by Luna Joya
Cami touched the amulet at her throat. “Yes. Although it’s misfired a few times.”
Delia’s brow furrowed. “Ama’s charms don’t misfire.”
She curled her hand in her lap. “Can we drop this and talk about something else? Anything else?”
Delia stared at her a moment, obviously deliberating as she chewed. Finally, she said, “This food is delicious. You made a good choice with your new man.”
She couldn’t stop her smile at both her sister’s double-edged approval of Sam and his food as well as the switch in topics.
“What’d you wear on the library date? Knee socks and a short schoolgirl skirt?” Mina snickered.
“What’s it matter?” Maybe the switch in topics wasn’t all that better.
Delia sliced her food into neat, ordered bites. “Clothes always matter.”
She ducked her head. “Jeans, pink Converse sneakers, and my Reading Rainbow shirt.”
Mina choked on her salad. “You did not wear that ratty old thing.”
Delia’s eyes widened a fraction, her equivalent of shock.
“What? It’s vintage.” Cami loved that shirt. She wouldn’t be parted from it. “Besides Sam said LeVar Burton was cool. The man was on Star Trek.”
“Stop it.” Mina poked her fork in the air until Delia put up her hand. “Cams, you found a hot surfer geek. You cannot mess this up.”
Cami stared blankly at her wine. “I’m not so sure about that.” She’d screwed up her only other attempt at a relationship. Running away from Neil had been a welcome relief. Losing Sam would be more of a punch in the gut. How’d he manage to become such a vital part of her life in a couple of weeks?
“Wow. You’ve got it bad.” Mina’s deadpan tone did nothing to reassure her.
Cami chewed on her lip. “Not helping.” She tugged Sam’s flannel closer, telling herself it was only the clouds moving in over the water that made her shiver. “What brings you two out this way?”
Delia drank deeply of the wine. “Mina wanted to talk to you about the case you and Sam have been researching.”
“Sunny Sol’s death is not a case. The coroner said she died of accidental carbon monoxide poisoning.” She had been sure the woman had died because of one of the violent men in her life, but maybe she was projecting her own fears on the mystery.
Mina shook her head and chased her food with tea. “Something feels off about Sunny’s death. Unresolved.” She lowered her voice. “I couldn’t see what happened in the garage before that morning. Something about it blocks me.”
“It’s been bothering her, keeping her awake,” Delia said.
Cami frowned. “You didn’t tell me that.”
“Way to rat me out.” Mina pointed a knife in Delia’s direction before quickly tucking it back into her chicken.
Delia gave her a scary stare over her wine. Only a sister would call Delia out on anything.
“Sorry,” Mina said. “I didn’t want to bother you about your research. I was hoping you were getting busy with your new boyfriend.”
“Maybe you should reach out to that research group that contacted you last year about people with special talents.” She tried to remember the name of the study.
Delia wrinkled her nose. “I still don’t know how they found Mina. There’s no reason for anyone to know what we can do. Parapsychology? What sort of freak study is that?”
“We aren’t freaks,” Mina snapped. “We’re magical and awesome. It’s a gift. Just because the two of you don’t accept it as part of who you are doesn’t mean I should have to hide.”
Cami learned in those final moments, bloodied and beaten at the beach with Neil, that her own powers could turn into something ugly and unruly. She’d called on her powers to plunge him below the waves, and her magic had begged to drag him further down. The ocean had welcomed her to force him into its depths. She hadn’t allowed herself to tap into the seductive pull since, except for a moment to track her sister the morning she’d met Sam. “There are rules and consequences for our abilities.”
“Other than keeping magic on the downlow, the only big rule is not to hurt anyone,” Mina snapped. “How hard is that?”
She remembered the overwhelming temptation, the absolute desire to use her powers against Neil and make her own pain stop. The first rule of magic to harm none wasn’t so easy to keep. She had learned that the hard way. She didn’t want her little sister to do the same. “I’m only trying to help. Maybe they could teach you some control.”
