Hector

So what? This wouldn’t be the first time Hector had impressed a pretty girl or even a highly skilled chess player. What was it about her? Why did he care so much? Why was he so damn fascinated with her? Fascinated enough to come chasing after her when he knew it was a bad idea.

She was an enigma, one he had no business trying to figure out. He knew this already. He’d gone through the list of whys so many times, and the conclusion was always the same. Forget about it. Yet he’d gone after her, and now here he was dangerously alone with her.

When he left the party to see if he might catch her, even though she’d been gone for a few minutes, he had no idea what he would do or say if he did. But he did know exactly what he shouldn’t do—the very thing that was already clouding his senses. Seeing those big blue eyes go even bigger when he realized she’d been watching him strip the layers of stuffy clothes off had done it.

Pushing away the all too fresh memories of holding her soft warm body against his, how good it felt to hold her hand and wrap his arms around her, he smiled, tilting his head. “So why are you and Drew leaving so early?”

“We have somewhere to be early tomorrow morning.”

“Early on a Saturday morning? Where you going?” he asked, trying to sound more curious than prying.

“A marathon in Long Beach.”

Hector raised his brows a bit surprised. “Really? So you’re a chess genius and a runner?”

She shook her head, smiling. Even though her face tinged a little with color, Hector was glad she seemed to be calming. He could tell after catching her off guard she seemed more than unnerved.

“I’d hardly call myself any kind of genius.” She tucked a red strand of hair behind her ear with a timid smile. “And no, I’m not a runner. I volunteer for the Special Olympics. They’re having a marathon tomorrow.”

“Oh, yeah, yeah, my partner, Gio, was just talking about that. He runs the youth program here at the gym and a few of them are special needs. He mentioned a couple of them running in that this weekend.” He peered at her as she looked around the room at the photos on the wall. “So you and Drew are giving up your Saturday morning for this, huh?”

She turned back to him and nodded with that little timid smile he was becoming so fond of now. “It’s not a sacrifice at all. I’ve been doing it for years back home. Drew didn’t start until just last year, but after volunteering just one time, she was hooked. She’s been doing it with me ever since.”

Hector liked hearing her talk. There was something so soothing about her sweet voice. He hadn’t really noticed that about her until earlier in the party. “And where is back home?”

“Maryland.”

“Really? Wow. You’re a long way from home.”

She walked around now, taking in the photos on the wall again. “Tell me about it.”

Hector liked how the longer he was around her the more relaxed she became. He liked how fast and easily she went from all tensed up to relaxed. Just like earlier on the dance floor when he first put his arms around her, she’d frozen up. But within minutes, he felt her giving into the moment, and damn, what a moment that had been.

“So who do you stay with out here?”

He’d come in here a little worried that he might do something he’d regret, but all he could think about was he wanted to know more about her.

She turned to him with that tiny smile again. It was almost as if she were afraid to smile too big. Though she’d come around a little, the evidence of her shy demeanor was still very much there. “With Drew and her dad. Though her dad is rarely around. He’s a commercial pilot, so we pretty much have the house to ourselves most of the time.”

He nodded. Good to know, but he wanted more now. He took a few steps toward her, aware that he’d invited her in the room to show her the “cool stuff” in there and he was yet to show her any of it. Still, he knew his time alone with her would be brief, and he still had so many more questions.

“Why’d you decide to go to school so far from home?”

Her brows pinched for a second, and she glanced back at him again, only this time minus the smile. “It was Drew’s idea actually. She had to coax me into the idea.” Now she smiled. “She does that a lot.” She bobbed her head a little, but it was nothing like when Walter’s dumb ass did it. Charlee looked cute doing it. “If it weren’t for Drew, there’d be a lot of things in my life I wouldn’t have done.”

“She must be pretty persuasive. Moving from Maryland to California, that’s huge.”

For the first time, he heard her laugh. And, of course, it had to be the sweetest laugh ever. “Oh, you’d be surprised. The girl could talk an atheist into believing with little effort. But it wasn’t just that. The chess scholarship I was offered to ESU was a big incentive. So when Drew said she’d apply to ESU and got in, that sealed the deal.”

That reminded Hector of something. Getting back to her earlier comment about not being a genius, he felt almost stupid now about being so pissed over what she’d done yesterday. “A chess scholarship? Impressive. Not that I’m surprised. I’d say only a chess genius could come up with what you did to me yesterday.” Her timid smile flatlined immediately. “I’m not mad, okay? I mean I’ll admit I did feel a little stupid—”

“I wasn’t trying to make you feel stupid,” she said quickly then added in a lower voice, shaking her head softly, “I swear.”