Exposed by Kaylea Cross Page A

Marisol?” he asked to change the subject again.
    Carmela snorted. “You just saw for yourself how he marched out the door to follow her home.” She shook her head. “I know he’s a decent guy and that he’d never hurt her on purpose. It’s him hurting her by accident that worries me. It’d be awkward, you know? If anything bad happened between them it would wreck everything.”
    “Yeah.” Just like it would wreck everything with you and me . Not to mention his relationship with her family. Sawyer couldn’t handle those consequences. Not again.
    Carmela shifted on his knee, settling more of her weight onto his thigh, then stopped, searching his eyes. “Am I hurting your leg?”
    He nearly snorted at the question. “No.” He was a big guy and she was maybe a hundred and forty pounds, soaking wet.
    Mmmm, Carmela, naked and soaking wet…
    No, her weight felt way too fucking good. And man, her scent was making his mouth water. Coconut and something tart, like lime or something. A fresh mix of sweet and tart, just like her. He’d bet she tasted just as good as she smelled, too.
    He mentally slapped the thought away. It may have been months since he’d last been with a woman, but his current erection had nothing to do with sexual frustration and everything to do with the woman perched on his knee. Carmela was hot and smart and sweet. And way too freaking sexy for his own good.
    He wasn’t even sure when his feelings for her had started to change. A couple months after he’d broken up with Trina, maybe. All he knew was, they were getting stronger and he couldn’t shut them off. And he wasn’t a saint.
    But none of that mattered because as tempting as Carmela was, she was absolutely forbidden to him. Guys didn’t do their best friend’s sister. Said so right there in the first rule of the best friend handbook. A rule he wished he’d paid attention to earlier.
    Mama Cruz stepped out onto the deck from the kitchen. Her gaze landed on him and Carmela, a flash of surprise flitting across her face when she saw her daughter perched atop his lap before she masked it and smiled at him. “Sawyer, did you get enough of my brownies?”
    “I was thinking of having one more,” he said, trying and failing to ignore how close Carmela still was. Mama Cruz was sharp as hell, but thankfully she didn’t seem to pick up on the undercurrent simmering between him and Carmela. At least, not that he could tell. He hoped. “They’re awesome.”
    “I thought you might. Here.” She handed him a foil-wrapped package and gave him a wink. “I made you an extra batch to take with you, and wrapped up the leftover bread pudding.” Then she aimed a hard look at her daughter. “Carmela, stop monopolizing him and let him unwind with his friends. I need a hand with the cleanup.”
    “I’ll help,” he blurted, glad for an excuse to get up and put some space between them.
    Mama Cruz smiled at him. “Thanks, sweetie.”
    Man, he loved it when she called him that. Maybe it was because his mom had taken off when he was three and left him and his dad behind for greener pastures—but he just adored the woman, would do anything for her.
    Including never acting on his feelings for her daughter.
    Carmela huffed out a laugh. “All right, all right,” she grumbled. When Mama Cruz headed down the steps with another plate of brownies for the others, Carmela met his gaze once more. “So, are you going to have any more free time while you’re down here?”
    Yep. Trouble with a capital T. “Not sure. Just depends how things go.” As in, if they got the intel they needed to go execute the standing warrant for Alvarez or any one of Fuentes’s cronies.
    “You still owe me that two-stepping lesson you promised,” she reminded him.
    Shit, he had promised her, hadn’t he? Maybe he was a closet masochist and just hadn’t realized it before. “Right.”
    She set a hand on his shoulder and pushed herself up. His muscles automatically tensed and