Mina never looked up from her plate. “I study spells with Ama. I work with Ita and Gigi whenever I can. If our mom and grandmothers don’t qualify as experts in the field, then I don’t know who could.”
Cami didn’t argue. “So about Sunny Sol, why do you say the garage at Casa Oceana blocks you?” She could tell from Mina’s blank look she needed to backtrack. “You mentioned you couldn’t see before Sunny’s body was discovered. The garage is down the hill from Casa Oceana, the mansion Sunny’s lover Paul Price owned with his wife.”
“I don’t know. It just does. It’s like a blank around the garage doors.” Mina’s face screwed up. “Sunny and Paul as lovers? So gross. He was way older—like three decades older—and totally creepy.”
“Cami, how old was Sol when she died?” Delia interrupted Mina’s coming tirade.
“Twenty-seven.”
Delia pushed back her plate. “Way too damn young.”
“Agreed.”
“What else did you discover?” Mina asked, stealing leftovers off Delia’s plate.
“You slip today?” Cami asked her. Mina always ate more after she used her powers.
“Can’t I simply be hungry? Geez. Your Sunny research?”
Cami took a sip of wine before resuming. “They called her the Sunshine Sweetheart based upon her golden blonde locks and gorgeous face. She had impeccable comedic timing and bankable star appeal. She rocked a sassy smart mouth. The press went crazy at the discovery of her body and started spinning all kinds of stories. Sorting through the misinformation, false reports, and rumors about Sol’s death took as much time as researching the supported facts.”
“Did you find any other lovers?” Mina interrupted. “Any possible suspects?”
Of course, in her family’s experience, it had to be a lover or crazed ex. “Other than Sol’s short marriage to an abusive mafia-affiliate husband, she’d gotten death threats and extortion letters before her death. Someone even broke into her house.” Cami shuddered at the invasion of privacy. “And a nasty rumor circulated about Felix Fortuno.”
“The mobster?” Delia perked up at the mention of crime. “But I thought he was a New York guy. What kind of rumor?”
Cami didn’t comment on how organized crime captured Delia’s attention. “That Fortuno threatened her because she wouldn’t let him open a gambling business above her café.”
“Where did he supposedly do this?”
“At the Brown Derby.”
Delia opened her mouth to say something to Mina, then snapped it shut. “Wait, aren’t those all closed?”
Cami nodded. “The Brown Derby Hollywood burned. There’s a luxury hotel built at the site now.”
Delia smiled. “Maybe you and Sam should go research the location. Mina could stop by for a drink. She might slip.”
Mina interjected, “She is able to speak for herself, and I don’t mind Sam knowing.” They both looked at her. “We can’t hide our magic forever. He won’t tell. He will have good reason not to, and we’ll need him to figure out what happened to Sunny.”
Cami held her tongue. Mina could see future as well as past. She didn’t want to know what, if anything, her sister had seen about Sam. Sunny’s past seemed a safer topic even if it paralleled her own worst experiences. “Sam and I are not detectives,” she reminded Mina.
“But you two could be the closest thing Sunny’d ever have to a hope of solving the mystery,” Mina pleaded.
Maybe solving the mystery would put her own
paranoia to rest. Perhaps through researching Sunny, she could figure out her own life and where she’d gone so terribly wrong.
“We should talk with Ruby,” Delia said. “She’s got a good head about this stuff.”
“Ama wouldn’t mind seeing us all. She said so last week.” Mina speared the last bite. “You should invite your new boyfriend so Ruby and Ama can meet him.”
Cami refused to be bullied into taking him to be interrogated. “I’ll ask Sam.”
“Ask me what?”
She turned at Sam’s voice, then smiled when he dropped a kiss on the top of her head and squeezed her shoulder before extending his hand toward her older sister. “Good to see you both again.”
Delia merely nodded and kept her hands folded in her lap in a classic “don’t touch me” distancing technique for the psychometric. Cami breathed a sigh of relief. At least Delia wouldn’t read her boyfriend.
“Delia doesn’t shake hands,” Mina said around a mouthful. “Don’t take it personally.”
