“Th-that’s so thoughtful of you. I hope you didn’t go to any trouble on my behalf.” She lifted up one foot encased in a new sandal. “I was able to buy a few things at the thrift shop, too.”
“Oh, you went out?” He turned the bags upside down over the bed and dumped out the articles of clothing. They landed on the bedspread in a tangle of colors and textures.
“Just for a short time.” She sat on the edge of the mattress and picked through the items. “Where’d you get all this stuff? Looks all the same size and hardly thrift store quality.”
“I hit up my coworker’s wife. I figured you two to be about the same size.” He cocked his head, his gaze scanning her from head to toe. “Maybe she’s a little taller. My other buddy’s girlfriend is maybe more your size, but...”
“But what?”
“She’s a cop. She’s attending the police academy right now.”
Jane curled her hands around the edge of a floral sundress, bunching the silky material in her fists. “Oh.”
“Yeah, oh.” He ran a hand through his thick dark hair. “She’d be suspicious...and you wouldn’t want that, would you?”
“No. I mean, the fewer people who know about my particular situation, the better.”
“Your situation.” Rob dropped his chin to his chest. “Anyway, the woman who gave me the clothes, April, she’s always trying to help someone—to a fault.”
“Sounds like you.”
“I told you. I’m a sucker for...ladies in distress.”
The tension between them vibrated like a plucked string. She grabbed one of the T-shirts and held it up. “Nice. Thank you.”
“What did you do today besides hit the thrift store?” He meandered to the window and flicked aside the drapes, peering outside.
“Slept mostly.” She patted her stomach. “I hope some dinner is in our future. I’m starving. I—I can pay half from the money Rosie gave me.”
He dropped the curtain fold and pivoted toward her. “That doesn’t make any sense. You need that money to get back on your feet, get yourself home or wherever it is you want to go. I already ordered us some dinner, and if we don’t get going, the dinner is going to get to the house before we do.”
“I’ll try some of these things on at your place, then.” She began to shovel the clothes back into the bags. “Tell your friend thanks for me.”
“Will do.” He waited for her with his back to the door, his arms folded.
Had April questioned him about her? Was he having second thoughts?
Maybe she should get out of Paradiso before El Gringo Viejo came looking for her. Hopefully the two men who’d set fire to her car had done a good job convincing their boss that they’d killed the prey.
She needed help—real help from a professional to get her memory back. She hadn’t wanted to face her past, but now it seemed as if it were more dangerous not to remember.
She grabbed the bags full of clothes, patted the knife in her pocket and spun around with a smile pasted on her face. “I’m ready.”
He opened the door and stood aside for her, saying, “I kept the room for you, so if you want to get settled here, you have a place.”
She nodded, blinking her eyes. Something had changed. Rob didn’t want her in his house, didn’t want to help her anymore. He’d be even more reluctant to help her if he knew she had some connection to El Gringo Viejo.
When they got to his house, he pointed to the room she’d used the night before. “You’re welcome to try on some of those clothes. I’m sure you’re sick of what you’re wearing now, although that T-shirt from Rosita’s looks good on you.”
She pulled the T-shirt away from her body, glancing down at the logo for the café. “Rosie saved my life today...and you. Thank you. Have I said thank you?”
“You pulled a knife on me, instead.”
She clutched a bag of clothing to her chest. “I’m sorry for that. You can understand why I did it.”
“Sure.” His lips stretched into a fake smile.
“I’ll try some of these on.” She dragged her feet down the hallway to Rob’s guest room. He was definitely having second thoughts. Maybe April, the owner of the clothes, told him he was crazy. Maybe he’d told the other friend, the cop, and she was on her way right now.
She slammed the door behind her and dropped the bag of clothes on the floor. She’d stay away from Rob and his friends. Work at Rosita’s for some cash, keep the motel room and make her way to Tucson and find herself a psychiatrist. If she were mixed up with this El Gringo Viejo and the cartels, she could disappear. Get a new identity. What would it matter? She had no identity now.
She pulled on and yanked off jeans, capris, shorts, blouses, T-shirts, sweaters. April had covered all the bases.
She left on a pair of olive capris and a red T-shirt and surveyed the rainbow pile of clothes on the bed. She’d use the money Rosie gave her today to get settled, and she’d get out of Rob’s way.
She swallowed the lump in her throat. Leaving Rob would be like losing her only friend.
Squaring her shoulders, she followed the smell of garlic into the kitchen. She tipped her nose in the air. “Italian?”
Rob glanced up from dumping some spaghetti onto a plate. “Is that okay?”
“Smells good.” She popped a lid from a plastic container. “I’ll do the salad.”
Stepping back from his task, Rob waved a fork up and down her body. “The clothes fit?”
The look in his eyes sent a little tingle up her thighs. He may have changed his mind about being friends with her, but the attraction he had for her hadn’t died out.
Her fingers fidgeted with the hem of the T-shirt. “Most of them. She is taller than I am, but it’s close enough. Beggars can’t be choosers.”
“Don’t think of yourself as a beggar.” He nabbed a drop of marinara sauce from the
