Unexpected by Lori Foster

Author:Lori Foster [Foster, Lori]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corp.
Published: 2014-04-09T04:00:00+00:00

Because his attention caught on the bewitching woman, Eli didn’t realize Ray had stepped in front of him until he almost plowed her down. Ray regained her balance and drove her elbow into his stomach with enough force to knock the wind out of him. “Watch it,” she snapped.

Eli murmured, “Sorry,” but still he couldn’t take his gaze off the woman. With everyone else layered in sweat, she looked cool and seductive. This, he thought, must be Sarita.

“Todo tranquilo?”

His high school Spanish was pretty rusty, but Ray helped out just by replying.

“Yeah, everything’s calm.” She propped her hands on her hips. “Should we talk inside?”

“Sí.” Sarita stepped back, pushing aside long strands of beads that served as a makeshift door. Every few feet, ceiling fans swirled lazily, keeping the air stirred. She smiled at Eli. “Belikin?”

Eli wasn’t quite certain what she offered, so Ray said, “Belizean beer.”

“Thank you, no.” It was hard enough keeping his hands off Ray without mixing in the effects of alcohol. “Does she speak English?”

Sarita answered for herself. “I speak English, Spanish, and a little Creole. In my line of work, one must be able to communicate.”

Eli laughed, amused at her flirting. “I have a feeling you could communicate with any man you met.”

She replied with a suggestive smile. “Sí.”

Eli accepted the hand she offered, but she didn’t conclude the perfunctory shake. Instead, she cradled his hand in both of hers and held it to her mostly naked chest.

Pretending to ignore that, Eli said, “Thank you for your help, Sarita.”

Her smile widened. “My help will not be cheap. As my Miguel has complained, your little brother is the pain in the ass.”

He knew it only too well. But while his brother sometimes drove him nuts, Eli loved him. These people didn’t, so how would they react to being annoyed? “What has he done?”

“He complains. Often. About everything. And he whines.” She looked at Ray. “Does this one whine, too?”

Ray looked stiff and angry, but still she said, “No, he doesn’t.”

Sarita’s black gaze slid over Eli, specifically his chest, and she purred, “Yo los aprecio peludo. Ellos son hombres verdaderos.”

Between the Spanish he remembered and Sarita’s gaze, Eli caught the gist of her comment, which was something about hairy men being real men.

Ray puckered up even more. “He’s not that hairy,” she snapped, and then, all businesslike: “Sarita, his brother is okay?”

“El esta enfermo templado, un chico.”

Fed up, Eli barked, “Speak English.”

Sarita shrugged. “The brother is fine. Spoiled, but fine.” Her dark eyes looked at Eli with accusation. “He is rude.”

Incredulous at her daring, Eli glared. “Miguel kidnapped him. Was he supposed to be courteous?”

“Eli . . .” Attempting to warn him away, Ray took his elbow, but Sarita still held his hand, which left him caught between the two women.

“He is fed as well as our soldiers, but doesn’t like the food. He is offered clothing, but ridicules the style. If he were not valuable, Miguel would have already fed him to the jaguars and he would be back here with me now, where he belongs.

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