A Royal Temptation by Charlene Sands

Author:Charlene Sands
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2015-11-11T16:00:00+00:00

Seven

“I really know how to show a lady a good time, don’t I?” With shovel in hand, Juan Carlos dug at the foot of a grave alongside Eduardo and Luis as the high beams of two cars cast the cemetery in an unearthly glow.

Dirt flew through the air and landed at the toes of her boots. If she weren’t so excited, she’d be totally creeped out. “I can’t think of anywhere else I’d rather be,” she countered honestly.

Even her embarrassment with Luis had been forgotten.

“I can help out,” she said, “when anyone wants to take a break.”

Eduardo covered his laughter with a grunt.

Juan Carlos slanted her a be-serious look. “I’ll keep that in mind, Princess.”

Luis was too busy digging to look up.

She wrapped her arms around her sides as the night air became chillier. She’d refused Juan Carlos’s suggestion to sit it out in the car and so she stood watching, waiting.

They were digging up the grave of J. A. Molina. The headstone dated the death to 1938.

After ten minutes of silent digging, she heard a thump. Eduardo’s shovel smacked against something solid. Thump, thump. “I hit something, Your Highness,” Eduardo said.

“Let’s keep digging,” Juan Carlos said. There was a boyish tone to his excitement. “It shouldn’t be long now before we know.”

The men worked twice as fast now, focusing their efforts. The scraping sounds of shovels against wood filled the quiet night.

“Portia, will you get the flashlight and shine it down here.”

The men were five feet below ground level now and working furiously.

She grabbed the biggest flashlight she could find and stood as close as possible over the grave site, sending beams of light down. Portia’s heart sank. “It’s a coffin, isn’t it?”

“Maybe,” Juan Carlos said. Under her flashlight, his eager eyes had lost some of their gleam. A layer of dirt remained on top of the box, and he used his gloved hands to swipe it off, searching for any hint of what lay inside. He found nothing written. “Let’s bring it up.”

It took some doing, but the three men hoisted the box up and set it on a patch of flat ground.

“Hand me the ax,” Juan Carlos ordered. He made the sign of the cross over his chest. “And may God forgive us.”

Luis handed Juan Carlos the tool and he carefully began to hack at the very edges of the coffin. Each blow of the ax brought the mystery closer and closer to an end. Eduardo used his shovel to help pry the lid of the box open.

It was time. Their work was nearly over. Juan Carlos hesitated a moment, drew breath into his lungs and then glanced at her. “Ready?”

She nodded.

“You might want to look away,” he said.

“No, I will be fine with whatever we find.” Her eye twitched, closing in a wink.

Juan Carlos stared at her. Perhaps he was equally as nervous as she was. With his gloved hands, he lifted the hacked lid. She beamed the flashlight on the contents, her heart thumping hard.

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