Body and Soul (Body and Soul Trilogy) by Jamie Loeak Read Free Book Online

might not be. I didn’t get a good look at him when we fought the other night, but he wasn’t someone that I recognized instantly. We need to wait until we figure out who he is before we make any decisions. If it’s someone important, he could send others after you. Since we don’t know, Kate, you need to be careful.”
    Now it was Kate’s turn to step back. “You never told me this,” she said, flashes of fear and anger burning her throat. Angry tears threatened to fall, but Kate managed to control her emotions. She thought about what they had spoken about that night, but there was no mention of the demon that attacked her. It seemed like Rico knew as much as she did about him, which wasn’t much at all.
    She was still staring at Rico when the gardener walked back out of the house. He looked from Kate to Rico and smiled at the couple.
    “ I’m finished inside,” he said as he hobbled down the staircase. “You sure have a lot of plants in the house, Miss. Do you mind if I take a break and come back later to do the outside? You seem rather busy, and I’m pretty tired if I do say so myself.” The man was in front of Kate and Rico now, looking back and forth between them, probably sensing the raw emotion coming from both of them.
    “Sure,” Kate said breathlessly. Her thoughts were far from the gardener, but slowly circled in when she realized what he could be.
    “Thank you, Miss,” he said before turning to leave. “I didn’t mean to get caught up in y’all’s romance. I apologize.”
    Kate watched as the old ma n shuffled away across the sand. He was far too fragile and adorable to be a demon. There was no way that Rico would be right about this man. She allowed her eyes to rest on the gardener for a moment longer before turning back to Rico. Kate watched his eyes pursue the old man until he disappeared around the end of the building.
    “Well?” she asked.
    “He’s human,” Rico said, sounding defeated.
    “I told you that he wasn’t going to hurt me, Rico.”
    “But he could have. And that’s all that matters. Don’t you understand that?” Rico asked her, truly wanting to hear Kate’s honest answer.
    Kate sighed. Rico was right, though. In the end, that man could have been a demon; he could have invited Kate into her own house and possessed her. Kate knew that Rico’s comment rang from the truth within his words, but s he couldn’t help but wonder why Rico cared so much about her safety. He was a stranger that had introduced her to this life because of a random attack. He had never been obligated to tell her the truth, but he had, and Kate was thankful. “Yes. You’re right,” Kate whispered. She looked at the ground when she spoke, almost as if she didn’t want to give Rico the satisfaction of being right.
    Rico sighed then, and walked down to the water’s edge. Kate followed him, not wanting him to disappear for another couple days, only to show up and bark at her some more. They stood there for a while before either of them spoke, Kate trying to remain patient, Rico trying to calm himself down. Kate kept sneaking glances, watching Rico as he stared out into the endless blue-green of the ocean.
    “You have to understand that I’m trying to make sure your parents don’t have to bury their daughter,” he said.
    “I understand,” she claimed. “But I don’t understand why you care about my safety. I don’t understand what’s going on. I don’t understand why it’s happening. I do know that we may have never met, and I would be just like every other girl out there that’s not being saved by overprotective bad boys.”
    Rico laughed but it sounded sad. “Overprotective bad boy? Is that what you see me as, Kate? If so, I might have to change my image, because that wasn’t the label I was aiming for.” He laughed again, and this time it sounded honest. Kate watched as he laced his fingers together and put them behind his head before speaking again.
    “I met you, Kate.