He glanced at the narrow, pop-up hammock tent he’d be calling his bed for a couple of nights. Maybe more. Hopefully not, though. A mattress appealed far more than the rudimentary hammock zipped inside mosquito netting, but at least he wouldn’t be sleeping on the ground and snuggling up with the scorpions and cockroaches. Or those damned snakes.
He took off his hat and swatted at the air. “I’m not going anywhere, boss lady. Like I told you back home, I’m in this until the bitter end.”
She smiled—a real one that reached the corners of her eyes and chased away Quint’s worries about her keeping secrets … at least for the time being.
“Good,” she said. “Bitter endings taste better when they’re shared, especially with you, Prince Charming.” She turned to herfather. “What about you?”
“I like sharing things with Mr. Prince Charming, too. Especially María’s cooking.” He aimed a wink at Quint’s direction.
“I meant how’s your leg doing after a day of breaking trail?”
Juan had ended up with a compound fracture a couple of months ago thanks to the son of a bitch who’d also put a bullet in Quint’s thigh. Both of their wounds had healed, but Juan’s had more of a lasting effect, requiring the use of crutches for weeks initially and now a cane over rough terrain.
“My leg is fine,gatita. Don’t think for a moment you can try to send me home.”
She sighed. “Listen, I don’t want either of you to go home.”
“Then stop asking how my leg is doing and teasing Junior Mint about his fear of snakes and scorpions.”
What?Quint didn’t remember complaining about either of those two pests to Angélica.
“I just don’t want either of you to get hurt again.”
Quint scoffed. “And you’re bulletproof?”
“No,” she said. “But Iwantto be here.”
She had him there.
“What makes you think we don’t?” Juan asked.
“Please, Parker has made his feelings about humidity and bugs clear since the first time I met him.”
“Yeah,” Quint said, “but you trump both those, boss lady, so I’m happy to be here with you.”
“Happy?Can you really say that?”
She was focusing on the wrong half of what he’d said, but … “Sure. Mostly. Overall. At least in theory.”
“I think his fingers are crossed behind his back.” Juan nudged Quint’s leg with his boot, chuckling.
“Parker,” she started, reaching out to smack something on his arm.
He caught her hand and lifted it to his lips. “Better in Hell with you than anywhere else without you, sweetheart.”
“I wouldn’t kiss my fingers if I were you, heartbreaker.” She tugged her hand away before his lips made contact.
“Why?” Juan wrinkled his nose. “What have you been doing with your fingers, child?”
“Eww. Nothing weird, Dad. Sheesh.” She stuffed her hands in her pants pockets. “I just applied some of Teodoro’s bug repellent goop that he sent along.” She winced. “I think he added some ground hot pepper seeds into the mix this time.”
“Hot damn.” Her dad grinned Quint’s way. “That’s better than a chastity belt.”
“Too bad you weren’t wearing that when you met your ex-husband.” Quint winked at her. “Might have saved me a sore leg.”
“I’d kiss it better later, but I want you to put on some of Teodoro’s goop as soon as you take off your pants.”
He chuckled. “You sure know how to romance a guy.”
