Hot and Bothered by Linda Cajio Read Free Book Online Page A

pleasure.”
    A jolt of warmth went through her body, and she wanted nothing more than to throw herself into his arms. She wished he had peeked at her in the shower. The thought was delicious.
    Judith realized how far out of control she was.She straightened, trying to give herself some backbone.
    “I saw you in the surf again with the kids this afternoon,” he said.
    Grateful for the subject change, she said, “I have fun with them. They’re so free.”
    The last words were close to the bone. She waited for him to ask why she wasn’t, but he didn’t. Instead, he took her arm to walk her back to her trailer. She tried to ignore the strong fingers at her elbow, but it was impossible.
    “The kids do have a good deal of freedom here,” he said, “though they have to help their parents in the fields. But they don’t have gangs and they don’t have drugs. That is a blessing I hope they’ll always have.”
    He sounded so emphatic that she wondered if he had a drug problem, or if a relative was involved in gangs and drugs. She knew nothing at all about him, and she wouldn’t ask, much as she wanted to … not when he had promised not to ask about her.
    “I haven’t seen a school around here,” she said. “Where is it, or don’t the children go at all?”
    “Oh, they go, groaning like all kids.” He chuckled. “There’s one in La Misión, about ten kilometers from here. Most of the kids won’t go beyond the eighth grade. The closest high school’s in Ensenada. They’d have to board there, and these families can’t afford it.”
    “But that’s not right,” Judith said, shocked. Of course she was aware that not everyone in the world had the same educational opportunities she’d had, but she’d never been so badly confronted with it before.
    “Many things aren’t right, but that doesn’t mean they don’t happen.”
    He sounded so matter-of-fact, she was even more shocked. “Don’t you care?”
    He glanced at her, then away again. “I gave up caring years ago.”
    She didn’t know what to say. Never had she heard such underlying hurt in what should have been toss-away words. At some point in Paul’s life, he had cared far too much. More than saying the right thing, she wished she could smooth away the hurts and see him whole again.
    “Here’s your trailer,” he said when they arrived at the long silver mobile home. “I have to say, it looks better than it has in years.”
    “Even though I wasted the water,” she said.
    “Even though you wasted the water.” He grinned at her.
    He took his hand from her elbow, and her flesh cried out for him to renew his casual touch. She wanted to ask him inside, but the words stuck in her throat.
    “How was the abalone?” he asked.
    “Oh, ah, fine.” She’d made a hash of cooking it, but didn’t want to hurt his feelings by admitting it.
    “Would you like some more?”
    “Fine.” What could she say? The only things she hadn’t rendered inedible were her
Fruiti Lupis
. She supposed the chef at the Cordon Bleu had been right. Because she loved all sorts of food, and because her parents’ cook refused to allow anyone in her kitchen, except maybe to get a glass of water, Judith had decided to enroll in the school, thinking she would enjoy learning how to cook. After a week she had been pronounced as hopeless, given her money back, and been kicked out with the admonition to stay out of the kitchen. She wished now she’d fought to stay. She was getting awfully tired of cold cereal.
    “I’d better go,” Paul said.
    “Thanks again.”
    “Take one of the women with you next time.”
    He didn’t offer his services. She wanted to think that it was because he found her as attractive as she found him, and he felt it best not to tempt fate. Despite the kiss they’d shared, though, she had a feeling she annoyed him more than anything else.
    “Fine,” she said.
    The awkwardness extended between them. Finally, he said, “We’re dancing around each