I force myself to meet his gaze, which is determined. Curious. And something else I’m not sure of. Be honest with him. I think it’s Qa’hr talking because the voice in my head is growly and insistent. I take a breath and speak.
“So, I, um, thought about what you said. How the job is more than just an internship for you.” I pause and Qa’hr gives me a mental kick to keep going. “From what you said, your family wants to open more restaurants and you want to help them do it right. So I thought maybe if I saw this place firsthand I could help you and your family. With my idea.”
His eyes are locked on mine and his expression is completely unreadable. Not even a hint of his cocky smirk.
“So tell me your idea.” He’s moved close to the table and looms over me. Being this close to him, the energy between us suddenly feels pressurized, like a gathering storm, or a ball of lightning hovering on the edge of exploding.
“Your website.” I chew my lip nervously. “For the restaurant. I can update it, especially the photos. They’re pixelated, but if I shoot with raw film, the quality will be so much better. And I was thinking it would be fun to do a ‘first bite’ collage of customers. You know, like, here’s someone taking their first bite of a chimichanga, and they’d look all blissed out because it tastes so good. I’d do about a dozen of them. If you think it’s a good idea.”
I pause for a breath. I cannot believe I just spewed all that dorkiness at him. He can’t believe it, either, based on the way he’s fast-blinking.
“Uh, wow.” He runs a hand through his mussed hair. “You’ve, um, given this a lot of thought.”
In other words, You’re a scarier stalker than I realized. I’m going to file a restraining order. Or at least file a complaint with the Manicotti.
“I…” What can I say? Why, yes, I have spent an inordinate amount of time studying your website. And your Facebook. Your Instagram, too, if only I knew what it was. But my internal Qa’hr kicks me in the shins and I square my shoulders. “I’m helping everyone else. I’d like to help you, too. I took a website design class last year and I learned a lot.”
“Okay.” His Adam’s apple bobs up and down as he swallows. He doesn’t look convinced.
“Do you want to see what I’ve done so far?
His eyes widen in surprise, then he nods. I pull up the mobile version of the mock site on my phone and hand it to him.
“You definitely want a mobile version,” I say, “because everyone looks up stuff on their phone, especially places to eat, like when they’re out driving and say, ‘Hey, let’s get Mexican food. Where’s a good place?’ and then if they link to your website from Yelp—”
Why doesn’t my guardian angel push my mute button? Carlos glances up from my phone, and I nearly sag with relief when he quirks a smile.
“You’ve been busy, Special K.”
“I…yeah.” My whole body sags and I shove a handful of chips into my mouth.
Lexi rushes up to our table, slides into the booth with my camera backpack, then chucks my keys across the table.
“You’re welcome.” She grins and takes a long drink from her soda.
Carlos returns my phone. “So my sister will freak out about her hair and makeup or whatever, but other than that I can round up everyone for photos. If you can stick around for a while after you eat.”
“Really?” Nervous adrenaline arcs through me. “You don’t think it’s a terrible idea?”
He studies me, and I crumple the napkin on my lap because there’s just so much in his eyes. It’s like a whole parade of emotions, but they’re shifting so quickly I can’t latch on to any of them.
“I don’t think it’s a terrible idea.” His gaze stays fixed on mine. “I want to check it out on a bigger screen but—”
“Carlos!” Rose calls out, glaring at him, hands on her hips.
“Gotta check on my other tables. We’ll figure out the pictures later.” He rushes off to help a large party that’s just been seated.
“So.” Lexi stirs the bowl of salsa with a chip. “Apparently you’ve been holding out on me.”
“Holding out on what?” I stuff my mouth with more chips, then bat my eyes like I don’t know what she means.
She rolls her eyes. “Your personal interest in this particular intern.” She hesitates, holding the overflowing chip halfway to her mouth. “Unless you’re planning on visiting all the other interns, and this is our first stop.”
“Of course I’m not visiting everyone. I don’t care about—” I stop myself but it’s too late. She grins, reaching for more chips. “I mean, I don’t need to visit them, there’s no reason…” I give up and focus on the hot salsa burning my tongue because it hurts less than my embarrassment.
