. She had no idea why she was sharing her private business with him. Maybe it was because he had asked about Suzie so kindly.

  "They usually do." He smiled, the corners of his bright eyes crinkling at the sides of his tanned face. "Don't worry about Suzie. My guess is she'll come around."

  "I hope so," Isabel mumbled.

  Linc motioned toward the front door. ''You never had that burglar alarm installed," he said with mild reproach.

  She remembered how he had checked in on her after her house had been ransacked and urged her to get an alarm. Suzie had been at school at the time, but when Isabel had mentioned her, Linc had voiced concern about their safety. "I should have made it a priority, but there was always some big bill waiting to be paid. Anyway, we have Thunder to protect us. He acts like a brute with strangers, but with the family he’s as gentle as a lamb."

  Linc snorted. “Some watch dog.”

  Detective Blackthorne entered the room and picked up the briefcase. “I’m done here. Good-bye, Ms. Garcia.”

  “Good-bye and thanks for…for the investigation,” she said lamely.

  Detective Blackthorne nodded, then gave Linc a meaningful look. “I’ll be outside, Steel,” he said and closed the door after him.

  Steel? It was the perfect nickname for Linc, Isabel thought ruefully.

  Linc’s eyes were kind as he regarded her. "Remember my offer, Isabel. Call me if you or Suzie need anything, at any time. I mean it," he said firmly.

  Linc’s mention of Suzie and his considerate offer touched Isabel deeply. She swallowed hard and drew upon meager reserves to speak in a clear voice. “Thank you, but I’ll be okay. My mom lives nearby, and I see her every day.”

  Linc smiled and left to join Detective Blackthorne outside. With a sigh, Isabel closed the door and trudged to her kitchen. Standing at the kitchen counter, she watched through the window as the detectives interacted with the crime scene techs. There would probably be more questions to follow up.

  She would have to toughen up, even if her nerves were stretched thin.

  Later that afternoon, Isabel couldn't concentrate on the business matters requiring her attention. The irrigating equipment for her family’s tropical fruit tree nursery needed to be replaced, and she had to hire more workers, but other pressing worries crowded her mind. What if she got called to testify in court? What if Frank’s people came after her when they found out about the briefcase? What if… She put her hands on her temples and squeezed, trying to shut out the deafening anxieties.

  Her neck muscles tensed, and she dug her fingertips in the tendons, massaging them as her thoughts turned to her dangerous attraction to Linc. He had taken up most of her thoughts since he’d left. Remembering the feelings he’d aroused, her heartbeat sped up and her mouth went dry. He was a man’s man—alpha, dominant and so hot he made her feel intensely female. The attraction between them was primal and palpable. It unsettled her…he unsettled her.

  A shiver ran through Isabel as she remembered the way he’d looked at her in her kitchen, as if staking her as his own. Self-preservation told her if she even gave him an inch, he would take everything, and she would be powerless to resist. She was tempted to give in, but she couldn’t—not now…not ever. The harsh reality was that Linc’s job was way too dangerous for him to be a viable stepfather for Suzie. And Suzie was number one, trumping everything in Isabel’s life.

  Isabel rolled her shoulders to ease the tension seizing them. She hated that she was woefully inexperienced with men. Eloping with Frank to break free of her parents' strict rules had been the worst mistake of her young life, but before that she hadn’t dated anyone. She’d gone to an all-girl’s Catholic high school, had been an overachieving student and class Valedictorian, and she’d had little chance for socializing beyond school and working at her tree nursery. Going out at night was difficult because her home was so far from Miami, the hub of action.

  Everything changed when charismatic Frank came crashing into her life the summer before she started community college. Randomly meeting him at Dadeland Mall with a bunch of her girlfriends, she had been lured by his confident, reckless personality and how hot he looked on his big, bad motorcycle. Looking back she realized his personality had all the markings of a conman, but when she met him he had represented glorious freedom—something Isabel had always pined for.

  During their short courtship, he convinced her to elope when she was only nineteen. Shortly afterward, she got pregnant and his personality changed almost overnight. He became verbally abusive and a nightmare to live with. When Suzie turned two, Isabel separated from him, but he continued to plague her with his insane jealousy, even after their divorce.

