I threw her a questioning look, buther attention was firmly on her feet.
Ignoring all the weird vibes coming fromeveryone, I started his order.
“What does he want?” Molly asked ina low voice so he couldn’t hear her outside the open window.
I chuckled dryly, not believing itwas true. “The Cubano.”
She huffed a disgruntled sound.“He’s so pretentious. I don’t know how Killian works with him.”
“They grew up together,” Iexplained. “I think he’s the closest thing Killian has to a BFF, although hewould never admit that.”
Molly let out a wobbly breath thatcould have been a laugh under different circumstances. “Can you imagine whatthose two are like together? No offense, Vera, and by the way I’m super happyfor you, but I feel like they would just sit around discussing politics andretirement plans. Never smiling.”
My laugh was less subtle. “You mightbe onto something.” I focused on the food for a few minutes, thankful that noother customers had shown up yet because I didn’t think Molly planned to movefrom her spot in the corner until Ezra Baptiste had officially disappeared.“What’s your deal with him?” I finally whispered. “Why are you hiding fromhim?”
She threw me a look that screamedduh!“He has terrible taste in design.”
“Oh. Right. Then do you also hateme?”
Stepping closer to me, she droppedher voice even lower. “You don’t have terrible taste in design. You havespecifictaste in design. There’s adifference.”
“Seriously, Molls, what is it withhim that’s got you all flustered?”
She rolled her eyes and crossed herarms at the same time—the universal body language forback the hell off. Of course I didn’t. I paused what I was doing topoke her in the arm.
“I just don’t like him, okay? He askedfor my opinion on his website when we were atLilou,so I gave it to him. He didn’t like it apparently, so he picked it apartcompletely. He didn’t really want my opinion. He just wanted me to tell himwhat he wanted to hear. When I called him on it, he got even more defensive. Wejust don’t see eye to eye. And on top of that, he’s super intimidating. Hemakes me uncomfortable.”
Well, she had me there. Hewassuper intimidating. I finishedplating his food and walked it to the window. He stood away from the truck,typing furiously on the small keyboard of his phone.
I hesitated for a second not knowinghow to address him. On one hand, he was Killian’s good friend, which made uskind of familiar, right? On the other hand, he was a super important titan inthe industry I was trying to survive in, and that had made me spend five extraminutes on his food to make sure it was perfect in every way.
Ezra? Or Mr. Baptiste? Or Mr. EzraBaptiste?
Just kidding. The last one wasoverkill.Definitely, overkill.
I cleared my throat and went with myinstincts. “Um, your order is ready.”
He looked up from his phone,clicking it off and shoving it in his pocket when he saw me half-hanging out ofthe pickup window. Closing the space between us in five smooth paces, hegrabbed the box from me with robotic efficiency.
As I explained where the napkins andplastic utensils were, he studiously ignored me in favor of checking out hisorder. He flicked the top of the French bread with his pointer finger, but itstretched in protest, anchored by a heavy amount of Swiss cheese. He made thatsound in the back of his throat again and pushed the decadently greasy friesaround with the same finger.
When he finished jabbing at hisorder, he reached for a napkin and wiped his hands clean. Then he lifted hisgaze and inclined his head toward the sidewalk. “Do you have a few minutes totalk?”
“Uh, sure.” The words were outbefore my panicked brain could stop them.
Ezra stepped to the side of thetruck to wait for me. Molly’s eyebrows were scrunched together over her nose asI gave her a helpless shrug, wiped my hands on my apron and left the safety ofmy truck.
The cool night settled on my heatedskin like a sigh of relief. I inhaled deeply, enjoying all the different smellsof the city and the kitchen I could never quite wash off.
I found Ezra several yards away fromFoodie, closer to the alley than the street. He’d polished off half thesandwich and fries before I caught up to him by taking gigantic bites thatdidn’t fit his polished style. He appeared all tailored professional, but he’djust inhaled his order like an animal.
Uhh… I took his voracious appetite as acompliment. Sort of.
Spotting me, he wiped his hands onhis napkin again and extended it. “We haven’t had a proper chance to meet yet.”
I shook his hand for the second timein my life and resisted the urge to text Killian and demand he get over hereand explain his friend’s bizarre behavior. “Thanks for stopping by the truck,”I told him sincerely. “Killian has spoken so highly of you.”
He gave me a look that said hedidn’t believe me. “Killian doesn’t speak highly of anyone.”
