Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
Stomach tensing, I clear my throat. “We probably shouldn’t talk about this here, though.”
Instantly concerned, Marianna glances around. “Of course. Now you have me worried.” Looking beyond my shoulder, her expression darkens. “Yeah, I think you’re right.”
I tug my shades from the neck of my shirt, slip them on, and swing my gaze around, trying to place the location of whoever’s watching. “We could take a drive.”
“Not in my Land Cruiser.”
“I have my truck.”
“This might cause problems.”
“Would you prefer my hotel?”
She chokes out a little laugh. “That will really cause problems. Besides, I don’t trust the innkeeper.”
Damn, I wish I didn’t like this woman so much. “You’ve got good intuition.”
“Don’t count on it. It’s not reliable.”
A tingle at the nape of my neck—my danger radar—reminds me of where we are. “Let’s get moving. I can feel eyes on us.”
There’s a low level bustle to the town. Most of the tourists stick out. Too clean. Polo shirts, khaki pants, and the like. Which happens to be close to my choice of clothing for the day.
I shrug, adjusting my T-shirt, the one I paired with dark gray cotton walking shorts. Still, I look spiffed up, putting me squarely in the tourist category, unlike the obvious farmers and laborers coming and going from the shops.
Marianna tenses on my arm. After a quick glance around, she puffs up her cheeks. “I feel it now. My father, no doubt. Probably his assistant, too. Anyone my father could call right now to put eyes on me.”
I knew he was an asshole. Now I’m beginning to think he’s also psychotic.
“Karma’s turning out to be a very interesting town, even though it seems quaint.”
“Quaint and full of trouble.”
I process that remark. “But don’t all small towns have their demons? I know mine did.”
“So, you’re a small town boy?”
“Once upon a time.” Those unhappy memories still clog my throat. I clear it and change the subject. “It’s pretty slow here, huh?”
Marianna laughs lightly as she adjusts that damned purse. Every damned time she smiles, something happens to my brain.
“You must live in the city now. This is busy for Karma.”
“I’ve spent my fair share of time in cities.” I don’t share that I’ve also spent a career in what most consider the world’s armpits during my time with the Teams.
She gestures with her free hand, the sunlight catching on a bangle bracelet as she sweeps an arc to highlight Karma’s main street. “Well, it’s not much, but you can get most things you need here. Except electronics. You’ll have to go to Carollia for a phone or a computer. Which reminds me, I’m going to have to make a trip once I deal with the truck again …”
Her voice trails off with a hint of sadness.
“Is the Land Cruiser a repeat offender?”
“You could say that. Gingersnap has a mind of her own.” Marianna makes a small head shake as if she’s trying to get rid of a thought. “Poor girl has given me a lot of trouble since I inherited her from my grandfather. I think she misses him. But I’m not really in a position to replace her.”
Now her tone isn’t sad, it’s bleak.
“I don’t think it’s a big problem. Not that Gingersnap doesn’t have other gremlins, I mean, the truck is thirty years old. But a leak in the coolant system will probably be an easy fix.”
Her eyes flash toward me. “Really?”
“Yeah, I have an idea what it might need?—”
Something catches the corner of my gaze and makes me drop the convo. That prickling at the back of my neck is getting worse.
Tightening her hand on my arm, Marianna’s pace slows. “What is it?”
“A feeling.”
I learned a long time ago that you don’t ignore intuitions.
Both sides of the narrow road are lined with businesses, some one story, others two-storied places. Most are painted in bright, festive colors. All of them have terracotta roofs and stucco fa?ades. Above some of the shops are apartments with small balconies jammed with plants and strung with clothing lines.
There are pots of blooming flowers and streetlights, the latter of which strike me as odd for the region. But Vandemora does have a strong European influence. It’s a well-tended small town in the midst of a country that’s a combination of undeveloped rainforest, farmland, and tiny beach towns.
Older model cars dot the street parking. People move about busily, coming and going. Most are dressed in working clothes like jeans and dusty T-shirts, but a few women are dressed like Marianna in sundresses.
Karma is a local hub of activity in an otherwise sparsely populated tropical country.
That’s all fine and good, but someone could be putting a scope on us right now, from anywhere. “Let’s keep moving. I’m parked by the hotel.”
Marianna steps closer to me, her hand tightening on her purse. “What happened just now?”
How do you explain something that’s been honed over years of dangerous ops in every kind of place the world has to offer. Regardless of Karma’s historic air and vibrant energy, danger can lurk in beautiful places.
