Page 72 of Summer on Sunshine Bay

She lifted a shoulder. “I’m an early riser. I didn’t want to wake you.”

“I wish you would have,” he said, waggling his eyebrows.

She snorted. “That would’ve gone over well with Lila.”

“What? Just because we’re in our fifties we’re not supposed to have sex? We’re consenting adults.”

“We’re her parents.”

“Okay, you’ve got a point. No kid wants to think that their parents have sex. I know I sure as hell didn’t.” He pulled into the restaurant’s parking lot and turned off the engine. “So how do you think it went?”

“With Lila?”

He nodded. “I felt like all we were doing was going around in circles.”

“It would’ve helped if you backed me about her not marrying David simply because she’s having his baby.”

“I did, but she was adamant that she loves him and would marry him even if she wasn’t pregnant.”

“You didn’t find it interesting that it was Luke she went to and not David?”

“She explained why she did, three times. You weren’t very subtle, you know.”

“Have you ever heard the phrase ‘The lady doth protest too much, methinks’?”

He laughed. “I should. I was the one who took you to seeHamlet, and I’m pretty sure I said the same thing to you.”

Eva was about to respond when she spotted Bruno getting out of his car at the back of La Dolce Vita’s parking lot. “Thank the Madonna, he’s back. He’s the only one who will be able to convince my mother that taking down the wallpaper is a good idea.”

“I could get a health inspector to convince her. That stuff is so old, it probably has fungus growing on it.”

“James!” She swatted his chest. “Don’t tell me that.”

“It’s true.” He laughed, grabbing her hand and kissing her fingers. “Any chance we can sneak off to your apartment later?”

“You have a one-track mind,” she said, trying to ignore the butterflies in her stomach. They were easy to ignore when Bruno walked around the side of his car and opened the door for a gorgeous Latina woman.

“When it comes to you, I do.” He frowned. “What’s wrong?”

“Bruno’s brought Ana with him. What was he thinking?”

“Who’s Ana?”

“His girlfriend. I have to get in there before they do and warn my mother,” she said as she got out of the car. “Go stall him.”

“How am I supposed to do that?”

“Turn on the charm, Sinclair. You’re very good at distracting people when you want to.”

“You think I’m charming, do you, Rosetti?” he called after her as she ran to the restaurant, waving and shouting hello to Bruno and Ana. “Eva, you don’t have any shoes on!”

Obviously he hadn’t been looking at her feet when they’d left the beach house. She scooped them up from behind the rosebush where she’d left them the day before and held them up. James didn’t notice because he’d walked over to shake Bruno’s hand.

Eva’s sister was blocking off the back of the dining room from the front with tape. “Couldn’t you find something other than yellow tape? It looks like a crime scene,” Eva said.

Her sister dropped the tape and ran over and hugged her. “Ma and I were so worried about you.” She held Eva away from her. “Did you stay with James last night?”

She nodded, praying her face didn’t give anything away. “We had to talk to Lila.”

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