“How are we going to know we’re going the right way?” someone called out.
Miri paused and the crew fell silent waiting for her answer. Her eyes shifted as she tried to figure out what to say. She glanced at Rafa again, then quickly averted her gaze.
“Dr. Mejía gave me a clue to the location of a landmark. The mesa de pedra,” she responded.
Rafa’s eyebrows raised and he sat straighter in his seat while the rest of the group continued murmuring.
“Once we find it, I’m sure the rest will be easy,” she continued, struggling to convincingly say the words without wincing. “Look, I can see everyone is tired. How about we finish dinner, get a good night’s rest, and in the morning we can start fresh?”
A few more grumbles, but no one outright refused. She’d take it as progress.
“Great!” she said, like they were answering a question.“With that, guess I’d better change.” She motioned to her wine-soaked clothes, then followed up, “See you at seven!”
Miri hurried away before they could ask more questions she couldn’t answer. Plus, now she’d met Rafa’s conditions. If anyone decided to leave at this point, then it would be of their own volition.
Back in her cabin, she searched her bag for yetanotherclean, dry shirt. It was only day three and she’d already soiled a quarter of her wardrobe. She peeled off her hiking shirt down to a tank top and rushed to the sink to try to wash the red wine out of the fabric. Last thing she needed was to ruinanotheroutfit.
Knock, knock, knock.
Miri shot her gaze up to the vanity mirror and blew her bangs out of her face. Seriously, what now? She didn’t have any desire to give further explanation. Couldn’t whatever this was wait until the morning?
She paused for a moment, willing the visitor away, but when another knock rapped against the door, she succumbed to the fact that there was no getting out of this. So she stood straight, dried off her hands, and tucked her hair behind her ears before swinging the door open.
“Rafa?” she choked out.
He stood on the other side of the door, his head dipped to the side. Seeing him now standing in front of her, she no longer wanted to havethe talk. And not simply because he looked utterly delectable. And it hadnothingto do with the fact that there was a soft, cozy bed positioned a mere six feet away. But the sheepish look on his face told her he was equally torn by whatever reason he had come for.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, crossing her arms like an invisible barrier.
“I was hoping we could talk.”
Hewanted to talk, too? Nope. She couldn’t do this now.
“Oh, well, I was about to go to sleep.” Jeez. Shewasa terrible liar.
His gaze traveled the length of her body still in her day clothes, then he craned his neck to look around her room. “Doesn’t look that way,” he said.
She uncrossed her arms and stood straighter. “I’m finishing up a few things, andthenI’m going to sleep.”
“Are you trying to avoid me?” He eyed her suspiciously. “Because if that’s the case, you can say so.”
“No!” she said, perhaps a tad too emphatically. “I’m tired, that’s all. It’s been a long day.”
“You’re not just saying that because you’re trying to get rid of me, are you?”
“What? No, why would you think that?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because you’re practically shutting the door in my face?”
Miri blinked quickly and took a step back, just now realizing she’d unconsciously begun closing the door on him. She looked at the door as if it had magically closed by itself.When did that happen?
“Look, if this is about what happened on the boat—” he started.
But Miri swiftly cut him off. “It’s not about the boat.”
“So, then, the reason you’re acting weird doesn’t have anything to do with the fact that we kissed?”
She furrowed her brow. “Weird? I’m not acting weird.”
