“Beautiful. The lodge was different from the one we went to as kids. But you would have liked it—hey, what’s bugging you?”
“Nada. Not one thing.” Her put-on smile was as phony as the day was long.
I was baffled by the interchange. Something was going on between them, but what? I took a stab at clearing the air. “We lucked into this trip. Next time, you’ll come with us. The lodge was really amazing.”
“Yeah, sure.” Her gaze was intensely focused on her brother. “Helena called. I didn’t know what to tell her.”
I almost fell over backwards. Helena? I thought…I thought. My eyes searched Santiago’s for the truth.
He smiled weakly at me. “Uh, thank you. I’ll call her.”
Without saying a word, I walked briskly to my room. My cheeks were hot, my bottom lip quivering.
“Erin.” He followed me. “Erin, wait.”
I didn’t stop until I was in my room, then I turned on him. “I thought it was over.”
“Nothing to be over. I told you, Helena is my friend.” Closing the door behind him, he stilled my quivering lip with his. “I don’t love Helena. I swear.”
I wanted to believe him. Oh God, I wanted it to be the truth.
I let him kiss me, the worry melting around the edges until it was nearly gone. Nearly.
“I don’t want to, but I have to go.” Keeping his eyes on me, he backed out the door. “I’ll call you later.”
“Leaving already?” Maria bumped into him in the hallway.
“Work to do.” He rubbed his stubbled chin. “A shave would be good too.”
He ruffled her hair. She muttered an obscenity, swatting at his hand. “I hate when you do that.”
Winking at me, he kissed her cheek. “I know.”
She rolled her eyes. “Be grateful you’re an only child. So, how are you?”
“It was an adventurous weekend. Sit down and I’ll tell you about the neatest couple.”
dc
I opened my eyes to see Señora Botello’s face inches from mine. This scared the heebie-jeebies out of me. I yelled, which started the señora screaming. We sounded like a bad horror flick until Maria ran into the room.
“Mama, what are you doing in here?”
“Oh Maria, I’m sorry. She startled me, that’s all.”
Maria shook her head, “It’s not your fault. Señora Hernán!”
The nurse hustled into my room. “Sorry, I thought she was asleep.”
“Help me.” Maria took her mother by the arm and the nurse took her other one. The two of them propelled her out of the room, while she struggled to wiggle free.
All the way down the hallway I could hear Señora Botello screaming, “Die, die, die…”
My hair stood on end. I jumped out of bed, a little too afraid I might never wake up with the crazy old lady on the loose, and padded barefoot into the kitchen for a glass of water.
“How’s you doin’?” Rosa asked.
I rubbed my neck. “Do you have any aspirin? Feels like Serena is using my brain for a punching bag—” I did not just say that. “Um, nothing.”
“Headache? Oh poors you.” She placed two aspirins in my hand and went to pour me a glass of water. “Who take care of you when you head hurt in the U.S. of A.?”
“My mom.” I smiled. “She made the greatest tea when I was a kid. She used her own secret recipe of flowers, spices, and orange essence. It always made me feel good. Loved.”
“Té, I make me own té también. I go make for you.”
“No. That’s not necessary.”
“I like to do it. I make you feel better.”
“That’s nice of you.” I rolled my head from side to side, trying to ease the tightness building in my neck. “Rosa, I have to ask you a question.”
Her face fell into an anxious frown.
I bent closer and whispered. “Does the darkness have anything to do with ghosts?”
Her eyes widened and she threw a worried look over her shoulder. “I tol’ you, no speak of dat. It is peligroso.”
“Is it a spirit?”
She blinked at me in confusion. Then her face lit up. “Sí. You could say dat. Like in de Bible. You knows de story when Jesus drove dem spirits out of the man and de all went into pigs?”
It was my turn to blink. Vaguely, I recalled sitting next to my cousin Luke during Sunday school at Saint Mark’s. When the teacher read the story about Jesus driving unclean spirits out of a possessed man and into a herd of swine, Luke teased me, “Maybe that’s what’s wrong with you, Erin. You’re possessed. Let’s go look for a pig to save you.”
