Desert of the Damned (15 page)

Dante frowned slightly and smiled at Jake. “I won’t keep her long. You don’t need to wait, Jake. I don’t want to inconvenience you.” His condescending tone flowed like an undercurrent in an ocean.

“Not a problem. Go have your meeting.” Jake didn’t rise to Dante’s attitude.

Although Amy tried not to reveal any emotion to either of them, she was fuming.

“Thanks, Jake, I’ll see you at my house,” she said.

“I’ll be there.” Jake left for the parking lot as Amy followed Dante to his office.

When Dante closed the door behind her, he locked it. Her stomach jumped. “Why did you lock the door?”

“So we won’t be disturbed.” He pressed her up against the wall, pinning her arms over her head.

“Stop it.” She jerked free and hurried to the other side of the room. “Is this why you called me into your office?”

“You’ve been leaving messages on my phone. I thought you wanted to see me.”

She sighed and looked at her shoes, then looked up at him, stiffening her back.

“That’s not why I’ve been calling you.”

“Oh? Then why? Should I start another campfire? That teasing, kinky routine always got you so aroused.” Dante reached out to take her hand and she pulled away again.

“I didn’t want to do this here but you won’t answer your phone or call me at home.

You rarely did in the few months we were seeing each other. Seeing. That’s a joke. We were fucking. Fucking that’s a joke too because we never actually fucked. Why was that, Dante? Don’t you like to fuck?” She was pissed now. She didn’t like being backed into a corner. How did she let herself let this go on for so long? What was it about him?

It had been more than the sex. It was never love, it was more like an obsession. Now she wanted to be free of him.

“I told you I dated others.”

“So you do this with other women?”

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He didn’t answer at first. “Sometimes.”

“Then no great loss when I’m gone,” she said as she walked to the door.

“What happened between you and Nature Boy today? You two hit it off awfully fast.”

Still holding the doorknob, she spun around. “Oh, we had a very romantic time on the trails today collecting animal feces. Great first date. And what if I had? You don’t want a committed relationship, you’re dating other women. Why would you have a problem with me seeing other men? Grow up, Dante.”

She unlocked the door and flung it open. “Good night.”

“No more campfires?” he asked, smiling.

“No. More. Campfires,” she said between clenched teeth.

“Got it. Enjoy your dinner,” he said as he sat down behind his desk as if they’d just finished a discussion about the budget for the next fiscal year.

* * * * *

After Jake picked her up at her house, Amy kept reminding herself that this was not a date, this was a business dinner. Although she wished it was. For a Thursday night, the Los Olas Café was unusually packed with patrons. Jake and Amy entered the restaurant and Jake gave their name to the host. Tall arched ceilings and walls artificially made to look like crumbling plaster and old brick. Cozy booths surrounded the main dining area with stained glass lamps hanging low over each table. Other wooden tables were scattered around the rest of the room. The smells of grilled beef, onions, peppers and Mexican spices filled the room.

“Two for dinner,” Jake told the hostess standing at the small lighted desk.

The hostess’s eyes lit up when she glanced at Jake.

“There’s a fifteen-minute wait,” the hostess said. “We have a live band in the bar this evening. I’ll be giving some line dancing lessons. I do hope you’ll stay around.” She gave him her sexy cover model smile. A twinge of jealousy hit Amy, and she shrugged it off. The guy was a hunk, what did she expect?

“Thanks.” Jake turned to Amy. “Want to wait at the bar?”

“First let me see if Betty is here with her date. She did say to come over and say hello. I want to check him out, make sure he’s not a serial killer or something.”

Jake laughed. “And you think you’re going to figure that out just by saying hello?”

She crossed her arms and raised her chin. “I’m a pretty good judge of character.”

Hadn’t always made the best choices concerning the men in her own life over the years but she didn’t want to admit to that.

“There she is.” Jake pointed to a booth at the far wall, partly hidden by decorative fountain surrounded by tropical plants and Aztec pottery.

