Tequila Sunset: A Military Erotic Romance (Sexy Siesta Series Book 2) Read Free Page B

her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze.
    There was no hiding the stress evident in the dark shadows beneath her eyes. His fingers itched to ease into the loose, wavy length of her hair and let his touch coax the truth behind tonight’s mess out of her.
    She pushed his hand away. “Listen, I know you mean well…” She let out a sigh powerful enough to damn near send him to his knees. Something was wrong, and he was going to find out what. “You know, never mind. I have to go.”
    No way in hell she was shoving him to the side.
    “Not a chance, babe. You’re coming with me.” She glared at him and he quickly corrected himself. “Please? I want to show you something.”
    She raised her gaze level with his in question. He could almost see the war going on inside her head. She wanted to go with him, but something was holding her back. He grinned and pulled out all the stops. “We’re in a paradise, baby. It’d be a shame to miss out on the tequila and sunset.” He tentatively took her hand in his then brushed his lips across the soft, delicate skin answering one of his previous questions. The exotic, fruity smell lingered on her skin from her morning shower, no doubt. He couldn’t wait to help her with her next and maybe she would let him wash her with the tantalizing soap that tingled his senses. “Let me make it up to you, Ema.”
    She gave a charming little lift to the corner of her mouth. That was something in the positive direction. “Fine, I could use a few minutes to clear my head before heading back to San Diego anyway.”
    No way he’d let her out of his sight, much less make the long ass drive alone tonight. The sun was already dipping below the horizon. Once he had her to himself, all bets were off. He’d leave that little detail for her to figure out on her own though. For now, he’d enjoy a moment with her and the sunset. And if he worked it right, and a miracle happened, he might even get the chance to soften her heart to his charms for an all-night kind of kiss.
    “Let me grab this.” Gabriel snatched the tequila bottle on the abandoned table along with two normal shot glasses. Thank God for small miracles . Now, to see how fast he could devise a plan that would have Ema opening up to him…in and out of bed.
     

Chapter Two
     
    Esmeralda slipped off her flats and dug her toes into the warm sand, soaking in the last of the day’s golden rays.
    Despite the lull of the waves that usually calmed her, Ema’s shoulders slumped with the weight of what just happened back at her cousin’s wedding. She’d spent the last year struggling to save the small family business her mother once loved then abounded for the bottom of a bottle so long ago.
    From time to time, she had fantasized about her mother rejoining their small family of three, but depression, alcohol and finally, cancer, had robbed her of that dream.
    She shook her head. Diablos. What the hell now? She and her younger sister depended on the small florist shop, and with her late mother’s mounting medical bills and college tuition for Mia…
    Dios . What a nightmare .
    Her best shot at getting the twenty grand she needed to push her business out of the red and into the black for good had just stomped out of her cousin’s wedding, taking his sizeable checkbook with him. She didn’t even have a chance to talk to him about the partnership offer she’d worked out in exchange for a loan. That wasn’t even a possibility now. Losing the last thing she had left of her mother ripped at her heart.
    So much for grabbing the New Year by the balls and making it her bitch. She sighed.
    And what the hell had happened with Gabriel to make him react the way he had with Bougainvillea? She understood the man had a spotty reputation as a business man, but the way Gabriel and her cousin had reacted made it seem as if he killed people for a living instead of lend money.
    The nice little cherry on top of this huge pile of crap was the loan denial from the