Desert Heat

by Elizabeth Reyes

  Bethany laughed. “You weren’t kidding about her saying what’s on her mind. My sister was just like that even before she was Carey’s age.” She laughed even more now. “I remember being in the backseat with her, when she was still in a car seat. She’d be talking everyone’s ear off, and my stepdad would make snoring noises; she never even noticed.”

  Damian smiled, nodding. Having been on quite a few long rides with his niece, he knew the feeling. “Well there you go. At least you know what you’re in for, because that’s Carey.”

  They came around the side of the house still talking about his niece, and Bethany stopped walking and talking. Damian turned to see her staring out into his luxurious yard. “Wow,” she said, shaking her head slowly. “I knew when we drove up and saw the house that it would be fancy, but . . .” She turned to him. “I had no idea being a cop could be this lucrative.”

  Squeezing her hand, Damian gave it another tug and they began walking again. “It isn’t. I mean, the pay is better than most jobs, but you’re right, it wouldn’t get you a place like this.” They walked down the long arched concrete stairway that opened up to the pool. “I never became a cop for the money, Bethany,” he explained. “And it was never a goal of mine to live in a place like this. I don’t need all this, but Mace has always made it a point to say the family business is the family’s business, regardless if some of us are not as involved as Dimitri is. He insists on everyone getting their share. Even me and Dominic, who have the least to do with the reality show or even just the shop. I tried protesting for years. Telling him I didn’t think it was fair, since Mitri was the one doing all the work, but he says he started this business before any of us were born, and he always said every penny would go to his kids no matter the circumstances. If it weren’t for the nature of my job, I’d make appearances on the show myself. Because of my age, it was a real challenge to prove that I was ready to make detective. They have nothing they can use against me. I’ve followed the rules to the letter from day one, but even going on the show could give them something to hold against me.”

  “Why?” Bethany asked, staring at him very seriously. “What’s so bad about going on the show? They do a lot for charity, right?”

  “Yeah, but you’ve seen it, right?” He laughed, though he didn’t feel all that much humor. “They go at it pretty bad sometimes. A lot of bleeping this and bleeping that and even throwing stuff around. That temper of Dimitri’s is no act. It’s stupid, but even something that small could be held against me. I just don’t want to give those assholes any ammunition. Most of my coworkers don’t even know I’m related to Desert Heat,” he said, shrugging and hoping she got the most important point. He didn’t want her thinking him a mooch, which was what he had felt like for a long time. “I do take care of all the security for both the show and the Ratz. A lot of retired cops or even current deputies do security on the side. I set my family up with only the most trustworthy applicants, and the ones who don’t come straight from the force, I take care of running all the backgrounds.” Looking out into his big backyard, he couldn’t help but frown, because he still didn’t think he did enough to deserve his lifestyle. “None of my siblings or myself have a greedy or selfish bone in our bodies. So we all get our share every month and that’s that. As you can see, our shares are pretty significant, and I needed to start investing it. Uncle Sam was killing me. And I’ve invested pretty well.”

  They reached the bottom and started toward the poolside bar. Even though he didn’t think Bethany was anything like Fina said most girls were, he refrained from telling her about those investments—his many other properties. Including an entire development of townhomes he had recently closed escrow on.

  He wasn’t refraining from telling her because his sister had warned him and his brothers again and again about letting women know how much they were worth; he did it because she already seemed a bit overwhelmed. Judging by her tiny apartment in that horrid part of town, she was obviously not used to any of this. He’d have to wean her into his lifestyle slowly. It was also why he cut the explanation of his mother’s death short, too. Saying she’d been on a charter plane was one thing. But telling her it was their family’s private jet was another.

  He flipped a switch when they got to the bar, and the water mists turned on immediately, cooling them down. “Oh, that feels so good,” Bethany said, not moving away from the perfect spot where the mist showered her.

  He clicked another button, and the electric awning started out from the top of the bar area and slowly began shading half the pool. “That’s the only way we’ll be able to be out here today or we’ll fry under this sun.”