“So what is it about Carlos that intrigues you so much?” She glances across the restaurant where he’s laughing as he takes orders from the big crowd crammed around two tables. An older guy, maybe the dad of the group, says something that makes everyone laugh, and Carlos’s responding grin makes my stomach flip over.
“Besides the obvious, of course.” Lexi watches him, then turns to me with an impish smile.
I let out a long sigh and grasp my spoon, running my thumb over its curved surface. “He’s…he’s smart. And funny. And he’s treated me like an equal since the first day.”
“What about that other guy? Elijah? You said he’s funny and a nerd like you.”
“Yeah, he’s awesome. But he’s got a girlfriend.” I take a drink of soda. “Which is just as well. It’s nice to have a guy friend at work who doesn’t make me all jittery when I talk to him.”
“What about Jason?” she probes.
It’s my turn to bat my eyelashes. “Jason who?”
Lexi laughs. “What happened to the girl who swore off summer flings?”
Heat suffuses my cheeks and neck. “I’m still swearing them off.” I have to, if I want Carlos to have a fair shot at the scholarship. I shrug helplessly. “You know how it is. Sometimes you get overly curious or whatever about someone.”
Carlos’s sister Rose appears at our table with two steaming plates. I inhale deeply and my stomach growls in anticipation as she sets our food on the table.
“Can I get you girls anything else?” She grins, the bright curiosity dancing in her eyes reminding me of Carlos.
“Looks great.” Lexi grabs her fork and digs in.
I shake my head. “No thanks.”
She studies me, then puts a hand on her hip. “You know my brother, right? I’m Rose, his sister.”
Anxiety streaks through me. Does she think I’m a weirdo stalker, too? I reach for my glass and take a long drink.
“How do you know Carlos? School?” A speculative smile plays at the corners of her lips and I wonder how many infatuated girls she’s quizzed. Probably a lot.
“No, I, uh…we’re working together this summer. At Emergent Enterprises.” Lexi’s foot bumps mine under the table but I ignore her.
Rose’s eyebrows shoot up. “Oh! You’re one of the interns?” Before I can correct her, she plunges ahead, eyeing me up and down. “You’re not the scary one, so you must be the pretty one, who wants to study art or something, right?” Her voice is triumphant like she just won a round of Jeopardy.
My whole body deflates as reality douses me like a cold downpour. I peek across the table at Lexi, whose face twists with sympathy.
“I’m, uh, not—” I begin, but Carlos rushes up to the table before I can finish.
“Table four needs their waitress,” he tells Rose, his face conveying a “get lost” message.
Rose smirks. I’m sure she tortured him when they were younger, but I bet he gave it right back to her. I glance at Lexi, whose eyes are full of “this sucks” empathy. I shrug, sending her a silent “it figures” message and take a big bite of enchilada.
Rose shoots Carlos one final withering glance, then flounces away. Carlos runs a hand through his dark hair. I’m surprised by how rattled he looks.
“How’s
the food?” he asks me, but I can’t answer because I’m still chewing. I nod and give him a thumbs-up, feeling like a dork. His lips quirk, then he turns to Lexi.
“It’s delicious, Carlos.”
He looks relieved. “Can I get you anything else?” he asks me, but he’s frowning, and all the embarrassment of the day floods through me.
I can’t believe I showed up here with my crazy “let me be your Steve Jobs” plan. And now that it sounds like he’s interested in Ashley? Ugh.
But then why does he flirt with me? Is he one of those guys?
“No thanks.” I focus on the chip basket, avoiding eye contact until he walks away.
Lexi nudges my foot under the table and I raise my eyes to hers. She’s genuinely disappointed for me. I can read her like a book.
“Remind me never to stalk again, okay?” I try to plaster a self-deprecating smile on my face, like it’s all a big joke.
Because she’s a loyal friend, she goes along with my facade. “Deal. And you remind me never to go skinny-dipping with Brayden, okay?”
