Desert Heat

by Elizabeth Reyes

  * * *

  This was exactly why she was so excited about the idea of giving in to her heart instead of being afraid. After such an intense ending to her tour of his family’s famous auto shop, the whole way back to the city their conversation was in no way strained or uncomfortable. Just as they’d engaged comfortably last week after putting on such a show for him, the entire time, she’d listened intently to him talk of Mace and Dimitri and how the idea of a reality show even came to be.

  Not surprisingly, Mace had been against the whole thing in the beginning. The location of the shop had always been top secret, because once he’d gained enough popularity he was so overwhelmed with fans, classic-car enthusiasts, and reporters visiting the shop in the city that he wasn’t getting any work done. All this was before the reality show ever aired. “The shop in the city is still open, but it’s more of a showroom now, almost like a museum. They do some small jobs there still, but all the big clients and heavy hitters—celebrities that want their cars worked on by VDH—get taken out to the big shop.”

  It wasn’t until he mentioned it on their way out of the place that she noticed how far out the land around the shop was fenced off. Her mind had been so busied all the way there with so many other things that she’d paid little attention to anything, other than to notice how isolated the roads they took were, and that they were driving deeper and deeper to the middle of nowhere. Of course now it all made sense.

  She turned to him curiously. “You and all your siblings have D names. I’ve known other families that do that, but usually they follow the dads or in some cases both parents had the same first initial, but with you guys it should’ve been M, no?”

  Damian shook his head. “Domacio is actually Mace’s full name. They’ve just always shortened his name, and he always made all of us call him that, not Dad.” He laughed. “Though little by little he’s becoming the Old Man to all of us. I still think he prefers that to Dad.”

  Bethany was still thinking about that. Domacio. It made sense now. She’d always wondered if Mace was maybe a stage name.

  “So.” Damian rubbed his neck, turning to her. “I turned down my brother’s food because you said you have that article you need to get written, and I was hoping for a little more alone time with you before I took you back.” He said it so matter-of-factly and without reservations that it almost made her laugh, but it also made her insides tingle. He wanted alone time with her. “But I am hungry, are you?”

  As if on cue, her stomach grumbled. Luckily, he didn’t hear it. Her free hand, the one he wasn’t holding because he’d held her other one the whole way back again, traveled down to her belly. “Yes, I haven’t had anything since breakfast.”

  For the first time since his brother called her beautiful, she saw his expression go a bit hard. “That’s why you get lightheaded, Bethany, and close to passing out. You shouldn’t go so long without eating anything.” As if he’d just scolded her and immediately felt bad about it, his frown softened and he smiled. “I haven’t eaten anything since breakfast either. In fact all I had was some coffee and half a bagel. I should take my own advice. I’m starving.”

  “I am, too,” she admitted. The tingly feeling in her belly was more than just hunger, and she knew it. Just the fact that he was actually worried about her added to her bubbling insides.

  Coming to a red light, Damian brought her hand to his mouth, kissing her knuckles softly. Bethany didn’t think her insides could go any mushier than they already were, but they did, and she could only imagine the lovesick expression on her face as she watched him kiss each of her knuckles one by one. “I know just the place to go, then,” he said, staring at her after kissing the last of her knuckles, then smiling at her sweetly.

  It wasn’t until after she inhaled and exhaled that she realized how dreamily and cartoonishly she’d done so. It was so bad it made her blush. His sweet smile broke into a huge one. “Wow. That was awesome.”

  She laughed, now feeling as silly as her aunt when she whimsically watched the handsome hero on one of her telenovelas. Only this was real life, and the hero had watched Bethany do it! Feeling a bit mortified, she laughed, covering her face with her free hand. “That was ridiculous. Don’t laugh at me.”

  “Who’s laughing? I loved that. It was so genuine and spontaneous. I’ll have to remember to kiss your knuckles more often.”

