Free Secrets That Kill by Colleen Helme Page A

had to find a blouse or shirt that wasn’t so touristy to wear home tomorrow. I mean, how could I be staying at the Ritz-Carlton and fly in a private jet with this frumpy, touristy t-shirt on? It was unthinkable.
    I spied a table with print tees on it, and found a Lady Gaga one that I was tempted to buy, mostly because it reminded me of her song titled “Alejandro.” I picked it up and started singing under my breath “Ale-Alejandro, Ale-Alejandro.” Smiling, I turned to take it with me and bumped into a solid chest.
    “Oof!” I exclaimed, springing back.
    Ramos stared down at me, his eyes narrowed.
    “Aa! You scared me.” Realizing he’d heard me singing his name, my face flamed red with embarrassment, so I went on the defense. “What are you doing in here? I thought you were waiting in the car.”
    “I was, but you were taking so long, I thought I’d better come in and check up on you.” He took the Lady Gaga tee from me and studied it.
    “Um… I was just singing that Lady Gaga song, you know, the one about Alejandro, mostly because I guess that’s your name and I never knew that, and this shirt reminded me of it. Have you ever heard that song?”
    “Are you going to buy it, or what?” he asked, focusing his thoughts on me.
    He wasn’t cutting me any slack, and it made me a little angry. I was about to tell him no when a thought of his came through that he was… embarrassed? Flattered? “Of course I’m going to buy it.” I pulled it from his hands and threw it over my arm with the rest of my stuff. “I have to get one more thing.” I raised my brow in a challenge. “You going to follow me, or what?”
    He snorted, but wisely moved out of my way. “I’ll wait over there.” He motioned toward the closest cash register.
    I nodded, and a bit rattled by our encounter, hurried to another rack of shirts. I still wanted something a little nicer to wear and quickly scanned the rack. Finding a jewel digital print tee, I held it up and admired the gold and silver tones over a white background in jewel shapes. It even had cute cap sleeves. With the right necklace and earrings this would look amazing paired with my jeans, plus it was in my size.
    I grabbed it and marched over to the jewelry. After a few minutes’ search, I found just what I was looking for. Gold and silver chains highlighted with geometric shapes and earrings to match! Now all I needed was a pair of metallic sandals to complete the outfit.
    Glancing toward the cash register, I noticed Ramos looking through the magazines, so I high-tailed it over to the shoes for a quick look. One good thing about Orlando is the great selection of sandals. The only hard part was deciding whether to get the gold ones or the silver ones. I went with the silver, figuring they would go with more of my clothes.
    On my way to the checkout stand, I passed a display of sunglasses and paused to grab a pair. I found cute white-rimmed ones with gold speckles on the sides that matched my outfit perfectly. I slid them on and smiled. Yup, they made me look good.
    I rushed back to the cash register, hoping Ramos wasn’t too upset with me for taking so long. I got in line and smiled at him, feeling his relief at finally being able to leave. The person at the cash register was grateful we were leaving too. Ramos’ cold expression and watchful eyes made him nervous, especially since he looked like he was ready to kill somebody.
    As the cashier rang up my purchases, Ramos’ brows lifted in disbelief at all the stuff I was buying. He could understand the pajamas and shirts, but the jewelry and sandals? He took a deep breath and let it out, then noticed the swimming suit and sunglasses. He glanced at me, thinking there wasn’t enough time to go swimming.
    “Have you even seen the pool?” I asked. “It’s awesome. Even a fifteen minute swim would be worth it.”
    He glanced away with a smile and shook his head. I opened my purse to get my credit card, but he stopped me.