grown men put together and still stay skinny without even trying, but Carla decided on the spot that she’d forgive him for that flaw.
In fact, in that moment, she thought she could forgive him for just about anything. A man who liked meat on a woman’s bones? Who didn’t want someone who could pose for a fashion magazine in their spare time?
Yup, she could forgive him for just about anything at all.
He leaned forward then, pulling her out of her thoughts, his question stamped on his face.
Could he…?
She leaned forward too, meeting him halfway.
This kiss, in the history of kisses, blew all of the rest of the kisses away. She could hardly breathe; she couldn’t think. He turned her inside out, and she enjoyed every moment of it.
They pulled apart and he whispered, “Whoa.”
Her thoughts exactly.
Chapter 11
Christian
Have you any money? ~Inigo
I have a little. ~Fezzik the Giant
I just hope it’s enough money to buy a miracle. ~Inigo
In The Princess Bride
Christian yawned so hard, his jaw cracked as he pulled on his sleep t-shirt. It was only 9:45 at night, but like an old man, he was already heading for bed.
He’d always been an early bird, but even still, it was hard to want to get up at four in the morning to cut hay. Thank God he wasn’t allergic to hay like he was cats.
Cats…
He scratched absentmindedly at his forearm, where he’d had that terrible allergic reaction after stupidly petting Carla’s cat. She’d mentioned her cats a couple of times since then on their dates, and he knew how much they meant to her.
How could he tell her that he couldn’t breathe around them? To break her heart like that…He hadn’t meant to keep it a secret from her; he just hadn’t found a good time to slip it into the conversation.
Yet. He would soon, though. It was only fair.
As he was pulling back the covers on his bed, ready to sink into his mattress for the night, he heard a muted knock on the front door, and let out a string of Spanish swear words that’d have his grandmother rolling over in her grave if she’d heard him. He was so close to sleep.
Could he ignore the knock and pretend he hadn’t heard it? He would’ve given his right nut to do just that, but he couldn’t. Whoever it was, it was someone he cared about. Door-to-door salesmen didn’t bother with his single-wide trailer. One look at it, and they kept going.
Not to mention that Marshmallow hadn’t started barking his fool head off, which meant he recognized the vehicle pulling up.
With a groan, Christian shuffled to the front door and found his younger sister – well, that was all of them – Yesenia, on the doorstep, her features cast in shadows by the dim porch light.
“Hey, hermanita,” he said, forcing a note of cheerfulness into his voice as he opened the door wider to let her in. Once she was inside and he could see her better, he realized she wasn’t there to pay him a social visit. “What’s going on?” he asked, trying to keep his voice neutral even as his hands curled into fists at his sides.
Some guy had attacked her, he was sure of it. Christian was well aware how gorgeous his sister was, and what assholes there were in the world. Even now, with her hair disheveled and her eyes red from crying, she was beautiful. He was going to track the guy down and leave him for the buzzards to find.
“Tuition is going up this fall,” Yesenia said, dropping to his dilapidated couch and burying her face in her hands. Her shoulders shook with silent sobs as Christian stood there, frozen, only his fingers moving as he slowly uncurled his fists.
No guy. No attack. No rape. He was grateful, but…
“By how much?” he asked, trying to keep calm. It was already a Herculean effort to help her get the tuition bill paid each semester. How could he pay more? He didn’t want his sister leaving college saddled with debt – it went against everything the Palacios family believed in.
“Two thousand dollars.” Her voice broke as she said the words, just as his heart broke to hear them. Two thousand? He didn’t have an extra two thousand dollars sitting around. If he had, he would spend it on Carla, anyway.
Carla.
He wanted to do some weeping of his own. He wanted to spoil her – give her chocolates and take her out to fancy dinners and