“No, not anymore. He stole my thesis idea and tried to pass it off as his own.”
“Motherfucker!”
Kinley’s eyes widened.
“Sorry, but that’s a shitty thing to do. Tell me you piled all his shit in the driveway and set it on fire.”
“No, but my advisor was on the board and I’d already cleared my topic with her so she knew it wasn’t his. They kicked him out of the program.”
“Good.” He caught the older woman peeking out of the kitchen again. “I think she’s waiting for us to leave.”
Kinley glanced over her shoulder, then at her watch. “We should go. I need to be in the lobby early tomorrow to meet my ride.”
Shane nodded and finished the last of his beer, washing it down with a large gulp of water. The older woman came from the kitchen, a big smile on her face.
“She’s very beautiful,” she said in Spanish.
“She is.”
The woman winked and accepted the bills he handed her. Fanning them out, she tried to give some back.
“No.” He pushed her hand back. “Thank you for letting us stay.”
Kinley waited for him near the door.
“Can I walk you to your room?”
“Sure.” A faint pink stained the top of her cheeks.
Outside, he used a hand on the small of her back to guide her toward the hotel. “How long are you in Guatemala?”
“A few weeks at least.” She twisted in his direction while she walked. “It depends on how the excavation goes and how much translation I have to do on-site.”
Shane held open the door to the hotel and let her go ahead of him, following her up the stairs to the second floor. “Will you go back to North Carolina after you’re finished?”
“Yes, unless I get an offer to participate in another excavation or don’t get into the program I applied to. This is me.” She stopped in front of a door a few down from his.
“Kinley, can I ask you a question?”
Her pulse throbbed in the small hollow of her throat and, if he had to guess, she held her breath a moment before answering. “Of course.”
“May I kiss you?”
Her pupils dilated and the tip of her pink tongue licked her lips. “Yes,” she whispered.
He stepped inches closer and eased his hand behind her neck. Bending his head, he pressed his lips to hers. He kept the kiss simple, not trusting himself. If he deepened the kiss, he’d have her pressed against the door with her legs wrapped around his waist in a heartbeat.
Her lips moved under his and he pulled away. Her sigh feathered against his lips, testing his resolve.
“Can I ask you something else?” he asked.
“Yes.” Her voice was breathy and a little hoarse.
“Can I have your phone?”
She pulled away and blinked up at him. “Why?”
“So I can give you my number.”