“What?” My voice is a high-pitched squeak, causing a busboy to stumble as he hurries by with a plastic tub. “When did that happen? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Last night.” She drops her gaze and two spots of pink bloom on her cheeks.
I lean back against the cushioned booth. Lexi’s always been more daring than me, but this still throws me for a loop. “Did he make you do it?”
“Well…I just took my bikini top off.” She stares at her half-eaten chicken relleno like she wants to stab it. “But Brayden was, you know, persistent.”
That’s a euphemism if I ever heard one, and one more reason I don’t like the guy. “So what happened?”
My disappointment about Carlos evaporates as I focus on my friend, worry coursing through me. We’re whispering now that our conversation has taken a serious turn, and neither of us is eating. From the corner of my eye I notice Carlos head toward us, then hesitate. He must be a pro at deciphering customer vibes, because he pivots and heads to another table, leaving us in peace.
“We snuck into the club pool. Hopped the wall. It was fun, sort of daring but not actually dangerous, you know? At first we just swam and messed around, then he, uh…wanted to get naked.”
She glances at me, wary of my reaction. She’s way more experienced than I am with guys. I’m not going to judge her, but I’m terrified that whatever happened wasn’t consensual. If he forced her—
She takes a breath. “He kept pressuring me, and I said no. Like a bunch of times.” She raises her stormy eyes to mine. “I guess we were yelling pretty loud, then all of a sudden Scott showed up and—”
“Your brother? What was he doing there?”
Lexi shrugs. “I don’t know. I yelled at him later for following me, but he said he was out walking because he was sick of being cooped up in the house. Our parents finally left us alone for a night and I think we were both relieved.”
She sighs and pushes a pile of rice around her plate. “Anyway, Scott heard us yelling and he came to check because it didn’t sound like, you know, normal skinny-dipping. When he saw it was me and Brayden, he freaked. Said he was going to hunt Brayden down and, uh, remove body parts.”
“Did Scott hop the wall to rescue you?” I could easily picture her big brother on a mission to castrate Brayden.
“He started to, but Brayden took off. What a jerk.” She gives me a wobbly smile. “Also a big chicken, apparently.” She closes her eyes and groans. “The worst part was my own brother seeing me topless. I think we’re both scarred for life.”
Ugh. I wince, trying to shove that image out of my mind.
“Thank God you’re okay.” I scowl into my soda. “I never liked Brayden.”
She takes a big bite of relleno. “I know,” she mumbles around her food. “Next time maybe I’ll listen to you.”
She chews and swallows, then huffs out a sigh. “Maybe I’ll be like you for the rest of summer. No flings or dating or whatever. I should spend more time with my brother, anyway.” Her eyes are cloudy with worry as they meet mine. “He needs to get back to the land of the living. Like last night. Even though it was weird, it was good to see him out of the house and being an obnoxious big brother, you know?”
I nod. “It was probably great for him, too, coming to your rescue.” My stomach knots. “I hate to think about what could have happened if he didn’t show up.”
Lexi shakes her head. “Brayden was backing off, but he was mad. He seemed to think just because we’d been dating awhile that entitled him to…you know.” Her face scrunches in disgust. “But I think he got the message that’s not how it works.” She taps her phone resting on the table. “He sent me a million texts today but I’m ignoring him. We’re so done.”
“Good.” I blow out a relieved breath and smile at my friend. Lexi and I have been through a lot together and I’ve always admired how she stands up for herself. It’s something I hope to do a better job of in my own life.
Lexi’s expression shifts, humor lighting her eyes. “So how’s it going with that crabby old lady at the office? She laugh at any of your silly jokes yet?”
“Ha. I wish. I’m determined to get on her good side, but she’s making it tough.” I point my fork at Lexi. “What do you call a pile of cats?”
“Do I even want to guess?”
“A meown-tain.”
“Ugh.” She groans, but her lips quirk.
Carlos approaches our table hesitantly, so I offer him a tentative smile to let him know we’re past the serious convo.
He surveys the table. “More refills?”
“Yeah, I need something to wash away the awful taste of Laurel’s bad joke.” Lexi grins.
