I sat in her bedroom, my legs crossed, patiently waiting for Kate to open her eyes. A freshly brewed cup of coffee and a glass of water waited on her side table, and I was hoping that the smell would help her wake up. I wanted her to do so with me still in the room, but I had to be at mass in less than an hour.

She shifted in her bed, pulling the covers toward her chest, which exposed her behind and the skimpy panties I’d seen her wearing last night. My dick swelled in an instant. Somehow, when I was helping her get to bed, Kate had decided that it was okay to remove her tube top in front of me because I was a priest, and according to Kate, I was immune to her womanly charms. Had I mentioned that she wasn’t wearing a bra either?

She stirred again, this time twisting her body my way while keeping the duvet over her bare chest. It didn’t stop me from hoping it would slip from her grip. Her nose wiggled and her eyes opened slightly, squinting when the sun’s rays struck her face.

When she looked up again and our gazes connected, shock jolted her body upright. The duvet slipped from her grip and she yanked it back to cover herself. But it was too late for me, as for the second time in the last twenty-four hours I glimpsed her perky breasts. I lowered the paper I was holding down to my lap, covering evidence of my thoughts.

Her mouth was partially open, the perfectly shaped ‘O’ of her lips looking more inviting with every passing second.

“Give it a moment. It will all come to you,” I said, waiting.

“Oh, no! What did I do?”

“Apparently tequila.”

She brought the cover over her head and slid down the bed, trying to disappear. When she pulled too much of the duvet, her feet wiggled at the bed’s end.

“Why am I naked?” A muffled voice sounded from underneath.

“You undressed yourself.”

She shot back up, this time holding tightly on to the cover and looked at me with her big gold eyes.

“In front of you?”

I nodded.

“I wanna die.”

I chuckled.

“How did I get home?”

“I carried you.”

“You?”

“Why? Did you want Brook to do it?”

Was that a hint of jealousy I heard trail on my voice? Had she noticed?

“Who’s Brook?” She looked around the room as if expecting my brother to be there, but he wasn’t.

“He’s gone. The man you know as Brady is Brook, my brother.”

“Why did he say his name was Brady?”

“Because Brook is… he’s careful with his identity because of his job.” That was partially true, but I couldn’t offer her a better explanation about my brother’s real job. She’d freak out.

I’d been thinking about how much to tell Kate about my brother since I laid her down in her bed last night. If I didn’t mention that Brook was related to me, she could have gone after him, and that was the last thing I wanted. I was hoping that perhaps as a friend-to-friend favor, she’d agree to never see my brother again. He wasn’t good for her. He wouldn’t understand her perky and innocently loving nature. He wanted a dangerous woman, and Kate was the last thing from dangerous. No, they definitely couldn’t see each other again.

Was I jealous? Of course. If it were any other woman, I would have given them a blessing and they could have lived happily ever after. But with her… I just couldn’t get her out of my mind. Since the moment I’d met Kate, my feelings became more complicated. It was her, all of her that made me question my faith and morals. I’d sinned with her on my mind so many times that I felt ashamed. But no matter how much I wanted her as a man, I knew I couldn’t touch her. It wouldn’t be fair to her and her faith.

An affair with a priest. I shook my head.

It had definitely happened before, but I didn’t want Kate to be a statistic. I reached my hand out with the white pill and indicated with my gaze the glass of water at her side table. She took the pill and swallowed it with a few delicate sips of water.

Lucky glass to have touched her lips.

“Wait – I danced with you,” she said.

“No, not me. Brook,” I corrected her, a little hurt that she didn’t remember the difference.

“Brook,” she repeated, and paused as if looking for something in her mind that she’d missed. It was cute, and made her look vulnerable and innocent. I wondered what led her to drink when she was upset.

Kate suddenly sat up. Her disheveled state reminded me of a lost girl, and for the first time since meeting her, I realized how little I actually knew about her. Probably as little as she knew about me.

“You said he’s your brother?”

“Yes, Brook’s my younger brother. I told you about him, remember?”

She looked so cute when frazzled. “That’s why he looked so much like you.”

“You sure it wasn’t the tequila?” I teased.

“Argh, you don’t understand. This was so not me.”

I could argue with that, and I was pretty sure I’d win. It was her, trying to drown whatever problems Kate was carrying with her away.

“No, I mean it. I’m so sorry. I feel so embarrassed.”

