J: Lissa!!!!!! OMG I never thought you’d do it!!!!! He’s yummy I’m so happy
E: Easy on the exclamation points, lady.
J: AYFKM????? You have a date!!!!!!! I will use all the !!!!!!! I want bitch
E: Love you.
J: LYT
Elissa threw in the casserole and changed into her pj’s. She glanced at the clock when she came out. A shiver of anticipation ran down her spine. Only seventy-one hours until her date.
twenty-two
is this seat taken?
Ryan had been this close to kissing Elissa in that damn file room. When she’d demanded a date, his heart had soared. His thoughts had whirled, and he’d barely been able to add her number to his contacts. He’d also forgotten the name of any place to meet her except Mama O’s. He would deal with the fallout of meeting her at the OG taco shop started by Iz’s grandparents. Half the staff knew him, and the Ochoas were always popping in.
Whistling, Ryan walked into the office.
“Well, that’s new.” Trinity sat behind his desk. “Could it be our Ryan actually enjoys working here? Or perhaps the new accountant is the reason for his cheery disposition this fine afternoon?”
“Shut up,” he said, with no hostility. His mood was too good.
As he came around the desk, his cousin rose with a broad smile.
“Oh, that’s not gonna work on me, cousin of mine. I have a bit of juicy gossip the rest of the family might be interested in hearing about.”
He turned his darkest glare on her. She took a half step back before remembering he was all bluff. He would never hurt any of his cousins, but he wasn’t above some blackmail now and then. Unfortunately, Trin was far too ladylike for him to have any dirt on her. Or at least too talented at hiding her unladylike activities.
“What do you want?” Ryan asked instead.
She tented her fingers in front of her chest and tapped them together, her brows drawn down in consideration.
“Hmmm…bartend my next party.”
He rolled his eyes. Her friends threw themselves at him, and she was always trying to fix him up with one of them. But his love life wasn’t anyone’s business but his own, especially concerning Elissa. She was special.
“Only if everyone is over twenty-one.” His tone left no room for argument. When she opened her mouth to protest anyway, he gave her a look their grandfather had mastered. “I’m serious, Trinity. If I have any doubts, I will card, and if they’re under twenty-one, I’m taking all the liquor and leaving.”
Ryan didn’t mind risks but getting caught serving to a bunch of underage partiers was not something he wanted on his record.
“Fine.” She pouted in a way he was sure usually got her exactly what she wanted, but he’d been immune since that pout had convinced him to give her a candy bar right before going on a ride at the county fair. He grimaced at the memory of being covered in a seven-year-old’s puke. “I guess Joey can’t come. He’ll be so disappointed.”
Damn straight, her brother would be disappointed. He was still in high school and had no reason to be around a bunch of drunk twenty-somethings.
“When is the party?”
“Rodeo weekend. Think of some fun specialty cocktails to serve and send me the ingredients. I’ll buy everything. You just need to help me set up and serve. Then I’ll pretend you didn’t have a big boner for the hot little accountant.”
“Jesus, can you be any more vulgar?”
“Of course I can, but I don’t want to offend your tender sensibilities.”
She nearly skipped to her desk, leaving him to shake his head in frustration. She’d always pushed boundaries.
The next few days dragged like nothing he’d experienced before. Every request seemed to be designed to take him away from thoughts of Elissa. Each night, he suffered through cold showers that didn’t work, and he’d be embarrassed to admit how much X-rated exercise his hand was getting.
When the clock hit five on Thursday, he was out of the office so fast he left skid marks under his desk. He nearly toppled over his motorcycle when he pulled into the parking lot of Mama O’s Tacos, home of the best Sonoran hot dogs, period.
