Page 52 of Unspoken Promises

Fuck it. I’ll do things the old-fashioned way. I press thetelephone icon to call him, but after five rings it goes to voicemail.

Shit. It’s getting late. Maybe he’s not even on the ranch, but I should at least go around and look, right? But there’s no way I can scour acres and acres of land and be ready in twenty minutes when Luis said he’d pick me up.

I crack my knuckles one by one. Okay. These hacks are old. The urgency is mostly coming from my own need to tell Enzo. Between now and post book club, it’s really, really unlikely that the hacker or hackers will demand something. Plus, it’s Saturday. Banks are closed.

It’s settled. I’ll go to Luis’ book club and then race back and find Enzo.

I head over to my dresser, happy to have something to take my mind off the deep questions on my shoulders today. Fortunately, when Pen found out I didn’t have a swimsuit, she offered to take cash in exchange for me ordering a few things on a clothing website she loves. She gave me her fifteen percent off discount, too.

I didn’t want to spend much. I still don’t know how long this GhostEye arrangement will work for me. I’m technically down three weeks of a twelve-week contract, so spending my pennies isn’t a great idea. But I did buy a couple of new tank tops, a pair of loose linen shorts, a gorgeous new sweater, graduating me out of that hoodie, and a pair of strappy sandals that don’t feel veryme, but Penelope insisted are super on-trend, and frankly, it is kind of hot in my Docs some days.

I have to say, when I gear up and look at myself from all directions in my full-length mirror, I have pretty nice ankles. Who knew?

In the book we read for club the heroine talked about the importance of feeling pretty and how it influenced hersex drive. I think she was on to something, because seeing how cute I look makes me wonder what Enzo would think of me in these little heels. What he would think if I wore some of the latex the heroine did in that book.

There were a lot of things in that book I’d try with Enzo in another life, and others I’m not so sure of. Like swallowing? Surely that tastes nasty? The heroinelovedit. I bet Enzo would taste good everywhere. He just has that well-groomed, clean, tasty-dick look about him.

The heroine was right. My outfit really is influencing my sex drive.

Just then, my doorbell rings. I grab my sweater to protect me from the bite of air-con everyone is pumping like mad in the Indian summer and head to the door.

My ride isn’t what I expected it to be. Instead of Luis here with his beat-up pickup Rio and Santi complained he should sell at Julia’s, there are four men on horseback with five horses.

“Ah, sorry.” Luis checks out my outfit like it just isn’t going to do. “I should have elaborated when I told you I’d give you a ride.”

I glance behind. Enzo is on Estrella, in jeans and a perfectly fitted black t-shirt teasing around the shape of his God-like torso. I guess he was at the stables. Surely, he could have answered my text or call?

I shake my head. Later. A few more hours won’t matter, and Luis does right now.

Luis rubs his hands together excitedly. “You said you always wanted to try riding…”

“Sure but… don’t I need a lesson or something first?”

Santi calls over, “Not on old Hector. You could ride him with your eyes closed.”

I step out onto the porch and shield my eyes from the sun. “You guys are all coming to the book club?”

None of them answer, but it’s an obvious yes.

It’s just about the sweetest thing that Luis’ sons are coming to his book club to make sure there are butts in seats. I know that after their sister, Shay, moved out, a neighbor of Luis’ got him involved in her spicy book club to keep him living and laughing in that empty house of his. Spicy books aren’t just some hobby for Luis, they saved him from loneliness and growing old. They made him believe in love again. I’m not sure if he’s told his sons all of this, but somehow, they know how important maintaining a book club is to his mental health.

If there’s one thing I’m learning, between the way Santi and Rio backed up Enzo’s firing last night, to dinner at Julia’s, to the fact that they want Monarch Hills to be a safe haven for their family, the Mendez family is tight.

What a beautiful thing it would be to truly, permanently, forever be a part of it.

Maybe that should be one of my three wishes.

18

After heading backin and popping on jeans and my Docs again, I ride behind Luis, Enzo, and Rio and chat with Santi. He tells me about the history of putting this place together, how they transformed old scrubland into pastures by having sheep for a while, and he regaled me with the story of the Derby winner he bred that led to people flocking to pay for a pop with his stallions. Rome certainly wasn’t built in a day.

He tells me about how it was really just stallions for a while and he offered pre-training for racehorses. When GhostEye got a big investor about a year ago, he was able to branch out and bought an existing sixty-acre training facility in a town next door. He’s very ambitious and glows when he speaks on the subject.

I guess Santi got his conversational skills from his dad, because Luis hasn’t stopped talking the whole time while Rio and Enzo listen, or don’t, for all I know. I tune out myself once in a while, taking in the sight of Enzo on a horse. His broad back is strong and tall, his neck is tanned, thick and sturdy. And who knew he had a cowboy hat? Rio wears one similar to Enzo’s, something quite fancy-looking, but Luis seems to be hanging on to a hat that’s from the same era as his rusty truck.

Enzo’s hips sway under the rolling movement of his horse. He’s so in command, so relaxed. As if feeling my gaze on his neck, he turns to glance at me. He’s not wearing his glasses right now, and God, is he one smoldering, sexy cowboy. A cowboy I’ll never have because I am absolutelynotgoing to keep letting myself think of him this way, because whenever I do, a small part of me starts to chicken out of telling him about Father.

To top off putting this wonderful man and his family in danger, I like the way he looked at me last night. Him hearing my story might change that.

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