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Amy walked straight over to their table with Jake right behind her. Betty’s face lit up when she saw them. “Amy! Jake! You made it. We’re almost done eating but we’re going to the bar to dance later.” Amy made introductions. Lupi stood to shake hands, smiling warmly. He was much shorter than Jake, probably late fifties, a bit stocky but not heavy. The trim goatee might have looked threatening on another man but Amy saw kindness and intelligence glinting in his eyes. He was like the college professor who all the students loved and often saw in the hallways with armfuls of books, oblivious to his untied shoelace.

“Please sit,” Jake said. “We only wanted to say hello.”

“Their tortillas are homemade, try the fajitas,” Lupi offered.

“And the house margarita. Yum,” Betty added.

“Sounds great.” Lupi seemed friendly enough but Jake was right. How could she really know if this guy was okay? “Betty says you teach at the University of Phoenix?”

“Yes, I teach history. Only part-time though. I’m semi-retired.”

“I miss working with the kids,” Betty said.

“You were a teacher too?” Jake asked.

Betty shook her head. “No, no. I was only a teacher’s aide for third graders.”

Jake frowned. “Don’t say only a teacher’s aide. You had a very important job. You were in charge of the duct tape.” He smiled.

Betty burst out laughing and slapped her hand on the table. “I like you, Jake. You’re good people and cute too.”

Lupi chuckled too and sipped his water. “Hey, I could use that duct tape on some of my students. Even though they’re young adults, they sometimes act like they’re in third grade.”

Jake had been holding his hand at the small of Amy’s back for the last couple of minutes and she didn’t want to move away. The heat of his hand penetrated through her burnt orange top.

His hand moved slightly and her body responded by sending goose bumps along her arms and making her nipples pucker. A slight throb reached between her legs.
I’m
turned-on, damn it. But I just met this guy today.

“Jake?” a small, sexy voice said from behind them. “Table for two? I found one a little early for you,” the hostess said with a dump-your-date-meet-me-after-work look.

“Ready?” Jake asked Amy.

She nodded. They said their goodbyes to Lupi and Betty and followed the hostess to their table.

* * * * *

He hadn’t been looking for anyone in his life at the moment. The last romantic disaster taught him to keep his private life and history to himself. After Alison left for 83

Kathy Kulig

California months ago, he had been too busy to date—a good excuse. The average person couldn’t deal with his issues.

Alison had been the first woman he confided in and she didn’t want to have anything to do with him after that. The scratch on her leg that his mountain lion form had made left a scar but the internal wound was much deeper. She’d left so fast, it was like a magic trick.
I can make them disappear but they don’t come back.

He wouldn’t make that same mistake twice. He’d managed to disown his past, his heritage. He didn’t need to share details of his shapeshifting abilities with every woman he met.

After the waitress took their drink and food orders, Jake leaned back in the booth, his arm stretched over the back of the seat. “Tired? It was a long day.” Amy had been staring across the room as if she was miles away. She looked a little sad too.

Blinking, she shook herself and straightened. “Sorry, daydreaming a little. No, I’m not tired.”

“Want to share your daydream?”

“If I was back home in Florida, I would be out with my friends tonight.”

“Thursday night is ladies’ night out?” he asked as the hostess brought them their drinks.

“You’ll love these margaritas. They’re my favorite too,” the hostess said. Was it his imagination or had the hostess unbuttoned a button or two since she sat them at the table?

“What happened to our waitress?” Jake asked.

She blushed. “Oh, she’s tied up with an order so I offered to help out.”

“Great that you all work together like that,” Amy said with a hint of sarcasm, her chin in her hand.

Just then the waitress arrived with chips and salsa. She glanced at the drinks and frowned. “Something wrong?” she asked the hostess.

“No, no. Your drinks were up and I happened to be there,” the hostess said as if she did it all the time.

The waitress furrowed her brows and shrugged as if to say, “Whatever.” Both women left.

Amy started giggling. “I think the hostess has the hots for you.” Her cell phone rang. She apologized, glanced at the screen, frowned and pressed the ringer off.

He didn’t comment. Instead, he smiled and changed the subject. “What would you and your friends be doing tonight then in Florida? Since it was ladies’ night.”

