Brave

Circa March 2000, when Luis and Sheridan ran into each other on the rooftop of the Seascape, the night before she left for Paris

"It doesn't matter?" Luis grabbed hold of her hands. "It matters to me, Sheridan."

Her heart pounding in her chest, Sheridan yanked her hands away.

How dare he say it mattered. How dare he act like he cared.

He hadn't cared when he had called her a spoiled princess. When he'd admitted to using her.

And, yet, here he was, begging her to tell him why things had gone wrong between them—acting like he didn't know.

Acting. That was the key word here.

Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald was one hell of an actor.

Choosing to save her over a man he thought was his father. Turning down Julian's bribe. Saving her life again at the skating pond—the way he had looked at her after they had both landed safely on the snow.

It had felt like he had been looking straight into her soul—just like he was doing right now.

Pleading with her to tell him what was wrong—what he could do to make it right.

But it was just a farce, wasn't it?

None of it had been real.

Okay, he had chosen to save her over the man he had thought was Martin Fitzgerald, but that had to have been the cop in him.

Because to believe that he was capable of caring that much about her and using her—it just didn't make any sense.

"Sheridan," Luis pleaded, "please tell me what's wrong."

Sheridan's eyes snapped back to his.

"Please tell me what changed everything between us." Luis picked up her hands again.

A shiver shot up Sheridan's spine.

Jerking her fingers away from him, she buried her hands in the folds of her coat.

How could he still affect her like this?

"I promise I'll never bother you again," Luis said, his eyes pleading with hers. "I just can't leave things like this."

"Why?" Sheridan fought back the tears threatening her eyes. "Why does that matter to you?"

Luis's brows shot up. "Why does it matter to me? Sheridan, I care about you."

Sheridan's eyes glistened.

She wanted to believe him.

She wanted to believe him so badly.

But how could she believe him when every other man in her life before him had done nothing but rip her heart to shreds?

Luis searched her eyes with his own. "Sheridan, please talk to me."

Her heart in her throat, Sheridan turned away from him. "I . . . I can't."

"You can't?" Shaking his head, Luis started toward the ladder leading off the roof. Stopping in his tracks, he turned back around and threw his hands up. "Dammit, Sheridan. I thought we had something—I thought I was falling in love with you."

Sheridan's heart stopped.

Luis's entire face flushed.

"You . . . you thought you were falling in love with me?" she breathed.

Luis swallowed hard.

Sheridan's heart hammered in her chest.

"I . . . um . . ." Luis tugged at his coat.

Fresh tears welling in her eyes, Sheridan's voice caught in her throat. "Don't worry—just forget about it."

Luis looked up at her. "I don't want to forget about it."

"You . . . you don't?"

"No." Luis rubbed the back of his neck. "No—I don't."

Sheridan's heart pounded.

Luis's arm dropped to his side.

Taking a deep breath in, he crossed the space between them and took her hands into his. "I know this might be stupid of me, but I won't lie to you—I would never lie to you. And I'll be damned if I start doing it right now."

Sheridan blinked, her body frozen in place.

Was this really happening?

Was this man—the man she had thought could be the one—really admitting that he felt just as deeply about her?

This couldn't be happening.

Luis didn't care about her.

Luis was just using her to get back at her family.

And, yet, here he was—looking at her so sincerely—making her doubt everything.

"I . . . I know you probably don't want to hear this, but I've never cared about anyone the way I care about you." His eyes falling to the rooftop beneath them, Luis inhaled and looked back up at her. "I've tried to fight it, but there's no point—I'm in love with you."

Sheridan faltered back, her legs weakening beneath her.

Luis grabbed hold of her, steadying her against his chest. "I'm not asking you to say anything. I'm just asking you to believe me—to know I'd never deliberately hurt you."

"I . . . I want to believe you," she stammered, unable to contain the words spilling out of her, "—but I saw you. I heard you. . . ."

Luis's brows shot up. "Saw me, heard me do what?"

"Say that you were using me." Choking back a sob, Sheridan wrenched herself away from him. "You said the Cranes had used and abused your family for years. Now it was your turn to use one of them." Tears in her eyes, Sheridan looked back at him. "You called me their spoiled princess."

"I would never . . ." Luis started.

"I saw you, Luis." Sheridan's face heated, tears spilling onto her cheeks. "I heard you with my own ears."

"But I would never say anything like that," Luis protested. "I would never even think it."

"Then how do you explain it?" Hugging her arms to her chest, Sheridan sniffled. "Next thing I know, you're going to tell me you have a twin running around town."

"A twin?" Luis straightened. "Maybe you're onto something."

"I was kidding, Luis."

"Maybe," Luis mused, "—but there's definitely something funny going on here. The idea that I might have a double running around town—it's worth checking out."

Sheridan's eyes darted to his, her heartbeat accelerating. "I think you're grasping at straws."

"Maybe I am," Luis admitted, "—but I know I don't want to lose you. And that I would never say the things you think you heard me say." Luis searched her eyes. "Don't you think I owe it to both of us—to the relationship we might have had—to try to find out what really happened?"

Sheridan's heart skipped a beat. "What really happened?"

Could it be?

Could there really be another explanation? Could Luis really be onto something?

No. She couldn't think like that.

She had heard him with her own ears.

And yet . . .

"Sheridan?" Luis uttered. "Please give me a chance to prove that I didn't say those things."

Sheridan looked at him.

"I'm not asking you to believe me without evidence," Luis said. "All I'm asking is that you have enough faith in me to give me a chance."

"Give you a chance?"

"Yes," Luis said, glancing over at the ladder leading off the roof and then back at her. "I'm going to get to the bottom of this. Will you help me get started? Will you take me to the spot where you heard me say those things?"

Sheridan's eyes wandered to the ladder. "I . . . I don't know if I can. . . ."

"Sheridan, please," Luis begged. "Do you have any faith in me? Believe at all in my feelings for you?"

Taking a deep breath in, Sheridan looked back at him.

There he was, still looking straight into her eyes with that same sincere look.

The same look he had given her when he had explained why he hadn't taken Julian's bribe.

The same look he'd given her after he'd saved her at the skating pond.

The same look he'd given her moments ago, when he'd looked her straight in the eye and told her he loved her—that he didn't want to lose her.

An ember of hope sparked in Sheridan's chest.

"Sheridan?" Luis tried again. "Will you come with me?"

"Yes." Fresh moisture welling in her eyes, Sheridan inhaled and slipped her hand into his. "Yes, Luis, I will."