“Let’s keep moving.”
My sixth sense on this is never wrong. I grumble and inch closer toward her, feeling protective as fuck. “How long has this been going on with your old man?”
She laughs humorlessly. “This level of nutso… about three months. My grandfather died, and my dad got weird. Weirder. I mean, he’s always been out there and had this whole different?—”
Thick skeins of dark hair dance around her shoulders as she shakes her head. “I’m rambling.”
I force myself to speak when all I really want to do is kiss the hell out of her. “That was less than thirty words… definitely not rambling.”
I lay a hand on her forearm. It shouldn’t feel as intimate as it does, but everything with Marianna is different.
When she casts her warm, golden gaze up at me, the innocence in her eyes causes a chain reaction in my blood. Lust pulses through me, thick and hot, making my veins feel heavy and my mind race.
I curse silently. This is shit timing . I haven’t wanted a woman in ages, but now of all times is bad. I can’t lose my focus on work.
But the curiosity in the way she studies me makes my resolve weak.
A small smile tugs at the corners of her mouth, sending another heatwave through me. “That was kind of you to say. You’re different.”
I chuckle. “Different from whom?”
“Most men.”
“You’re probably right about that.”
Some things are best left buried. I’d never elaborate on all the fucked up things that set me apart.
Just as I drag my eyes away from her, a shadow flickers ahead. My brain registers the change in light as a threat before the fireplug-shaped man has even lurched onto the sidewalk in front of us.
All my senses go into high alert. Muscles tensing, preparing for anything and everything, I let my awareness feather out, taking in the whole scene around us at once.
Fuck.
We’re in a bad spot. I don’t like being this exposed.There’s very little cover. I’d have to push Marianna into the store to our right.
“Crap, now this,” she mutters under her breath.
The brim of a fedora hides the man’s eyes, but his body language is loud and clear. He folds his arms, puffing up his chest. “Marianna, your father wants you to call him.”
I force myself to stay still. Ready, but still.
Marianna exhales hard. The light in her eyes dims as she glares and purses her lips. “Tell him I’m busy.”
The man’s head shifts, swinging his attention solely toward me. Upper lip pulling back into a sneer, he demands, “Who is this bozo?”
Karma’s got asshole issues.
Good thing I’m well versed in dealing with this kind of trouble. “Are you the sidewalk police?”
Marianna steps closer to my side. “This is my father’s assistant.”
Lifting her chin, she gives attitude as good as him. “Clive, tell Marcus I’ll speak to him when I’m ready, and that’s not right now.”
Clive the clown bows up like he’s gonna do something about it. I sweep Marianna behind me as I step forward with menace pumping through me.
He’s not getting close to her.
With my temper barely chained, I tilt my head, peering down at the man. “You heard the lady.”
The idiot has the nerve to slide his hand down and reach for the small of his own back. Before he can pull his weapon out, I give him a warning. “You might want to think twice about that. I’m a damned fast draw.”
The muscles in his jaw tick as his chest rises and falls rapidly. “Call your father, Marianna, don’t piss him off more than he is.”
He turns on his cowboy boots, shoves open the door to a nearby building, and disappears inside.
I let out a held breath. Fucker. Interrupting my walk with Marianna. That’s enough to earn him a black eye.
I shake my head. “His ears are smoking almost as badly as your Land Cruiser.”
She giggles and blows a hair out of her face. But Marianna looks shaken, but more angry than upset. “He’s a royal jerk.”
“I’m not sure that’s a strong enough word.” I pull her into motion. “You deal with that all the time?”
“Like I said, it’s getting worse.”
She tightens her hold on my arm. “Let’s hurry before there are any more spectacles for the townspeople to gossip about.”
I glance one more time at the door we are passing, the one where Clive took his leave to undoubtedly plan revenge for his ego being bruised. A shiny sign on the building proclaims the building to be the Karma Town Hall.
Good to know. The mayor might need a visit before long.
But a small voice inside my head reminds me not to stir up trouble I don’t need.
I have a job. And to do what I need to do, I have to keep my head straight.
When I glance down, my gaze locks on Marianna’s pretty face, the flare of her naturally red lips drawing my gaze like a magnet. But it’s more than her beauty.
That determined expression makes me wonder if it’s even going to be possible to stay out of her trouble.
I love a strong woman.
And when that woman makes my blood pump and my head swim....
Fuck. Karma might be more trouble than I thought it would be.