Just a Taste (19 page)

“I don't want you to do something you don't want to, something that will make you miserable.” His hands slid up and down her arms in a soothing motion.

Did her touch have the same effect on him?

“I won't be miserable. At least not any more than you will be. This is our business. It's not fair for me to only do the parts I like. You can't just decide not to clean up even though it's not fun.”

He smiled and his body relaxed. “You're really okay with working with me?”

Her nerves settled with his smile. “Yeah.”

“It won't be forever. We'll look at maybe hiring someone when things pick up.” He kissed her cheek. “I knew your dad was a tough guy, but I have no idea how he ran the truck by himself. I thought I might lose my mind this afternoon. Stubbornness was the only thing that kept me from rolling up early and leaving.”

Her dad didn't really handle it alone. He'd often worked the truck by himself, but it took a huge toll on him and his health. For which a swift kick of guilt smacked her again. If she hadn't been so selfish in her refusal to work with him, maybe he'd still be with her now.

“You sure you're okay?”

She nodded before speaking. “Yeah. Just thinking about my dad.”

“What do you want for dinner?”

“I wasn't kidding. You don't have to cook for me.”

“I like to cook for you.” Then he got busy in her kitchen like he was at home.

The following morning, Carmen's eyes popped open. Liam lay next to her looking like he had no intention of moving. She nudged his shoulder.

“Uhn.”

“Time to get up.” She rolled off the bed and shivered. She shuffled to the kitchen and started coffee. Then she took a hot shower and dressed in layers. She knew the truck got hot while they cooked, but it was so bitter cold out that she knew she wouldn't be warm with her hands passing through the window taking money and handing over orders.

Gloves. She needed gloves. While she sucked down that glorious first cup of coffee, she rummaged through the hall closet for a pair of gloves. By the time she found a pair that had seen better days, Liam was up and grumbling about the ass crack of dawn. She smiled as she went back to the kitchen. She didn't know Liam wasn't a morning person. When she'd spent the night at his house, he was up before her, cooking breakfast.

“Good morning, Sunshine.”

“It's barely morning, and I've yet to see the sun.”

She topped off her mug. “It's winter. The sun waits a while to make its appearance.”

He glared at her as he poured his coffee.

“So, you're not a morning person. I'll try to remember that.”

“Morning people are evil.”

“Not true. Get dressed.”

“What's your hurry?”

“Once I'm up, I like to get moving.” While he nursed his coffee, she logged on to her computer, set their locations for the day, and tweeted them so they'd get picked up by various sites. Liam had veered from the spots her dad usually worked. It made her a little nervous, straying from the known, but Liam had a right to experiment.

She ran out and started her car so it would warm up and she began to rethink the whole idea of running the truck through the winter. Who in their right mind walked around looking for lunch when it was this cold out?

By the time they reached the restaurant, Liam appeared to be awake. He still wasn't talking much, but then again, he rarely did. They moved around the kitchen doing their prep. Her knife skills couldn't compete with his, and she kept waiting for him to nudge her aside and take over. She felt his eyes on her and without looking, imagined his grimace at her clumsy chopping. She might not be fast and pretty, but she got the job done.

When the truck was loaded, Liam got behind the wheel and drove into downtown. As quiet as he was, she was glad Pete met him on-site. Pete's chattering would probably have driven Liam nuts before the first site. At ten forty-five, they parked at Clark and Monroe. Only one other truck was there and they sold grilled cheese.

Her concern with parking anywhere was the competition from other Mexican food restaurants. As soon as the truck stopped, Carmen jumped out and started unrolling. She had the windows open and the awning up while Liam fired up the grill. Although the temperature read in the twenties, the big buildings blocked what little sun they hoped to see. They were parked in the shadows and cold air sucked into the back of the truck.

Carmen stood beside the grill and warmed her hands on the meager heat.

“You're in my way.”

Carmen looked at Liam. “I'm cold, and you're not cooking yet. We have no customers.”

He cocked an eyebrow, so she did the same. “I'm not stopping your setup.”

His jaw clenched, but he continued in his economical movements, putting things where he wanted them for the shift. Once her shivering stopped, she grabbed an order pad and set up her small station, where she'd take orders and money. From her spot, she continued to watch Liam. He was quite the distraction.

Competent and sure in everything he did. And he wore another chef's jacket. Where did that come from? Yesterday's was white, but today's was dark, like navy, and the cuffs of the sleeves were turned up, revealing part of his forearms. Man, those were sexy.

She'd never thought about arms being sexy, but something about Liam made her reevaluate that. His pale skin, sprinkled with freckles and a dusting of his red hair, shouldn't make her hot, yet here she was, unzipping her jacket.