  She nodded, staring at the moving awning, and he wondered if already he’d overwhelmed her. “You okay?”

  Turning to him, a bit surprised, she smiled. “Yeah.”

  He pulled her to him, hoping to get a few last moments alone with her; he kissed her again then stared at her for a moment. “You’re so damn beautiful.”

  “Thank you,” she responded, then smiled timidly, bringing his hand to her chest, moistened by the mist. “I’m still trying to get used to how a few words from you can make my heart beat so frantically.”

  Just the touch of her wet skin had him feeling frantic, too. He was about to tell her so when the splash of someone jumping into the water interrupted him. He turned to make sure someone hadn’t fallen in, but saw Dimitri pop up from the water, then looked up at the stairs to see the rest of the gang from the shop, including the Ratz and some of their girls, coming down the steps, all of them in swim gear and most holding boxes of beer or some kind of alcohol.

  To his surprise, because his friend had never responded to the text telling him about his sudden Rockies barbecue party, he saw Jerry with a woman he didn’t recognize and his bikini-clad daughter on their way down as well. Suddenly a bit unnerved, Damian still couldn’t get over how oblivious Jerry was to his daughter’s being extreme jailbait. This was already starting to look like an adult pool drinking party, with far more guys than girls, and he’d brought his overly developed sixteen-year-old daughter to it wearing that. But that wasn’t the only reason he felt unnerved.

  “You gonna get that barbecue going or what?” Dimitri asked, swimming up to the side of the pool nearest Damian and Bethany. “Hi, beautiful.” Dimitri shook his head with a smirk, like the ass that he was, pretending it had slipped again. “I mean Bethany.”

  “I didn’t know everyone was getting here so early,” Damian said, slipping his hand into Bethany’s after she said hello, making sure she didn’t feel obligated to acknowledge his obnoxious brother’s comment. “The game doesn’t start until one.”

  “Yeah, but we wanted to get our swim in first,” Dimitri said, dipping his head back into the water. “I brought some stuff you can throw on the barbie, too. Everyone did, actually.”

  Walking away and toward Jerry, because his brother had already disappeared back underwater, Damian turned to Bethany, feeling the tiniest bit weird. “You remember Jerry from the speed date?”

  Nodding and smiling, she focused on Jerry, still too far away to hear them. “Yes, yes, Jerry. I’m very fond of Jerry, actually.”

  Damian stopped walking and stared at her. “What?”

  “Well, if it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t be here with you, right?” Her smile teased him. “I owe him big time.”

  Sliding his hand around her waist firmly, he kissed her. “No. You don’t owe him shit. But let’s go say hi and do the reintroductions. I wasn’t even sure he was gonna be here today.”

  They walked over to where Jerry stood by a couple of the lounging chairs with both girls. “Hey, Jer. I see you got my text.”

  “Yeah, and it was perfect timing, because I was just trying to figure out what we were gonna do today.”

  He turned to the unassuming brunette standing next to him and introduced her as Janis. Glad Jerry didn’t give her a label of any kind, he left out the “my girlfriend” part when asking him if he rememb
ered Bethany. He could tell Jerry was very surprised about how different she looked now, compared to the way she’d looked at that speed date. “Wow, I would’ve never recognized you.”

  He watched, maybe a bit too closely, as Bethany explained how she’d been in costume that night. It wasn’t that he expected to see any sparks, but he still wanted to be sure. Satisfied that he saw absolutely none, he turned to Ashlynn. He began to introduce her to Bethany as the girl removed her sarong revealing her very tiny bikini bottom, which matched the equally revealing top. “Damian,” she said, smiling coyly, the lashes already doing their thing. “I didn’t mean to keep you up so late last night.”

  That got Bethany’s attention instantly, and she turned to Ashlynn, then back to Damian. “This is Jerry’s daughter, Bethany,” he said quickly. “Ashlynn, this is Bethany. And don’t worry about last night. You did the right thing calling me.”

  Not even sure if Ashlynn and Bethany had acknowledged each other, Damian had the sudden urge to walk away. “Make yourselves at home,” he said, patting Jerry on the shoulder. “I’m gonna go grab the stuff to get the grub going.”

