Risky Business

the house, they’re to run right home and call Captain Moralas. It’s the best way to keep them out of trouble.”
    Jonas watched the boy in charge pass out the coins. “How much did you give them?”
    “Twenty pesos apiece.”
    He thought of the current rate of exchange and shook his head. “No kid in Philadelphia would give you the time of day for that.”
    “This is Cozumel,” she said simply and wheeled out her bike.
    Jonas looked at it, then at her. The bike would have sent a young teenager into ecstasies. “You drive this thing?”
    Something in his tone made her want to smile. Instead, she kept her voice cool. “This thing is an excellent mode of transportation.”
    “A BMW’s an excellent mode of transportation.”
    She laughed. He hadn’t heard her laugh so easily since he’d met her. When she looked back at him, her eyes were warm and friendly. Jonas felt the ground shift dangerously under his feet. “Try to take your BMW on some of the back roads to the coast or into the interior.” She swung a leg over the seat. “Hop on, Jonas, unless you want to hike back to the hotel.”
    Though he had his doubts, Jonas sat behind her. “Where do I put my feet?”
    She glanced down and didn’t bother to hide the grin. “Well, if I were you, I’d keep them off the ground.” With this shestarted the engine then swung the bike around in the driveway. After adjusting for the added weight, Liz kept the speed steady. Jonas kept his hands lightly at her hips as the bike swayed around ruts and potholes.
    “Are there roads worse than this?”
    Liz sped over a bump. “What’s wrong with this?”
    “Just asking.”
    “If you want sophistication, try Cancun. It’s only a few minutes by air.”
    “Ever get there?”
    “Now and again. Last year Faith and I took the Expatriate over and spent a couple of days seeing the ruins. We have some shrines here. They’re not well restored, but you shouldn’t miss them. Still, I wanted her to see the pyramids and walled cities around Cancun.”
    “I don’t know much about archaeology.”
    “You don’t have to. All you need’s an imagination.”
    She tooted the horn. Jonas saw an old, bent man straighten from the door of a shop and wave. “Señor Pessado,” she said. “He gives Faith candy they both think I don’t know about.”
    Jonas started to ask her about her daughter, then decided to wait for a better time. As long as she was being expansive, it was best to keep things less personal. “Do you know a lot of people on the island?”
    “It’s like a small town, I suppose. You don’t necessarily have to know someone to recognize their face. I don’t know a lot of people in San Miguel or on the east coast. I know a few people from the interior because we worked at the hotel.”
    “I didn’t realize your shop was affiliated with the hotel.”
    “It’s not.” She paused at a stop sign. “I used to work in the hotel. As a maid.” Liz gunned the engine and zipped across the intersection.
    He looked at her hands, lean and delicate on the handlebars. He studied her slender shoulders, thought of the slight hips he was even now holding. It was difficult to imagine her lugging buckets and pails. “I’d have thought you more suited to the front desk or the concierge.”
    “I was lucky to find work at all, especially during the off season.” She slowed the bike a bit as she started down the long drive to El Presidente. She’d indulge herself for a moment by enjoying the tall elegant palms that lined the road and the smell of blooming flowers. She was taking one of the dive boats out today, with five beginners who’d need instruction and constant supervision, but she wondered about the people inside the hotel who came to such a place to relax and to play.
    “Is it still gorgeous inside?” she asked before she could stop herself.
    Jonas glanced ahead to the large stately building. “Lots of glass,” he told her. “Marble. The balcony of my room looks out over the water.” She steered the bike to the curb. “Why don’t you come in? See for yourself.”
    She was tempted. Liz had an affection for pretty things, elegant things. It was a weakness she couldn’t allow herself. “I have to get to work.”
    Jonas stepped onto the curb, but put his hand over hers before she could drive away. “I’ll meet you at the house. We’ll go into town together.”
    She only nodded before turning the bike back toward the road. Jonas watched her until the