Sam ruffled Bogart’s fur and put his hand back on Cami’s shoulder.
“You’re invited to come to our family’s home in South Pasadena to talk about Sunny,” Mina answered. “Maybe next weekend?”
“Can we make it two weekends out?” Delia interjected. “Ruby’s working extra shifts this week, and I start trial Monday. Cami will need more time to research Sunny Sol on top of work and her new man.” The hint at their sex life wasn’t the least bit subtle.
She blushed, but Sam answered after a chuckle. “Sounds good. Let me know the times, and I’ll arrange the restaurant schedule for a day off.” He looked down at her. “I need to wrap some things up before I go. You good for another half hour or so?”
She nodded and put her hand over the one he rested on her shoulder. He picked it up and kissed her fingers. “You ladies have everything you need?”
“You bet,” Mina said. “We’ll keep her company for you.”
Sam worked his way through the crowd back to the bar. Both Mina and Delia leaned over in their seats to watch him go.
“That ass,” Delia whispered.
“Right?” Mina shook her head. “Chica, if you don’t jump in bed with that man soon, some other lucky girl will.”
Cami downed the last sip of her wine. “Working on it.”
Delia raised her own glass in salute. “Make sure you do.”
Chapter Eleven
Sam packed dinner and dessert with hopes of enticing Cami back to his place for the night. He’d finally finished up in the restaurant. He opened the truck door for Cami and loaded Bogart in the back. His dog followed her everywhere and was currently nosing through the center console for a rub.
“You okay to come over to my place for dinner?” he asked before closing the door.
“Sure.” She never looked away from Bogart. How was he supposed to guess what was on the non-food menu tonight with that vague answer?
He started down the PCH. She was unusually quiet, staring at the dog or at her lap.
Was it the intense almost-sex on his desk? That foreplay would provide masturbation fantasies for many nights to come if he didn’t get laid soon. He didn’t think she was upset about the orgasm he’d given her. Maybe she’d wanted him to spend more time with her? Or even worse, what if it was something her sisters said? He got along with Lottie fine, and he tolerated Joe, but he could only imagine how out of sorts he’d be after five minutes with either of his parents.
“Your sisters okay?” he asked.
“They’re good.”
That was no help. “They wanted to talk about Sunny Sol? Mina seems really interested. Are we helping her cheat on something for school?”
“Mina would like that.” Her voice lifted.
“This for a history project?”
She didn’t meet his gaze. “More of an independent study for the end of her junior year.”
“That’s cool. She’s a history major?”
The corner of her mouth twisted up. “Almost. Her minor is in forensics and criminality. Her major is more complicated. Let’s just say she picked the closest to hacking she could get.”
“Wow.” He wouldn’t mess with the Donovan women. “Anything else we can do to help her out?”
“Yeah, I may go with her to a luxury hotel in Hollywood next weekend. She wants to check an angle on Sunny’s death.” She paused. “I thought maybe…”
Sam leaned toward her. A hotel with Cami definitely had his attention, but her phone rang. She quickly silenced it and turned it over in her lap.
“Your other boyfriend?” he teased. She bit her lip and didn’t answer. Now he wasn’t so sure he should be joking. She looked nervous. She’d gotten a phone call this morning too, and she’d let that one go straight to voice mail. He started connecting the dots. “Ex-boyfriend?”
She didn’t say anything for a minute. “I don’t know. It’s probably nothing. I figure it’s a telemarketer, but Delia’s worried it’s more.”
“Your DA sister’s worried?”
“Yeah.” She shrugged. “She’s probably overreacting.”
“But if she isn’t, then you know who’s calling?” He couldn’t shake the sudden concern.
She nodded. “I had a bad breakup about a year ago.”
Sam considered that for a moment. “Would he still try to bother you?”
She picked at her thumbnail. “I don’t know.” She looked out the window, crossing her arms, shutting him out.
“That must’ve been a really bad breakup,” he said, prodding one last time.
“It was,” she whispered.
He gripped the steering wheel. “Do you still have feelings for the guy?”
