Page 27 of Entangled

I move to take a step closer and answer when I feel a tug on the small backpack I’m wearing, stopping my forward momentum as a demanding voice speaks.

“Ella es mía.”

The beautifully accented words snap through the air like a whip and the cute tour guide looks behind me, eyes widening considerably as he takes a respectful step back.

I whip my head around and meet a pair of night-forest eyes that spark with irritation. Coop’s words reverberate through my head and even with my limited Spanish vocabulary, I manage to translate.

She’s mine.

Motherfucker. Who does he think he is?

Narrowing my eyes at him, I step to the side, bristling with frustration as someone steps around us to check in.

What the actual fuck is he even doing here?

I cross my arms and stare at him, seeing the way his eyes narrow in response to my pose. “That was rude.”

He arches a brow at me. “So?”

My own word of disregard from our night together rings through my head along with the realization that he’s clearly throwing it back at me.

A fierce kind of energy rises between us as we eye one another silently, both alluring and combustible, thrumming with defiance and desire. He takes a step closer to me and I have to tilt my head back to keep his eyes in my sight. The frame of dark lashes around them is even more dramatic in the daylight and only serves to pull me in.

“You didn’t hold up your end of the deal, Princess.” His voice is low and threaded with warning.

My eyes drop to his ridiculously full lips as he speaks and stay there, the desire in me momentarily winning out. But when his lips twitch at the corners I dart my eyes back up and find his arrogantly amused gaze waiting to greet me.

“So?” I toss out carelessly, throwing him a bratty smirk as I walk past him to the tour company’s shuttle. Acting as if his presence here doesn’t affect me in the least.

Because seriously… screw this. This was not how today was supposed to go. He’s supposed to be in Cahuita and I’m supposed to be well on my way to moving on with the cute tour guide. A clean break, that’s what was needed here.

I walk to the back of the shuttle and take the window seat, stashing my backpack under the seat in front of me before settling in. Refusing to look out the window and see what Coop’s doing. Maybe he’ll just take the hint and go away. It really would be the best thing for both of us.

But a few minutes later, my hopes of a clean break are shattered when he begins to make his way to the back of the shuttle with his eyes on me.

Fuck, fuck, fuck. What have you gone and gotten yourself into, El?

I exhale an irritated breath and give him a dead look, just daring him to take the empty seat next to me. Which of course he responds to by shooting me that savage smirk before dropping down next to me, putting our bodies right up against each other. His sandalwood scent wraps around me in the close quarters and I’m forced to face up to the fact that I’m not going to be able to escape this.

“What are you even doing here?” I snap out, eyeing the casual way he rests his head on the back of his seat, tipped back with his eyes closed. “Aren’t you supposed to be in Cahuita?”

“I like to hike,” he states simply without opening his eyes, an unconcerned shrug rolling off his shoulders.

“And they don’t have hiking in Cahuita?”

“Not with the same views.” His lips ghost up at the corners and I hear the innuendo in his voice loud and clear. “I never knew princesses liked to hike.”

I have to bite my lip to keep the sound of frustration from escaping me.

“Cut the princess shit, Coop.”

“Then tell me your name.”

“No,” I answer stubbornly, just to spite him.

“Then Princess it is.”

I can’t stop the angry scoff from escaping this time and his amused chuckle only serves to fuel my irritation.

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