Her Accidental Husband by Ashlee Mallory

her ears now, her fingers waving at him like she was three years old. Trying to throw him off his game he’d bet. Completely oblivious that she was the topic of the conversation at this point.
    It grated on him to even have to agree to anything under these circumstances. But ultimately, he realized that he was already taking care of her and making sure she reached their destination safely—as he’d promised his brother and Kate. He’d just continue to do what he was doing.
    If Dick Eastman thought it was as some favor to him, then so be it.
    “Yes. Of course. I’ll see that Payton makes it to the wedding and is safely boarded on a flight home come Monday morning. With no extra…complications.”

    T he gurgling of Payton’s stomach just after noon became too persistent to ignore any longer. Since Cruz’s business call nearly an hour ago, he’d been quiet.
    Well, quiet was something characteristic of Cruz. It was more of a quiet brooding.
    She hadn’t dared utter a peep, instead letting him take the wheel and buckling herself in the passenger seat until his mood improved. To kill time she’d started putting together a playlist, a task that had kept her busy up to now.
    “I don’t know about you, but as delicious as the first four Kinder Bueno bars were,” she said, referring to the chocolate-covered, hazelnut-flavored sugary goodness candy bars she’d bought a full case of earlier, “I don’t think I can eat another one before I get actual food in my stomach. Any chance we might be able to stop for some lunch?”
    Cruz pulled himself from the zombie zone he’d been in the past hour to glance her way. “You’re hungry?” He seemed to think about that for another few seconds. “Yeah. I guess I could stand to eat something not coated in chocolate. It may throw us off our schedule a bit.”
    “I’m willing to risk it. Especially if there’s a clean restroom included in this plan.”
    “We’re almost to Zacatecas. I know a place we can get some food.”
    Half an hour later, Payton stared up in wonder from the car window at the beautiful architecture of a city that, up until today, she’d never heard of. The façade of many of the structures was actually…pink.
    “It’s sandstone,” Cruz explained. “The pink? Most natives call the city ‘ con rostro de cantera rosa y corazón de plata .’ It means ‘face of pink stone and heart of silver.’”
    She’d be lying if the sound of the curling Rs under his tongue didn’t do something to her. She cleared her throat. “Silver?”
    “There are silver mines in the hillsides surrounding the city.” With ease, Cruz commandeered the streets and eventually found a parking spot. “We can walk to the restaurant from here. Come on.”
    A tall pink structure that she was certain was baroque in style soared above them. A church, maybe? With turrets and a dome.
    “This is the cathedral,” Cruz said, again, reading her mind.
    It was definitely cooler than she thought it would be, and she wrapped her sweater around her a little tighter. Unlike the ugly concrete on most U.S. streets, the streets here were paved with stone, giving it a charm she wouldn’t have expected.
    Okay, walking around in this somehow magical city where she could feel the history and mystery surrounding her, with a well-versed and incredibly hot guide had a charm all its own as well.
    The savory smell of spices and roasting meat reached her, and her mouth watered as her stomach wrenched inward in hunger. They turned the corner and she blinked at the marketplace that spread before her. Like eye candy, she took in the colors and variety of objects available to buy, from silver jewelry and Panchos, to leather, wine, and all variety of sweet confections.
    As if sensing her yearning to stop and ogle a display of silver jewelry, Cruz laughed and tugged at her hand—which instantly drew her attention at the feel of his hand on hers, even if momentarily. Her hand tingled where he’d touched