Read Fresh Temptation: Barboza Brothers, Book One Online

Authors: Reeni Austin

Tags: #romance, #love story, #contemporary romance, #sexy romance

Fresh Temptation: Barboza Brothers, Book One (3 page)

BOOK: Fresh Temptation: Barboza Brothers, Book One
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“Come on, try me. At least
tell me which emergency room.” He put a gentle hand on her
shoulder.

Tears suddenly flowed
freely down her face. His touch sent her over the edge, and she
wasn’t sure why. Maybe deep down, she really did ache for his
sympathy; for the touch of a handsome man who offered help of some
kind. But she thought again about the sequins and shiny jewelry
flaunted in that ballroom. At a ten-grand-per-plate dinner. It was
shameful, and she wanted no part of it. No, her desperate situation
would make both her and Isaac stronger; she always found a way to
get through. She shook away from Victor’s grasp, sniffling. “Please
don’t. I really need to go.”

Cara ran to the back room
to retrieve her purse from her locker. Victor didn’t follow. Soon
she was driving home, leaving her catering job behind. She no
longer cared whether or not she was fired.

Maybe that rich bitch was
right
, she thought. Maybe she should’ve
been taking care of her son instead of working tonight.

 

 

 

 

Chapter Two

 

It was Monday morning and
Victor was tired. He had spent the last two nights since the
fundraiser tossing and turning in bed, feeling sick about the woman
Alexis had gotten fired.

Why couldn’t Alexis just
let it go? When she came back to the table and learned how
unpopular her decision was, she apologized. Claimed she wasn’t
jealous. She was only trying to look out for her family’s best
interest and she got carried away.

Victor had never hit a
woman in his life, but he secretly wished one of the other women at
the table would have smacked Alexis. Betsy Kisch was quite vocal
with her outrage. In her younger days, the feisty socialite
probably would have taught Alexis a lesson or two. The thought
almost made him smile…until he thought about that woman
again.

He could tell by the way
the now-fired woman spoke to Alexis that she was as disgusted with
the event as he was. Damn, he hated himself for attending those
showy dinners, but at least he tried to keep his attendance to a
minimum and make sure he donated as much as possible.

Why didn’t he ask her
name? He now kicked himself. All he knew was the name of the
company for which she had worked: Luna Lee Catering. And so far,
calling every possible number for this company had resulted in him
leaving at least ten unreturned voicemail messages.

But it was now Monday
morning. Time for people to check their voicemail and call him back
regarding his inquiry. He simply had to track down this woman and
rectify the situation.

Victor’s first stop was
his assistant’s desk. “Mornin’ Gary.”

“Morning Mr. Barboza,”
Gary said. As usual, he was bright and perky, wearing his headset
with a smile like he’d been happily waiting there at attention for
hours by then.

Victor grinned. “Hope you
had a good weekend. Say, did you get my email?”

“About the woman you’re
trying to find?”

“Yes. Could
you—”

“On it. Waiting on a call
back from the receptionist. Said as far as she knew they hadn’t
fired anyone over the weekend, but it’s early.”

Victor let out a heavy
sigh. “Okay.”

A half hour later, Victor
was about to head to a meeting when Gary rang his phone.
“Yes?”

“I have Stacy at Luna Lee
on hold. She said there were two people fired over the weekend and
another quit. She thinks they all have at least one child. Could
you give me a physical description to narrow the
options?”

“Sure,” Victor said.
“Blond hair, green eyes, glowing skin. Lovely girl. Breathtaking,
really.”

It was only when Gary let
out a small chuckle that Victor realized perhaps he remembered a
little too much about her. And he knew how it sounded, like he had
an entirely different agenda for tracking down this beautiful
woman. But Victor didn’t care what anyone thought. He simply had a
situation to fix. A woman with real problems had touched his heart
and reminded him of his own mother. That’s all it was. So what, she
had a stunning appearance? He wanted to help her even if she
didn’t. Perhaps he wouldn’t have remembered her so vividly, but he
certainly would have wanted to help. Victor cleared his throat and
continued, this time calming his enthusiasm. “I have no idea how
long her hair was. She had it pulled up in a bun. Don’t know if
that helps.”

