"Ten Days Wonder" - Four.

A week. He now had a little under a week to soften Adriana up enough to withdraw money from her fancy bank accounts on his behalf. It was a harder prospect than somebody with his God-given charms might think.

As nice as it had been to share a bowl of custard and laugh until he couldn't breathe, it wasn't going to make his payments. Neither was walking her home. But he hadn't been able to resist. He'd done exactly that, scribbling his cell phone number down on a scrap of paper and handing it to her with a sheepish "call me."

Jesus Christ. He was a kid again. Next thing you know, they were going to go on a double date with her cousin Starr and her twerpy little boyfriend. RJ would love that. RJ was convinced Rex couldn't play with the big kids. Maybe he was right.

Adriana had turned from unlocking the front door, looking up at him with those eyes just like she had at Foxy Roxy's. So innocent. So...totally clueless about him. About anything.

"Are you...are you all right, Rex?"

"Sure. Fine." He'd laughed. He'd laughed knowing that going over to Lindsey's to do something about his sudden, raging, hard-on was no longer an option.

So, he'd given her his number and gone straight to Capricorn to pound back some shots. He put them on RJ's tab.

And now, waking up with the sun pouring through the windows, blinding him senseless along with the splitting headache, all he had was less than seven days, a hangover and...well...still that other problem.

Roxy had left him a rambling voice-mail the night before...he'd half-listened when he stumbled in. Something about going up to AC to talk to a guy who knew a lot about "incensiaries" and making things go "kaboom!" He had to call her, remind her that incendiaries and "kaboom"s weren't generally a good idea. They didn't want to burn down all of Angel Square.

Hell, he was trying not to burn anything down at all.

Except Adriana Lord's defenses.

He was going to drop by the diner later, try and see her again.

Because he only had a week or so.

Not because he wanted to hear her laugh at his singing again.

Not because he wanted her to stare at him like he was nice and sweet and funny and worth her time.

Not because she made him want to believe it...

Her madrina was really her tia. Her father was still dead, although he'd left her behind a 100 million dollar blood-soaked legacy and a half- brother somewhere. And River was probably locked away with Shannon because she hadn't seen either of them in days.

Life had been so much simpler before her quinceanera...when her biggest problem had been staying awake in church and avoiding teasing from the boys in the barrio. Never in a thousand years had she thought her whole life would be so different, so out of control.

She lived in a big house with a silly name, she had so many new relatives she had to take notes to keep them straight, and she hadn't even graduated high school yet.

Adriana drifted down the stairs, shaking her head. Maybe she was just over-analytical? Maybe you weren't supposed to question these things? In Llanview, the impossible seemed to happened on a daily basis...like Rex's ability to appear from thin air.

Or River appearing on the doorstep just as she opened the door.

The smile on her face was immediate, as was the warm glow inside her. He looked tired, she thought, and sheepish as he scuffed his shoes on the mat.

"Uh...hi..." he stammered, running a hand through his hair and making it stand up even more than usual. "How've you been?"

How've you been? Her smile wavered just the tiniest bit. He kissed Shannon, swore he'd do anything to earn her forgiveness for it, spent a week not calling her, and now he was making awkward small talk?

"Oh, I've been wonderful!" she said, crossly, before she could stop herself. "I just found out that Manuel, my father, was really Carlotta's brother...so I'm related to the Vegas by blood. Nobody's ever home here except for Jack and Hetty. Starr's boyfriend calls more than you do. I overheard Dorian accusing David of fathering Kelly's baby...but she might have been joking, I still can't tell sometimes...and Rex says all you want from me is sex."

"What?" River's jaw dropped. He looked confused. But, like most teenage boys, he latched onto the important word in her impromptu tirade. "Sex?" And he rhymed, quickly, "Rex? Why are you talking about sex with Rex?"

Dios. She hadn't been talking about sex with Rex. At least not that way...but now she was certainly thinking about it. She shook her head, trying to erase the memory of him pulling her close, the way he grabbed her wrist. His eyes. His chest. Him suggestively licking flan off a spoon.

Sex with Rex...madre de dios!

She clutched the edge of the door. "I came to Ultra-Violet the other night looking for you. Rex was being kind, giving me advice."

River snorted, looking at her like she was very young and very stupid. "Rex Balsom is never 'kind', Adriana. He was probably playing you. He's a jerk!"

"You would certainly know, wouldn't you?" she snapped, wounded. "Are you 'playing' me or are you 'playing' Shannon McBain?"

She was definitely becoming a true Cramer woman. David would be proud of her.

"I'm not playing you, Adriana! I love you," River reminded. "I...I want to marry you. Everybody knows all Rex is after is money. He probably found out you're worth a kajillion bucks."

"Stop it!" The happy glow at seeing him, at his rumpled clothes and his hair and his gentle smile, was rapidly turning into a slow burning annoyance. "Rex and I are friends...barely...we only just met!" She wondered if she could accidentally swing the door into River's nose. "I was so glad to see you here. Don't ruin it, please."

"That's...that's what I wanted to tell you, Adriana," River replied, his voice rising and his hand coming up to cover hers. "Don't ruin things. Don't ruin us," he pleaded. "When Shannon said she saw you with Rex at Foxy Roxy's...I just had to come over and see you. I had to tell you I loved you and to believe in me."

"What?" Her jaw dropped. And, like him, she picked out the important word. "You only came here because Shannon told you I was with someone else? You listened to Shannon?"

Too late, River realized his mistake. "No...Adriana...wait..."

She swung the door shut as hard as possible and stumbled backwards.

There were things...there were things she most definitely would continue to question.

Her taste in men.

Her sanity.

And why the thought of licking flan off of Rex's skin was the only thing that kept her from bursting into tears.