  Isabel’s smart phone rang, jarring her to the present. She jerked upright and glancing at the lit panel, she saw it was her friend, Samantha Hodges. Striving for a calm voice, she answered it right away. She had known Samantha since junior high and Samantha was her closest friend.

  “Hey, how are you?” Samantha said. “You never got back to me about getting together this weekend.”

  Isabel sighed. Samantha was determined for her to start dating again, but Isabel wasn’t sure she was up for it, especially if it involved a blind date. “I know. I’m sorry, but—”

  “Don’t be sorry, just say yes for a change. Are you up for a double date?” Samantha asked enthusiastically. “Nathan’s new co-worker wants to meet you. He recently joined the firm, and I hear he’s very successful.” Nathan, Samantha’s husband, was an accountant in a prestigious firm. He was smart and kind and totally devoted to Samantha. They had been childhood sweethearts since junior high school and had a son and one on the way. “You have until tomorrow to think about it because Nathan would have to set it up.”

  “Okay, I’m in,” Isabel said impulsively, smiling at Samantha’s squeal of delight. Isabel wanted to meet a nice, ordinary man—not a dangerous one like compelling Linc Heller. She hoped to remarry someday, but it would have to be with someone who had a safe job and the compassion needed to help Suzie get over the fear of losing a parent again.

  From the moment she gave birth to her beautiful baby girl, Suzie’s care and welfare had come first in Isabel’s life. Suzie had been inconsolable after Frank's death, clinging to Isabel and asking for constant reassurances that Isabel wouldn’t die as suddenly and unexpectedly as her Papi had. Thankfully, Suzie’s heartbreak slowly began to heal with the love and support of Isabel’s close-knit family. But just as things had begun to settle down, Suzie morphed into unruly behavior, demanding more attention than usual and throwing tantrums at the slightest provocation.

  Isabel suspected it was because she missed Frank so much and it made her heart hurt. Even though Frank had been a lousy husband, he had been a doting father to Suzie, often way too indulgent with lavish gifts.

  It was time to start dating again, but she couldn’t summon an ounce of eagerness for a blind date. She was doing it for Suzie. Anything for her to have a daddy who would make her feel safe again.

  With a little luck, the weekend might be a start in the right direction. At the very least it would help her put Linc out of her mind.

  Chapter 2

  Friday evening, Isabel leaned against her mother's kitchen counter and watched her prepare dinner in her cozy kitchen, wishing she didn’t have to go out tonight. The sizzling palomilla steaks, savory black beans and rice, and fried sweet plantains smelled delicious. She smiled at Suzie as she set the dinette table and chattered about Sparkle, her new pet goldfish.

  Isabel glanced at her petite mother, Olga, who at fifty-eight was a whirlwind of vitality. Her chin-length hair was an ebony and silver swirl of movement as she darted around the kitchen getting everything ready. When Isabel had told her mother about the briefcase, Olga had been horri
fied, but she’d immediately encouraged Isabel to get beyond the past and rebuild her life.

  “Abuela, can I go outside and play with Lulu?” Suzie asked, bouncing up and down. “I wish I had a kitty like her.”

  “Lulu is your kitty when you’re here,” Olga said indulgently. “You can play with her on the back porch. I’ll call you when dinner is ready.”

  When Suzie skipped outside, Olga turned the steaks, and then faced Isabel with curious eyes. "Why aren’t you ready for your date?" she asked in her heavily Cuban-accented English.

  Isabel shrugged. "Eh, I kinda wish I hadn’t agreed to it, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. I'd rather stay here and have dinner with you and Suzie."

  "Don’t be silly. You can eat here anytime." Olga raised an inquisitive brow. "What did Samantha tell you about your date?"

  "Not much. All I know is his name is Eugene, and he's an accountant. Samantha hasn’t met him yet."

  Olga gave a nod of approval. "He’s an accountant? That’s good. He makes a good living and will always have work. Is he Cubano?"

