He tried telling himself his anticipation was because she was more experienced than Bailey, although Bailey had always been an excellent assistant and server. Who was he kidding? He was excited about spending more time with Anita, even though they would be busy working. And there were always downtimes during a small catering event. While he still intended to keep things on a professional level, with Anita helping him things would go extra smoothly.
A little more than an hour after he’d talked to her, he pulled his Jeep into the curved driveway in front of Harper’s vacation house, an A-frame that boasted a spectacular viewof the lake. He wished he had time to admire the scenery, but he had work to do.
He put his Jeep into Park and pushed the button on the dash that opened the trunk. His load was less than usual since Harper was providing chafing dishes, serving platters, utensils, plates, and glasses. All he had to do was unload the food.
“Hey, Tanner.”
He turned to see Harper heading toward him, dressed to the nines even more than usual. “Hey. Nice place you have here.”
“Thanks, but it’s hardly mine,” she mumbled as he opened the trunk. When the scent of his cooking labor escaped, she nodded her approval. “Everything smells amazing.”
He grinned. He’d warmed up the hot dishes at the diner before loading them into his Jeep. If she thought the food smelled good now, she was going to be even more pleased once the tapas were ready to serve.
“Do you need any help bringing things in?” she asked.
Tanner looked at her, noted herveryhigh heels, and shook his head. “Anita can help. Is she around?”
“She should be out in a minute.” She looked at him for a long moment.
“Something wrong?”
“No. Nothing.” Harper smiled again. “You can take the food to the kitchen, and you should find everything you need. If not, let me know.” She pointed to a back-door entrance on the left side of the house. “When you’re finished unloading, do you mind parking your car down the street? Parking is going to be tight tonight.”
“No problem.”
She headed back to the house, and he grabbed a tray of bandarillas. As he brought them into the kitchen, he surveyed the house’s open concept. The kitchen led straight to the living room, although there was a six-seater dining table made of a light wood, possibly oak, that gave the illusion of sectioning off the two rooms. He had brought a fold-up table and tablecloth from the diner, but this table would work just as well and would allow for a nicer setup. He then did a quick investigation of the kitchen, noting the updated but rustic décor that fit the atmosphere of a lake house. Nice, very nice.
He started to leave to get another tray when he saw Harper talking to a woman near a small built-in bar in the back corner of the living room. The woman had the same short hairstyle and willowy build as Anita, and she was wearing a white dress that revealed endless, shapely legs. The woman might resemble Anita, but he couldn’t see her wearing a dress like that... until she turned around.
He did a double take, almost tripping over himself.
Anita?
His eyes suddenly gained a life of their own as his gaze traveled upward from her gorgeous legs to the fitted top portion of the dress. The spaghetti straps showed off her smooth shoulders, and the curved neckline revealed a sexy sneak peek but still left plenty to the imagination.
His imagination was on fire right now.
“Hey, Tanner.” Harper waved from across the room. “Everything okay?”
“Uh...” His voice, along with his senses, evaporated.
“I’ll be right there,” Anita said, then turned back to finish talking to Harper, who was grinning like a cat in charge of a dairy farm.
“Uh...” He’d intended to say okay, but he was still thunderstruck. Now Harper was outright laughing. That broke his trance. “I’ll get the rest of the food,” he said, his announcement sounding lame since they weren’t listening to him anymore.
He hurried out the door and skidded to a stop in front of his car. He tried to think of Anita wearing her hideous waitress uniform instead of the dress she had on now, but when he started thinking that she always looked hot in that horrendous outfit, too, he gave up. When he ran the back of his hand over his forehead, it felt slick. Beads of sweat? Seriously? Over Anita?
Oh yeah. Over Anita.
Scowling, he tried to get himself together. So what if she was dressed up? He’d seen her in braces, in Pepto-pink, and in casual outfits at church. He’d even seen her covered in dirt when they played on the softball team.
Great, now he was thinking about how well she filled out the church softball uniform, which consisted of shorts and a T-shirt. “Get a grip, Castillo,” he muttered.
“What?”
He stilled at the sound of Anita’s voice, then turned around. His breath caught again. The lake glistened behind her, and the setting sun bathed her in its glow. “Hey,” he said, his voice sounding like a bullfrog burping in a cave.
“Were you talking to yourself?”
