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The man had taste and the funds to back it up, it seemed. “We need to talk.” His eyes were green. Really, really green. Emerald green. She blinked and gave herself a prompt mental kick. His eyes were green. So what?
    He studied her a moment with those emerald eyes. “Do I know you?”
    Despite the spirited music blaring in the background, the uncommonly deep sound of his voice made Casey shiver as if the night air had somehow cut through the warmth of the room and splashed chill bumps across her skin. She shook it off. Focus. What kind of game was he playing?
    “If you don’t,” she warned, “you’re about to become intimately acquainted.”
    He smiled. Just a smile. Wide, open and fiercely attractive. Casey ordered herself to breathe.
    “Why don’t you join me?” He indicated the vacant chair at his table.
    Fury whiplashed Casey, booting her from amateur land. What the heck was wrong with her? Maybe the place and the music or the ridiculous concept that she was still furious at her ex and revenge was baiting her with the idea that this guy was nothing short of hot.
    “Outside.” She didn’t wait to see if he intended to follow the order. Seriously ticked off at herself and his intrusion into her mission, she executed an about-face, worked her way through the crowd and out the door.
    Too many eyes and ears in the courtyard, she observed. Beyond the arched entry that welcomed guests and patrons to the hotel grounds, the street was empty. Good. He was behind her. Not that he made a sound; his movements were remarkably soundless. She could feel him.
    The street corner would work. As she approached that mark, Casey reached under her skirt and snatched the .22 from its holster, then wheeled to face the annoying glitch in her plan. Rather than meeting his green eyes beneath the moonlight, her gaze locked on the business end of a sleek 9mm.
    Well, well. She would have thought of this if she hadn’t been so busy analyzing his eyes and smile. What a stupid mistake!
    “Who’re you?” he demanded.
    “Ladies first,” Casey fired back. “Who are you and why are you following me?” She tightened her grip on the .22 and widened her stance. Shooting him on the street like this wasn’t exactly how she’d planned her evening but she could be flexible when the need arose.
    His gaze narrowed. “Who said I was following you? I just arrived in Pozos today. If you mean now, you invited me.”
    Yeah, right. “Do you always vacation armed?”
    “What makes you think I’m on vacation?”
    He had her there. “Lower your weapon and I’ll lower mine.”
    The hesitation was understandable but his next move surprised her.
    He lowered his weapon.
    She almost laughed out loud. Now he was being stupid. Bad move.
    Casey kicked the weapon from his hand and moved in. “Who are you?” she demanded, the muzzle of her .22 rammed into the underside of his chin.
    “Let me introduce you.” The male voice came from behind her.
    Casey’s brain analyzed and identified the voice a split second after recognizing the sensation of a steel barrel boring into the back of her skull.
    “Get his weapon,” Fernandez ordered as he claimed Casey’s .22. “Ensure that he carries no others.”
    “Hands up, pendejo, ” the sidekick with Fernandez ordered as he poked the emerald-eyed stranger in the back with enough force to have him stumbling forward, face-first into her.
    Absorbing the impact of his body with a grunt, Casey backed into Fernandez who nudged her with the weapon as a reminder that he had the upper hand. “We had a deal,” she said over her shoulder. Was there no honor at all among his kind?
    “I,” he said as he grabbed a handful of her hair and jerked her head back, “have a deal that supersedes yours, chiquita. ”
    That certainly explained everything. “I’ll pay you double whatever he is paying you.” Whoever Green Eyes was, he wasn’t about to one-up Casey Manning. She didn’t care if he had made his deal