The Viper (Untamed Hearts #1)(15)

He needed a distraction from the gang life that always sucked him back in no matter how hard he fought against it, and, unfortunately for Katie Foster, she’d just provided one.

Chuito texted back almost instantly even though it was past four in the morning.

Bad idea. Call me when you’re sober.

Marcos knew his cousin was probably right, but rather than respond, he went back to rereading Katie’s posts in Missed Connections until the sun came up.

He was wired and felt alive in a way that was more than a little addictive to an adrenaline junkie like Marcos. The anger over losing his job had evaporated under the waves of lust reading all those Missed Connections posts had churned up. He kept waiting for the moment when reality would sink in, and he’d know it was a bad idea to test out Katie’s theory.

Instead he found himself packed and heading north on I-75 by noon.

He never did text Chuito back.





Chapter Five


Garnet County


Katie was worn out.

The Friday before spring break left the kids distracted and high-strung. They were counting down the minutes until break and really had no use for history.

As she headed to her car, Katie realized she was every bit as ready for spring break as her students. One of the small perks of being a teacher, and she planned to celebrate with a long bath, a glass of wine, and a good book. She had a stack of historical romances waiting to be read, and if she was lucky, the one she chose would be as good with the sex as it was with the historical accuracy and make her history-geek heart go pitter-pat.

A girl had to dream a little.

“Katie girl.”

Katie groaned and refused to turn around as she walked to her car. Instead she just held up a hand, giving a backward wave to her ex-husband.

“Wait up.” Grayson came up behind her, his loafers clicking on the asphalt. “You never told me what you were up to for the break.”

“That was by design.” Katie arched an eyebrow when he stood in front of her, blocking her path to her car. “Getting divorced means I don’t have to answer to you anymore.”

Grayson bristled at that. His eyes narrowed, making it obvious the long school day had worn on him as much as her. “Why do you have to be like that when I’m trying to be nice? I was going to buy you dinner.”

“Grayson!”

Katie looked toward the edge of the parking lot, seeing Ashley, the cheerleading coach leaning against the fence to the football field and waving Grayson over. Katie didn’t know why, but it seemed like lately the perky blonde was always underfoot whenever Grayson was doing his daily groveling.

“Why don’t you go buy her dinner,” Katie suggested, unable to taper the hopeful hitch in her voice. “She’s always after your attention. She giggles at everything you say in the staff meetings, even when it’s not funny.”

Rather than respond to the suggestion, Grayson glared over at the football field. “Later, Ashley!”

“My car won’t start!”

“Her car won’t start,” Katie repeated, giving Grayson a wide smile. “Go be a hero.”

Grayson grabbed her arm, obviously not amused with her sarcasm. “I am tired of begging, Katie girl, and I’m tired of this game you’re playing with our lives.”

Katie tugged at her arm, trying to break it out of his grasp. “Let go of me!”

“You know how it looks to this town when someone gets a divorce. They’re still talking about it. You need to come home now, and we need to get back to living our lives. Together. People look at me like a loser since we broke up, and I’m over it.”

“Oh, sweep me off my feet, why don’t you?” Katie laughed bitterly. “I don’t care what people in this town think.”

“I do.”

“I know.” Katie pulled at her arm again. “It’s one of the reasons why I didn’t want to be married to you anymore. All you ever cared about was what others thought. The perfect house. The perfectly obedient wife. Someday the perfect children to torment with this delusion.”

“It’s not a delusion,” Grayson snapped at her as he tilted his head toward the football field. “We’re better than them. We’re smarter. We make better life choices. Hell, I got more in my money market account than most of the people in this town could ever dream of. I pay more in taxes than they probably make in a year. I’m going to retire in another two years just off my investments.”

“Everyone talks about everyone. Not just here, but everywhere. It’s human nature.” Katie gave up trying to pull her arm free and just gave him a look of pity. “Stop worrying about what they think and just live your life. This obsession with being better is making you miserable. It was making me miserable too, until I realized I didn’t have to play along if I didn’t want to.”

“You’re not exactly a ten, Katie.” Grayson laughed cruelly, reminding Katie why she left to begin with. “No one is going to love you for your mind like I do, not in this town. I’m your best option, and I don’t understand why you did this to us.”

“I think she’s a ten,” a man called from behind them.

Goose bumps danced over Katie’s skin, and she wasn’t sure why until she craned her neck to look toward the direction of the low, male voice. Her body must have recognized what her mind hadn’t caught up with, because walking over to them was Marcos Rivera. He was wearing sunglasses and a baseball hat, but it was undeniably him. She could see the snake on his arm from there.