  "I didn't ask. He recently joined the firm where Nathan works. I just hope he’s decent,” Isabel said before popping a fried plantain in her mouth.

  Olga’s brows furrowed. “What do you mean?”

  Isabel chewed thoughtfully and swallowed. “I don’t want to get involved with anyone only out for a good time. I’m looking for stability."

  "Stability? That can't be the only thing you're looking for," Olga scoffed. "What's wrong with a little romance?"

  There's plenty wrong with romance. It clouded a girl’s mind and made her behave foolishly. It messed with her head and her heart, making her wish for things that were impossible...like hot Linc Heller. She had to be practical now, for Suzie's sake.

  Isabel rolled her eyes. "I’ve already been married once and it turned out to be the most unromantic thing I’ve ever done. I don't need romance."

  Olga’s brows shot up in alarm. "But you're only twenty-five, Isabelita! You need to get married again. Do you want to be a widow for the rest of your life?”

  “Like you?” Isabel asked softly. Everyone in the family had tried to talk Olga into dating again after she’d widowed, but she had stubbornly resisted.

  “We’re not talking about me,” Olga said briskly. “It’ll be very hard for any man to fill your Papi’s shoes. He was my best friend and the love of my life.”

  “Yes, but he died six years ago, Mami.” Tragically, he had passed away shortly after Isabel had eloped with Frank and she still harbored guilt that her wedding to Frank, whom her father had disliked and disapproved of, might have triggered his heart attack.

  Olga shook her head. “We’re talking about you, my dear. Suzie needs a father and you need a man in your life.”

  That was a switch, Isabel thought wryly. Growing up, her parents had been too overprotective with old-fashioned rules, driven by misguided love. Cuban customs died hard and to make it worse, she had grown up in the rural Redlands, a far cry from the hip Miami scene.

  As an adolescent, her favorite subjects had been science and math, and when she hadn’t been studying she’d been more content outdoors with her beloved trees and plants than with her peers who were boy crazy and obsessed with the latest fashions.

  Isabel studied her mother's face, loving the tiny lines around her vibrant black eyes and beside her mouth, which was pursed with determination as she regarded her only daughter. Isabel felt a lecture coming on and needed to deflect it swiftly.

  “I want to get married again…someday,” Isabel said, buying time. “I was too inexperienced, too naïve to see Frank's real character until it was too late. His self-destructive streak killed him in the end."

  “Yes, but not all men are like him, Isabelita. Don’t you want Suzie to have brothers and sisters?”

  Isabel’s shoulder lifted in a half-shrug. “That would be nice…eventually. Why didn’t you have more children?”

  A shadow clouded Olga’s brilliant eyes. “It wasn’t by choice. I would have had more babies if I had been able to. I miscarried too many times after giving birth to you. Each time was too heartbreaking. Your papi convinced me to stop trying and count my blessings that I had you.”

  "What are you talking about, Mami?" Suzie asked Isabel as she skipped into the room with Lulu in her arms.

  "I was telling Abuela that you can stay up a little later tonight," Isabel replied, exchanging a look with her mother.

  “Yay!” Suzie set Lulu down and went to the kitchen table where she began making sailboats out of the paper napkins.

  "It’s time to pull yourself together, hija. You’ve been working too hard and have neglected yourself,” Olga said.

  “What do you mean?” Isabel said, a little hurt that her plainspoken mother would bring it to her attention.

  “When was the last time you got your hair cut or had a mani/pedi?”

  Isabel frowned. “I don’t have time for that. Between work and Suzie—”

  “Make the time,” Olga said with a disapproving cluck. “You are only young once. Take a bubble bath, do a facial, put some make up on. It’s time to think about yourself and feel like a woman again.” Olga’s frown matched Isabel’s as they faced each other. "Are you going to wear your hair down tonight?"

  Isabel shrugged. “I guess.”

  "Good. Most men love long hair and yours is beautiful. You'd better hurry up now or you'll be late for your date."

  Isabel rolled her eyes at her mother's prodding. When she got that fiercely maternal look in her eyes, there was no stopping Olga. "Okay, I’ll clear out of here. Are you still spending the night at my house?" she asked, hoping she’d say yes.

