“That’s funny. I could have sworn I was his girlfriend.” Aurelia glances up at me before turning and smirking at Karla. “I’ll have to talk to him about that.”
“No, sweetie. I meant his friend who’s a girl. See? His girl friend.”
“No,sweetie. I heard your ass the first time.”
Karla’s fake smile falters for the first time. “You…you look really familiar. Have we met?”
“I doubt it,” Aurelia answers coolly.
Tilda, sensing the sudden tension while being fully aware of her daughter’s attraction to me, takes Karla’s arm and steers heraway. I send her a grateful look as they pass and then I guide Aurelia to the truck without a word. When I look back, I see that Karla is frowning and watching us walk away, but her stare is directed at Aurelia, clearly still trying to place her.
Aurelia’s mean ass sees this and smiles and waves at Karla, who turns away and disappears inside her mom’s shop.
Shaking my head, I unlock the truck and carefully place the flowers in the back seat. Once I’m sure they’re secure, I turn to get Aurelia situated only to startle when I find her standing directly behind me while staring in the direction Karla went with a contemplative furrow in her brow. “You think she recognized me?”
“I doubt it.” When Aurelia’s frown only deepens, I realize being recognized isn’t the only thing that troubles her. “Talk to me,” I beg.
Leaving Aurelia to fill in her own blanks is never a good thing. “Have you fucked her?”
“No. Never,” I answer honestly.
“But you could have.”
“Is that a problem?” I ask, genuinely confused.
“I don’t know. I thought…I thought when you guys took me, it was because you were desperate and had no options. And I don’t even know why I thought that. I mean look at you.” She gestures at me. I don’t take my gaze away from her. “I thought—” She stops before she can voice her deepest insecurities.
And if it hadn’t been for Karla, I never would have known that this was in the back of Aurelia’s mind, feeding whatever doubts that lingered.
“You thought any ol’ pussy would do,” I finish for her. Aurelia doesn’t even look surprised that I’d read her mind. “Well, now you know. And I’m glad we can clear this up. It was more than wanting to fuck you that made us desperate to keep you. Your soul called out to us, Goldilocks.”
“I was literally dying, unconscious, and covered in filth.”
“Exactly. That should tell you everything.”
“That men are disgusting?”
“That’s two strikes, Goldilocks.”
“Strikes?” she squeals. “Forwhat?”
“Earn a third and you’ll find out when we get home,” I tease.
Aurelia and I make a few more stops to pick up supplies and whatever other useless things Aurelia swore up and down she desperately needed before we finally make it to the depot where the mattress I ordered a month ago is stored.
“Are you sure you don’t need any help with that?” she asks for the second time as she trails me to the truck. “It looks really heavy.”
With a great heave and a grunt, I toss the queen-size mattress onto the bed of the truck while she stares on in astonishment. I’d already loaded the box spring, which was much lighter and easier to carry. I turn to face Aurelia once the mattress is in position to be tied down. “You were saying?”
“Wow, you’re really strong,” she says as if she’s only just realizing it for the first time. “Show-off.”
Grinning, I grab the cords from the lockbox and hop onto the bed of the truck to get to work tying it down for the journey up the mountain. Aurelia leans against the side of the truck and doesn’t offer her help again once she sees how much trouble it’s giving me. She tunes out my cursing while singing softly to herself. I’d be amused at her change of heart if I wasn’t ready to set the fucking mattress on fire and demand she sleep in my bed only for the rest of her days.
I’m wrangling the final cord into submission when I hear her curse and see her tense out of the corner of my eye.
“Khalil? Incoming,” Aurelia warns under her breath.
I immediately stand to my full height and see the sheriff approaching. There’s tension around his shoulders and mouth, so I know he’s in a foul mood before he even speaks.
