One“Whew,” Charisma took off her hat and wiped the sweat from her brow. The sun blinded her as she looked up. It if wasn’t for the shyness of the sand viper she was trying to photograph she would be back at her aunt’s mansion lounging around the cool, wet swimming pool and sipping on a nice cold glass of iced tea. The viper stuck his head out of the sand, allowing her to capture its likeness in mid-strike as it lunged toward her. She moved away from the angry snake and continued snapping its picture until it retreated back into the sand. A throat cleared behind her. Turning, she stared up the flanks of a mocha-colored camel. Upon its back rode a hooded and partially masked black man with intense dark brown eyes. Behind him and the camel sat a caravan of desert vehicles and other camel riders.
“What are you doing?” His voice was deep, melodic and heavily accented.
“Photographing nature in its rarest form.”
“No, I mean what are you doing out here in the desert alone? The Sahara is a dangerous place even for a man.”
Charisma tore her glance away from his mesmerizing eyes. “I’m trying to get an award winning shot for a magazine if its any of your business. I can’t concentrate with a bodyguard shackled to my ankles.”
“A very unwise decision. You are much too fine to be unchaperoned.”
“Thanks for the complement but I’m properly covered.” She pointed to the veil on her face. “Nothing’s showing.”
“Apparently you’ve never seen what you look like from behind.”
Charisma looked up in a huff. “It’s rude of you to point out that I have a big butt.”
A few of the others chuckled.
“Not big, shapely and formidable.”
“Don’t you have anything better to do than harass me? I’m about to leave anyway. It’s too darn hot here and water is not quenching my thirst.”
“Good. I would hate to read tomorrow’s headlines in the newspaper and discover that something has happened to you. I can just see it now…young Hispanic woman with a gigantic butt succumbs to the hot Sahara heat.”
Charisma tried to ignore him as she bent over and put her camera back into the case.
“Formidable.”
She looked back to give him another piece of her mind but he was leaving. The rest of the riders and the cars followed him. Her heartbeat quieted moments later. He had the most gorgeous eyes she had ever looked in to. And that voice…deep and sexy. She fanned herself. It was the type of baritone that made a woman’s knees shake. “I wonder what the rest of him looks like.” She folded the tripod and tossed it into the back of her Jeep along with the rest of her things. “Too back he’s so damn arrogant.”
0 comments:
Post a Comment