“I guess we’ll see. Let me
click over
.”

Victor’s heart raced as he
waited for his answer.

Gary’s voice quickly
returned. “Okay. Sounds like you’re looking for Cara Green. That’s
‘Cara’ with a ‘C.’ She lives in Newark. I have her address and
phone number.”

Again, Victor stifled his
enthusiasm. “Great.”

“Would you like me to have
accounts payable cut her a check? It probably wouldn’t be hard to
find her bank account and wire some money.”

“Just give me the address
and phone number. I’ll take care it from there.”

* * *

“He’s doing fine,” the
nurse told Cara. “The doctor will decide if he needs to stay
overnight. Usually kids with severe infections stay a little longer
but I can already tell he’s a tough one.”

Cara nodded and stroked
the side of Isaac’s cheek. He had just fallen asleep after his
second popsicle. “Yeah, he’s tough. I didn’t expect him to have so
much energy so soon.”

“Little ones recover
quickly. You’ll probably have to fight for the next few days to get
him to rest. My daughter was ready to get on the jungle gym the
next day.”

Cara laughed. “I’ll do my
best.”

When the nurse left the
room, Cara was sure she’d start crying again. But watching her
little guy sleep so peacefully warmed her heart. It had been days
since he slept without snoring.

“Sorry this had to wait so
long,” she whispered as she bent forward to kiss his cheek. Then
she took a long, deep breath before deciding to leave the room to
find a vending machine in response to her growling stomach. “I’ll
be back in a minute.” She gave the slumbering boy another kiss
before turning around.

Her feet had just touched
the hallway outside the room when a man sitting on the opposite
wall stood up, startling her.

“Cara?” he asked. “Cara
Green?”

“Um…” It took her a few
seconds to remember how she knew the tall, dark stranger. But when
she remembered, she couldn’t stop her groan. “You. How did you find
me?” As soon as the words left her mouth, she rolled her eyes at
her own stupidity.
Of course he found
me
, she thought.
Rich people can do anything
.

Victor maintained her eye
contact as he reached behind him to pick up a large gift bag. “I’m
not stalking you. I was just concerned. And I brought you a few
things.” He stepped forward and handed her the bag. “It’s not much.
A stuffed animal and a care package from the gift shop.”

With hesitation, Cara took
the heavy bag, immediately looking inside. Not much? It was filled
to the top. “You didn’t have to do this.”

“I wanted to. Please take
it.” He covered her hand with his, tightening her grip on the
handle.

Tears filled her eyes.
“It’s very generous. Thank you.”

He looked into her eyes,
waiting another moment before removing his hand from her soft skin.
“Listen, what happened to you the other night was wrong.
I—”

“I’d like to forget about
it if you don’t mind.”

Victor nodded. “Sure. I
understand. So, do you,” he paused, trying to read her blank
expression, “need a job?”

“No. Absolutely not.” She
squared her shoulders and shook her head. “I have a
job.”

“Yeah. Two jobs, from what
your mother tells me.”

“You spoke to my
mother?”
Oh Lord, what does this man
already know about me?

“Yes. That’s how I tracked
you down.” He smiled. “Nice lady. Invited me in for coffee. Said
she was coming by the hospital after she filled a few orders. So,
she runs a bakery out of her house?”

Cara’s mouth dropped.
“Wait a minute. I don’t even remember your name and you’ve already
had coffee with my mother?”

Victor chuckled and
extended his hand. “Victor Barboza. Nice to meet you.
Again.”

She shifted the gift bag
to her other arm, smirking as she took his hand. Careful not to
gaze too deeply into those smoldering brown eyes…“Cara
Green.”

“I know.”

