The Viper (Untamed Hearts #1)(13)

“I don’t think its money. I think she’s into you.”

He laughed in disbelief. “I wish.”

“Marc—”

“I’d definitely hit that,” Marcos confirmed without remorse, realizing just then that he was drunker than he thought for admitting out loud to Chuito something he didn’t even want to admit to himself.

He’d been trying to live an honest life for the past four months simply for the memory of a woman he’d spent five minutes with.

“You know she’s a high school teacher.”

Marcos’s smile grew devious. “Where were teachers like that when we were in school?”

Chuito grunted in disgust. “There’s something wrong with you.”

“I like the gringas.” Marcos’s smile grew wider, though it hadn’t been true before Katie had ran into him. He went back to looking at his phone rather than analyze how one pretty gringa could change his preference so completely. “I need help with this. Mia!”

“Who’s Mia?”

“Angel’s cousin.”

“You’re going to ask one woman to help you look up an ad another woman is posting to you on craigslist? What the hell?”

“It’s not like it’s that kind of message.”

There was no way he believed pretty Katie Foster, with those innocent eyes, was even remotely interested in him—but he was intrigued enough to ask Mia for help with craigslist.

Mia walked up with her eyebrows raised curiously.

“Okay.” Marcos turned to Mia and explained, “This gringa Katie Foster that I got into an accident with back in January is supposedly posting messages to me on craigslist. Do you know where to find them?”

Mia took his phone from him and stared at the craigslist postings on the screen. “What kind of messages?”

Marcos shrugged. “Chuito says she’s been trying to get my number, but he wouldn’t give it to her. She probably wants money, right?”

“She wouldn’t post something on craigslist if she was looking for money. Maybe she likes you.”

“Yeah, right.” Marcos laughed as Mia started looking through craigslist on his phone. “She’s from that place, Garnet, where my cousin Chuito trains, and it is one seriously country town. She probably thinks touching a guy like me will get her hands dirty.”

Mia looked up and grinned. “I wouldn’t mind getting my hands dirty with you.”

“Thanks, chica.” Marcos’s tone was encouraging, but he looked away rather than meet her gaze.

Chuito coughed. “You know I’m still on the phone, right?”

“Yeah, I know.” Marcos pointed to his earphones when Mia looked up. “My cousin.”

“The fighter?”

“Yeah.”

“Nice.” Mia raised her eyebrows as she continued to page through his phone. “I might go with Angel to see the fight. He bought twelve tickets.”

Chuito cursed, making it obvious he had picked up what Mia said.

“Anything?” Marcos asked, hoping she hadn’t heard Chuito through the earphones.

“I’m looking in Missed Connections. Women love Missed Connections.”

“What is it?”

“My sister reads them. Sometimes they’re romantic.”

Marcos snorted. “You’re probably in the wrong spot.”

“Here it is.” Mia held up the phone.

Marcos was going to ask how she knew the post was for him when she handed the phone back, allowing him to see for himself why Mia was so certain.


Man with unusual snake tattoo who “ran” into me on New Year’s Eve in Garnet—w4m


The snake on your right forearm is purple and black, with several red ink drops decorating its coiled body. The tattoo is likely a work in progress as the rest of the ink drop scales were not filled in.

If this is you, please message me. You were so kind to me that night, and the conversation we had changed me for the better. Your courageous actions taught me to be a braver woman, and I would love to have one more chance to talk to you and thank you.

Also, you gave me something of yours. Please describe it, and I will gladly arrange returning it to you.


He was silent after he finished reading, wishing now he hadn’t let Mia be the one to help him find it. He could feel her gaze on him, and it left him more than a little uncomfortable. His breath was hitched somewhere in his chest. He cleared his throat and pushed aside the rush of lust that surged through him from seeing right there in black-and-white that something about that night had stuck with Katie as much as it had stayed with him. It felt like a small stroke of luck when he had been dealing with nothing but negativity for a while now.

He knew instinctively that this connection was dangerous for both of them. Chuito should have never told him about it, because Marcos was feeling more than a little rash and reckless since losing his job.

“Why would she mention your Los Corredores tattoo in a public ad? Isn’t that like putting a target on your back?” Mia asked.

“She mentioned your ink?” Chuito choked. “Read it to me.”

Marcos read it to him, still feeling self-conscious with Mia standing there listening. When he was done, Chuito cursed and then said, “What the f*ck did you say that night?”