Three Little Words (Fool's Gold #12)

The stones were mostly uncut, and thin strands of gold and silver had been wrapped around them to hold them in place. Tiny crystals swung from shepherds’ hooks and dangled from delicate chains.

Despite the fact that she was on the short side and small boned, Consuelo didn’t think of herself as petite. Nothing in this booth would suit her, she thought glumly. It was all too ethereal. She was sturdy, in her soul if not in her appearance. Pragmatic, with a foolish longing for whimsy.

She touched a bracelet, and as her fingers moved on the cool metal, she realized there were two men following her.

She’d seen them several booths back, when she’d stopped to look at a display of birdhouses. Mid-twenties, out of shape, a little drunk. One wore a baseball cap and the other had on a T-shirt featuring a gun logo. Good ol’ boys, she thought.

They’d noticed her then. She’d slipped away but they’d caught up with her and now they were getting closer. She was going to have to deal with them directly.

The thought of it made her tired. She wasn’t sure if she was going to eviscerate them physically or verbally. This was a family-friendly event and there were pros and cons to both plans of action.

She turned, prepared to take them on. The guy in the baseball cap walked directly toward her.

“Hey, pretty lady.” His smile was more a leer, with a hint of threat at the edges. “My friend and I thought we’d go somewhere together and get to know each other better.”

A man stepped between her and the guy in the cap.

“I don’t think so,” he said, moving next to her. “You need to leave the lady alone.”

Consuelo stared up at Kent Hendrix. Was he seriously trying to protect her? She was so startled by the thought she just stood there stupidly.

T-shirt Guy grinned at Kent. “Is that so? You gonna make us?”

“If necessary,” Kent said firmly. He was close but not touching her. Larger than the other two. His voice was quiet, yet there was an air of confidence about him that impressed her.

The friends looked at each other. Then, like the bullies they were, they immediately backed off when confronted. Baseball Cap Guy dipped his head.

“No offense meant, ma’am.”

“It would probably be best if you two left the festival,” Kent told them.

The men turned and started walking.

Consuelo put her hands on her hips. “What was that?”

“I noticed them following you. I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

Okay? Okay? Her? “There isn’t a man in a fifty-mile radius I couldn’t destroy in hand-to-hand combat, and that includes your navy SEAL brother.”

Kent nodded slowly. “I have no doubt.”

“Then why would you try to help?”

“It’s the right thing to do.”

She opened her mouth, then closed it. She started to speak, then stopped. Was he from this planet? This century? She should be annoyed as hell, yet she felt oddly touched by his idiotic gesture.

He could have been hurt, she thought. There were two of them.

He lightly touched her arm. “I know you could have taken them. I just didn’t think you should have to deal with them on your own.”

She’d always been on her own. Even as a kid. Her brothers had been involved in their gang, and her mother had worked desperately long hours to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads. For Consuelo, friends had come from between the pages of a book.

Once she’d joined the army, she’d been part of a team. Until she’d gone into covert ops. Her assignments put her in harm’s way by herself. There was always extraction but rarely backup. After a while she’d gotten used to looking out for herself and not expecting much of anyone else.

“Thank you,” she managed at last.

“You’re welcome. I keep running into you.”

She glanced at his hands. They were smooth, with neatly trimmed nails. No calluses, no scars. He didn’t carry a gun or even a knife. She doubted he’d ever killed anyone. No doubt he talked to his mother regularly, cared about his family, paid his taxes and drove less than five miles an hour over the speed limit.

“Want to get an ice cream?” he asked. “It’s homemade. This time of year, they have all the fruit flavors. Pear ice cream doesn’t sound all that exciting, but trust me, it’s delicious.”

She faced him, torn between what she wanted and what she knew was right.

“No one has ever asked me to get ice cream before.”

She made the statement defiantly, then waited for him to call her on it. Because she was going to tell him the truth. That men asked her for sex. Sometimes they used dinner as a pretense. Or offered money or jewelry to pay for it. She’d slept with men for her country, but rarely because she wanted to. She’d killed and walked away without looking back. She’d taken down enemy combatants, because there were a thousand places a woman could go that a soldier couldn’t.

“Then you’re overdue.”

“What?”

“For ice cream.”

He held out his hand. Just like that, as if he expected her to go with him. She should tell him to get lost, she thought. Only she couldn’t. Instead she placed her hand against his and prepared to leap into an unknown world.