The smile slipped from her face, replace by a sad loneliness.

“It’s not ladies’ night.” Her mouth pressed tight in a grimace. The phone began to ring again with a different tone. She groaned. “I’m sorry, I thought I turned it off.

It’s…a text from work.”

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“Maybe you should check it then,” he said.

She pressed the keypad on her phone, studied the screen and frowned. Glancing up, she met his gaze as she flipped the phone closed and tossed it in her purse. “It’s work but it’s not work related. Dante was wishing me happy birthday.” She rolled her eyes.

Jake was beginning to get the picture. “Did you two have plans this evening?”

“No.”

He nodded and wondered if he was crossing a line. “Is this a jealous boyfriend issue?”

Amy gave a nervous laugh. “No, he’s not a boyfriend.”

“It’s none of my business.” Jake raised his hands as if trying to wipe away his last question.

“It’s okay. There was something between us but it recently ended.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry for.” She sighed and looked away, then sipped her drink.

“Something else is eating at you.” He sipped his beer, never taking his eyes off her.

“It’s nothing, really.”

“Oh no, after what we did today, I think you can confide in me. What gives?”

She let out a breath. “It sounds silly but I’ve only been away from Florida eight months and none of my friends called me today. I didn’t receive any cards either.” She looked a little sheepish. Her hands cupped her margarita glass.

“Your friends forgot your birthday.”

She shrugged. “We always went out on each other’s birthdays. One of my friends recently got engaged and I didn’t get invited to the wedding. It’s like I fell off the planet when I moved.”

“That sucks.” He reached across the table and took her hand, squeezing it. “Happy birthday, Amy. And I’m sorry your friends didn’t call you.”

“Thanks but that’s not the whole problem. I’m thinking that if they’ve forgotten my birthday in only eight months, how is it going to be when I finally do return to Florida?

Will I feel like a stranger moving into a new area again and starting over?”

“You could stay here.”

“Arizona is nice but my home is in Florida. At least it was.”

“That’s too bad.” He wanted to say he’d hoped to get to know her better, much better. The band had started playing already, the country western music wafted into the dining room. “Since it’s your birthday, I’ll have to treat you to a dance to two before we leave.”

“You’ll probably have that hostess after you to give you lessons,” she warned.

“Not a problem. I don’t need lessons. Can you two-step?” he asked as the waitress brought them their dinners still sizzling on the cast-iron serving skillets.

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“Since I don’t know what two-step is, I’d say no,” she laughed.

“Not a problem. I can teach you.” Dinner couldn’t get over fast enough because then he’d have her in his arms and begin persuading her to stay in Arizona.

“One dance,” she said. “I have to work tomorrow. And it better be a slow one so I don’t tumble onto the floor.”

“Very slow.” The slower the better. His cock stirred with the thought of holding her close, his hand pressing at the curve of her back just above her buttocks. Her breasts crushed against his chest. He groaned inwardly. Damn, it had been too long. He was turning into a horndog. He ate his fajita dinner but didn’t remember how it tasted.

* * * * *

“This is it. We’re up.” Jake took Amy’s hand and drew her out toward the dance floor. Several other couples began to move in a counterclockwise direction.

“That’s the two-step?” she asked.

“It’s not as hard as it looks. Watch their steps. Quick, quick, slow, slow.”

She glanced at the other couples as they eased around the room in perfect rhythm, making turns without missing a beat. “Everyone is wearing cowboy boots and hats—

the men and the women. The typical attire in a dance club in Florida is slinky, short and low-cut.”

“Don’t worry about what people are wearing. Watch the steps.” Jake placed his hand in the small of her back as a couple passed them doing several spins.

“Oh, terrific. Maybe this was a bad idea. I don’t think I can do this.”

“Sure you can.” He walked her through the steps on the side, then held her closer for a dry run before going out on the dance floor. “It’ll take a few tries. Everyone had to learn at one time.”

She giggled nervously and looked up at him with intense sexy eyes. “I’m sure I’m going to trip and fall on my ass.”

“I’ve got you, I won’t let you fall.”