Lucky 7 Bad Boys Contemporary Romance Boxed Set by Virna DePaul, Tawny Weber, Nina Bruhns, Charity Pineiro, Sophia Knightly, Susan Hatler, Kristin Miller

face.
    "They look good together, don't they?" she said and inclined her head in the direction of Bianca and Rey.
    Alex took a deep breath and faced Maya. "I thought maybe I was imagining it," he said and wrapped his arms around her waist, drawing her close enough to give a kiss. Well, as close as her growing belly would allow.
    "We all noticed it before," Maya confessed and wiped a smudge of dirt from his cheek. "You're sweaty," she added.
    "Which is why I need another soda," he replied and walked arm in arm with her to the tub with the soda, where he snagged a can from the melting ice. As he swigged down a mouthful, he turned and glanced at Rey and Bianca again. He motioned in their direction with the can. "Do you think that's such a good idea? The two of them getting involved?"
    Maya shrugged and snuck a quick look at her sister-in-law and Rey. They were leaning toward one another, their heads close as they spoke. Rey must have said something funny to Bianca since she laughed and her face brightened. Maya had never seen Bianca so at ease around anyone in all the time she had known her. "She seems to really like him."
    "But is that a good idea, Maya? After all, Rey's – "
    "An ex-con? Is that the only way you see him, Alex?" Maya challenged, growing angry with her husband.
    Alex had the good grace to look chagrined. "No, that's not the only way and you know it. Since getting to know Daisy and Rey, I've realized what good people they are. How hard they struggled to overcome a really bum rap in life."
    Maya nodded and hugged him. "Bianca couldn't get a better man. Not to mention that he is really – "
    "Don't say it," Alex jumped in and encircled her in his arms, squeezing her playfully. "I don't want to hear about how handsome you all find him."
    Grinning, Maya bent close and whispered, "But in my book, you're still number one, Alex. You're the only one who rings my bell."
    Alex smiled and tightened his hold on her. "I'll keep that in mind for later."
     
    * * *
     
    Rey leaned against the tree, ignoring how the bark bit into the skin of his bare back. The discomfort was worth the pleasure of sitting here with Bianca, watching her expressive face as he regaled her with stories of things gone wrong on one project or another.
    "So how petrified was this squirrel?" she asked as she munched on some of the chips she had prepared.
    He raised his hands and forced them into imaginary claws, made a snarly face, and when she laughed as he had intended, he said, "As stiff and flat as a piece of bacalao on Noche Buena ."
    Bianca could imagine the salted and dried codfish her mother prepared every Christmas Eve. The fish was hard and rigid, like a wooden board until it got soaked to get rid of all the salt. "At least that's the worst thing you've found," she replied.
    "Yeah, well, that and general filth sometimes, especially on some of these fixer-uppers like my place," he said and took a bite of sandwich.
    "You said you lived nearby," she said, wanting to know more about him.
    Rey shrugged, clearly uneasy with being the subject of her undivided attention. "Just a few blocks from here, actually. I bought a really run-down multi-family house about three years ago and did major work to make it habitable."
    "Multi-family? Do you rent it out?"
    He shook his head. "I didn't have the cash to totally finish it so I made special arrangements with some folks."
    "A position I am well familiar with myself," she jumped in and they both laughed.
    "Yeah, well, it was even harder back then. There was a slump of sorts in the housing market. I couldn't really get enough work and I was forced to do a lot of odd jobs, but in a way that was good. It gave me more time to fix up the house." He stopped for a moment to take another bite of the sandwich.
    "So how did you get the money to buy it?" she asked.
    "Daisy and I wanted my mom nearby. Maya's parents were getting kicked out of their apartment which was going co-op. Since Maya and Daisy's business had just