He hadn’t been on a hot date in a couple of months now. It wasn’t that he couldn’t find women who wanted to spend time with him. He could have gotten laid every night if that’s all he’d wanted. There were plenty of women in the bars and clubs and online who were willing to do almost anything with anyone. But he was looking for a relationship, a true connection with one special woman, not just a quickfuck.
He had already told Syd about tomorrow night, but she had apparently forgotten. “My cousin just got back from a nine-month deployment in Iraq, and my family is throwing a party. I’m always the designated photographer. I told you about itlast—”
“Right. Okay. Havefun.”
Joaquin left the newsroom, walked down three flights of stairs, and stepped out into the frigid night, his thoughts drifting back to the photograph and MiaStarr.
2
Mia hurried up the sidewalk toward the address Ramirez had given her, wishing she’d worn a warmer coat and sensible shoes instead of these damned heels. She’d never been any good at the girly stuff. She’d always been a tomboy—more at home in jeans and hiking boots than dresses and heels. Why had she put herself through theeffort?
It was wishful thinking. That’s what it was. Ramirez wanted her to meet her cousin, the one who’d taught her how to dance salsa when she was a kid, and Mia, in a fit of stupidity or insanity, had tried to make herself look pretty just in case this guy turned out to be TheOne.
What are the chances of thathappening?
Unless it was snowing in hell—and it was cold enough that it might be—the chances wereslim.
“The destination is on your right,” Siri chirped from her coatpocket.
“Gee, thanks.” Mia fished out her smartphone and turned off the directionsapp.
She was running late, but then it had been one hell of a day. Thanks to that article in theDenver Independent, which had identified her by name as a person of interest, she’d spent her afternoon hanging up on reporters from other news outlets. She’d also gotten an angry call from Andy’s sister, who’d demanded to know what she’d done with her brother’s body. Mia had spent an hour trying to convince the poor woman that she wasn’t a lyingmurderer.
If it weren’t for the fact that she’d be letting Ramirez down, Mia would have stayed home. Andy was missing, maybe dead. She didn’t have the heart to party. But Ramirez had just gotten back from a tough deployment, and Mia didn’t want to disappointher.
Mia tried to set aside her anger, following the rhythm of Latin music to a house in the middle of the block. She made her way up the front walk to the porch. Red chili pepper lights adorned the windows, small US and Mexican flags hanging side by side on the front door. She knocked hard, certain no one would be able to hearher.
The door opened, spilling warmth and music into thestreet.
Ramirez stood there in a little beaded black dress, a bright smile on her face. She opened the screen door. “Youcame!”
“Of course.” Mia stepped inside, Ramirez’s smile infectious. “You think I’d miss this? Welcome home,Ramirez.”
Ramirez caught her up in a hug. “It issogood to be back,ma’am.”
“Don’t call me ma’am. Mia isfine.”
She knew from experience how it felt to come home from a deployment. She’d been deployed twice—both times to Iraq—and had had enough MREs, camel spiders, sand, filthy latrines, and heat to last severallifetimes.
“Then you call me Elena.” Ramirez—Elena—stepped back. “Let me take your coat. You look so pretty. I love the color. Blue really makes your eyes stand out. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in adress.”
Yeah, well, there was a reason forthat.
Mia handed her coat to Elena. “Thanks.”
Elena was the beautiful one. With her big brown eyes, long dark hair, and curves, she exuded femininity. She turned heads even when she wore ACUs and combat boots. As an officer in her chain of command, Mia had worried about the impact of male attention on Elena’s career, but it turned out that she was more than capable of putting horny soldiers in their place without Mia’shelp.
Elena hung Mia’s coat in a crowded closet, then turned and introduced Mia to the people who stood talking with one another in the living room, raising her voice to be heard. “Everyone, this is Mia Starr. She was my captain my first year in theArmy.”
“Welcome!”
“Nice to meetyou!”
“We’ve heard a lot aboutyou.”
Elena motioned for Mia to follow her. “I want you to meet my grandma and my parents. My cousin Quino is here,too.”
Mia forced a smile onto her face. “Great.”