“You’ve been here before?” she asked.
“Many times, yes.”
“¿Qué me recomienda?” Evan asked, and Jess blinked in surprise. He winked at her. “It has been a while since I’ve been here. What’s good right now?”
The regular named a few things in rapid-fire Spanish she didn’t get, to Evan, then slowed down for her. “You, lovely lady, you want the pupusas. They are the speciality, the best thing they cook.”
“That’s what he said when he asked me out,” she said, gesturing at Evan. “That’s what I want.”
Evan ordered for them, and they were given a number. While they waited, he loaded up their plastic trays with little containers of salsa—four different versions, all self-serve from buckets next to the cutlery and napkins.
Then they found a table for two at the back, just before their number was called out.
She dug right into the corn pancakes, filled with sausage and cheese, topped with a vinegar-y cabbage salad. “Oh my God.”
“I know, right?”
“These are addictive.”
“We’ll come back, then.”
“Definitely worth the drive. Mmm.” She licked her fingers, then dug back in for more. She didn’t come back up for air until she’d finished the first one. Pupusas were her new favourite thing. “So,” she said as she leaned back in her chair. “How much Spanish do you speak?”
He grinned. “You noticed that.”
She laughed. “Yes.”
“Impressed?” His eyes danced.
“Was that why you did it?”
“Eighty percent trying to impress you, twenty percent trying to be a good citizen of the world. I’ve got a bunch of phrases that sound okay. Most of the time, I probably sound like a preschooler. We have a lot of seasonal workers who come up from Central America. Ty’s pretty fluent—he studied it at school—so he uses it on the job, and I try to as well. They’re valued members of our company, and we like to make an effort.”
“And it impresses people when you bring them here.”
He shrugged. “I wouldn’t know. You’re the first person I’ve brought here.”
“No way.”
“It’s true.”
“So where do you usually take people on a first date?”
He gave her a slow, innocent blink while the corners of his mouth looked like they were fighting back a grin.
She leaned in. “Your bed?”
“You said it, not me.”
“Should I feel ripped off?”
“We’ll get there eventually, if you want.” He smiled. “I’d like that. But I don’t know. Everything about this is different than how I usually date. I don’t like to mix business and pleasure, for one thing.”
“And with me?”
“I want to mix a lot of things.”
Well, that was delightfully hot. Jess fanned herself as he laughed under his breath, then she pointed to his food. “Can I try some of yours?”
