Before the Storm: A Second Chance Small Town Romance (Tres Fuegos Book 2) by Maria Rigou

Before the Storm: A Second Chance Small Town Romance (Tres Fuegos Book 2) by Maria Rigou

Author:Maria Rigou [Rigou, Maria]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-02-28T00:00:00+00:00


18

FRANCISCO

She was waiting for me outside the house, leaning slightly against the door frame. The cat sat at her feet, facing the street, its nose in the air like it was trying to smell the rain. As soon as she saw me turn into the driveway, she smiled and straightened, then grabbed it from the ground and cradled it against her chest.

“What are you doing here?” It was the same question she asked every time, and I was running out of excuses by now. The driveway was dark, but I’d done that trek so many times in the past few days that I could mostly walk it with my eyes closed. There was a dim orange light coming from the house, like she’d lit all the candles in there so I would be able to see everything.

Uh. Crap. She’s catching on.

“You might need my help feeding the cat,” I said and walked straight into the house, her steps following behind me with their regular cadence. She snorted, then laughed louder, the sound echoing in the large hallway. It was warm and pleasant. Cozy. It made me feel like I belonged there.

“You don’t even know where the food is.” She caught up to me, the cat jumping from her arms and running up the stairs and into one of the open doors that were visible from the ground floor. “You know that I can handle myself, right?”

“Maybe you’re scared.” I smiled. “And need a big, strong man to protect you.” I lifted my arm and curled my bicep, squeezing it with my opposite hand.

She quickened her steps and stood in front of me, lifting her hand and pinching my skin. Her body was warm next to mine.

“What’s that for?” I asked, lifting my hand to touch her bicep in that reassuring way we’d done dozens of times. She laughed, pushing my hand away from her and walking past me into the family room. The coffee table was covered in candles, almost to the point where it would be a fire hazard, and the flames flickered with our movements around them.

She sat on the couch, then lifted her legs onto the cushions, sitting sideways, facing me. She studied me while I lowered myself to mimic her position, eyeing me up and finally focusing on my eyes. I wanted to keep her gaze there, focused on me forever.

“I wish the power was back,” she said, leaning her head against the back of the couch and closing her lids, a sleepy smile on her face. “This is awful.”

“It’s not that bad,” I lied. Even though it had been brutal. The whole situation with the dark was getting out of hand, the panic setting in earlier and earlier every day as I hoped to whoever was up there that the blackout would hold off until I was asleep for the night. “I have the slider open at the house, and there’s a nice breeze.”

“Shit.” Lucía sat up and ran her fingers through her hair, dragging the flyaways up to the knot at the crown of her head.



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