“Kate, you had a bit too much to drink. That’s all.”

“I was all over your bother too.” She covered her mouth with her hand, regretting her words; and again, I felt a pinch of jealousy that it hadn’t been me there last night instead of my brother. Maybe it was better this way after all.

“I threw up and let another man hold my hair while I bent over the toilet, again.”

“Should I feel jealous? I thought that was my job.”

“No, that’s not what I meant.”

“I’m teasing, Kate.”

There was that ‘O’ again, this time plumper and glistening since she pulled her tongue over her lips nearly ten seconds ago.

“I am never drinking again. I swear. Did you stay here all night?”

I nodded.

“Thank you. I mean that. Thank you for taking care of me last night.”

“Always, Kate. I should get going. Mass starts in less than an hour.”

“I’m not sure I can handle showing my face in church right now.”

“Learn from yesterday, Kate.” I winked at her and saw her smile. “The Lord forgives all. Don’t miss mass because you had a fun evening. The mistakes we make are all part of life. The trick is trying not to make them again, which is sometimes easier said than done. When you pray, you reflect. You shouldn’t dismiss last night as a bad night when you didn’t get a chance to reflect.”

“That sounds… a little confusing at the moment. You look tired.”

“You were thrashing a little at night.”

Her inquisitive right brow rose, and concern filled her eyes.

“I should get going.” I stood up. “The retreat next month, do you think you can handle the remaining details on your own?”

She gave me a questioning look and her eyes fell sad as she replied, “Yes, of course.”

I didn’t want to leave all the work for her, but given everything that had happened and the feelings I was having a difficult time dealing with, I had no choice. I had to stay away from her, for both our sakes. It wasn’t until last evening, when I saw her chatting up my brother, that I realized the degree of my infatuation with this woman. It was uncontrollable. It was dangerous.

“Take care, Kate.”

“Take care, Father Cameron.”

She waved as I stepped out of her room. Even our greetings and goodbyes had become informal. Our friendship had grown informal as well.

Kate showed up to the first mass that Sunday. She sat in the back row of the church, her head lowered for most of the hour, large bumblebee sunglasses shading her eyes. I didn’t see her again afterward and didn’t look for her, either.

When I went back to my room that evening, my brother was there, waiting for me the way we’d agreed. I poured myself a scotch on the rocks and refilled my brother’s glass.

“What’s the news? Should I get the fuck out of this town now?”

“Don’t pack your bags just yet. I was here last night when I called you, but got… sidetracked.”

Was he seriously saying what I thought he was saying?

“You came here for a woman, didn’t you?”

“Not just any woman, Cam. She’s… she’s been driving me nuts since the moment I came here.”

“Wait, what?”

“Kate has a ghost.”

“Shit.”

“Someone hired her to protect Kate.”

“Protect Kate? From who?”

“I’m assuming Cortez. Who else is there? I need you to find Kate’s connection to the cartel. Maybe she’ll have some information about the money.”

“All right.”

I didn’t like doing this. I didn’t like the sound of Kate being under another watchful eye, no matter whose it was. I didn’t like the fact that Kate could be in trouble and not even know it.

“So, why are you here? You could have told me this over the phone.”

“Cortez is on the move. Nothing alarming yet, so don’t panic, but he’s trying to get to the girl as fast as we are.”

“That’s a good thing. If he finds her, we’ll be in the clear.”

“I wouldn’t trust Cortez that far. He placed a bounty on her head. Ten million. Add to that rumors about the Cortez brothers possibly hiding fifty million, and something’s not adding up.”

Ten million for the same girl we were looking for?

“That’s a lot of money.” This meant that she was worth more alive than dead, and since Mateo and Pablo Cortez didn’t care about anyone outside their family, it meant that he was looking for information from the girl. He wanted to find the woman who was at the root of my troubles as much as I did – but why?

“You think that bitch knows where the money is?” I asked.

“Possibly.”

How was it that someone could hide it so well? Who was she, and why was she so stupid as to cross that family?

“Shit!” I pulled my fingers through my hair. “And you really think this money’s in town?”

“Now, that’s speculation, but it’s the last place anyone heard of it. No one saw the brothers move it or spend it. Find the fifty million, and all our troubles will go away. Find the girl, and we get ten million and maybe a pass on this mess.”

