Tiburón swallowed and shifted his gaze. His voice lowered. “I’ll be whatever you want me to be.”
Blanca not so coyly batted her eyelashes. “Wow. I’m impressed. I sew, too. And design. Maybe we can collaborate sometime?”
Tiburón flashed a hopeful grin. “It’s a date.”
¡Ay, Dios mío! It was most certainly not a date.
Mamá broke up their moment as she walked over to inspect the outfits. Her eyes lit up as she studied the seams. “Good work. But we had clothes for Joseph. And we normally don’t have Wise Men for this celebration. You didn’t need to go to all this trouble.”
Tiburón spoke confidently. “I know that you normally don’t have the Three Kings, but we thought we’d shake it up. As for the costumes, I wanted to add some flair.” Tiburón looked around the room. “Where’s his donkey?”
Enrique shook his head. Ramón shifted nervously on his feet and scratched at the costume, and Jaime kept his gaze straight out thewindow, with a blank look on his face. Yup. His brothers wanted to be anywhere but here. But all she needed was Enrique—his brothers didn’t have to participate. At least Tiburón seemed happy.
Enrique took a step closer. The scent of cedar mixed with cloves filled the air between them. His dark eyes met hers.
Carolina wobbled, and Enrique grabbed her arm.
“Sorry,” she muttered. “It must be the bump. I’m off-balance.”
He grinned. “Well, you’re glowing. Who’s the lucky man?”
“God. Thanks for agreeing to raise this baby as your own.”
Enrique laughed, and she joined him.
He brushed a lock of hair out of her face. “I hope this isn’t inappropriate, and please tell me if I’m out of line...”
Her breath hitched the tiniest bit.
“When you say whatever you intend to, I’ll let you know.”
With another dazzling smile, his dimples appeared. “You look beautiful tonight.”
Carolina’s skin tingled, her mind racing about what it would be like to kiss him as she tried to compose a thought. He must be playing her. Surely, he was flirting to convince her to strike a deal with his company.
But just on the off chance he wasn’t, she decided to not call him out. Yet.
“Thank you. And that was fine. I mean, not offensive,” she stammered. “Sorry, I’m just nervous.” She paused. “I mean about Las Posadas. Not you.” Gosh, why did she talk? “I mean—”
He offered his arm. “You’re adorable. Okay, wifey. Let’s go. And you promised me a donkey.”
Carolina liked his playful nature. “He’s out here, José. Follow me.” She led him alone to the back of the church and into the courtyard where there was a beautiful manger scene all set up and, in a nearby pen, the donkey.
Enrique walked over to the animal and petted him. The donkey brayed. “What’s his name?”
“Spice. There’s a Clydesdale stable a few miles away. They lend him to the church every year. He’s great and the kids love him.”
“Cool.” He paused and then turned to gaze into her eyes. The church lights illuminated his face. “Hey, Carolina... I’m sorry about yesterday. I didn’t mean to bombard you and demand a meeting. We only came because I thought you’d agreed. Forgive me.”
Her cold heart melted a bit. “I’m sorry I was so rude to you. I wasn’t expecting you. But I’m curious—why are you so fascinated with my farm? There are plenty of farms around here who would be more than happy to partner with you. Spell it out for me. What exactly do you want?”
Without hesitation, he spoke in a firm tone. “I want to partner with ethical operations.”
A metallic taste pooled in her mouth. He just didn’t get it. Sure, partnering with her farm might help him sleep better at night, but it wouldn’t improve the lives of the campesinos at the farms he currently utilized. If anything, it might hurt them, as they could be out of jobs.
But it wasn’t her responsibility to educate him. He would have to come to this realization himself. Without her help.
“Got it. But like I said, we are at full capacity and aren’t looking for any other restaurants. We don’t have the bandwidth to take on more accounts. I’m sorry you wasted your time.”