  "Of course. Suzie wants me to play with her Barbie dolls. We'll go over after we eat."

  "Okay. She can go to bed a bit later, but don’t let her stay up too late or I'll have to put up with her cranky mood tomorrow."

  "Don't worry so much. We're going to have a wonderful time together, aren't we, Suzie?" Olga asked.

  Suzie ran up to them, her big eyes shining eagerly as she flashed a grin. “Yes, Abuela,” she answered. She rubbed her round tummy. "I'm getting hungry. I’ll eat fast so we can go to my house and play. We can even watch your telenovelas," she said referring to Olga’s favorite Latin soap operas. Suzie looked up at Isabel and extended her arms. "Bye, Mami, have fun."

  Smothering Suzie in a big hug with lots of kisses, Isabel said, "I will, baby. Be good and go to bed when Abuela tells you to. Okay?"

  “Okay!” Suzie said.

  Isabel kissed her mother goodbye and left, feeling hesitant about her impending blind date. Try as she might, she couldn’t help wishing it was with Linc.

  At ten minutes before seven, Isabel was ready for the date. She wore a long-sleeved floral dress that nipped in at the waist and high-heeled booties that brought her five foot five frame to five foot eight inches. Hopefully, she wouldn’t be taller than her date. An image of Linc’s tall, powerful physique made her heart race, but she quickly pushed it out of her mind.

  She checked her appearance for any last minute touch ups. She had flat-ironed her long hair and hoped it would stay smooth through the night. She hadn’t worn make-up in so long, it had actually been fun to put some on. Liquid black eyeliner on her upper lashes and black pencil smudged against her lower lashes emphasized her almond shaped eyes. To brighten her face, she had applied rose-colored blush and lip gloss.

  She checked to make sure the gold loops on her earlobes were secure and smoothed the delicate gold chain with the cross around her neck making sure the cross lay in the hollow of her throat. Her late father had given it to her when she turned twelve, and she treasured it.

  Samantha, her husband Nathan, and Eugene arrived at Isabel's home punctually at seven. Isabel relaxed when she met Eugene, who seemed friendly and harmless. He was a good-looking man of medium height with brown eyes, sandy brown hair, and nice teeth in a perpetually smiling mouth.

  After intro
ductions were made, Samantha said, "We came in separate cars because Jason wasn’t feeling well today. He has a cold." She smiled at Isabel apologetically. "I hope you don't mind."

  Isabel would have preferred to ride with Samantha and Nathan, but she sensed Samantha was worried about her son. "No problem." Isabel smiled at Eugene. "Let's go."

  Seeking a little rest and relaxation, Linc lowered his tired body on a leather stool at the circular bar at Sam's Oyster Bar and ordered a beer. Sam’s had the freshest seafood in town and was decorated in old Key West style. Paintings of fishermen with their prized marlins, sailboats, and beach scenes decorated the wood-paneled walls. Ceiling fans, tile-topped tables, and slate floors lent a tropical flavor to the crowded, dark interior. Happy hour patrons sat and stood elbow to elbow in the bar area, sipping drinks and munching on the free hors d'oeuvres. Above Linc's head, a lazy iguana smiled on a large poster ad for tequila.

  He took a long swig of beer and his weary taste buds welcomed the cold brew as it slid down his throat. It had been a long week, fraught with complications in Operation Rattlesnake, the Figueroa drug trafficking case.

  To top things off, he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Isabel. She had looked fragile and too young to be shouldering the ugliness of her ex-husband’s criminal past and trying to raise her little girl alone. Looking into her frightened doe eyes had made him want to gather her close and shelter her in his embrace.

  She seemed out of her league with everything life had thrown at her in the past year. Her dark, soulful eyes had looked shell-shocked in her pale face and her pretty mouth had trembled as she’d tried to hold it together while he questioned her. Damn it. Why hadn’t they met under different circumstances? From the moment he’d met her, he’d thought she was the most beautiful girl he’d laid eyes on, and the most exotic and elusive.