“We don’t bow to anyone, Brook. Especially not Cortez. All I want is justice and not to get killed in the process. She duped us that night, forcing you to run from a fucking cartel, and Father doesn’t have much longer. If we don’t settle this with Cortez, if we don’t find her, we’re sitting ducks in the middle of hunting season for the rest of our lives.”

“If the rumors are true, though, it sounds like you’ll have a front row seat when she comes to town to dig it up.”

“Okay, so I need to be on the lookout for chatter about fifty million dollars. Seems simple enough.”

I mean, how hard could it be to find fifty million in a town of one hundred and eight?

“Or find Cortez before he finds us.”

“Yeah, that too.”

“Speaking of Kate, did you know she’s originally from Long Island? What is she doing in Pace?”

“Subtle, brother. Her mother was ill. She’s recovering from heart surgery at a clinic in Seattle.”

“Heart surgery?”

“Yeah.”

“And we’re looking for someone who stole Father’s heart.”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, either you’re dumb, or a woman messed up with your head. Kate should be your number one suspect. She could be looking for the fifty million as well.”

Kate wasn’t some bounty hunter, and she would have never pulled the stunt our mystery woman had that night. She was good. I’d seen it first hand, though I hadn’t asked her how long she’d lived here.

“If she were on the list of those looking for that money, you would have known about it, wouldn’t you?” I asked.

I could tell from the look on his face that he agreed. Kate was the last person I should have been worried about.

“All I’m saying is, be careful. The name Cortez doesn’t exactly correlate with safety. How about I do a background check? What’s the last name?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well, fortunately I can get information from a drunk woman. It’s Black I can’t believe you don’t even know her last name.”

“Sorry, she’s… did you see her? It’s a little difficult to think when she’s around.”

“And you say that I’m the one who thinks with his dick.”

I removed my clerical collar and set it aside, hoping my brother would stop giving me the side eye. He should have known best that at this moment, I was his brother first, not a priest.

“How’s Mom?”

“Same old.”

“So back to business as usual?”

“When wasn’t she? You know, she’s the one who gave us all cover. She’s really good at this keeping her identity hidden thing.”

“Please tell me you’re not thinking of joining her venture.”

“It’s a multi-million dollar business, and believe me, it has its perks.”

“A manservant?”

Brook rolled his eyes. “You wouldn’t understand. You’re a priest.”

“It got me in, didn’t it?”

“What good is it doing if you can’t find any information?”

“Just give me some time and keep Father well. That’s all.”

“He’ll be fine, but if it weren’t for our plan B, he’d be a dead man.”

Yeah, plan B. It felt like I needed one now as well. If I didn’t find that money and if the girl didn’t show up, I’d need to move.

Three months.

That should give me enough time to dig under every rock in this town. If I didn’t find the money here, it meant that it wasn’t here. And if the girl never showed, it also meant that she was smarter than we presumed. It would be nearly impossible to find her then.

Unless the fifty million is really here.

“Did Kate say anything to you last night? You know, about me?” I asked.

“No, but she did say she’d be in for a hot night of sex if it were the right guy.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, you get some tequila into her and she sings.”

“Tequila is the only thing you better ever get into her.”

“Don’t worry. Apparently I’m not the right guy. I see you’ve made a claim on her.”

“What the hell is a claim? And if you mean did I fuck her, then no, I can’t make such a claim. I’m a priest,” I said through gritted teeth.

As soon as the thought of diving between Kate’s legs entered my mind, I got stiff. It would be so easy to give into the temptation. I knew she wanted me. Hell, if I let it happen, it would happen, but I couldn’t test her faith that way. I couldn’t ruin her innocence just because I hadn’t gotten laid in years.

“You don’t feel strange talking to me like this?”

“Why?”

“We’re in church.”

“Yo, I know you and Father were close and all with the church stuff, but that ain’t me.”

I sighed. Sometimes I wondered whether there was a greater age gap between us than a year.

“She’s into you, you know,” he added. “I could tell.”

“I’m not bringing her into this mess. I can’t.”

“Man, only you know how to let a good thing slip between your fingers.”

“You should head home, Brook. And take the long way.”

“I’ll be gone tomorrow morning. Think about what I said about mom’s business.”

“There are a lot of things I’ve been in my past life, but I’m not going to work as a manservant.”

“Mother’s best at anonymity and satisfied clients. Besides, we may not have a choice.”

Oh, there was a choice, all right. And it started with finding the bitch who stole my father’s heart.