Page 13 of Wicked Suspicion

She stared at him intently. Case wasn’t sure he’d had an inspection this thorough since boot camp. He didn’t say anything. If she needed to reassure herself, he could withstand the scrutiny. Expecting her to trust him when she knew nothing about him and when she believed he was a mercenary was a big ask.

Case took the opportunity to study her again. She was holding up remarkably well considering the situation. Too well?

Could she be working with Vargas?

He was aware that women lied easily, and he didn’t know shit about her. The fact she’d joined him for lunch at the market and then turned up at the pyramid at the same time he was at the site was pretty fucking coincidental.

After a moment of thought, he dismissed it. If she were a plant, she’d be pretending to be upset—pretending to be terrified—not taking things in stride. Besides, Vargas didn’t have a history of complicated schemes. He was more like see ‘em, shoot ‘em. Case couldn’t figure out anything the drug lord had to gain from using her.

Satisfied she probably was who and what she claimed, Case drank in her appearance. She was as beautiful as he recalled. No makeup, but her skin was smooth and even, and slightly shiny, probably from sunscreen. Her face was oval, her chin tapering to a bit of a point, and her full lips tempted him to lean in for a kiss. He fought the need. Her long, dark hair was braided, the plait pulled through the opening in the back of her baseball cap, and while her brown eyes remained glued to him, her focus seemed inward.

She was about half a foot shorter than he was and fine-boned, but she wasn’t fragile. If she was, Nyx never would have managed the hike from the Jeep or been able to climb to the top of the pyramid. He’d parked behind her. He was certain that rental was her vehicle, and Case knew how rough the terrain was from the road to the ruins.

If she were fragile, she’d be curled up on the bed in tears, not squaring her shoulders and meeting the situation head-on. He liked her strength.

When her attention returned to him, her wariness was gone. “Why don’t I call you hon and only use Charlie when I absolutely need to do so? Does that work for you?”

He had to clear his throat. “Yeah, that works.” Case had questions of his own. “You’re working on your PhD?” She nodded. “That makes you what? Twenty-five?”

“Twenty-six. You joined the Army right out of high school?”

It was his turn to nod. “Is your background Polynesian or Asian?”

“My paternal grandmother was Filipina. You look Scandinavian.”

“Swedish. You’re from Los Angeles?”

“I live there now. We moved around when I was a kid.”

“I grew up in Minneapolis.”

“You look like a dude I’d see on one of the surfer beaches in California, not out on some frozen lake.”

His lips quirked up. “I’ve heard that before. I’ve never tried surfing. I’m more into swimming and running.”

The water sputtered, reminding him they didn’t have all day to share information. “You were buying presents for your nieces and nephews on Wednesday. Do you have brothers? Sisters?”

“Two older sisters and one older brother. You?”

“Only child. How many nieces and nephews?”

“Five. Three girls and two boys. They belong to my sisters. My brother isn’t married. Where did we meet? Where did we go on our first date? Where did you propose?”

The water sputtered again, and it took longer this time for the flow to return. “We’ll stick as close to the truth as we can. How about we were both out at a pier near Los Angeles and you sat down on the bench where I was eating egg rolls. We started talking. Things went from there.”

“Makes sense. And you proposed on the pier because that’s where we met.”

“Sure. As for our first date…coffee?”

She shook her head. “You took me to the Natural History Museum in LA.”

“We were only going to spend a few hours there, but we hit it off.” Case took a minute to think. “Yeah, we hit it off, so we ended up going out for dinner afterward. Pizza?”

“Pizza,” Nyx agreed.

“I was out of the Army, but not working as a mercenary yet.”

“It would be better if you were already a merc when we met. I would have wielded my influence to talk you out of working as a soldier for hire, and if we had something serious…”

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