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“Ah, Phe, you haven’t changed at all,” Damon continued, his gaze sliding over me. “If anything, you’re lovelier than ever.”
He must want something. I stuffed both hands into the pockets of my denim overalls and waited.
“Suppose you tell me why you’re really here?” I asked, reasoning that my heated cheeks had to do more with his irksome presence than irrepressible hormones.
“Phe, you suspicious woman.” Damon chuckled, a deep-throated sound. “I came to see you, and find out how your dad’s doing?”
My dad was a sensitive topic.
I was protective of the father who’d raised me and four brothers single-handedly, since my mom died when I was five. Dad, once a museum curator in Asian art, was brilliant but eccentric. I loved him with utter devotion. He’d encouraged me to pursue a career in art conservation and restoration and we’d dreamt of one day working together.
I still held on to that dream.
“Holding his own,” I answered, not elaborating.
“That’s good. Must have been tough losing that job.”
“Very tough.”
Damon didn’t have to know how badly Dad’s condition had deteriorated after he’d been fired, and how a paralyzing depression had set in.
“So is your father the reason you’ve accepted an assignment in Tibet?” Damon held a hand up, preventing me from cutting him off. “I heard about the trip via the grapevine. You’re going because you hope to clear your dad’s name?”
I blinked at Damon but kept my tone even. “There’s nothing to clear. My father is innocent.”
“I know that,” Damon said in the tone that used to give me goose bumps. Used to, being the operative words. “But you’ll be needing an experienced X-ray infrared technologist along, yes? I’m at your service.”
So that was why he was here. Word had gotten out that I’d been awarded the coveted assignment of preserving the Maitreya. Damon, self-serving as always, was here to capitalize on my good luck.
“I’ll interview one if I need one,” I countered.
Damon catapulted out of his chair, approaching my desk. He spread bronze-colored hands across the surface. I thanked the Lord for the safety of the barrier between us.
“Why bother interviewing, Phe? I’m your man. I’m as good as it gets and I wouldn’t charge you what the others will.” His voice was a whispered caress.
“Maybe I’ve already hired someone,” I lied.
“Who? Lyle Greenspan’s already committed. He’s working on a project for the Museum of Modern Art and Felicia Michaels is in Egypt. You wouldn’t use Earl Kincaid. He’s not exactly dependable.”
“And I wouldn’t use you, either, for the same reason,” I said firmly. I picked up the receiver and punched in a number. “Whit, please show Mr. Hernandez out.”
Damon leaned in, placing his copper-colored face very close to mine. I could smell the heat emanating from him and the aroma of coffee on his breath. He probably still took it black.
“I am not ready to leave, Phe,” he said, without any inflection in his tone. “You need me. Let bygones be bygones and hire me. We always made a good team.”
Although there was no longer a “we,” the idea of working with Damon again was tempting, but not to be considered. Only masochists would hitch their wagons to his.
Whit, still standing at the door, cleared her throat.
“Phoenix, do you need me?”
“Yes, Mr. Hernandez is ready to leave. Please help him find his way out.”
“I’m not done,” Damon said again, his voice even. I wondered about this new calmness.
He took a couple of long strides toward my assistant, who seemed spellbound by his physique. Her eyes practically bugged out of her head.
Damon placed a hand on Whit’s arm and eased her out of the doorway, firmly shutting the door in her face. Not in the mood to be alone with him, I picked up the phone.
“I’ll call the police and have you removed,” I threatened.
He reached a hand out for the receiver. “One minute, Phe. Listen to what I have to say.”
I’d never been one to take orders. That came from living with four bossy brothers who would run over me if I let them. I’d learned one thing at an early age: if you wanted to be heard, and respected, either you spoke up or fought back. So hoping to send him a message I was not to be toyed with, I grabbed Damon’s arm, right below the crease of the elbow and applied pressure.
His sharp intake of breath told me I’d accomplished my mission. I relinquished my hold and his entire body relaxed.
The moment I let go, Damon’s free hand clamped down on mine. “Hang up, Phe,” he ordered.
My reflexes kicked in and my hand opened of its own accord. The receiver catapulted, clunking against Damon’s temple.
Startled, I reached out to press my fingers against the injured flesh. I hadn’t meant to hit him that hard.
“Oh, Damon, I’m sorry.”
We exchanged a long, charged look. Damon’s fingers remained twined around my wrist. Sympathy was not what he was after.
“That hot temper hasn’t mellowed with age, I see,” he said more amiably than I would have.
“It was an accident, I’m sorry. But if you hadn’t manhandled me it would never have happened.”
“Manhandled you? I reached across to touch you, chica.” Smoky gray eyes swept my face. Blood thudded in my ears. Damon Hernandez could no longer get to me. I repeated it like a mantra.
And chica wasn’t going to work. Not this time. Using my free hand, I poured water from my water bottle on some tissues and tossed them to him.
Damon held the wad against his bruised temple. “Sorry doesn’t cut it.”
“That’s all you’re getting.”
It was all he was getting. And, yes, I was sorry I’d hurt him. But he’d hurt me badly, too. It had taken me forever to recover from Damon’s betrayal.
But I’d filed that painful experience under “Lessons Learned,” and cautioned myself never to give my heart to a man who thought that women weren’t equal.
And I had learned some things from the experience: independence and resilience. How many African-American twenty-eight-year-old females could say they owned their own business? How many twenty-eight-year-olds owned anything at all?
