Susan Mallery - Under Her Skin

“Walk,” Cruz muttered, thinking he should have stayed home instead of accepting his friend’s invitation. But the house he’d always thought of as his sanctuary no longer welcomed him. He couldn’t be anywhere inside without thinking of Lexi, missing her, needing her, wanting her back.

“You walk,” Manny said. He muttered something in Spanish.

Cruz didn’t catch it but he also didn’t ask him to repeat it.

“It’s all there for the taking,” his friend continued. “She hands you everything you could ever want. But do you take it? No.”

“You don’t need me here for this conversation, do you?” Cruz asked.

Manny ignored him. “I could understand if it was something difficult. Like she wanted you to take out your own kidney. But admitting you’re in love with her-that’s easy.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” There was a part of Cruz that wanted what his friend had. What everyone else found so easy. But the rest of him knew the danger and wasn’t willing to go there.

“It is easy. You’re making it hard.”

“You don’t understand. I can’t ignore my past.”

“That’s so much bullshit, I wish I was wearing boots,” Manny growled. “Your old man was a loser. So what? You got over it. Look at how successful you are. You made decisions and acted on them. You had a goal and now you’ve achieved it. You didn’t let your old man hold you back.”

“This is different.”

“No, it’s not. It’s exactly the same. He couldn’t keep a job, and you have an empire. You’re hiding behind your past because it’s easier than taking a chance. You’ve always been afraid. You’re a coward, Cruz. That’s what’s wrong.”

Cruz set his beer bottle on the countertop next to the built-in barbecue. Anger boiled inside him. Manny didn’t know what the hell he was talking about, damn him.

“You’re wrong,” he growled, waiting for the other man to step back. “It’s easy to have all the answers from where you stand. What have you ever done but stay in my shadow and rake in the money?”

“I took a chance on you.” Manny moved closer. “You think you can take me, kid? I’ll give you the first punch. Come on. If you’re so like your old man, how hard will it be? Hit me. You know you want to. Hit me.”

Cruz’s anger exploded, but before he could draw back his fist, it evaporated like rain in the desert. One second it was there, the next it was gone.

He didn’t want to fight Manny. Not because he was afraid. He knew he could take the older man easily. It wasn’t about power or strength or proving anything. This was Manny. Ernesto might have been the one to get his mother pregnant, but he wasn’t Cruz’s family. Manny had always been there-part big brother, part father. There was no way Cruz could fight him. He loved him.

“Not so much of your old man in you, after all,” Manny said softly.

Cruz felt it then-the emotion that had always been there. The one he’d never named. Love.

“I was there when you met Caro,” he said, more to himself than his friend. “I was best man at your wedding, I was there when all three of your kids were born.”

“I know.”

“Then why would you think I’d hit you?”

Manny grinned, then lifted his bottle of beer. “I didn’t. I knew you wouldn’t.”

“So why are you screwing with me?”

“Because you didn’t know. You’ve always been afraid of that part of you that came from your dad. You don’t need to be. You’re a good man, Cruz. You always have been. It took guts to stand up to your old man when you were still a kid.”

“I held a gun to him and threatened to kill him.”

“It was the right thing to do. You protected your mother. You knew what you wanted and went after it. But all this time you’ve been selling yourself short, not seeing what was really inside. Love doesn’t make you weak. It gives you all the strength in the world. It makes everything worthwhile. Love is all you need, kid. Even the Beatles knew that.”

Cruz grabbed his beer and took a sip. Was it that simple? That easy? Just believe in himself, take the chance and what? Win Lexi? He sure didn’t deserve her.

“You’re a fool if you let her get away,” Manny told him. “Not that you’ve ever been that bright.”

LEXI WALKED OUT of her spa only to find Cruz standing in front of a silver BMW M3. The car screamed power, but she didn’t care about that. Her heart, and pretty much the rest of her, was far more interested in the man.

She hadn’t seen him in nearly a week. Being pregnant meant she couldn’t drown her pain in margaritas and Ben & Jerry’s. Well, the ice cream was fine, but not the liquor.

