“Lovely,” she murmured under her breath.
“Lovely,” he echoed, moving toward the window. It was grimy, and the dim light barely illuminated the alley behind the hotel. That nagging feeling of unease was still dogging him, and for a brief moment he considered dragging them along with him to make the deal for the papers and cash to keep them going. If it had been only Beth he would have done it, but two of them complicated matters too much, and Tomas was Committee. He would count privacy more than payment.
He felt her come up beside him – how could he not – and every inch of his skin prickled. She followed his gaze out into the alleyway.
“If there’s trouble, go out the window.” He kept his voice flat. “You did a good job at the old woman’s cabin – just roll when you land and you probably won’t break or sprain anything. And then run like hell.”
He felt rather than saw her nod. “Isn’t there an American consulate here? Someone we can throw ourselves on?”
He shook his head. “Puerto Claro is a small city, very poor, and few if any American tourists make it this far south. They probably rely on the consulate office in the capital.”
She said nothing, and he made the mistake of looking down at her. Always dangerous, being so close to her, and he said the first thing that came into his mind. Anything to push her away. “I’ll probably take a little longer. I need to get laid. The girl at the cantina only took the edge off.”
“The girl in the cantina?”
There was something in her voice he couldn’t define, but he could guess. Disgust. Disappointment. Hell, maybe some ill-placed jealousy. It didn’t matter – it did the job, keeping her at a distance.
“Yeah, I spent the night with a lovely piece of tail at the local cantina, and she was very generous with her favors. But one night isn’t going to work off . . .”
“Three years,” she said before he could. “That was pretty fast work, seducing her so quickly.”
He grinned at her. “Seduction had nothing to do with it. She was a working girl, and cash cuts through a lot of the bullshit. Not that I couldn’t have seduced her. I can seduce anyone, given enough time. I just wanted to cut to the chase.”
“Lovely,” she murmured. “And I doubt you could seduce anyone.”
“Even a lesbian nun.”
“I’m neither a lesbian nor a nun.”
“I know.”
The unspoken words hung between them. What would that mouth taste like? Would it be disapproval and impatience? Or sweet, yielding promise? She was looking up at him, not shifting her gaze, and it drew him so that he felt his head dipping down, so close . . .
“Damn, that bathroom was foul to begin with!” Dylan slammed open the door again, and MacGowan pulled back without speed, turning to look at him. “You’re gonna wanna keep out of there for the next half hour, Sister Beth. I took a dump to beat all dumps, and . . .”
“I don’t think Beth wasn’t to hear the details of our digestive system,” MacGowan drawled. “The two of you behave and I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“After you work off some of your three years,” Beth said.
He grinned at her. “Yeah, that too.” He headed for the door, and to his surprise Beth followed him. Dylan was already stretched out on the bed, his veil off again, his skirts pulled up to expose his rolled up jeans.
Finn paused in the open door. “What do you want?”
“I want to talk to you.”
He sighed. “Step into my office,” he said, and she followed him into the hall, closing the door behind them.
The corridor was deserted and dimly lit, half the light bulbs burned out. He crowded her against the wall. Physical intimidation had only been partially successful with her, but he needed to keep trying, and he loomed over her, radiating impatience. He needed to get away from her before he made another mistake.
“I just want to make sure you’re coming back,” she said.
“Jesus Christ, woman, how many times do I have to tell you?” he exploded softly. “I don’t lie to you.”
“You just did.”
He stared down in confusion. “When?”
“You forget that I lived in Talaca. There are no working girls at the cantina – only Jimena whos