When I elbowed him in the gut, he’d squealed, and we both got thrown out of Sunday school.
At the time, I didn’t understand what possession meant. Unfortunately, I did now. Panic disorder, fear of heights, and terror of failure had all taken possession of my senses. And now, I had Serena.
Rosa went on, “After dis we no more speak of de bad tings. People say you cannot catch evil like a cold, but I sees too much of it. Evil is here, hiding for now, but it can come out at any time. Believe old Rosa, you no want a espirit catching you.”
I gulped. “And if one does?”
“If a spirit gets inside you, you will be loca.”
Crazy. Why doesn’t that surprise me?
She shook her head, her eyes welling with tears. “Or you could be dead. Der is no stopping de dark thing.” Surprising me again with her agility, she turned and was gone.
“That went well,” I said to the empty kitchen.
As I downed the aspirin I wondered if there were any pills strong enough to get rid of a ghost. And the darkness, whatever the heck it was.
dc
Early morning light peeked through the cracks in my blinds. I heard a noise. Quietly, I slipped out of bed, opened the door and peeked down the dark hallway. “Serena?”
A shadow moved toward me. “It’s me. Did I scare you?”
“Santiago! Only three years off my life.” I yanked him into my room, closed the door and slammed him up against it.
“You’re going to make me pay, aren’t you?”
“Oh, yeah.”
We kissed as if we hadn’t seen each other in months. My fingers wrapped around his neck. His fingers ran through my hair, catching on a few snarls.
“Oh.” His class ring caught one of my tangles.
“Sorry, wait a moment. Let me try to—”
“Yow.”
“There. Sorry,” he laughed. “You have hair from the bed.”
“It’s bedhead. So, I tossed and turned a bit last night. I missed you.”
“I missed you too.” His hands roamed across my old, torn USC T-shirt. “Is this what you wear to bed?”
“You like? I’ll come to your place and model my Victoria Secret collection. Some of it’s really good.”
His eyes locked with mine. “I can only imagine.”
“Why imagine? You’ve got the real thing, right here.”
He laughed. “Don’t tempt me. I have patients to see.”
“Oh, them. Can’t they wait? I’m the one dying over here.”
“Have dinner with me tonight. I’ll ask Rosa to set a nice place for us on the veranda. Maria has a date, so it will just be the two of us.”
“How can I refuse a lovely offer like that?”
“Good.” He kissed me. “I’ll come around eight o’clock.”
I linked my arms around his waist. “Stay,” I whispered in his ear.
“Tonight.”
I had the rest of the day to dream about him.
Chapter Fourteen
Santiago, dressed in pleated khaki pants and a dark green short-sleeve silk shirt, had come complete with a bouquet of deep red roses and a bottle of Spanish wine. We sat on the veranda enjoying the meal while being serenaded by frogs in the pond.
I thought about the conversation I’d had with Maria on the plane. She was right. I was done with the toads. I had my prince sitting right th
ere smiling his dashing smile.
“Delicious. I’m completely stuffed,” I said, patting my full belly.
“Rosa’s a great cook. I just wish you could have tasted tostón.”
“There’s always next year.”
The smile he flashed me would have knocked my socks off had I been wearing any. “Yes, there is.” He scooted his chair out and pulled out my chair for me.
Chivalry to boot? I was dazzled.
“What about these? Let me bring them to the kitchen.” I motioned to our dirty dishes.
“No, leave them. Rosa made me promise to let her do everything. She wanted this night to be special for us.”
Sweet, romantic Rosa. I would give her a huge hug later. Maybe take her to lunch.
He took my hand. The night twinkled with thousands of bright stars and a half-smiling moon. The air smelled sweetly of gardenias and roses, a potent mixture bringing to mind indecent thoughts of warm skin on petal-covered sheets. My pulse raced. We walked slowly across the thick grass until we were out of sight.
He pulled me closer and draped his arm over my shoulder. “When I’m with you, the world feels…perfect.”
I sighed. “You are perfect.”
