Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Diana
Opening up to Dragon about my work troubles felt good.
It felt…right.
Maybe I shouldn’t have hijacked this trip with him.
He doesn’t want to talk about whatever this is about. I’m sure it has something to do with whatever Alayna is investigating. Perhaps she found something here in Taos.
I take another sip of my margarita. It’s good, but for the life of me I don’t know why Donny drinks these. It just tastes like pure sugar with a little bit of tequila and lime thrown in.
For some reason, when I saw the server bring margaritas to the table next to us, I got a craving. Maybe I was thinking of my big brother. Who knows? Donny is currently on his honeymoon with his new wife, Callie Pike. My little sister Brianna is on her honeymoon with Callie’s brother, Jesse. Their other two sisters, Rory and Maddie, are also on honeymoons with my cousins Brock and Dave, respectively.
The big quadruple wedding—where Dragon was Jesse’s best man.
A pang of envy hits me.
I’m not sure where it came from. When I stood up as Brianna’s maid of honor at the recent wedding, all I felt was happiness for my sister and the rest of the wedding party.
I’ve never been one to think about marrying and settling down. I know it will happen eventually. I want to be a mother. But I was more interested in my architecture career. I figured I’d be well into my thirties before I considered moving on to family life.
Now my architecture career is… Well, I don’t suppose it’s exactly over. But it certainly has been blockaded.
I don’t doubt that Rod will blacklist me among architecture firms in Denver. Maybe even throughout the state of Colorado.
I could open my own firm—use my trust fund money to finance it—but if I’m blacklisted, will anyone hire me? The Steel name is a very important name in Colorado, but it’s not insurmountable. And a lot of people don’t trust us, based on rumors about us that are completely unfounded.
Chanel comes back to take our dinner order and deliver a basket of freshly made tortilla chips and homemade salsa.
“You go ahead,” I say to Dragon. “I’ve hardly looked at the menu.”
“I can give you two a few more minutes,” Chanel says.
“No, that’s okay,” I tell her. “Just take his order first.”
Dragon clears his throat. “I’ll have the carne asada.”
“Rice and beans with that?”
“Yeah, please.”
“And have you decided, ma’am?” she asks me.
I mull it over. “Enchiladas. Chicken enchiladas.”
“Absolutely. Rice and beans?”
“Just rice,” I say. “No cheese on top of the enchiladas.”
She makes notes. “Got it.”
“No cheese?” Dragon says.
“I’m a little lactose intolerant,” I say. “I can handle a little dairy. I had two slices of pizza the other night at Teddy’s party. I was fine. But it’s best not to tempt fate, and personally I think enchiladas are just as delicious without cheese.”
“That depends on the sauce,” he says.
“Yeah, you’re right about that. Hopefully the sauce here is good.” I take a chip, dip it in the salsa, and eat it, savoring the crunch. “You should try this,” I say with my mouth still full. “Amazing. The perfect amount of spice.”
“Really? That depends on how you like your spice.”
“Medium to hot,” I say. “I mean, I don’t like my ears to melt off or anything.”
He chuckles. “I do.”
I grab another chip. “You should still try the salsa. The flavor is out of this world.”
He nods, takes a chip, dips it, chews, swallows.
We’ve been living together for nearly a week now and have been to bed twice, so how is it that we’ve run out of things to talk about? We didn’t talk much on the drive, which was fine with me. So why does the silence between us now hang so heavily?
I take another sip of my margarita. “Just so you know, Dragon, you don’t have to tell me anything about why we’re here. But if you choose to, I will listen, I will not judge, and I will take whatever you say to me to the grave.”
He simply nods without meeting my gaze as he dips another chip into the salsa.
I suppose that’s my answer.
I’ll deal with it. This is a guy who is an island. Kind of a recluse in his own way. I know he’s close to Jesse, but no one else really knows him.
So when he opens his mouth to speak, I’m surprised as hell.
“I’m looking for my parents,” he says.
His parents?
Funny.
I never thought of Dragon as having parents. Of course everyone has parents.
But he’s never said anything about them. And usually when people don’t talk about their parents, it’s not for any good reason. And Dragon has that air of darkness about him…
If they’re the reason he is the way he is, then why the hell would he be looking for them?
I try to play it cool, dipping another chip in the salsa. It cracks in half, of course.
I scoop another chip in to save the first and awkwardly bring it to my mouth, chew, and swallow.
I take a slow breath in. “I see. And you think they’re here in Taos?”
“Alayna seems to think they might be. She was going to come down and check it out, but I told her I wanted to do it myself.”
He wants to find them. But there must be a reason they’ve been so hard to track down.
I’ll tread carefully.
“So…you haven’t known where they are?”