She let his hand go as
quickly as she had taken it. “Well, Mr. Barboza, it was nice to see
you again but I’m sure you have to be somewhere.” Right then, her
stomach produced a loud growl. Warmth instantly rushed to her
cheeks. She rolled her eyes and continued. “Seriously…just…thank
you.” She turned around to go back into her son’s room.

“Wait, if you’re hungry
there’s food in the bag.”

“Thanks.”

“Can I see your boy?
Isaac?”

Cara stopped with her hand
on the door. What the heck did this stranger want with them? “Only
for a minute. He’s resting.”

Victor followed her into
the room and stopped beside Isaac’s bed, smiling. His voice was
quiet. “Spunky little thing, I’ll bet. It’s probably killing him to
be sick. Patty said he loves to go to the park.”

“Yeah.”
He’s already on a first name basis with
Mom?
Cara’s eyes narrowed at the handsome
man who now stood over her son’s bed, peering down at him as if
they were old friends. She couldn’t wait to find out just how much
“Patty” had told Victor. Or why. “Look, I appreciate the gift and I
know my son will too. But we don’t need your pity. We can take care
of ourselves.”

“I’m sure you can. But
sometimes a person just needs to accept the kindness of strangers.”
He turned to her, flashing a grin. “You know, I haven’t always had
it easy. My brothers and I grew up with a mom who struggled to put
food on the table and clothes on our backs. Please, just let me be
nice to you for a moment. It’s the least I can do after what
happened.”

Cara steeled herself. In
her experience, people like him usually wanted something in return
for their kindness. What did she possibly have to offer someone
like him? She was a down-on-her-luck single parent who couldn’t
even afford a routine surgery for her son.

Maybe he just felt guilty.
She and Isaac were a charity case and he had a hero complex. That
had to be all it was.

“Mr. Barboza, I do really
appreciate your kind thoughts and the gift.” She motioned vaguely
to the door, hoping he would take the hint and leave.

“Very well.” He gave Isaac
a long look before reaching into his pocket and turning to her. He
handed her a card. “If you need anything, please call. Especially
if the insurance company turns down your claim. I mean
it.”

Mom told him way too
much
. “Yeah. Sure.”

Their eyes met for a few
seconds. Long enough to make Cara’s breath catch in her throat.
Hopefully he hadn’t noticed.

He gave her one last nod
and left the room without another word.

Cara sighed with relief,
now aware she had forgotten to exhale.

She would probably
fantasize about him for a few weeks, and why wouldn’t she? It
wasn’t every day a kind Latino hunk muscled his way into her life.
But there was no sense letting him overstay his welcome. Besides,
she saw the kind of woman he used as arm candy. Victor Barboza
would make a nice story to tell her friends. Maybe give her a dream
or two to keep her warm at night. And for that, she was
grateful.

She marveled at Victor’s
kindness as she searched the gift bag, estimating the cost of the
items in her mind. There were designer shoes in Isaac’s size, toys,
first aid supplies, small packages of gourmet food. He had to have
spent at least two thousand dollars, not including the cost of the
glittery silver bag that held the gifts.

She took some crackers and
stashed the rest in a large drawer for safe keeping. Then she made
sure Isaac was still sound asleep before she went to the hallway to
call her mother.

Patty answered frantically
on the first ring. “
Is he still doing all
right? I’ve been trying to get there for hours but I’ve had a
million things to juggle.

“Isaac’s fine. I heard you
had a visitor?”

“A
visitor?
” She paused, then giggled.

Oh, you mean, Victor
.”

“Yes. What did you tell
him?”

She sighed.
“I don’t know, sweetie. He had a lot of questions
about you two. I answered them. No big deal.

“No big deal?” Cara took a
second to remember all the things he’d mentioned in his short
visit. “Let me see. He knew about me having two jobs. He knows
Isaac loves to play at the park. Knows his shoe size. And he thinks
you run a bakery out of your house? Since when does making a few
specialty cakes mean you run a bakery?”

BOOK: Fresh Temptation: Barboza Brothers, Book One
8.62Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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