The Sanctuary (Playa Luna Beach Romance) Read Online Free Page A

Cassie, he said, “Stay put.”
    He came around to the passenger side of the car, retrieving Cassie once again and carried her into the house. He scanned the house and walked into the bedroom, bending slowly as he placed her on the bed. He stood nearby while they waited for Taylor and the supplies, glancing at his surroundings.
    “How are you feeling?” he said cautiously.
    “I think it’s getting better,” she said, amazed her tongue was no longer glued to the roof of her mouth. “You did a wonderful job. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”
    “Thanks for letting me out of the jeep, Tarzan. I had to crawl over the seats and out the window,” Taylor said, with a gleam in her eye. “Guess you were in a hurry.”
    “Oh, sorry about that. I was in a hurry to get your friend comfortable,” he said, still looking at her steadily. Cassie wondered what he was thinking, but didn’t have the courage to ask.
    Taylor set the supplies on the nightstand, breaking the hush hanging over the room. Neither Cassie nor Alejandro noticed she had brought in the pineapple, too, that had saved the day. She did notice, however, a commotion out in the living room heading her way.
    In a flash, a big black ball had bounded past Alejandro and jumped on the bed. Cassie screeched as Taylor leapt toward the bed, grabbing at the dog with one hand and the lamp with the other. “Whiskers, no!” Taylor shouted and she steered the panting dog onto the floor.
    “Thanks for getting to him before he got to my leg,” Cassie said, smiling at Taylor. Turning to the black, disheveled mutt, she smiled and said, “Hi, Whiskers. You worried about me?” Whiskers gave a little whine and sat on the floor, waiting for Cassie or Taylor to give him permission to return.
    “Jimmy must be nearby,” Taylor laughed, glancing out the door looking for the dog’s owner. Whiskers only turned up if it was somewhere Jimmy was going. The longest resident of Playa Luna, Jimmy was a bit of a misfit, and there was much speculation as to why he’d chosen to live the majority of his adult life in Mexico. He’d moved down to live with his parents over 20 years ago, and had been to the United States only once during that time.
    Poking his head in the door, Jimmy said, “Hey, ladies. What’s up? Saw you had some trouble down at the beach.” One good thing about having Jimmy around, Cassie thought, was if anything went wrong, he was always there to help. Sometimes she thought he was a bit like a mother hen with all of them in camp. Nothing wrong with having an uncle to watch your back, though, so she said, “We’re in here, Jimmy. This is Alejandro Vasquez. Alejandro, Jimmy Martin.”
    The two men shook hands and Jimmy glanced at Cassie’s bandaged leg. “Accident?”
    Taylor threw him a wry smile. Jimmy was a man of few words, and usually short ones. “Yep,” Taylor confirmed. “The Captain here saved her after she lost all ability to swim when the fishing hook got stuck in her leg.”
    Jimmy raised his eyebrows, taking a closer look at Alejandro. “Captain?”
    Alejandro lowered his eyes, holding his hands up in front of him. “No, not a Captain. I was in the Mexican Navy, that’s all. Just learned about first aid.” He glanced at Taylor, and she wrinkled her nose at him and smiled.
    “Well, it’s a good thing you did.” Jimmy said gruffly. He was a bit of a different sort. His long gray beard and piercing blue eyes made him look a little wild at times. And he always said exactly what he thought. “Thought you were a good swimmer, Cassie.”
    The air rushed out of Cassie’s lungs and she reddened. He always could get to her. “I am, and you know it. I just panicked when I was under trying to pick up a shell and my foot got caught in that net.” She tried not to sound defensive. Grateful that she’d been rescued, she still wanted to keep her reputation as a competent, capable swimmer.
    “Oh, you know how it is when you panic,