He stopped walking and turned to face me. “No. I’m not.” Cupping my jaw in his hands, he said, “You deserve better. Oh God, you should run from me.”
I looked into his tormented eyes. “I wouldn’t go.”
“Even if…if it meant life or death?”
I kissed his cupped palm. “I wasn’t alive before I met you.”
His face was hard-cold serious. “I mean it, Erin. You could be in real danger here.”
“‘Could’ being the operative word.”
He blew out a deep breath. “I’m trying to get a handle on the situation. But I wish you weren’t so close to…the problem.”
“So, maybe there’s no trouble at all?”
His eyes were weary. “Maybe.”
“I know there’s a lot you can’t, or won’t tell me. But really, I’m not scared. I feel safe here with you.”
“You aren’t safe. I should throw you over my shoulder and put you on the next plane to LA until I’m sure.”
“Why don’t you?” I challenged.
His face was so sad that a lump filled my throat. “You’re my drug, Erin. I’m addicted.”
The kiss he planted on my lips melted my soul.
He pulled back. “The ghost hasn’t punched me once tonight. Maybe she’s gone back to her tower.”
“She’s here. Somewhere.” I thought about Rosa’s possession story and prayed to God Serena wasn’t lurking somewhere inside of me. “You want I should call her? Have her throw a punch for old time’s sake?”
“No. I can only handle one woman at a time.”
“Darn tootin’. This woman would like you to handle her a bit more.”
He laughed. Sexily he leaned into me, resting his triceps on my shoulders, crossing his arms at the wrists behind my head. His forehead touched mine. “What am I going to do with you?”
“I have some ideas.”
“Do they involve Victoria Secret?”
I smiled wickedly. “Or not.”
His crushing mouth shut me up. Our tongues met, urgently. Heat popped and exploded through my veins. His hands ran down my back and slowly up my sides. As if his fingers were amped with electricity, the trace of his touch lingered long afterwards. Every place he touched me was on fire.
He nibbled my chin and across my jawline. Whispering my name into my ear, he sucked on my lobe. When his tongue went into my ear, a deep moan escaped my lips. I swayed into him, hanging onto his belt loops to keep from losing my footing. When he cupped my breast, I gasped. Gently, he rolled my nipple between his thumb and fingers. I bit my lip.
The hardness pressed against the juncture between my legs was driving me to a sweet insanity.
“I want you,” I said.
“Lift up your shirt.” His voice was raspy.
I yanked it over my head. The cool air chilled my hot skin. He looked as if he had never seen breasts encased in black silk.
Slowly he lowered the strap off my shoulder. His warm, wet tongue combined with the night air on my skin was almost more than I could take. But then, when he gripped my butt with his hands and sucked my nipple…waves of ecstasy drove me to the brink of release.
He yanked on my short skirt, desperate to get it off. I wiggled my hips until the hem of the skirt was riding high on my thighs. Oh sweet heaven, his hand was inside my panties. I cried out with joy when his finger slid into me.
“So wet,” he murmured against my neck. His finger dove deeper. The hardness in his jeans rubbed against my sensitive core.
Oh God, oh God…
I rode the tidal wave of pleasure. Kissing. Moaning. Crying out. Biting his shoulder before floating away into the liquid abyss.
I struggled to unbutton his pants. “I need you. Now.”
“Wait.” He stilled my hand. “Someone’s coming.”
A fast-moving car screeched into the drive at the front of the house. Santiago pulled my skirt back down.
“It’s just Maria.” I ached to pull him down into the grass, wanting nothing more than to feel him inside me.
Santiago kissed the tip of my nose and shoved his hands in his pockets. “I’d better go.”
“What? Can’t you stay the night?” I put my hand on his bulging zipper. “Please?”
He groaned and moved my hand. “One day. Soon.”
My body was screaming all kinds of expletives. Desperate need pulsed through me, frantic for him. “Why?”
He grimaced. “I’ll tell you everything when I have the answers. Please, Erin, just go inside.”
Go inside, without him? My mind couldn’t fathom the thought.
