It was one of the most beautiful things anyone had ever done, and as soon as I could form the words my heart so desperately wished to speak, I planned to tell mi Guapo exactly that.
“We need a plan, sweetheart.”
Eyes closed, the sound of crashing waves filled my ears, making James's deep voice nearly inaudible. Yet, despite the roar and feel of the Atlantic as its hypnotizing waters washed over my bare feet and ankles, I’d heard him.
Reveling in the spray of salt that sprinkled my front each time a wave crested and then crashed feet from where I stood on the shore, I reached behind me, searching for him.
Heart cracking down the center and missing mi familia fiercely, I needed to touch him, needed to anchor my spiraling emotions. Finding his shirt, I grasped it tight and pulled him forward until his wide chest met my back. Head leaned against him, I pulled in a humid, steadying breath.
“A plan for what?”
Wrapping a muscular arm around my middle, he buried his nose in my hair. “For after,” he replied, fingers stroking the sensitive flesh covering my side. “Maddie will hide you at the shelter for as long as needed, but we’ve gotta plan what happens once you leave.”
I twisted in his hold and slid my arms around his back. “I told you,” I said, propping my chin against his sternum. “Once we’re free, I intend to find a job and then secure mi chicas and I a simple home to live in.” Just as soon as I see to the immigration papers El Diablo had forged six years ago, I mentally added. “Nothing fancy, but one with—”
“Big windows that the sunlight can shine through, a porch swing, and picket fence,” he interrupted, finishing for me. “I know, baby. But here’s the thing”—palming the back of my head, he held me in place—“I already have two of those items and I can get the third come tomorrow morning.”
Not knowing what to say, I remained mute and thinned my lips, watching him intently.
“I also have two extra bedrooms and a king-sized bed that you can cover with a hundred pillows and the frilliest peach comforter you can find if you like. I don’t care. Not as long as you sleep in it with me.”
I couldn’t help the smile that crossed my face.
He’d remembered.
Then again, why would he forget?
James missed nothing.
“Are you asking me to live with you?”
“Yeah,” he replied. “I am.”
My aching heart squeezed. “I think I would love that,” I whispered, eyes sliding closed once more. “But it’s not so simple, even though I wish that it was.”
Body tensing against me, he clutched my hair, giving it a slight tug. “Look at me.” Not one to deny him, I did as he asked. Lids rising, I stared up at him; our gazes locked. “I need you to explain that,” he continued. “Because I’ll be honest, I’m not liking what I just heard.”
I didn’t like it either.
But that didn’t make it any less truthful.
Or him any less agitated.
“Tell me,” he demanded. “Now.”
“I can’t risk you,” I said, feeling heat driven by anger bleed into my face. “It doesn’t matter if we stay at the shelter for a month or a year, the bastardo will never give up looking for us after we run. Chiquita especially.”
I hated saying such a thing aloud, but with little to no choice left except to unload every ounce of worry and nauseating fear that I carried around daily onto him, I pulled out of his hold and turned, once more facing the ocean as it churned beneath the dark southern sky, illuminated only by the twinkling stars and full moon.
“If he ever finds us…” Words catching in my throat, I stood taller, refusing to let the anxiety that gripped me steal my voice. “Staying so close would be estúpido. Plain and simple.”
Everything was complicated.
Complicated and dangerous.
Thinking of it all made my stomach roil.
“And I can’t—”
I shrieked in surprise when James’s brawny hands landed on my shoulders and he turned me around so quickly my head spun, making the earth feel as though it were tilting beneath my feet.
“You are not moving away from me.” Chest to chest, I could feel his rage as his body vibrated against mine. “Not less than an hour after you informed me I’ve been successful in stealing your heart, and not any time in the future. Got it?”
My spine snapped straight.
Fingers twitching with the urge to smack the infuriated expression he wore right off his handsome face, I reared back, ready to give him a piece of my mind. I may have wanted to please him while bringing his agonized soul nothing but the happiness it deserved, but he would not tell me what I could or couldn’t do, especially not when it came to mi chicas’ safety.
My days of being bossed around were gone.
Completely over.
“You listen to me, James Cole,” I snarled as I shoved away from him, putting some much-needed space between us. “Where I go after leaving the shelter is my choice, not yours.”
Right eye twitching, he crossed his arms over his wide chest. “Is that right?” Deceptively calm, his deep voice didn’t match the anger filling his eyes.
Arms folded over my breasts, I mirrored his stance. “Si,” I replied, nose in the air. “It is.” The silence that stretched between us was unnerving. After a minute, and unable to stand it a second longer, I dropped my hands to my hips. As I’d heard Chiquita say more than once, I was about to throw a full-fledged hissy fit. “Can’t you see that I’m trying to protect you?” More silence. “Answer me!”
It was the wrong demand to make.
Like a detonated atomic bomb—talk about a temper—James exploded. “You’re not trying to protect me! You’re only trying to protect yourself!”
My mouth snapped shut.
He was full of it.
I wasn’t trying to protect myself.
Was I?
“Admit it,” he continued, his voice several
