Free His Kind of Trouble by Samantha Hunter Page A

only be Ana’s mother. Chance took a second to cool his jets as the two women embraced and said their hellos.
    “And who is this?” Chance heard the older woman ask, glancing in his direction.
    Both women turned to face him, and Chance saw where Ana got her beauty—her mother was striking, dressed in what he thought was likely a traditional, colorful sweep of fabric, with long, dark, shining hair and an older version of Ana’s face. She was a bit taller than Ana and studied him with sharp, inquisitive eyes. The arm she draped around her daughter’s shoulders was affectionate—and protective.
    Ana led her mother across the courtyard to meet him, and he straightened up, smiling as he tried to clear his lust-fogged brain.
    “Mama, this is Chance Berringer. He is a friend from the States. My plane was canceled, and Chance was good enough to use his personal plane to fly me home so that I would make it on time,” she said, the lie falling from her lips so easily it bothered Chance a bit.
    Then again, she couldn’t tell her mother who he really was—he’d asked her not to do that, with anyone.
    But worry that she’d been lying to him, too, still tightened his gut.
    Was she lying about Marco, too? Playing some kind of game?
    At the end of the day, Chance didn’t know this woman at all. Still, he lived by his instincts. They had saved his life more than once, and he didn’t really think Ana was lying to him.
    She definitely hadn’t faked the desire she’d felt in his arms.
    “Señora, encantado,” Chance said, taking her mother’s hand with a smile. “You have a lovely home, and Ana was just showing me around the gardens.”
    Senora Perez smiled warmly at him and covered his hand with her own, leaning in.
    “Thank you for getting Ana home, Chance. It’s good to know she has such good friends looking out for her. I hope you are staying a while?”
    Ana glanced between them both. “Mama, I hoped Chance could stay through the holiday. He would not let me pay him for the flight, so I offered him a room, if that is all right?”
    “Of course. I will ask Mariana to make up the guest room pronto,” Señora Perez said and winked at Chance. “It will be fun to have a friend of Ana’s around, and such a handsome one at that.”
    Chance laughed. “Thank you, and thank you for switching to English. Yours is flawless.”
    “Your Spanish is fine, but we speak several dialects here, and I enjoy English when I have an excuse to use it,” the señora responded, drawing him to walk along with her on one side, and Ana on the other, back to the house. “How long have you and Ana been friends?”
    Chance started to reply, but Ana cut in. He agreed it was probably better to let her set the cover story, and then he could just play along.
    “A little while, Mama. Chance is a new hire by the studio, and we got to be friends.”
    “Flying Ana here is a big favor from a new friend,” Señora Perez said with some degree of speculation in her tone, though she remained friendly enough. Still, her implication was clear.
    Chance smiled. “I needed a vacation, and Ana needed to get home. It worked out,” he said easily, hoping he was being completely convincing. “I didn’t expect you to put me up, though. I could get a hotel room,” he offered and hoped his gambit would work.
    It did, as Ana’s mother pooh-poohed his offer and insisted he stay with them.
    That would make things easier on a number of counts.
    “Gracias, Señora,” Chance said sincerely.
    “Call me Doncia, Chance. No need to be so formal,” she responded, and Chance winked at Ana behind Doncia’s back. He’d told her parents loved him.
    Not that he’d met all that many parents of the women he’d dated, but some. And in high school and college, he’d perfected meeting the parents without raising anyone’s expectations.
    Though he supposed that Doncia’s expectations and his were not at all the same. Better to keep that to himself.
    “Mariana will