Page 71 of Devil's Claim

My thoughts returned to the arrangement I’d all but agreed to. Why had I egged the man on? I couldn’t go through with marrying him under any circumstances. Something told me Kruz needed my help. While the thought didn’t make much sense, his hard push raised a red flag.

My stomach ached, the butterflies becoming something else entirely. Stinging bees.

Yet as horrible as the thought of joining in an unholy matrimony was, the reality was different. The kind of money he was talking about would let me fight a horrible man like Malcolm. Plus, my parents would never be able to touch me.

Ugh. What was I thinking?

The cute little giggle erupting to the side of me normally brought a smile to my face. Not tonight. Maybe nothing could. I’d ordered my favorite sandwich, a Big Mac, but it remained mostly untouched in the wrapper while I stared unseeing out the window at a busy street. Even the French fries were both a reminder of the life I’d just tossed aside and of a noted difference.

Nothing was or would ever be the same again.

“Yummy!” Maverick almost screamed.

I turned my head toward him, finally smiling and immediately grabbing a napkin. “Baby. You’re getting it all over you. Too much ketchup.”

“No!”

Now I laughed. His face was covered in the red goo. I wiped his face, getting an entire string of ketchup all over my fingers.

When Kruz grabbed my wrist, I whimpered sharply.

“What are you doing?” My question was a demand, maybe a little too loud. Not that there was anyone to hear us. The people behind the counter had all but disappeared since there was a single other customer inside the fast-food joint.

Kruz grinned more mischievously than I’d seen him do the entire time we’d been together. God. I hated that word. When he brought my fingers to his lips, I tried to jerk it free. He refused to allow me to get away from him. Somehow, I knew that possessive side of him was only beginning.

He wrapped his luscious lips around my two fingers, pulling them into his mouth. The action was sinful, sensual.

Forget focusing. I could no longer breathe, but after a few seconds, I forced myself to blink. It was becoming easier to remind myself every rose-filled fantasy had sharp thorns. I’d already been pricked. How many times before I was no longer fooled by his good looks and intent to cherish?

He removed my fingers with a pop and tilted his head to the side. “Sweet.”

“Not the same ketchup we have in America. Too sweet. I like a little tang.”

“So do I.” He grabbed his triple cheeseburger, taking a huge bite. He’d only had two bites and one more to go. How did men eat that way?

When a single drop of ketchup slipped past his lips, I almost shifted my arm across the table, but stopped myself just in time, instead grabbing a fry and returning my attention to my son. Hewas obviously having the time of his life, bouncing up and down in his seat.

Maverick lifted his head, grabbing a fry. I watched in fascination that I wished was horror as he leaned across the table, offering a bite to Kruz. While my son’s eyes were bright with happiness, mine were misted over and I averted them from Kruz as he made a big deal about taking the fry from my son.

“For me?” Kruz asked.

Maverick nodded several times with heavy emphasis.

Kruz leaned over far enough I gathered another whiff of his aftershave. As usual, the scent created a wave of tingles.

“Yum,” Kruz said in a funny little voice that delighted Maverick. It would seem the two were friends now.

We continued eating and my stomach finally won. I took a couple of bites, pleased the flavor was the formula. Everything from the menu to the attire of the workers was close to the same.

Yet entirely different.

This wasn’t my home and Kruz wasn’t husband material.

“Why is it empty in here? Spaniards don’t like burgers?”

He swallowed his bite, held the cheeseburger above his head, and slowly brought it to his lips.

“Do you need to do that?” I asked quietly.

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