Carlos’s lips slide from smirk to laughter. “I bet. I keep telling her she needs better material to crack Miss Emmaline.”
“That’s for sure,” Lexi says, laughing. I shoot fake glares at both of them. Carlos takes our empty glasses and heads for the bar. Lexi slants me an assessing look.
“You’re sure about that no fling rule?”
I nod. “Sounds like he has a thing for Ashley, based on what his sister said. Anyway, he’s too…everything.” I snap a tortilla chip in half. “I’m too dorky for someone like him.”
Lexi starts to argue, but instead clears her throat as Carlos returns with our sodas. He sets them down, then pins me with a penetrating stare that makes my heart thump hopefully. Stupid heart.
“What do you call an unpredictable camera?” he asks, and it takes me a few seconds to realize he’s telling a joke. A stupid one, just like mine.
Lexi’s foot does some sort of foot Morse code under the table, tapping out an urgent message on my shoe, which I ignore.
“I don’t know.”
The skin around his eyes crinkles when he smiles. It’s hard to breathe when he steps closer to the table. “A loose Canon.”
Lexi’s foot is apparently having a seizure as it repeatedly slams into mine. I shoot her a glare.
He gestures to our empty plates. “How about dessert? Sopapillas, churros, or flan? On the house.” He tilts his head and a few loose strands of hair fall across his forehead. I ache to push the hair back and just…argh…
“Surprise us,” Lexi says with a pointed glance at me.
Carlos turns to me, his eyes darkening. “You like surprises, Special K?”
“If you keep calling me Special K, you’re definitely in for a surprise.”
A slow, sexy grin lights up his face, heating my insides like honey melting in hot tea. He leans over the table for our empty plates, then speaks, his voice a low rumble close to my ear. “Note to self: Laurel is trouble.”
Then he does the unthinkable and shoots me a wink, straightens, and heads to the kitchen while I try to catch my breath.
Lexi fans her face. “Damn. His sister was right.”
I blink, confused. “About what?”
Lexi grins. “She told him you two could start a
fire with all the sparks shooting between you.”
Nineteen
After Lexi and I eat way too many sopapillas, we pay our bill—leaving Carlos a very generous tip—and stop by the restroom to wash honey off our sticky hands.
“Excellent restaurant choice,” Lexi says as she applies lip gloss. “Delicious food.” She winks at me in the mirror. “And a hot waiter. Definitely worth a repeat experience.”
I scrub a rough paper towel over my damp hands. It was a stressful meal, but it was also fun, when I wasn’t freaking out about Carlos. A stall door opens and to my horror Rose emerges, a smug grin splitting her cherry-red lips. She moves to the sink and washes her hands, her eyes meeting mine in the mirror.
“So I’m guessing you’re the one who called this morning to ask if Carlos was working today.”
I glance at her reflection then watch my own reflection turn pink as I realize she’s the one who answered the phone. And lied.
“Uh, yeah.”
She straightens and nods, then yanks a paper towel from the dispenser. “I figured.” She glances over her shoulder at me and smiles. “Sorry for the little white lie, but I was curious to check out Carlos’s latest stalker.” She turns and crosses her arms over her chest as I wish for the floor to swallow me up. “Also, I love to torture my little brother.”
“So he has a lot of stalkers?” Lexi asks. I want to mute her.
Rose snorts. “Since he was about twelve years old. I thought my mom was going to put bars on the windows when he was in high school, so many girls were always coming by the house.” She shakes her head, smiling.
“Wow.” Lexi’s hip bumps mine none too subtly. “So does he have a girlfriend?”
Rose’s expression is wary as she looks from Lexi to me and back to Lexi. “Who wants to know?”
“No one,” I say at the same time Lexi says, “Everyone.”
“I don’t think so, but he tries to keep that part of his life private, which is tough in a big family like ours.” Her gaze settles on me. “He’s obsessed with that internship. He’s always doing research at home on the computer, and he goes to the library or the coffee shop to work when the house gets too noisy.” She lifts an eyebrow. “Though maybe he’s meeting a girl, who knows?”
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