He takes a deep breath in, closes his eyes, and runs his hands through his dark hair, which he’s wearing down tonight. “I haven’t seen my parents in years.”
“Oh?”
“Come on,” he says. “You knew I had some kind of backstory.”
I shake my head. “No one knows anything about you. All we know is that you’re a gifted drummer in the band.”
“And that I’m an addict.”
I bite my lip. “Honestly, I didn’t even know that until recently.”
“Right. Because I still smoked pot and drank beer.”
“Not that. I just didn’t…” I’m not sure how to finish my sentence.
Do I say I’ve never given him a thought before now? Because that’s not exactly true. I’ve always been kind of fascinated by him. He’s so quiet, keeps to himself. He’s a hell of a drummer, and the band thinks the world of him. Even after all the shit he put them through in Europe.
So it’s not that I’ve never been interested in learning about him. It’s more that he’s always been so distant that it always seemed like it would be a fruitless endeavor to even try. He’s so stoic, so detached.
“You just didn’t what?” he asks.
I dip another chip in the salsa, but I don’t bring it to my mouth. “I didn’t know you. I never… thought about knowing you.”
He looks at me. Stares at me. I wish I knew what was going through his mind right now. There’s so much I want to say to him, but I don’t think he’s ready to hear it. I’m not sure I’m ready to say it yet anyway.
“I see,” he finally says.
I hold up my hand. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to know you now . When Brianna first asked me to let you live with me, I was a little freaked out.”
“Because you thought I’d be a danger to you?”
“No, not at all. I trust Jesse’s judgment. And I trust Brianna’s. But you and I… I figured we were from different planets or something.”
He doesn’t react. At least not with his face. How does he do that?
“Do you still think that now?”
“Come on, Dragon.” I narrow my eyes at him coyly. “I think you know the answer to that question.”
He doesn’t smile.
“Maybe you don’t,” I say. “We’ve been intimate. I feel like I’ve shown you a part of myself that I’m not sure I’ve shown anyone else.” Warmth rushes to my cheeks. “I found out some things about myself that I didn’t know before I knew you.”
His eyebrows nearly fly off his head. “What? Because we fucked?”
I look down. “Maybe it was a fuck to you, Dragon. But it was a lot more to me.” I puff my chest out and return my gaze to his. “And you know what? I’m not ashamed to say that. Because if this thing at work taught me anything, it’s that you shouldn’t be afraid to tell the truth. I did the right thing in the end. It’s the decision I should’ve made at the outset. Because I’m an architect, because I believe in doing the best job possible for my client. I’m also a human being. A woman with feelings and emotions. And what has happened between us means something to me. It was so much more than just a fuck.”
He doesn’t say anything. Not that I expect him to.
We get a brief respite when Chanel comes with our dinners.
I inhale the robust aroma of tomatoes and spices.
“Can I get the two of you anything else?” Chanel asks.
“I’d like a refill on my water, please,” Dragon says.
“For you?” she asks me. “Maybe another margarita?”
“No, I’m going to switch to water, but thank you.”
“Not a problem. I’ll bring that right back for you.” She whisks away.
I grab my napkin and place it in my lap, take my fork, and slice off a piece of the enchilada. I’m about to open my mouth when Dragon clears his throat.
“It was more to me too,” he says.
My fork stops midair.
“I see that surprises you.”
“Maybe a little.” I put my fork down. “You want to elaborate?”
“No.” He looks down at his plate and starts to scoop food onto his own fork. “I don’t want to elaborate.”
Shocking. Dragon doesn’t want to talk. I keep myself from audibly sighing.
But hey, he feels something. Better than the opposite. Right?
I pick my fork back up and bring the bite of enchilada the rest of the way to my mouth, chew, and swallow. It’s delicious. And maybe even a little bit more delicious now that I know Dragon is feeling something.
What does he feel specifically? I don’t know, but he wouldn’t have bothered saying anything at all unless he meant it.
After I take another few bites of enchilada, I put my fork down. “You want to tell me anything more about your parents? About why you’ve been looking for them?”
He swallows his mouthful of food. “I’d like to, Diana, but I don’t know that I’m ready to yet.”
“It’s a start,” I say.
We don’t talk for the rest of dinner.
“Dessert?” Chanel asks when she comes to take away our empty dinner plates.
“Not for me,” I say.
“I’ll have the fried ice cream,” Dragon says.
I’m instantly envious. I love ice cream, but I have to be careful.
“Can I have a bite of that when you get it?” I ask.
“Sure. We can share it if you’d like.”
I crack a small smile. “I would love that, but you know, the lactose.”
He strokes his chin. His eyes are almost…playful?