  This was another thing she’d noted since last week. How easily she could be this comfortable with him, even though she still didn’t know him well at all. As dumb as she felt right then, she knew she didn’t have to worry about his thinking her an idiot. “It’s not what you did or said. It’s how you did it. You were very genuine, too. Everything about you so far seems to be.” She smirked, lifting an eyebrow. “Even that first time I met you. You had no qualms about admitting to a perfect stranger, who was there to make a connection, mind you, that you weren’t into that kind of shit.”

  With a nod, she motioned to let him know the light had turned green. He laughed as he brought his attention back to the road.

  “I mean really, Damian,” she teased. “How rude was that?”

  “Okay, maybe that was bad form.” He continued to laugh, and she could hardly look away from him anymore. Everything about him fascinated her now. From his sexy smile to his strong chin, even the self-assured way he carried himself, something she had mistaken for cockiness but now knew was just well-deserved confidence. “You can’t hold it against me, though. I was just being honest and straightforward. Something you obviously appreciate as much as I do, right?”

  Feeling a twinge of guilt, because as comfortable as she felt with him already, there were a few things in her life she didn’t feel ready to—couldn’t—discuss with him just yet, she nodded in agreement and left it at that. The rest of the way to the all-you-can-eat seafood place he was taking her to, he told her about the food there. As she had been last week when she’d gone on and on about the pupusería, he seemed very jazzed about this place. The more he talked, the more her stomach growled.

  Finally they were seated, and Bethany felt a little disappointed that it wasn’t a buffet as she had expected. As far as she was concerned, all-you-can-eat meant buffet. Now they were going to have to order and wait. As much as Damian had talked up the place, she really was starving now.

  A petite young waitress with her dark hair in a loose French braid approached their table with two glasses of ice water. “Detective Santiago,” she said with a big grin as she placed the glasses down on the table. “Nice to see you dressed down for once and not all stuffy.”

  “Yep, the stuffy clothes take a hike on my day off,” he said, returning the big grin. “And I told you, Olivia, it’s Damian.”

  Bethany watched, a little perturbed at how easily Damian went on with the waitress. She liked thinking the rapport she and Damian had easily built was something special he’d only ever felt with her. Because she certainly had never felt as instantly comfortable with anyone as she had with him. Fortunately, their prattle didn’t go on for too long before Olivia asked them if they were ready to order.

  Since this was her first time here, Bethany sat back and let Damian order for them both. “Okay, for our first round we’ll take the lobster tails, crab legs and steamed crabs, jumbo shrimp, clams, fried fish.” He eyed the menu. “A tray of oysters sounds good.” He paused for a moment, and Bethany didn’t think he’d order any more, but he continued. “We’ll have some hush puppies, and just to pretend we’re being healthy, the sautéed vegetable medley.”

  Olivia smiled a few times, giggling as she jotted it all down, then took their menus. When she walked away, Bethany decided to let it go. She’d never been that kind of petty girl. Instead she leaned forward, smiling. “Gawd, that sounds so good!”

  Damian took her hand and caressed her fingers. “It is, and they’re very quick, so we won’t have to wait long.” That made her smile even bigger. “So,” he said, staring into her eyes playfully, “you know about my siblings, my
job, and all about my family’s business. All I know about you is you’re from Nogales, Arizona. You’re a hopeful journalist out here on an internship, you’re a helluva singer, and you haven’t been out here too long living alone in downtown Vegas.”

  “You know a lot,” she said, her eyes teasing right back, but already felt her insides tensing.

  “Not enough,” he countered. Playing with her fingers, his eyes searched hers. “First of all, were you seriously looking to make a connection at the speed date?”

  Glad he’d chosen an easy topic, she smiled as his other hand reached for her other one now, too. It was crazy and a bit unnerving how just hours ago when he’d shown up at her place he was just Damian, the guy she’d shared such incredible moments with last week. The cop she should not be letting herself get caught up with. Yet here they were holding hands across a table, and for anyone who walked by or took one glance at them, including Olivia, they were unequivocally a couple. At the moment, she felt like a girl staring into her boyfriend’s teasing eyes. “No, I wasn’t,” she admitted. “And if you hadn’t been so incredibly smug about it, I probably would’ve told you I agreed. It was kind of dumb.”

