“Not that I’m insinuating you need to lose calories. Or, um, weight. Because you don’t. Not at all.” He threw up his hands. “Forget I mentioned jogging. I’m going to shut my trap while I’m ahead.”
She shoved the potato into her mouth, hiding her disappointment as she mentally noted the morsel was even more scrumptious than the skewer. She hated running, but she’d suffer through a marathon if it meant being with him. Not that she would be able to keep up if they did go on a jog together. Tanner was the type of guy who was good at everything. Tutoring, cooking, athletics...
Sigh.
“Those patatas bravas must be really good.”
Had she actually sighed out loud? She crammed three more bites into her mouth. “Mmmf, good,” she managed before she swallowed the large mouthful. “Your grandmother must have been an excellent cook.”
“The best. I never met her because she lived in Spain, and we weren’t able to go over there for a visit before she passed away. I think I got the cooking gene from her, though.” He tilted his head. “So what were you doing lurking around the diner?”
Oops.He was suspicious after all. “I wasn’t lurking.” She eyed the empanadas and picked up a small square. “We had our usual meeting at Knots and Tangles tonight.”
“And you decided to walk by the diner. The exact opposite direction of your house.”
Uh-oh. She was stuck. If she admitted she’d been watching him, she’d have to explain why, something she wasn’t completely sure of herself. Talk about awkward and embarrassing.Maybe she should tell him about her business idea and see what he thought about it. No, that wouldn’t work either. She didn’t want him to think she was ready to start a café when she was 99.9 percent sure she wouldn’t, shouldn’t, and couldn’t.
Before she could stumble through a reply, the oven timer went off, and he disappeared into the kitchen.
Whew.Saved by the bell, literally.
When he returned with a dinner plate filled with small, seasoned pieces of cauliflower, she kept him distracted. “What’s this called?”
“Pan-fried cauliflower.” He chuckled and pushed the plate closer to her. “I think it should have a fancier name, but that was what was on Abuela’s recipe card.”
Then he brought another small plate from behind his back. “Of course, we can’t forget dessert.”
She grinned at the piece of pecan pie topped with a dollop of whipped cream. “I didn’t know this was Spanish,” she said.
“It’s not. Just good old southern comfort food. You deserve a reward for being my guinea pig.”
The food, not to mention the time she was spending alone with him, was reward enough.
Although he’d said he was full, Tanner finished off the rest of the bandarillaswhile she sampled the cauliflower, which unlike its name wasn’t plain at all. Tasty, like everything else he made.
“This is nice,” he said, leaning against the counter again. “Why don’t we hang out more?”
Anita almost fell off the stool, and despite trying to temper her hopes, they flew sky high.Please let him be serious this time.
His phone buzzed, and he held up one finger and pulled it out of the pocket of a pair of khaki shorts that had seen better days, part of his Sunshine Diner uniform. He looked at the screen, frowned, then put the cell back.
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah. Maybe.”
Concerned, she said, “You can return the call. I don’t want you to miss something important.”
“Nah, she can wait.”
She?
“My girlfriend,” he added.
Anita froze, her sky-high hopes crashing to the ground. He had a girlfriend. She should have known that. Someone as talented, gorgeous, and nice as him would be taken. Obviously when he had mentioned hanging out, he’d meant as friends. Or even just coworkers. The same thing he’d wanted when they were in high school.
“She’s actually my ex,” he said, piercing one of the pieces of cauliflower with a toothpick but not picking it up. “We started dating about a year before I got hired on here. She lives in Arkadelphia, and I met her when I was working at one of her father’s restaurants in Hot Springs.” He shrugged. “I’m surprised she contacted me after all this time.”
At least the ex wasn’t someone in Maple Falls. But Anita wasn’t exactly relieved, either. “Does she want to get back together?”
