Page 67 of Sweet Heart

“You’re burning a hole in the carpet, cariño,” I murmur in her ear before nipping at it. “Relax, baby. Everything is perfect.”

“Except the bell peppers,” she huffs, and I let out a laugh.

“Trust me, even the bell peppers are perfect.”

I place a soft kiss on her lips, and I feel a bit of the fight drain out of her. Good.

“I know what this is about.” She blinks up at me when I utter the words. “You are nervous.”

Her jaw ticks, and she shakes her head, but the faint rosy color on her cheeks betrays her.

“Querida, you already met Carmen. You had coffee with her before I even had the chance to introduce you to her.” I raise my eyebrow in mock offense. “My coffee.”

“I know, but…”

Her voice is high and a little more breathy than usual, and her shoulders fall forward. She tries to tuck herself away, to make herself small, but I don’t want her to hide. Not with me.

“Look at me, cariño,” I say softly, and her gaze hesitantly trails up to meet mine. “Tell me what is going on in that pretty head of yours.”

I already know. It only makes sense. She is worried that Carmen won’t like her, and since Carmen means so much to me, she is afraid it will change my view of her. But no matter what I tell her, it won’t land. Not before she acknowledges it first.

“I just want tonight to be perfect.”

“It already is.”

“No. I mean, yes. I mean…” she sighs. “You two have history.”

“Sí,” I admit.

“Like… long history.”

“Sí.”

“She knows you way better than I do.”

“For now.”

She blinks, and I see her brain stutter for a moment. I smile at her and run my thumb over her jawline.

“So what?” I ask her.

“So what if she thinks I’m not right for you?”

There it is. I pull her even closer, letting my hand run through her hair now. Her eyes flick rapidly between mine, and her heart beats so hard that I can feel her pulse against my chest. She tucks her lip between her teeth, chewing on it as worry eats her from the inside. I lower my hand and softly brush my thumb over it.

“Don’t nibble on that,” I hum softly and let my gaze drop to it before meeting hers again. “That’s my job.”

Her gasp is small, barely even audible, but it is the only thing in this room that matters to me. I smile again, a little smug this time, and press a soft kiss against it. When I lean back again, the edge has disappeared from her eyes. She is ready to listen.

“If Carmen were to say that, which, for the record, she won’t, then she wouldn’t know me as well as I thought.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning that she’d be dead wrong, Maria.”

Her whole face relaxes, and I feel her inhale the fresh air around us. I nod. Just like that.

“But Carmen already—”