  “So why were you there?” he asked, looking confused, then added, “and I wasn’t trying to be smug. I just thought it was so stupid I wanted to make it perfectly clear I wasn’t there by choice.”

  Bethany laughed. “I was there doing research. I had an article I was writing about dating in this day and age. I had to research five different ways single people go about trying to find a mate.” She shrugged. “As silly as speed dating sounded, I thought it’d be something interesting to add to my article, besides the normal online dating and going to clubs.”

  For a moment she thought about sharing the very thought that had just popped in her head. She might use him as one of her examples in the follow-up article she now had to write. The most common way of meeting a mate, according to surveys, was being introduced by mutual friends. Jerry wasn’t exactly a mutual friend, but ultimately he was the reason Damian had showed up at her show and why they were here now. But then she decided against mentioning it. She still had no idea where this was going, and as much as it felt like something was definitely happening between them, this still could be just an unexpected date with no follow-up. Though Damian had sounded pretty confident when he assured his brother that she’d be back.

  Damian lifted a brow. “Have you met up with any of the guys you met that night?”

  “No.” She shook her head. “Like with Jerry, I responded to a few of their emails just to be nice, but never followed up to meet with them or even gave out my number.”

  “Speaking of,” he pulled his phone out of his pocket. “I could’ve kicked myself in the ass last week for not getting your number.” She watched him tap the screen on his phone and look up at her. “What is it?”

  Without thought she gave it to him as her insides did a little dance. Everything was just happening. Yet neither of them had addressed what exactly was happening. She had to wonder now how this day would end and how much more she would allow to just happen. The other day she had been adamant that nothing could—should—ever happen. Not with Damian or anyone. Yet here she was anxious for him to put his phone down and reach his hand out to her again.

  Just as he put his phone back in his pocket without so much as another word about it, the waitress arrived with some of their order. Bethany stared down at the plates, understanding why Damian had ordered so much. The place might be all-you-can-eat, but the portions were fairly small. The jumbo shrimp they ordered came in a serving of just four. And the lobster tails were on the small side. Still, everything looked and smelled heavenly.

  Olivia giggled a little too much when Damian teased her about nearly fumbling the hush puppy basket. Bethany managed not to roll her eyes, but she didn’t so much as crack a smile. Not even when Olivia grinned at her widely and told her to enjoy her meal.

  They dug in, and after a few silent minutes of chowing down, Bethany laughed. “I guess we were hungry!”

  Damian looked up just as he was about to smash into his crab with a wooden mallet. Olivia approached them once again, and Damian turned his attention to her. She took some of their empty plates away and dropped off a few more loaded ones. With one of the sexier smiles Bethany had seen on him, Damian winked at Olivia. “Keep ’em coming, sweetheart, we’re gonna be here awhile.”

  Olivia grinned widely. The exchange wiped the smile off Bethany’s face. She stuck a hush puppy into her mouth to keep her lips from puckering and chewed slowly. She wasn’t sure what annoyed her more, the fact that Damian was so smooth or that their clueless little waitress would smile at him so eagerly right in front of her when she’d just seen them holding hands earlier. This was so unlike her. Just as she reminded herself she had swagger and that she’d never been catty or jealous in her life, Damian directed the sexy smile at her. He picked up an oyster and started squeezing lemon juice on it. “You believe what they say about oysters?”

  Immediately, her annoying thoughts were dropped, and she sat up, smiling coyly. It was almost embarrassing how one smile from him could switch her mood so easily. “You mean about their being a natural aphrodisiac?”

  “Yep,” he said, nodding, his eyelids lowering a bit as he brought the oyster shell to his lips and sucked its contents dry. Watching him do that, especially the way he eyed her as he did it, made her breath catch, and she prayed he hadn’t noticed.