None of which mattered anymore when she could see Cruz. He looked like he’d lost weight and there were shadows under his eyes. Had he been sick? She wanted to run to him, to touch him and assure herself that he was fine. Instead she stood her ground.

“I wasn’t expecting to see you,” she said.

He moved toward her. She noticed a second M3, this one black, next to the first.

“I’ve missed you,” he said as he came to a stop in front of her. “No. That’s not right. I ache for you, Lexi.”

Her heart slammed into her chest. She felt so full of hope, she thought she might be able to fly. Was it possible he was willing to admit his feelings? Give her a chance? Give them a chance?

“So here’s the deal,” he continued. “I want you back. Not because of our arrangement, but because it’s what we both want. I’ll race you for it.” He jerked his head toward the cars. “Winner take all. You win and I’ll give my heart. And my soul. You bared yourself to me, Lexi. I’ll do the same.”

What? “You want to decide our future based on a car race? You’ll admit you love me if you lose? Who does that?”

He gave her a slow, sexy smile that made her burn inside. “We do. It’s who I am, and you can’t walk away from a challenge. That’s how you lost your car to me in the first place.”

She looked from him to the cars and back. “I want the black one.”

He laughed and handed her a set of keys.

As she walked over to the BMW, she couldn’t believe this was happening. There was no way Cruz meant this race to determine anything. He was making a point. Wasn’t he? He wouldn’t be here if he didn’t love her. She had to believe that.

Adrenaline rushed through her. She got in the car and started the engine. He did the same. Her body shook and her palms were sweating. She could barely hang on to the steering wheel.

He pointed to the end of the parking lot. She nodded. Whoever got there first won. Which meant what? What did he want? He’d said he wanted her back. Did he mean it? What would she insist on if she won? Could she really demand his heart?

He rolled down the passenger window on his car. She rolled down her window.

“On the count of three,” he yelled. “One, two, thr-”

She slammed her foot on the gas. The car raced forward, eating up the distance to the end of the parking lot. She glanced to her left to check on Cruz’s progress. He wasn’t there. She looked in her rearview mirror only to see him back at the starting line, getting out of his car.

She stepped on the brakes and came to a stop. Cruz leaned against his car, watching her. She climbed out.

“We’re racing,” she yelled.

“You are,” he yelled back and started walking toward her. “I guess you win.”

She didn’t understand. He wasn’t even trying? And then she knew. He wanted her to win. That had been his plan all along.

She started toward him. Soon they were both running. They met in the middle of the parking lot.

“Winner take all,” he said, something burning hot in his dark eyes. “You win, Lexington.”

She groaned. “Do not call me that. You know I hate my name.”

“I don’t. I love it. I love everything about you. From how you take your coffee, to the way you curl up next to me when you’re asleep.” He took her hands in his. “I love how you laugh, and your fierce devotion to everything you care about. Winner take all, Lexi. You can have all of me, if you want it. My heart, my soul. Every part of me.” He paused, as if not certain of how she would react.

“Oh, Cruz.”

She threw herself into his arms. He caught her and pulled her close. He was warm and strong and everything she’d been waiting for her whole life.

“I love you,” he said again, his voice fierce. “I need you, Lexi. Stay with me. You’re the one. You’ve always been the one, from the moment we met.”

“That’s my line.”

“It’s a good one.”

She smiled. “Yes, it is.”

He released her, then cupped her face. “Tell me I still have a chance. Tell me we can make it work. Tell me you still love me. I want to marry you. I want us to have this baby and maybe a couple of others. I want Kendra in our lives, and C.C., although maybe we could get a dog, too. Lexi, please. Say yes.”

It was the most perfect moment in her life. She knew then that even when she was eighty, standing in her kitchen, looking out on a perfect spring morning, she would remember everything about this time. She would feel the same sense of hope, of love, and she would smile, because loving Cruz was the best part of her.

“Yes,” she whispered. “Yes, I’ll marry you and we’ll have babies and even a dog. I’ll love you forever, Cruz.”

“Winner take all?”

She raised herself up on her toes and kissed him. “We both win this one.”