Damon took another step toward me.
I stepped back.
He advanced.
“I’m not going to get on my knees and plead for forgiveness, if that’s what you’re thinking,” I jabbered, feeling like a cornered rat. This was my office. My studio. I was still in control.
“Then make it up to me in another way,” Damon said, his voice deceptively low. “Take me to Tibet with you.”
“When hell freezes over.”
“Oh, Phe,” Damon said, shaking his head and pressing his advantage. One hand still held the wad of tissues against his temple. “Admit you need me.”
A morsel of guilt finally kicked in and with it my normal compassion. “Maybe you should have that…uh…injury looked at by a doctor. I’ll pick up the tab, of course.”
“It’ll heal.”
He balled up the tissues and tossed it at me. I deftly caught it. For a brief moment I considered stuffing it down his arrogant throat. But I’d done enough damage for one day.
He reached around me and picked up the newspaper, reading out loud.
“‘Maitreya, “Future Buddha,” one of a priceless trio, found on the grounds of a deserted Tibetan monastery.’ Now that’s intriguing stuff.”
He took his time reading the article while I seethed. After he was through, he uncapped a pen and scribbled some words down on a card before thrusting it at me.
“By the way, Maitreya’s supposed to be yellow. That statue has a greenish tinge to it. Here’s my home and cell numbers. You’ll need my help.”
We were on the same wavelength, always had been. The idol did look more green than yellow, but I’d be damned if I’d agree with him out loud.
Tucking my newspaper under his arm, Damon flashed me a grin and wiggled his fingers.
“I’ll be waiting to hear from you, Phe. Don’t keep me hanging, I’m a pretty busy boy.”
He backed out of the room, taking the paper with him. My paper.
Damon would be waiting a damn long time for my call. I certainly didn’t want him involved in any project I was associated with.
Yet seeing him after all these years made me realize a few things. It made me grateful and proud that I’d had the courage to end the relationship. If I hadn’t walked I wouldn’t be where I was today.
Time to get focused and make some phone calls. I needed an X-ray infrared specialist and I needed one soon. I got out my BlackBerry, scrolled through the list of names and found Lyle Greenspan’s, Felicia Michaels’s and Earl Kincaid’s. I quickly scribbled down their numbers.
Fifteen minutes later I conceded Damon was right. All three were busy and unable to make it.
What choice was I left with?
Taking a deep breath, I picked up the phone again. As I punched in the numbers, I thought about my throwing arm. Damon’s temple was probably really swollen now, and most likely hurt like hell. Good; let him suffer for once.
Damon’s voice mail kicked in and I left a message.
Less than five minutes later he called me back.
“What’s up, Phe?”
“Where are you, Damon?”
“Heading home?”
“Do you have a visa?” I almost choked on my words. I pictured him grinning.
“Why do I need a visa?”
“Stop playing games.”
He’d known all along that I would get back to him. Not only was he eminently qualified, I’d found out during my conversation with Lyle that Damon had converted to Buddhism, Tibet’s most popular religion. That, to my mind, was an added advantage. He would at least be familiar with the culture and he wasn’t expecting an exorbitant salary.
“You there, Phe? Did you say you want me to go to Tibet with you?”
“Yes. I need your services.”
“Cool. Sounds like the perfect assignment for someone like me, a follower of the Dalai Lama.”
“Last I knew you were Roman Catholic. Your mother must have had a cow when you converted to Buddhism.”
“My mother died. It hasn’t been the best of times lately. Buddhism was my salvation, especially after you left me.” He chuckled.
Left him? More like the other way around. Damon had made it difficult for me to stay with him, especially if I wanted to remain my own woman. He’d let his machismo get in the way—of everything. But I was sorry to hear of his mother’s death. She and I had gotten along well. She had enjoyed regaling me with stories of growing up in the Dominican Republic. And I’d enjoyed every last one of them.
“I’m so sorry about your mom, Damon.” I quickly changed the topic. “You and I may very well be on the same wavelength when it comes to Maitreya. I’m thinking this discovery may be a hoax.”
“So we go and find out. Why turn down a trip to a country I’ve been dying to see? You did say all expenses are paid?”
I had not. But I guess he knew that pretty much came with the territory.
Damon continued. “Do you know what finding Maitreya means to the Buddhist world? It means the awaited teacher is coming. He is the master of wisdom, and a guide for people of every religion. Maitreya is supposed to be reborn during a period of decline. He represents our future.” He sounded really excited.
I wasn’t particularly religious, but the idol’s discovery couldn’t have been timelier. Natural disasters happened almost daily now and terrorism, well, that was something we lived with. The world needed a savior.
While doing my research, I’d read some of the more “out there” papers. There had been signs of Maitreya’s imminent arrival for some time now.
Damon’s interest in this project most likely had to do with him wanting to identify the statue as a hoax. And if by some amazing turn of events it was not, then he wanted to be the one to return it to the Dalai Lama.
“We’re leaving in two days,” I said. “Can you be ready?”
“That’s sudden. Has something happened?”
“No. I just wanted to get a jump on things. The sooner the better.”
“I can’t commit this soon,” he said. “I’m in the middle of another project.” He was going to keep me dangling. Make me sweat a little.
I expressed myself loudly using a colorful expletive then decided it was pointless letting him needle me. “Make yourself available,” I said. “It’ll be worth your while.”
“Tsk. Such unladylike behavior. How can anyone work with you?”