  “Funny,” she cleared her throat, watching him squeeze lemon juice on the next one. “I mean it’s funny you should ask. For a long time I thought I’d proven the myth to be true.”

  With the oyster shell at his lips again, he stopped and lifted a brow. “Is that so?” She nodded as he sucked the contents of the oyster dry, a little more slowly this time, then licked his lips as he continued to watch her. “How’s that?”

  She took a deep breath, trying to gather her thoughts again. “In high school me and my science partner read about it when we were researching and decided to put it to the test.” Suddenly feeling silly, she bit her lip, trying not to laugh. “We kissed and—”

  “Wait,” he said, suddenly looking a little too excited. “Was your partner a girl or a guy?”

  “Oh, you wish it was a girl.” She laughed, throwing her napkin his way. “Of course it was a guy!”

  Nearly frowning now, he sat back. “Go on.”

  “Neither of us was attracted to the other, so,” she covered her mouth with a napkin because she could feel herself going into a giggle fest, “our very scientific hypothesis was that since neither saw the other in that way and our friendship was completely platonic, the kiss should not be at all arousing. And after our initial kiss, we agreed it wasn’t.” She shook her head. “So we decided to go to a restaurant and order a tray of oysters. Mind you,” she brought one hand to her chest and covered her mouth with the other one, shaking her head again, “the idea of oysters back then was so gross to both of us. But it was all in the name of science, right? So we sacrificed our taste buds and forced down three oysters each. After brushing our teeth, we kissed again, and this time we ended up making out pretty heavy.”

  He rolled his eyes, the usual genuine smile a bit forced now. “How’d you figure out you hadn’t proved anything, except that this guy managed to find a way to get you to make out with him.”

  “Exactly!” She wiped her mouth, smiling even more widely. “But it went both ways. It wasn’t until later, when we’d been a couple for months, that we both admitted to secretly harboring crushes for each other from the very beginning of the semester when we were first partnered up. But for a long time I really did tell myself that the oysters were the reason I let him feel me up the very first time we made out.”

  “All right,” he said, suddenly sitting up and reaching for a shrimp. “I don’t think I wanna hear about this anymore.” Bethany had heard his playful tone enough to know this wasn’t it. “Tell me about your siblings. You have any?�
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  Out of nowhere a strange unease settled in her stomach. She knew it was for more than one reason, but for now she’d ignore the second reason and focus on the first—she had to share about her family. “I have a seventeen-year-old sister and a twelve-year-old brother.”

  “Wow. That’s kind of a big age gap.” He stopped before reaching for a crab leg. “How old are you?”

  “I’m twenty-two,” she said, pulling out a sliver of lobster meat from the shell and dipping it into the butter. “After my parents married, my dad moved my mom down to the small town he was from in Oaxaca, but just a few months after I was born she left him. She said he was abusive, so she moved back to Nogales and divorced him. When I was two she remarried, but after initially not being able to conceive again, she thought maybe she wouldn’t be able to, and when I turned five my sister was born. She and my stepdad agreed they were good with just the two of us. Then there was another unexpected surprise, and when my sister turned five they were blessed with my brother.”

  “Well, that’s cool. It worked out.” He chuckled. “Were they nervous when your brother turned four?”

  “No,” she pressed her lips together. “My mother passed away when he was only three.”

  Damian immediately reached his hand out and touched hers. “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay,” she lied, remembering that’s when her life began to change and how it had ultimately led her to where she was now. But staring across at Damian’s perfectly chiseled chin, and the eyes that made her melt every time now, she considered that maybe things really did happen for a reason. Smiling weakly, she decided this was something she could share with him. “It was very sudden and a huge blow, but I’m over it now. It’s been ten years.” He squeezed her hand and she continued. “She fell off a horse in Mexico. At first everyone naturally assumed that the blow to the head is what ultimately killed her, but later it was determined she had an aneurysm that burst in her brain. That’s why she’d fallen off the horse. The doctors said she’d likely been born with an undetected aneurysm and over the years it got bigger and bigger until it just burst.”