  “Let me know if you need any help,” Jerry offered as Damian walked away with Bethany.

  “She kept you up last night?” Bethany asked immediately.

  “Not really, I was already up anyway.” He turned to her, wondering if he should tell her everything or just the need-to-know stuff. Damian was all for complete honesty, but this was the kind of thing Bethany did not need to know. “She went out last night and I guess Jer had a date, too. Her date got drunk. Jerry’s made her promise to call him if that ever happened instead of getting into a car with a drunk driver, but she couldn’t get hold of him, so she called me.” Bethany’s sexy but suspicious little eyebrow had been up the entire time he explained. “I was on my way home from the station, so of course I picked her up and took her home. She’s only sixteen,” he added the last part hoping it would soften Bethany’s still-apprehensive stare.

  Clearly it didn’t, because she didn’t seem at all satisfied with that explanation. “She said she kept you up,” she reminded him.

  “Yeah, well, she’s a little like Carey and your sister,” he said with a short chuckle, eager to lighten the mood as they reached the top of the stairs. “Even after I got her home, she went on and on talking for a while.”

  “Really?” Bethany didn’t look or sound at all amused. “So what did she have so much to talk to you about?”

  Damian followed Bethany’s eyes as she glanced back at Ashlynn, the sixteen- going on twenty-five-year-old vixen lying on the lounge chair rubbing suntan lotion on her long legs. Most of the guys around her seemed to be trying but failing miserably not to gawk. “She’s a long story, babe,” Damian said as their eyes met again. “I’ll have to tell you about her another time. All I know is Jerry’s got his hands full with that one.”

  Bethany still didn’t seem at all satisfied with that, but she didn’t press further. Maybe he would just tell her the whole truth. It might actually be better. He thought about Ashlynn’s being bullied, and judging by the way she’d fluttered her lashes at him even while he stood there holding Bethany’s hand, she was probably a lot more like her mom than Jerry would ever admit. He knew what Bethany must be thinking. She was partly right. Ashlynn had laid it on thick, very possibly in the hope of causing some friction, but not for the reasons he was sure Bethany was thinking.

  Carey was already in her bathing suit when they got into the house. Fina was spraying sunscreen on her. “Get that on good,” Damian said as they walked into the room. “It’s blazing out there. Mitri’s already in the pool. Have him make sure she stays under the shade.”

  Immediately, Carey started up. “I can swim all the way to the deep side now without my floaties,” she informed them all. “And I can float for a long time.” She turned to Fina. “Huh, Mommy? You can time me, Uncle Damian. My longest is almost a minute.”

  His niece was off and running, but that seemed to change Bethany’s mood. Bethany smiled at Carey’s excited babble, seemingly forgetting, at least for the moment, Ashlynn’s fluttering lashes. She even stayed in the family room chatting with Carey as Damian went into the kitchen.

  Gathering all the stuff he needed to take outside, he cursed under his breath about this unexpected twist to what should’ve been a pleasant day with Bethany, even with the entire gang there. Ashlynn had an agenda, and he might just have to let Bethany in on it before she misinterpreted her actions. Damian was not planning on dealing with this shit today. He’d wondered about it after he left Ashlynn last night, but now he was sure of it. He’d fucked up, and this could be bad.

  Chapter 16

  The giant inflatable turtle finally made its way into the pool, and Carey happily hopped onto it. Bethany had helped her inflate it. The entire time she’d heard all about Carey’s own five mini musk turtles, not to be mistaken for the slider-type turtles, because those were not really minis, just baby turtles that actually grow big and usually die very quickly—they found out the hard way. After her rather long tutorial on turtles and how to tell the difference between musk and baby slider types, Bethany had been able to get away for a moment to change into her own two-piece bathing suit.