“Don’t tell anyone about us. If the wrong person knew how much I care for you…” He didn’t finish. Instead, he kissed me quickly on the cheek and sprinted to the side gate leading to the driveway.
Trembling in a pool of passion, I forced my boneless legs to carry me back inside.
Maria met me in the entryway. Before she huffed a single word I knew she was in a foul mood.
“Hi, Maria. How was your date?” It was an effort to make my voice sound normal.
She grimaced at me. “Horrible. But better than the guy I went out with the night you were gone. That dude was seriously deranged. What part of ‘I need to go to the ladies room’ means ‘meet me in the stall to jump me fast and hard’?”
“No!”
“Yes. Don’t worry, he’s learned his lesson.”
By the look on her face, he probably had. Maria had a black belt in Karate.
“Is that why you sent Santiago the 911 text message?”
She frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“You didn’t send the message to Santiago when we were on the mountain?” She was looking at me so strangely. “Never mind. Where’d you find deranged dude?”
“I was a little lonely when you and Santiago were gone. Sorry. I was, Erin. I wanted a little pick me up and found him in the coffee shop. Next time I’ll stick to coffee. I sure know how to pick them.”
I rubbed her shoulder. “I’m sorry we left you behind. It just…happened.”
“I know.”
“So, what about Jorge Lupes? He seemed totally into you.”
Her face lit up. “He is. And what a great kisser he’s become over the years. Yummy. He’s out of town for a couple of weeks.”
“Aw, too bad.”
She thumbed over her shoulder toward the entryway. “I saw my brother leave. What’d he forget?”
“Forget?”
“When he came this morning for the mail.”
“Mail?” Didn’t he say he came to see me?
She cocked her head, wondering why I was echoing her. “I swear he got all the bills. I gave him the stack myself. Besides, I thought he and Helena were going out tonight.”
For some reason,
Santiago wasn’t telling his sister about us.
“You all right?” Maria peered at me closely.
“Ah, yeah, fine.” Pending disaster clutched at my throat. My mind raced. He said he was protecting me, but there was another reason for him to be secretive. Helena.
“You look like you might puke.”
“It’s just…” I bit my tongue. It stank, but until I knew what was going on, I had no choice. I had to keep our relationship a secret from my best friend. “Cramps.”
“Do you need anything? Tylenol? Midol? Percocet? I’ve got a medicine cabinet upstairs stocked with every known drug to mankind.”
“No, thank you.” I rubbed my stomach, which really was killing me. “I’ll just go to bed.”
A shadow crossed her face. Suspicion, or my overactive imagination?
“I guess I’ll go up too and read. Hang on, I forgot my book.” She walked through the atrium right past the entrance to the veranda.
Don’t look. With horror, I held my breath, and begged her thin legs to keep walking.
“Got it. This will keep my mind off—” it was barely a pause, but the corner of her eye had raked across the scene, “—men.”
The burned-down candles, food-covered plates, empty wine bottle, red rose bouquet—she’d seen it all. The table was still romantically set for two.
dc
“Maria? Want me to get that?” I was wrapping my wet hair in a towel when the phone rang.
When she didn’t answer, I rushed down the hall just as the answering machine clicked.
“Maria, if you’re there, please pick up. It’s Martin. You know we need to talk. I’ll be in my office and I expect to hear from you today.” He hung up without so much as a good-bye.
Pushy. I wouldn’t call any guy back who ordered me around like that. Was it deranged dude, or some other creepy male? Maria was right. She sure knew how to pick them.
“Buenos días, bella,” Rosa sang from the kitchen. “What can I make for you? Eggs? Papas?” She hummed a little while the eggs and potatoes sizzled in the pan.
“Yum. Looks great.” I gave her a little squeeze. “Thank you for the wonderful dinner you made last night. Oh, and the tea? Better than Mom’s.”
The wise eyes crinkled around the corners as her face broke into a smile. “Aye, it is fantástico, but no is jus’ té dat brings sunshine to your face.”
Catch Me in Castile Page 16