She forced her mind back to work and created the specials board with prices to hang outside. As she completed this last task, people started lining up. Behind them, another truck had pulled in. They sold chicken or something. She should probably learn more about the local competition. She knew nothing about any of these trucks, but her dad had talked to most of their owners.

Before she could mention it to Liam, customers began ordering and she had no time to think. She wrote orders down, called them out, then hung the slip on a clip near Liam. She couldn't believe the steady line of people. It didn't take long for her to grow tired of smiling and chatting with people to make suggestions.

But she didn't hate it.

About an hour in, Liam was backlogged. The tickets were piling up and people were stomping their feet against the cold while they waited for food. Carmen exchanged her warm gloves for some food service ones and began laying out the components for the next order.

“What are you doing?”

“Helping you catch up. People are cold and they want their food.”

“You're going to mess things up. Go back to the window.”

That was it. She only had so much patience for someone being cranky in the morning. He had no need to question her abilities. With a fist on her hip and her other hand pointing at him, she said, “Look, I've been making these tacos my whole life. Don't tell me I don't know what I'm doing. I might not have your magic kitchen skills, but I know how to cook.”

His face cracked into a strange smile and he burst out laughing. She'd never heard such a deep, rich sound, especially from Liam, and it startled her.

“What the hell is so funny?”

He continued to laugh as he folded and wrapped three chicken tacos—topped with her mole sauce, she might add—and then said, “I wish you could've seen yourself. You just went all stereotypical Latina with the head weaving and finger pointing.” He shook his head on another chuckle.

Then he added, “You might as well have tacked on a ‘No, you di-in't'.” His accent was atrocious.

She should've been angry. But all she could think was that she had sounded like Rosa when she yelled at Liam. Except Rosa would've added an insult in Spanish.

The waiting customers were watching and most appeared amused. She smiled. “You're on.”

“What?”

She bumped his hip. “You cook on that half. I'll take this. We'll see who gets it right faster.”

A couple of people waiting for food clapped. Carmen worked side by side with Liam, bumping and occasionally crashing into each other. They hadn't dropped any food, though. They teased and joked and customers laughed along with them. Carmen managed to take orders while cooking, so she declared herself the winner of their little competition.

Before they knew it, the timer was ringing and they had to wrap up for the next site. They waved people away, telling them that they'd be back tomorrow. They cleaned up quickly. Carmen turned to go out and close the awning, but Liam grabbed her and kissed her hard. When he released her, it took a moment to remember where she was and what she was supposed to be doing.

“What was that for?”

“For making this the most fun I've ever had at work. I don't know why you didn't want to do this; you're a natural.”

She pushed away from him to go outside. Not even the wind whipping at her cheeks could remove the warmth she felt.

Liam found himself smiling as he cleaned the truck and took food back into the kitchen of the restaurant. He had no idea how much money they'd made, but it felt like they'd been busier than the day before. Then again, maybe he was just enjoying how much fun he had working with Carmen.

When he'd suggested her working with him, he hadn't expected her to agree. He didn't know why she had, but he was happy about it. Working with her was a million times better than working with Pete.

The only thing that would make her perfect would be if she would stop getting in his way. Every time he turned around, she was messing with his orders. She didn't move things like Pete had, but she'd jump in and start wrapping tacos and bagging orders while he was still double-checking what he had.

It made him nervous and jumpy, but she made no mistakes, so how mad could he get?

“Did I pass your test?” she asked as she scrubbed at the grill.

He nudged her out of the way to take over the task. He pointed to the lettuce and tomato bins. “Take those to the cooler. What test?”

She answered without moving away from the grill. “Whatever test you have in your head that Pete failed.”

“I'll clean the grill.”

“I have it.” A sly smile quirked up. “Or is that part of the test? You don't think I can clean to your standards?”

He knew no one could ever do things to his standards. That was why he preferred to do it himself. “There is no test. You didn't try to get a date with any of our customers, so there's that.”

“I bet I could take orders, cook the food, and still pick up customers faster than you.” Steam billowed up as she poured some water onto the flat top to help clean it.

Even though he knew that part of the glow in her cheeks was due to the heat of the small kitchen space, he also saw a new sparkle in her eyes. He wrapped an arm around her hip and pulled her back against him. He lowered himself so the curve of her ass snugged against his crotch. He kissed her neck. “No way would you beat me in the kitchen, babe, unless you were picking up other men because then I'd have to stop cooking to beat the crap out of them.”

She stopped scraping and leaned into him. “Jealous of some imaginary guys?”

“They're not imaginary. I saw a few checking you out today.”

She shook her head like he was making it up. She didn't even recognize a guy flirting with her. Liam knew this was good for him, but it also said much about what she thought of herself. He turned and took the lettuce and tomatoes into the restaurant.

He wasn't used to people not doing as he said in the kitchen, but he had to remember Carmen wasn't part of his staff, not one of his employees. She was his partner and she knew what she was doing.