  His sister was everything Bethany had expected, tall, thin, and very pretty. Her medium-length wavy hair was highlighted and complemented her perfectly tanned skin. Bethany didn’t even have to wonder. She was certain it was a natural tan. Yep. Another native of the planet Just Not Fair. But to her relief, she’d been just as easy to talk to as Damian and his brothers. Bethany had expected his older “mother hen” sister to be a bit snooty. That couldn’t have been further from the truth.

  And Damian definitely hadn’t exaggerated about Carey’s being a chatterbox. Fina had actually told her to take a breath a few times, which she did very dramatically, then she’d start right back up again. Fina had also more than once shaken her head at Bethany apologetically. Bethany didn’t mind. She thought Carey was adorable, but that mouth of hers was a bit of a loose cannon. To her mother’s dismay, she’d let Bethany in on a few things. One: She’d be an excellent flower girl if Bethany ever needed one. Two: Her mommy said all her uncles were comittyfolic, which, after explaining it meant they could never have just one girlfriend for very long before getting a new one, Bethany realized meant commitment phobic. Bethany thought that was interesting, considering how quickly Damian had brought up the whole subject of committing and exclusivity.

  Last, but most disturbing, and this came so out of nowhere that Bethany had been left speechless: Uncle Dominic’s mom was not her grandma, and she was so sad she took a lot of sleeping pills so she’d never have to wake up again, and that’s why she was in heaven now.

  That’s when Fina had finally pulled the plug. She’d changed the subject quickly, and they’d all headed out to the pool. Carey’s unexpected announcement about Dominic’s mom explained a little about why, in what appeared to be such a tight-knit family, he chose to live so far away, but Bethany dared not ask further details about something so personal.

  Bethany joined Fina and Carey in the pool. The water felt heavenly, and Damian told her he’d join her just as soon as he got the meat on the grill. He and his brothers would take turns watching the grill, so he could relax, too. She’d only been in the water for a few minutes when she noticed Ashlynn walk over to the grill and talk to Damian. He’d looked up in her direction, and their eyes had met a few times.

  The fact that someone as young as Ashlynn could be attracted to Damian didn’t surprise her. What had surprised her was how nervous Damian had become when explaining Ashlynn’s comment about keeping him up late last night. Even now, as Ashlynn leaned on the island around the grill, flashing Damian her overly developed sixteen-year-old cleavage, he appeared a bit unnerved. Bethany had a feeling she knew what Damian had meant when he’d said Jerry had his hands full with Ashlynn.

  Bethany was no stranger to premature overdevelopment. She and her sis
ter had both been cursed with developing far too early. But unlike Ashlynn, who clearly enjoyed flaunting it, Bethany remembered trying to hide hers. She’d been tormented in middle school by the immaturity of the thirteen-year-old boys who’d dubbed her “Turbo Tits” very early on. Stella was worse, constantly cursing her overly developed curves.

  She watched as Damian closed the grill, said something to Diego, who stood nearby, then something to Ashlynn, before walking away toward the pool. There was no hiding the disappointment on Ashlynn’s face, as she kept her eyes on Damian even as he removed his shirt. Bethany’s focus was immediately on Damian’s chiseled abs and amazing chest. He jumped into the pool, and Bethany took the moment he was underwater to snap out of her stupor and glance back up at Ashlynn, who smiled at her strangely before lifting her brow and looking away. The fact that she was a sixteen-year-old minor didn’t lessen her irritation with girl. Bethany knew her type already. She’d been around plenty of girls like her back in school, the girls who had no qualms about flirting with the young but adult school narks and even teachers if they were attractive enough.

  Damian’s head popped up from the water, and he swam up to Bethany, immediately kissing her. It wasn’t any different from how he had been all day, but Bethany sensed his unease.

  Feeling his hands glide all over her underwater took a little from the tension that had begun to develop inside her. She glanced back and noticed sweet little Ashlynn was watching them, so she wrapped her legs around him, cupping his face in her hands, and kissed him very thoroughly. As juvenile as she felt for even thinking it, she hoped to squash any ideas or fantasies running through that girl’s head about Damian—her boyfriend. She came up for air sooner than she wanted, because she had to be mindful that they weren’t alone in that pool, but she did smile sinfully, licking her lips.