“Does lover boy know you’ve been checking out my abs?” he shouted, as he was suddenly fine and ran to catch up to us.
Shiloh simply gave him the finger, and I shook my head at their bickering. I was already thinking about how much I was going to miss this come June.
???
November 15, Monday
Shiloh
“So, apparently, he’s already engaged.”
Carlos narrowed his eyes at me, tipping his head back to drink the last of his liquor.
“Explain.”
I sighed heavily, leaning back into the leather chair of Carlos’s home office. I was dying of period cramps and had zero motivation to relive yesterday’s church service, but there was no escaping it.
“He introduced me to a woman who was hanging around after the service near him and when she left, he told me that his father had suggested that Theo marry her. But Theo made a point of saying that she wasn’t going to be a suitable wife to him.”
“Why not?”
“I dunno. Something about her parents being friends with his parents. He also said in a not subtle way whatsoever that he preferred a redhead to a brunette.”
Carlos smirked, licked his lips and eyed me closely.
“He’s clearly infatuated by you.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Just watch him, Shiloh. Keep doing whatever you’re doing because it’s clearly working for him. Why don’t you message him? Ask if he wants to meet for a Bible study or something?”
When he gestured for me to pull out my phone I sighed and rolled my eyes. I quickly fired off a text message before showing my screen to Carlos. He leaned forward in his chair before nodding in approval. I hit send and placed my phone on his desk.
“Just to be clear, if Theo isn’t interested in marriage, but another member is, am I supposed to pursue that?”
Carlos froze with the bourbon bottle in his hand and dipped his chin so he was eye-to-eye with me.
“Why?”
“You haven’t exactly been very clear on what you want me to do. What will happen if Theo isn’t interested in me?”
Carlos set the bourbon down, opening a desk drawer before dropping a pile of polaroid images in front of me. He finished topping up his glass before leaning back in his chair.
I finally glanced down at the images, my stomach churning with sickness at the girls in the photos. They were young. And half naked. I shuddered at the thought of why they weren’t fully clothed.
“Jefe in New Mexico sent me these when he was trying to convince me that we didn’t need to initiate you. Maybe you can find someone in there that you think would be to Theo’s tastes.”
My mouth twitched with a grimace. Message received—marry Theo or one of these girls will.
Carlos took a sip of his bourbon before speaking.
“Has Theo mentioned Reformed Life Studies?”
I raised a brow and shook my head.
“It’s the next step for anyone interested in joining their church. It’s basically a Bible study camp for six weeks where you’ll get baptized and become an official member.”
“Six weeks?” I asked wide-eyed.
