AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Call me Rafael.”
“Rafael.”
Behind them, Louisa simmered with fury. Then she jumped when she heard her baby give a soft mewling whimper from behind the office door. She glanced at Rafael, but by some miracle, he hadn’t heard it. Yet.
“I think I’ll give him a quick tour around the island,” Louisa interrupted abruptly. She looked at Rafael. “Would you like that?”
He looked startled, but instantly said, “Yes.”
Louisa untied her apron. “Take over the counter for me, Katie. Feed the little one with what I left in the fridge.” She gave her sister a hard look. “I’ll talk to you later.”
Looking abashed, her sister nodded. Katie would make sure to feed Noah some of the milk she’d left in the fridge.
Hanging her apron up on a hook, Louisa came around the counter. Kicking off her sturdy shoes and shoving her feet into flip-flops, she pulled out her bun and shook out her hair, letting it tumble down her bare shoulders over her tank top. “Have you seen Key West?”
“No,” he said, looking at her shoulders and hair. His gaze lifted slowly from her chest to her neck to her lips to her eyes. “When my plane landed, I came straight here.”
“You’re in for a treat,” she said grimly. “Come with me.”
Rafael couldn’t stop looking at her.
Louisa had changed so much in sixteen months, he thought. How much had changed? Her hair? Her face? Her clothes? Yes, but it was more than that.
For the last year and a half, when he’d dreamed of Louisa, he’d pictured her either naked or in a gray shapeless skirt suit, wearing black glasses over her pale skin with her brown hair pulled back into a tight bun.
This new Louisa looked nothing like the tight, prim, aloof housekeeper he remembered.
Now, her face was tanned, bringing out the natural beauty of her bare face. He could see the intense color of her eyes in the sun. Her lips were deep pink. Her hair no longer was pulled back into the tight bun, but now fell down her shoulders, highlighted by the sun into the color of dark honey. She’d put on a few pounds in all the right places. His eyes traced the shape of her body beneath the aqua-colored tank top and madras shorts. What was different?
Color, he realized. She was in color.
She’d been beautiful as his employee, but had always been in the background, almost invisible, the capable Miss Grey in her black-framed glasses, sensible shoes and gray suit.
Here in this little town, on the edge of the turquoise Caribbean Sea, Louisa was vibrant with her youth and energy. She shone with color and life.
As they walked toward the beach, he couldn’t take his eyes off her. He hadn’t come just to ask for forgiveness. He’d come to offer Louisa her old job back. He’d missed her. His houses were all disorganized, half in shambles since she’d left. He’d intended to quadruple her salary, to give her two months of vacation a year, to invite her family to come along—whatever it took to lure her. He needed her. Not just as his housekeeper, but as his mistress. As his lover and friend.
The flyer in the mail had been the sign he needed. He’d given her over a year to cool off. He’d come to Florida, confident he could convince her.
But from the moment he’d walked into the charming, busy bakery, he’d started to have doubts. As they went down the street, everyone they passed seemed to know her. Young mothers pushing baby strollers, gray-haired retired couples holding hands, children, teenagers—they all greeted her with enthusiasm. Including—Rafael growled beneath his breath—some men. Young men in their twenties, carrying surfboards and scuba gear. Older men with expensive wristwatches and expensive cars. Young or old, every time one of them smiled at Louisa, his eyes lingering on her face and body, Rafael had to restrain himself from punching a stranger.
As he and Louisa walked by Mallory Square, Rafael set his jaw. He’d been so arrogant, so sure he could get his way on the journey from Paris. But now, he looked down at her from the corner of his eye. What did he have to offer that would compete with the vibrant life she’d created here for herself?
She had her own business, a life with her sister and her niece, friends of her own. And for all he knew, she had a lover. Or worse: more than one…
“Key West,” she began, “is the southernmost settlement in the continental United States…” She continued to describe the island like a tour guide, but Rafael barely understood the words. He heard only the lovely sound of her beautiful voice. Only saw the movement of her lush pink lips. He couldn’t look away from her as they walked down the sidewalk, then crossed the busy street.
“Are you hungry?” she asked suddenly.
He’d been openly staring at her, he realized. He forced himself to look away, to not look at her gorgeous face, her high cheekbones tanned by the sun. To not look at her sensual mouth, or the full shape of her breasts in her clingy blue tank top. To not notice how tiny her waist looked, barely the span of both his hands, above the wide sway of her hips and her impossibly long, tanned legs.
“Well?”
He swallowed, forcing himself to meet her eyes and only her eyes.
“I’m starving,” he muttered.
“Come on, then,” she said, giving him a brief, impersonal smile. “We can’t let you leave on an empty stomach.”
