Ricardo (The Santiago Brothers Book Three) by K. Victoria Chase Page B

connected to him: comfortable…safe. Her head snapped up. “You said Santiago?”
    “Yes.”
    Her eyes narrowed and she leaned forward. Dark eyes, black hair, but she couldn’t tell if he had dimples underneath the beard he sported. He didn’t appear affronted by her assessment and instead held her gaze. “Do you have dimples?”
    His brow creased. “Yeah, why?”
    Melody smiled. “All the Santiago brothers have dimples.” She winced as he squeezed her hand with too much force.
    “What did you say?” he hissed.
    “You have two older brothers, right? Alejandro and Rafael?”
    “How did you know that?” The words rushed out and his expression morphed into one who had knowingly blundered and given away too much information about himself.
    “Ale and I work for the same unit. Or used to. Did you know he got married last year?”
    “Married? Alejandro?”
    Mel sucked in her lips and nodded. “Guess you didn’t know.”
    He released her hand, rolled onto his back, and stuffed his hands beneath his head. “I haven’t exactly kept in touch.”
    “No kidding.”
    He let out a strained noise and crossed his muscled legs tightly at the ankles. She watched as the muscles in his abdomen constrict more and more with each heavy expulsion of breath. His eyes stared straight at the ceiling and he kept his hard lips in a tight line. A loud “Ha!” escaped Ric’s mouth. “I can’t believe he’s married. Out of the three of us, he may have been the least likely.”
    “The wedding was quite beautiful.”
    He looked at her. “You went?”
    Mel nodded. “You would like Audrey, his wife. She really threw him for a loop. None of us thought he’d ever get married. He seemed to be the all-hard, no-soft type of guy.” Like you.
    “Yeah? You know my brother well?” His eyes held genuine curiosity.
    “I’ve only been on his team for about a couple of years, but Alejandro isn’t that big of a mystery. He’s a straight shooter.”
    Ric nodded and chuckled. “That sounds like Ale.”
    “He’s one of my best friends. I can go to him with just about anything.”
    He gave her a side-glance; his eyes probed hers through veiled emotion. “Hmm.”
    She blushed, wondering how interesting he found that fact. His eyes narrowed on her just then and she feared he’d discover some secret she didn’t have. “Oh, and Rafael got married as well. Right before Alejandro,” she said, to distract him from his silent appraisal of her.
    Ric’s eyes went wide and he shook his head. “Wow. Being in the desert sure makes you lose track of time. But that doesn’t surprise me one bit. Rafa was always the ladies’ man. He was doomed from day one.”
    Melody found herself laughing. It was the first time in days her situation hadn’t left her with a feeling of hopelessness. Could she trust this man? She trusted Alejandro with her life and even Rafael was a good man, according to Audrey. But wasn’t there usually one bad sheep of the family? Did she want to take a chance it wasn’t Ric? “So you’re not a ladies’ man?”
    Ric smiled. For a second, Mel wished she could see his dimples. She settled for his rounded lips. “Would I be out here off the grid if I were?” Ric’s head turned at a soft sound from the other side of their room. Hakeem appeared at the entrance of the room. “Ah, Hakeem!” Melody has agreed to let me use this half of the bed. I won’t need that other mattress after all. You did get the mattress, right?”
    Mel didn’t know why her cheeks were ablaze. It wasn’t as if their agreement was intimate in any way. Before she averted her eyes from both men, she caught Hakeem’s teasing smile.
    “No, sir. I knew before long you’d charm your way into the bed.”
    “And he just charmed his way out of it.” Mel pulled the covers up to just beneath her chin.
    Ric frowned, but his eyes sparkled. “Then how ’bout you share the floor with me?”
    Melody couldn’t recall the last time she was so on fire. Melting