“I like your smile.”
“How about you, Detective? Let’s hear the Kobe Haven dating app profile. See if I’m interested in a deeper look or if I’m scrolling past.”
“Oh-no. No pressure.” I chewed another bite of bagel as I considered, then playfully rubbed my hands together. “Okay. Ready?”
Dominique waited.
“First of all. My profile picture is me, shirtless on a beach. Golden tan. Sleek shades. Sunkissed hair all messy and sexy. I’m buff, but not gym buff. More a guy-with-solid-genes buff.”
“So far so good.” He rolled a hand for me to continue.
“I’m thirty-two with the heart of a twenty-five-year-old. I love sleeping in, watching football with my unfairly hot neighbor, and playing video games with my little brother. I coach baseball in the summer and have a nasty habit of instigating snowball fights in the winter. They never end well, and I have a scar on my jaw to prove it.” I pointed it out, but it was usually hidden under dense scruff since I had a love-hate relationship with shaving every day.
“Despite my admirable volunteering, I have the sense of humor and attitude of a twelve-year-old, and it often gets me in trouble. I’ve never been to Europe or Asia or anywhere overseas, but I’ve been to various resort destinations in Mexico. Please refer back to my stunning profile picture.”
Dominique’s lopsided smile grew.
“Sounds lovely, right? Well, every time I go, I come home sunburned and with far too many black holes in my memory thanks to my on-again, off-again relationship with tequila. I knowingly cave to peer pressure. It’s one of my charming flaws that is becoming less charming as I age. In my spare time, I hunt down baddies and try not to piss my sergeant off. I’m better at the former than the latter.” I contemplated. “I think that sums it up.”
“I’d click that.”
Lowering my voice, I leaned over the table. “But would you tap that?” I wiggled my brows.
“Don’t get ahead of yourself, hotshot.”
Laughing, I held up my hands in submission. “I would never.”
“So, you’re a good detective?”
I shrugged. “Not bad. Rue and I have a decent solve rate, but it’s not glamorous like the cop shows. Cases go cold all the time. More people than I’d like to admit get away with murder, even in this modern age of technology.”
“Why homicide?”
“Now that’s a good question. The short answer. There was an opening, and it paid better than patrol.”
“That’s it?”
“Yep. No secret passion. No family tragedy drew me to hunt down killers. I have a degree in criminology, so that gave me a leg up, and everyone else who applied didn’t have enough years under their belt. Truthfully, street patrol landed me in trouble more than I’d like to admit. My sergeant was encouraged to hire me in the hope that it might give me direction and help me focus. I would not have been her first choice.”
I rapped my knuckles on the table. “But now we’re hedging into territoryI’mnot ready to talk about. Let’s move on, shall we?”
Dominique ate a few bites of his croissant as he studied me with less reservation. “I thought you were younger when I met you.”
“Most people do. Good genes, remember? I’ve been on my own since I was sixteen. It meant I had to grow up fast, but my best friend Elifet thinks it had the opposite effect.”
“Meaning?”
“He thinks I’m impulsive and immature. Perpetually sixteen because no one taught me how to be a proper adult. It’s not true. I’m a full-fledged adult with credentials to prove it.”
To be fair, Elifet had spouted his opinion one time six years ago during an argument, but I’d never been able to let it go, even after he’d apologized. Deep down, I knew there was truth in the statement, but if I didn’t make light of it, then all it did was piss me off.
“Hence, your on-again, off-again relationship with tequila and your tendency to cave to peer pressure?”
I chuckled. “Something like that.”
“Why Mexico?”
“No particular reason. When I was eighteen, a buddy invited me to join him and his friends over spring break. Someone in their group dropped out at the last minute, and they needed to fill a spot. Half of the trip was paid for, so I scrounged up the rest and went. It was the first vacation I’d ever taken. I had the time of my life. All the bullshit I’d been dealing with for years was gone in an instant.