“So what happens if you eat too much?”
“My stomach gets all growly, and…I go to the bathroom. A lot.” My cheeks warm.
“Ah. I see.” He chuckles. “You fart and poop.”
I can’t help a giggle. “God, Dragon.”
“Hey, we all do it, Diana. Did you really think that I thought you didn’t have any bodily functions? That Diana Steel would never do anything like that?”
I just shake my head and take a drink of my water.
If I wasn’t sure I was falling in love before, I am now.
When Chanel brings Dragon’s dessert, the smell of sweet cream and cinnamon wafts toward me.
Dragon offers me a spoon. “First bite to you.”
“Thank you.” I crack through the hard exterior and get some of the ice cream, making sure I get the caramel sauce and whipped cream as well. I bring it between my lips. “Oh,” I groan as it slides over my tongue.
Dragon gives me a semi-smile.
I swallow. “What?”
“I don’t know, Diana.” He narrows his eyes. “That look on your face is pretty close to something I’ve seen before.”
Despite the coldness of the ice cream, my entire face grows hot.
I clear my throat. “Try it. It’s delicious.”
He lowers his eyelids slightly. “I intend to.”
Tingles shoot through my body. This man. He’s so dangerous, so sexy.
I hand him the spoon. “So you want to try to find your parents tonight?”
“Yeah, if you don’t mind. Before we go back to the rooms, I want to at least drive by the address that I have.” He takes a bite of the ice cream. “Holy shit. This is good.”
I smirk. “Good enough to warrant the look it put on my face?”
He takes another bite and swallows. “Guess I have some competition on that front.”
I smile, biting my lip gently. “I’m happy to go with you if you’d like. To your parents’. That’s why we’re here.”
He nods, silently finishing the rest of his dessert.
Chanel comes by with the check, and Dragon takes out his wallet. I want to offer to pay—as this is pennies to me—but he already accused me of emasculating him. That’s the last thing I want to do.
As if I could ever possibly emasculate this man.
He’s the most masculine guy I’ve ever met.
And that’s saying a lot, as I grew up with the Steel brothers.
He counts out cash, adds enough for a tip, and leaves it on top of the check.
“Funny,” I say. “I can’t remember the last time I used cash.”
“I don’t use a credit card right now,” he says. “Just a debit card.”
He doesn’t say anything further, and I don’t ask. My guess is that Jesse wired him some money, and he took it in cash. I don’t know. Whatever happens, I’ll make sure that Jesse is paid back.
Even though I know Dragon wouldn’t want me to do that.
Once he’s done with the ice cream, he meets my gaze. “You ready?”
“Are you?”
There’s meaning beneath my words. Is he ready to see his parents? Is he ready to tell me why we’re truly here?
We head to the car, and Dragon, without asking, takes the driver’s seat. Fine with me.
“What’s the address?”
He rattles it off, and I put it in the GPS.
And we’re off.
We drive through the city of Taos. It’s dark now, but even so, the quaintness of the small town is visible in the mom-and-pop restaurants and art galleries. He keeps driving until we get to what appears to be a mobile home park.
I hold back my surprise. After all, I shouldn’t be surprised. Dragon doesn’t come from money. That much is obvious.
“Damn,” he says.
“What’s wrong?”
“I grew up in a suburb of Denver. A northern suburb, and the houses were no bigger than cracker boxes, but they were sure as hell a lot nicer than this.”
I look around. “Some of these look very nice.”
He scoffs. “Please, Diana. Nobody in your family would be caught dead here.”
“Ava might,” I say.
My cousin Ava is famous for never touching Steel money. She runs a bakery in downtown Snow Creek, and she used to live above it. Now she lives above Murphy’s Bar with her new husband, Brendan Murphy. She’s renting out the apartment above the bakery.
“Yeah? Last time I checked, you’re not Ava.”
“Just shut the fuck up, will you, Dragon?” I can scarcely believe those words came out of my mouth, but they get a chuckle out of him. “What’s so funny?”
“You just said the F word. You told me to shut the fuck up.”
“Because you won’t stop thinking of me as some spoiled rich bitch.” I punch him on his upper arm. “I am sick as hell of that. Everybody at my new job—correction, my former job—thought the same. And you’ve heard me say the F word before, so fuck you.”
He says nothing.
We drive up to the unit. It’s not one of the nicer maintained ones. In fact, the small lawn is full of weeds, and the redwood steps leading up to the door look broken and rickety.
“Do you want me to come with you?” I ask.
“No. This is something I need to do on my own.” He looks around, scanning our surroundings. “Keep the car doors locked.”
I was planning to, though I’m not going to say that to him.
He draws in a deep breath. “Here goes nothing.”