Page 31 of Temptation and Treachery
“Rio nailed it,” he said, pleased. But Celeste stopped, mid-chew. “He said he’d never seen anyone enjoy sauce the way you do.”
The bread all but turned to cardboard in her mouth. A full second went by before she managed to swallow. If Jorge wasn’t standing there, she would have spit the food out. But it would be rude to do so, after the man had obviously gone out of his way for her.
“Excuse me,” she mumbled, pushing back from the table. She was halfway to the hall before Kari’s fork clattered to the table. Without slowing her pace, she pushed the door open, then headed away from the other buildings.
The rotten bastard. He knew she’d think about what happened in the storeroom. She pressed her lids shut, trying to banish the image. Unless a condom failed, that’s likely when she’d gotten pregnant. Even with no penetration. She dug her nails into her palms. Sentimental idiot. She’d thought to name the baby River, after the father, at the time, believing she’d never see him again.
“Wait.” Kari plowed into her, throwing her off balance.
“Let me go.” Celeste wrenched her arm away. She kept walking, though the clearing only went so far, then tall grass and mesquite peppered the ground into the distance. Rotten bastard. She needed to stay as far away—
“Stop! I’m trying to keep you from getting your ass shot.” The words penetrated her mental rant. “She’s good,” Kari called out, waving her arms. Celeste followed Kari’s line of sight to the man on the roof holding a weapon aimed in her direction. Then she looked across to the other building, slowing her steps as if she’d been weighed down. “I got her.” Kari dragged her to one side, pinning her with a glare. “Either one of them could have brought you down. And you’d be lucky…if you could get patched up.” She shook her head. “I figure the guard would end up paying in the long run.”
Her pulse pounded in her throat. She’d nearly found out the hard way, why she needed an escort.
“So,” Kari said, releasing her. “You gonna tell me what all that was about?”
Once again she was tempted to share. She was out of her element, and she could really use someone to vent with. But she couldn’t do it. Didn’t even know where to start, so the silence stretched out like the land around them.
“Come on.” Kari led them back to the infirmary, taking her time with each step. “I’m going to try putting the pieces together myself. Stop me if I’m off track.” They walked away from the edge of the clearing. “I figure you didn’t just meet Rio yesterday.”
Celeste kept her expression neutral.
“In fact, from the way he was acting, I’d say the last time you saw him was three weeks and two to three days ago.” She held up a finger. “Well, three to four, since that was a day ago.”
It shouldn’t surprise her that Kari had figured things out on her own. Did everyone else know? Did they realize he’d played her for a fool? She closed her eyes, wondering if everyone in the chow hall was laughing at her, even now.
“Oh, come on. When you two were together there was so much sexual tension in the room I thought I’d end up pregnant.”
Damn, she’d hoped she’d been wrong about that.
“There’s no reason you can’t pick up where you were back then.”
Celeste’s gaze snapped to Kari. Did she mean sex? If so, no. She shook her head. They wouldn’t be picking up there. She’s been seduced for one reason and one reason alone. To get the Ayala cartel.
“Rio’s an intense guy, and the way he looks at you…” She looked over and winked. “Well, as long as he doesn’t launch himself off the ceiling fan, you should be good.”
No-no-no-no-no. Celeste shook her head.
“You can have a normal, healthy, satisfying relationship,” she continued.
“That’s not going to happen,” Celeste said with finality.
“Uh-huh.” Kari pulled open the door. “I prefer my version.”
