Alejandro smiled. Oh, shit, my heart. It fluttered every time he flashed those pearly whites. “How so, chica?”
“Uh.” I was suddenly nervous as I looked into his deep chocolate eyes. Very dirty thoughts rushed through my mind, all involving him and no clothing. “Way more snow. The winters start sooner and last longer. And it’s not unusual to have days and days of temps in the negatives.”
Alejandro chuckled as he pushed rice around his plate. “Why would anyone want to live there?”
“Trust me.” I leaned forward. “I asked myself that many times. Indy’s nowhere near as bad. I mean, it can get bitter cold, but the temperature averages in the thirties and high twenties.”
Alejandro gave me a confused look. “Oh,” he said, face softening. “You weird Americans use Fahrenheit.”
“Weird?” I said, faking offense. I leaned back and cocked an eyebrow, a smirk on my face.
He mirrored my amusement. “Yes. Weird. The rest of the world uses Celsius.”
“True,” I laughed.
“I’ve never seen snow.”
“Really?”
“Really. Never in person, that is.” He shook his head, his dark hair falling into his eyes. He looked so relaxed, innocent even, when we were just talking like this. But Alejandro innocent? That couldn’t be farther from the truth.
“I like it. As much as I complain about the cold and say I hate winter and just want it to end, I’d miss it.”
“You’d miss the cold?” he asked incredulously.
“Yes and no. I can handle a month or two of the cold and snow before I want to beat it to death with a shovel. It’s very festive for the holidays. But after New Year’s, it should get back to seventy and sunny.”
He laughed again, his beautiful face lighting up. “Seventy is…is twenty-one Celsius.”
“Twenty-one sounds so cold.”
“And seventy sounds like you’re going to spontaneously combust if you step outside.”
I laughed. “I can see that.” I set my fork down and looked at Alejandro. “Have you always lived here?”
He nodded. “Not this town, but Mexico, yes.”
“I assume you travel for, uh, work?”
“Sometimes.” His eyes drilled into me, like he was trying to see inside me and figure everything out. That wasn’t hard. What you see is what you get when it comes to me. I didn’t have any secrets. My life wasn’t exciting enough to have anything to hide. I made a mental note to do something crazy and not tell anyone about it.
“Where do you travel to?”
Alejandro just shrugged. Right. Couldn’t talk about it.
I twisted my hands in my lap. “Do you travel for fun?”
“I have before,” he said, and a tenuous sadness pulled down his face. “I don’t have much time for fun.”
“I can relate to that,” I muttered.
“Why didn’t you have time for fun?”
“I worked a lot.” Plus I didn’t have many friends. “I, uh, went through a breakup and moved out. Paying rent on my own required a lot of extra hours.”
His eyes settled on my chest. “Am I wrong to assume you were the one to break it off? I can’t imagine anyone leaving you.”
Again with the blushing. Dammit. I needed to get that under control. “Uh, not exactly. I really don’t like talking about it.” Because I was embarrassed. I didn’t owe Alejandro a damn thing, and yet I didn’t want him to think less of me.
“Then it was the other way around. Why did he leave you?”
I crossed my arms and sighed. “I couldn’t give him want he wanted.”
He wasn’t expecting to hear that. “How so?”
“I don’t have a penis.” My mouth set in a straight line, and I leaned back, enjoying the stunned stare Alejandro was giving me. “Yeah. I was dating a gay man.”
“Oh, fuck. Uh, sorry?” He frowned. “Sorry. I am sorry, Ellie. That’s very unfortunate.” Then a smile cracked his handsome face, and he laughed. “How did you not know?”
I didn’t mean for the hurt to flash across my face. I crossed my arms and looked down.
“Never mind,” Alejandro rushed out. “So, snow. Is it like how it is in the movies?”
Relieved he changed the subject, and a little surprised, I looked back up. “It depends on the movie.”
He smiled at me, reassuring. There was something in his eyes, something that promised he wouldn’t hurt me. No. That was a stupid thing to think. “Snow is beautiful. Moonlight reflecting off freshly fallen snow is breathtaking, really. And sunlight reflecting off it is blinding, but still beautiful.”