“You’re mine for as long as I need you,” Maria said cheerfully as she handed back his phone.
Even though he definitely should, he had absolutely no problem with that. “From your conversation, I guess you need to study for exams tomorrow. I’ll leave you to it.” If he didn’t get away from her immediately, he might forget she was off-limits.
“Oh, I might have stretched the truth a little there, and I can get class notes from my friend Gina. What do you want to do tonight?”
Lay you down on a bed I know this house must have somewhere. Strip you naked and explore every part of you, lick every single inch of you. Then bury myself so deep inside you, you’ll never want any man but me.
He managed a glare. It seemed the right thing to do. “You lied? Dammit, Maria. Apparently, you couldn’t care less that your brother’s gonna crucify me before all this is over.”
“Pffft,” she said with a dismissive wave of her hand.
Pffft? Would that be on his headstone? Pffft. Here lies Jake Buchanan. He got stupid and fell for the wrong girl, and then her brother murdered him.
The cat let out a plaintive meow. Jake knew exactly how the furry bastard felt.
Maria jumped up and came to the carrier, opening the door. She hugged Mouse, burying her nose in his fur. “Poor baby. You’ve had such a horrible day. Let’s go check out the house and find a room you like.”
Jake scowled at Maria’s back as she walked out of the kitchen. His day hadn’t been a bed of roses. He crushed the food wrappings, stuffed them back into the bag, and went looking for a trash can.
Maria adjusted the ball cap Jake had bought her, along with a pair of sunglasses to disguise her features. She kept her eyes on the girls with brown hair. There were so many of them. Why couldn’t her girl have been a redhead, or even better, have bright pink or purple hair?
“Anything?”
She sighed in frustration. “No.”
He wasn’t happy about sitting outside a high school and watching the students file in while she tried to find the girl who’d run away from Fortunada’s house. They couldn’t even be sure it was the right school, only that it was the closest one to where she’d last seen the girl. Maria had to find her, though; had to make sure she was okay. She also needed to know why the girl had been there. Had she been lured to the house for despicable reasons?
She had witnessed firsthand the life of a whore. If the girl was headed down that path, or being led in that direction, then someone needed to step in and do something about it. If it meant keeping a girl from ending up like Lovey Dovey, Maria wouldn’t stop until she found her.
“Well, we gave it a try,” Jake said when the last students hurried inside, the doors closing behind them. He started the car.
“School lets out at three thirty, so we need to be back a little before then.”
His eyes squeezed shut. “I just knew you were going to say that.”
She waited for him to open his eyes and then gave him a big smile. “And I knew you’d understand. Thank you.”
He opened his mouth, closed it, shook his head, then made a laugh-snort sound. “I’m doomed,” he said mysteriously.
“Poor Jake.” She patted his hand. “I need to check in at school, let my professors know I’ll miss a few classes. After that, can we stop at a grocery store?”
“If you’re going to tell me you’re making dinner tonight, then I’ll know the apocalypse has arrived.”
She thought that was funny. “No, you’ll wake up tomorrow to the same old world. I need to get Mouse some food and cat litter. But speaking of dinner, what would you like for lunch?” His grin, forming at the pace of a snail, sent her heart into a fluttering frenzy. “What?”
“Speaking of dinner, what would I like for lunch?” His grin grew wider. “Only you, Maria.”
She didn’t get it, and shrugged. “Whatever.”
“Yeah, whatever.” He glanced in the rearview mirror, then turned the car toward Florida State, a smile still on his face.
During the next three hours, she scheduled a makeup exam; arranged to get class notes from Gina, who fortunately took almost all the same classes; and caught a few minutes with her professors during class breaks. All the while, Jake stood quietly by her side, ever alert, ever supportive.
Maria hadn’t missed the way Gina’s gaze had appreciatively roamed over Jake from head to toe when introduced to him. After promising her friend she’d call later that night to explain what was going on, Maria slipped her arm around Jake’s and pulled him away before the word that was dancing on the tip of her tongue spilled out: Mine.