Through My Window (Hidalgos #1)(13)

My eyes close by themselves.

“Ares,” I moan his name, and I can feel his lips stretch into a smile against my skin, but I don’t care.

“Do you want me?” His lips brush against the spot between my legs, right over the fabric of my shorts and I feel like I’m going to die of a heart attack. I can only nod. “I want you to say it,” he demands.

“I want you.”

He stops, and I open my eyes to find his face so close to my own that I can feel his heavy breath on my lips. His eyes are locked on mine.

“You’re going to be mine, Raquel.”

And then, just as suddenly as he came into my room, he leaves.





SEVEN


   The Club




“Welcome to Dream Burgers. What would you like?” I ask with the Bluetooth device pressed to my ear.

“I’d like two Big Dreamy burgers and a cappuccino,” a woman’s voice says in response.

I select the order on the computer in front of me. “Anything else?”

“No, nothing else.”

“Okay, your order will be seven dollars and twenty-five cents. You can pay at the window. Thank you.”

A car appears next to the drive-thru window, and the woman who ordered hands me her card to pay. After finishing the transaction, I politely say good-bye and pray that no more cars show up, although it’s true that I’d rather serve people here than face them at the counter inside the restaurant. I adjust my cap with the DB for Dream Burgers on it and sigh. I’m exhausted. There’s still an hour before my shift is over, but I’m ready to jump out the window. The sensor alerts me that there’s a new car in the drive-thru, and I curse to myself.

Stop coming in for food, people!

“Welcome to Dream Burgers. What would you like?”

I hear a high-pitched giggle, and then someone clearing their throat. “I would like to order a Raquel to go.”

“Pass to the next window, ma’am,” I say, grinning like a fool.

In a matter of seconds, Dani is idling by my window. Her hair is perfect as always, and she’s wearing cute sunglasses.

“I can’t believe you’re spending the rest of the summer here.”

“I need the job, and you know it. What are you doing here?”

“I’ve come to kidnap you.”

“I’ve got another hour before I can leave.”

Dani grins like a Cheshire cat. “What part of kidnapping don’t you understand? The part where it’s involuntary? You have no right to say no.”

“I can’t leave.”

“Yes, you can, stubborn.”

I’m about to open my mouth to protest when I feel someone behind me. I turn to see Gabriel, a coworker who wasn’t on the schedule today. His reddish hair escapes from his cap as he gapes at Dani.

My attention returns to my best friend. “What’s going on?”

“Gabriel will cover your remaining hour.”

My eyes flick between Gabriel and Dani. “Why would he do that?”

“We do things for our friends,” Dani says with a shrug. “Don’t we, Gabo?”

He looks at her as if stunned. “Yes.”

“Great.” Dani’s gaze falls on me again. “Get your things, and I’ll wait for you in the parking lot. We have to go now.”

“But . . .” I protest feebly to no avail. A few minutes later, I jump into Dani’s car, clutching my small backpack. I can’t believe it. She busted me out.

“I’m supercool. I know,” she says.

“Gabriel? Really? I thought redheads weren’t your type.”

“Ed Sheeran changed my mind.”

“What did you do?”

“I promised to accept an invitation to go out.”

“You can’t go through life using your looks to get your way.”

“Of course I can.”

I snort. “Where are we going?”

“Insomnia, of course.”

My eyes widen in surprise. Insomnia is the most popular club in town, and Dani’s favorite place to go on Friday nights. I’ve never been there because you have to be twenty-one to get in. And I’m only eighteen, which Dani seems to have completely forgotten.

“I don’t know if you forgot but I’m eighteen. And, you don’t really expect me to go smelling like French fries and looking like this, do you?”

“One, I’m eighteen too. Two, you’ll change at my house.”

“So you can lend me one of those dresses where you can see right down to my soul? I’ll pass.”

Dani bursts out laughing. “You are so dramatic. It’s not a crime to show your knees, Raquel.”

“For your information, in some parts of the world it is.”

“We are not in some parts of the world.”

“Green,” I tell her when I see the traffic light turn green. Dani is easily distracted while driving.

“Relax, we only have two weeks of summer left, and you’ve done nothing but work.”

“Fine, but I won’t spend a penny.”

“That’s not a problem.”

“Of course, I forgot your ability to get what you want.”