She turned, her eyes wide and blinking. “What? No,” she said immediately. She sighed. “I didn’t ever really, but he didn’t understand.” She went back to staring out the window toward the ocean.
How the hell was he supposed to respond without prying or having her completely shut him out? She’d had a bad breakup with some stalker guy she didn’t even like? No wonder she researched Sunny’s nasty romances, although from all reports, the actress had brawled herself a few times. He couldn’t imagine Cami being caught up in a similar situation.
She still looked tired. “Did you get any rest?”
She nodded. “What happened with the fire earlier?”
“The inferno on the desk? Or the small one in the kitchen?”
She curved the corners of her mouth before answering. That was a good sign. “The one in the kitchen.” She smiled outright then, dimples and all. “Though I preferred the one on the desk.”
He grinned, brushing the back of his hand against her bare thigh before he remembered her thong in his pocket and that she was naked underneath the thin dress. She’d been without her underwear for hours now. Damn, he’d have to roll down a window as hot as that made him. Nothing like fighting an erection in traffic.
He shifted, discussing the flames in the kitchen which suddenly seemed safer for his driving than talking about sex. Still, his hand crept further up her thigh, and she did nothing to discourage it.
Bogart whined from the backseat and pushed his head between them to drool on Sam’s arm. Cami laughed.
“Mood killer,” Sam grumbled.
He pulled into his apartment’s garage with the dog’s drool still on his sleeve. He wiped it on his jeans and walked Bogart before heading in. Sam juggled the food and the dog while she checked her phone.
“Six voice mails,” she said. “All blank.”
“You need to follow up on that.” Seriously, could she not see how dangerous that could be? “Want my help?”
“No, I’ll deal with the phone service.” She didn’t sound concerned as she turned the phone off and reached for her backpack from his shoulder. But he worried enough for the two of them.
“Can you grab the keys out of my pocket?” He shifted the bags to give her access. He’d asked because his hands were full. The fact she’d be reaching her
hand in to grope near his dick would simply be an added bonus.
She dug fingers into his jeans pocket, wrinkled her brow, and pulled out a lace thong. “Look what I found.”
She turned it in front of his face. The scent hit him. Her scent. Lust took over, and all he could think about was her climaxing on his desk.
She sucked on her bottom lip. “Guess the keys were in the other pocket?” She reached her hand in for a quick feel.
He wondered if she could hear his heart pound, see his fingers twitch with need. He breathed in, trying to grasp any coherent thought. But he lost all hope of logic when she coaxed his face down to hers for a deep kiss and licked the tip of her tongue along the seam of his lips. All he could taste or smell or feel was Cami.
Sam took charge of the kiss even with his hands full, using his body to back her into the door. Not caring about the neighbors, he slanted his mouth over hers again and again, deeper each time, while pressing the length of his body against her. She wiggled against his erection, and he struggled to maintain control. He had to get her in the apartment.
He broke the kiss. “Inside,” he demanded. “Now.”
She grinned, this wicked woman of his. She took her sweet time getting the door open.
“Nice use of a door,” she said over her shoulder.
He’d be happy to show her what he could do to her up against a door. A wall. Any surface, really. He stared at the way her hips swayed, summoning him forward.
Not looking away, he toed the door closed, flipped on the kitchen light, and unhooked Bogart’s leash before she could set the keys on the counter. Overwhelmed with the need to touch her, he reached for her again.
“What about dinner?” she teased.
“It’ll keep.” He shoved the food in the fridge with one hand and touched her waist with the other. He inhaled, remembered to go slow, and then forgot everything when she curved her arms around his neck and crushed her soft breasts to his chest.
He groaned at the sensation and sucked her bottom lip into his mouth. She tasted like caramel and sea salt. She was all passion and sass as she snapped back at him with a grin and then a small squeak when he cupped her ass to lift her off the floor. She wrapped her legs around his waist and tilted her head back as he walked them farther into the apartment. Sam couldn’t get to his bed fast enough and almost dropped her when she bit at him.
