The Abducted Heart (Sweetly Contemporary Collection) Read Online Free

not.”
    “You can’t mean — you don’t mean that you are going on to Mexico City.”
    “I mean exactly that. We are already nearly an hour into a flight that normally takes approximately two and a quarter hours. To turn back would be a waste of time, fuel, and money, but especially time, which may be of the essence.”
    “But I can’t go to Mexico City with you! I have no money with me, no papers. How will I get back to Dallas? And if I can’t get back how can I stay? I haven’t a change of clothing, not even a toothbrush.”
    “You should have thought of that before you smuggled yourself on board.”
    “I did not smuggle myself on this plane,” she grated. “I walked on with the tray from Metcalf’s. If you don’t believe me, you can ask the guard who was stationed at the foot of the gangway.”
    “That is your first mistake, señorita. You know very well there was no guard — that he was called away to assist with a heart-attack victim on one of the commercial airliners. Which is the only reason you are here.”
    She might have guessed there was some such reason why the guard had not informed the señor that she was still on board. What was the use of arguing? What difference did it make what Señor Castillo believed? With luck she would never see him again. When she reached Mexico City, perhaps she could throw herself on the mercy of the airport officials, and if she explained what had happened, maybe they would put her on a return flight to Dallas. Failing that, there was always the American consulate. They would surely help her to get in touch with Joe and Iva. These tentative plans forming in her mind, she marched before him into the cabin and seated herself in one of the cushioned lounge chairs.
    It was a little unnerving to have the señor, instead of returning to the rumpled comfort of the settee made up as a bed for him, lower his long length into the chair across from her. She tried to ignore his close scrutiny by staring out the nearest window at the twilight purple of the late-evening sky with the cloud layer just below them shot with the gold of the last rays of the sun reaching from beyond the edge of the horizon. It was a beautiful sight and one that was oddly soothing. When, after a time, Señor Castillo spoke, she was able to turn to him with at least an appearance of composure.
    “You have someone who will be worried when you do not return this evening?” he queried. “Your parents, perhaps?”
    Her roommate, Judy, was out of town. Joe and Iva would not expect to see her again until Monday morning. No, there was no one. She shook her head.
    The face of the man across from her turned a shade harder and the brooding silence fell once more.
    “What is your name?” he asked abruptly.
    She struggled for a brief moment with the impulse to tell him it was none of his business. She could foresee no good in making him the gift of it. She wanted no more to do with Señor Castillo than she could help. In truth, the quicker she forgot the entire day leading up to this moment, the happier she would be. There might, however, be one thing to be gained by withholding it.
    “Why?” she inquired.
    The inclination of his head was a masterpiece of irony. “You have a slight advantage of me,” he replied.
    The recessed lighting of the cabin was dim. It gave a soft sheen to her tawny hair and made mysterious pools of her gold-flecked eyes as she faced him. “If you want to know my name,” she said slowly, “you can ask at Metcalf Caterers.”
    He stared at her, his eyes narrowed speculatively under thick dark brows; then he gave a quick, impatient shake of his head. With an abrupt change of subject he asked, “Have you had dinner?”
    She was forced to admit she had not.
    “Nor have I,” he rejoined shortly. “Since you have inspected the provisions made by Metcalf’s, you should have some idea if there is enough food for two?”
    “Yes, I think so,” she answered, adding quickly, “It is