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“We’ll get Robyn out.”
Rhianne didn’t know which gave her more comfort: the firm certainty in Eric’s voice or the way he held her clasped to him, her body enfolded into his. Had she registered how much physically larger Eric was than her? She was now, relishing how sheltered and protected she felt in his arms.
The realization of how much she liked being there, tucked into his solid warmth and strength, had her pulling free.No. Not gonna happen.“Thanks,” she muttered, wiping her eyes on her sleeve. “We should head back to the city, right?”
Eric gave her a long look, but didn’t say anything. Then, with a curt nod, he started the engine for their return.
6
Eric winced at the too-bright lights and too-loud chatter and clatter in the café where they’d gone for breakfast the next morning. He felt almost hungover from a lack of sleep. It seemed like every time he closed his eyes, that sick scene replayed in his mind. That terrified girl, her long brown hair flying out behind her as she bolted, then hanging down to brush against the floor when those two guards carried her in between them.
He glanced over at Rhianne—or Raquel, he should say—and doubted that behind the lipstick and jingling jewelry, she was doing much better. “Hope you like fried eggs,” he said, jerking his head to indicate the café’s fare.
That got a faint smile. “Well, seeing as this place is called All Huevos, All Day, I’d better,” she replied. She sat up and exclaimed, “Honey, it’s so cute!” cueing Eric that their waitress was approaching.
Eric chose the basics—fried eggs on corn tortillas, topped with tomato and chili pepper sauce and sprinkled with cilantro. “Love me some huevos rancheros,” he commented, looking at Rhianne’s plate where the server was placing two eggs, each topped with a different sauce, one red salsa and the other green. “What’s that?”
“Huevos divorciados,” Rhianne replied.
Kind of like their fake relationship. They might be in it together, but even though they were side by side, they still felt entirely separate. They had to work on that. He thanked the server as she finished, but before he could open the subject of their “marriage,” Rhianne was speaking.
“I think we’re wasting time.” She cast discreet glances around to make sure no one was paying attention to them. The place’s animated bustle made for good cover. “We should be doing something. So my suggestion is we go back to that cantina bar from the other night and talk to the bartender again.”
“No.” Eric’s fingers tightened around his fork at the memory of that creep, Zé Carlos, leering at Rhianne. “Arturo is supposed to be contacting us, remember? We can’t blow that.”
Rhianne scoffed. “So how long are we supposed to wait? Eli and Raquel can’t stay on an impulse break here forever.”
She had a point.
“We need to be more proactive,” Rhianne urged. “I can’t stop thinking about…what we saw.” She couldn’t even put it into words. “And then I keep thinking about Robyn. I…” Shaking her head, she pushed her barely touched plate away.
Her distress tore at him. “Okay,” he promised recklessly. It was worth it for the light in her eyes when she looked up at him. “But we do it my way. Which means softly-softly. Agreed?”
“Agreed,” she replied at once.
“Now eat up, Raquel,” Eric ordered.
They lingered over their meal until the lunch crowd started arriving and the server began clearing her throat. Outside in the street, Rhianne craned her neck to peer down at the cantina. “It’s open,” she said.
“Yeah, but if we go at the same time as the other day, we have a better chance of catching the same bartender,” Eric said.
“So what do we do until then?”
“This.” Eric reached for her hand, unsurprised when she jumped and started to instinctively pull away. “But without you startling every time. So come on, let’s practice. Player two ready?” Eric queried a second before he reached for her hand again. This time, she took it.
He made a joke out of it, shaking it in his to loosen things up. Rhianne was so tense. He tried stroking his thumb over the back of hers where it was tightly curled around his forefinger to relax her. “Go ahead,” he encouraged her, wiggling his forefinger to show her she should copy him and rub her thumb along it.
Rhianne blew out an impatient breath but followed his lead, and, when Eric pressed close to her and gave a fake cough, brought her other hand across her body to wrap around his lower arm. Good.
They pulled apart a minute later for “Raquel” to exclaim over the cute shoes in a store window display, and then Eric placed a hand on the small of her back to steer her along.
After a few paces of that, he brought his arm up to her shoulders, pulling her close to enter the hotel together. He wondered again why she was like this. Would she explain if he got her to open up to him? If he could manage that, they’d be so much better off…but that would mean him opening up to her too.
And that was something he wanted to avoid doing at all costs.
* * *
As soon as they walked in the Cantina de Zorro, Zé Carlos waved them over. His eyes lit up when Rhianne waved back, making her breasts jiggle in this evening’s low-cut top.
