Page 38 of Paco
“I do.”
“I saw you kept sniffing your arm where you put it on.”
She raised her arm. “Do you like it?”
He bent down and breathed in, then looked up at her. “That’s you,” he said hoarsely.
For a moment, she was mesmerized by his mahogany eyes that stared so intently into her own. The overhead intercom, the generic music playing throughout the store, and the customers’ voices faded into the background as they stood in the perfume aisle, transfixed by one another.
“Did you want me to get you anything?” the saleslady asked.
Slowly dragging his gaze away from hers, he pointed to a clear crystal bottle filled with a light amber liquid. A big pink bow was wrapped around its neck. “That one.”
“Good choice. It’s Juicy Couture’s best seller.” She unlocked the glass container.
The price tag read forty-two dollars. “That’s too expensive,” she whispered to Paco. The saleslady frowned, the cellophane-wrapped box clutched in her hand.
“It’s fine. I’ll take it.”
While Paco paid for it, she watched him, incredulous that he’d spent so much on her. No one had ever bought her something so nice, at least not since she’d been taken away from her home. She sniffed her arm again, the sweet scents of caramel, pralines, and honeysuckle filling her nostrils. Of all the perfumes and sprays she’d tried on, this one was her favorite, but she didn’t dare hope to get it. And when Paco said it was her, a rush of surprise tingled through her.
When he handed her the bag, it was like he’d given her the world—and in a way he had. He was the first person to show any semblance of kindness since her whole ordeal had started.
As they waited in the checkout lane, guilt about not trusting him crept in. “Thank you for the perfume,” she said softly. He lifted his chin and stroked the back of her neck with his fingers. As he paid for her purchases, she went over to the bulletin board of missing children. Again, she saw her smiling face from her sophomore school pictures, but that flyer had a computerized image of how she’d look now, and it was incredibly spot-on. A gripping feeling of fear and helplessness took hold, and her hands tingled while her heart pounded. She raised her hand to rip it off the board.
“What’re you looking at?”
That’s right. Bobby isn’t around. I’m okay.She clutched her throat as she breathed in deeply.
“What’s going on with you? Are you sick?” Concern laced his voice.
“No. I guess it was breathing in all those perfumes. I just got light-headed. I’m good.”
“Why’re you looking at these flyers?”
She pushed the cart, moving away from the board. “I don’t know. I guess I think I may know someone up there and maybe help or save them.”
“I never paid attention to these pictures.” He stared at it and her stomach churned.
Grabbing his arm, she tugged him away. “I need to get to the car to sit down.”
“Sorry. Let’s go.”
They walked out of the store, and she sat in the truck while he loaded the bags in the back. When he got in, he tossed her the bag of Cheetos.
She laughed. “You read my mind.” Tearing them open, her mouth watered as she saw the crispy sticks. The first one she popped in her mouth was cheese heaven. Paco laughed and she glanced at him. “What?”
“It’s just cute the way you’re enjoying those. It’s like you’ve never had them.”
“That’s almost true.” She crunched down on another. “It’s been a long time. You want some?” She pushed the bag toward him.
Shaking his head, he pushed it back. “I don’t eat that stuff.”
“You don’t know what you’re missing.”
When they got back to the club, the guys and girls kept staring at them as they walked through the main room, each of them loaded down with plastic bags. After putting the bags on the bed, Paco took off his jacket and hung it in the closet, then slipped on a leather vest.
“I can give Lucy back the clothes you borrowed. I didn’t know we were going to go shopping.”
