CHAPTER 14

Grace’s expression wasn’t what he expected when he asked the question and Sal wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing, so he waited while she picked up her beer and took another drink.

“You asked him if I was seeing someone?”

“No. He just mentioned it the day after he gave you a ride home—said you were talking to someone.”

She put the beer down and began pouring rice into a saucepan. “Did you say something to him about staying away from me or me being off limits?”

Sal took advantage of the moment to size her up. The craziest thing was happening. The more he had her here to himself the more intense his need to know if she was free for him to make his move got. “Oscar’s a good guy but he tends to look at women like objects. I just reminded him not to do that with you or any of the employees.”

Grace glanced at him before pouring the water in the saucepan with the rice. She hadn’t fried it beforehand and she added nothing else but a little salt. Steamed white rice was not something he’d ever considered putting on their Mexican menu.

“Oh. I think he took it differently,” she said, looking up at him.

“I know he did, and I’m glad.” Sal stared at her. “Means he’ll definitely be staying away. But Gracie…you haven’t answered the question.”

He squeezed the bottle of beer. “Why wouldn’t it? We are on a date right? I’m not in the habit of dating girls who are seeing someone else. That’s not my thing.”

“What is your thing?” She took a pan down from where it hung and splashed a little cooking oil on it, setting it aside. “Because I hear serious relationships are not it.”

Sal was usually very patient but for some reason this really irritated him. “Who said this? Oscar?”

“No, your sister did, actually.” She began dicing peppers.

Sal noticed how at ease she seemed in spite of the nature of their conversation and his obvious growing impatience. She appeared a little nervous earlier but it was almost as if being in her element had calmed her. He wished he could say the same for himself. He’d grown more anxious by the minute.

She shrugged. “Just seems that if that’s the case, dating someone who’s not looking for anything serious because they’re already seeing someone else would be ideal.”

He clenched his jaw, surprised at how much that irritated him. “No. It wouldn’t. And for the record, just because I’ve never had a serious relationship doesn’t mean I don’t do them.”

She hadn’t looked at him since she begun dicing but she stopped now and glanced at him. Then she took a drink of her beer, but still didn’t answer his damn question.

“So is that a yes?”

She shook her head and he exhaled slowly. Now for his next question: something he’d thought about all night. “So whatcha do last night? With your dad’s friend.”

Sal clenched his jaw. Was she being vague on purpose? “What does that mean? Are you into this guy?” He was going to throw all the questions at her tonight. He had to know now.

Adding to the incredible annoyance he now felt, Grace laughed. “Nothing bad. Just go out and have dinner one time and last night we took a walk on the pier then had a drink. ”

Even that pissed him off. What kind of mother asks her daughter to entertain a man to get her husband a job?

“So tell me about Melissa.” She started frying chorizo in the pan.

At this point Sal had given up trying to figure out what she was making. He’d fill her in on Melissa, but he was getting back to her mom. She did say it was a long story and they had all night. At the time her mother hadn’t interested him much but now she did. He knew where Grace came from, she couldn’t have the best lifestyle but having a mom that pimped her out was a whole other ballgame. He wanted to know more.

He told her about how he met Melissa, not mentioning too much about Melissa being so clingy, but he did make it clear that he wasn’t interested in her.

“So you were just using her for her basketball tickets?” She smirked, taking a break from her cooking and drinking the last of her beer.

Sal took the empty bottle then opened another one for her. “No. I wasn’t even going to respond but I made the mistake of mentioning the tickets to Romero and he went all crazy, insisting I get them. Otherwise, trust me I wouldn’t have.”

Grace went back to cooking, taking the done rice away from the heat then sautéing the peppers, onion and chorizo with a generous amount of shrimp. “She seems very into you.”

“She’s persistent. I’ll give her that.” He was beginning to love watching her cook. He’d watched many cooks at work in his time but none were as graceful as she was. His mom was the only one that came close, but he’d never look at Grace like he did his mom, so there was no comparison. “You said your mom was a long story too. Tell me about her.”

The smirk went flat as she cracked an egg off the side of the pan in which she was sautéing the vegetables and shrimp and began scrambling it. She took a deep breath. “My mom is actually my step-mom, but I’ve always called her mom because she’s the only mother I’ve ever known.”

Feeling an ache for her, he had to ask. “What happened to your real mom?”

She dumped the rice into the large frying pan in which she’d been sautéing and added more spices. “She died giving birth to me. In Mexico, it’s not like the states. There is no insurance. My dad couldn’t afford to take her to the hospital so a mid-wife was called in. There were complications and they rushed her over the border to a hospital in El Paso. They barely made it to the hospital in time to do an emergency C-section. I nearly died, too, from what my grandmother told me, but my mother didn’t make it. My dad never really talked about it.”

She paused to take another drink of her beer and Sal wondered if she was getting upset again like the night she told him about her dad. He was ffraid to ruin the night so he wouldn’t push for more unless she offered on her own. She did. “It was just me, my dad, and grandmother for years. Then when I was five, my dad started dating my step-mom and I begged him not to marry her. I didn’t want anybody else in our family. He promised he wouldn’t, then a few months later she was pregnant and he said he had to do the honorable thing. They were married and my grandmother assured me having a sibling would be a good thing.” She finally smiled. “She was right about that. Rose was my little doll, then she became my little shadow. But my step-mom didn’t seem to have the same adoration for her as the rest of us did. My grandmother told me when I got a little older that some women just weren’t meant to be mothers and my step-mom was one of them.”

When she paused for another drink, Sal decided to change the subject even if it was just for a moment. It was getting somewhat heavy and even though he now wanted to know everything about her, he didn’t want her getting upset. He knew she was probably near the part about how she lost her dad and it made him nervous.

“That smells delicious, Gracie. Are you gonna tell me what it is now?” It really did smell great. The mixture of the spices with the chorizo and shrimp was heavenly.

She turned back to her creation and covered it, smiling. “There was only one Chinese restaurant near the area where my grandmother’s restaurant was in Juarez. So it was pretty popular. One of their most popular dishes was their shrimp fried rice. My grandmother decided she could top it, adding a Mexican flair to it and put it on the menu. It was an instant hit. Even the owner of the Chinese restaurant came over one time to compliment her on it.”

“Mexican shrimp fried rice?” Sal eyed her, then leaned over and lifted the lid to get another look. His arm brushed against her and just like the time she nearly collided with him, just being that close to her excited him. It was like nothing he’d ever experienced. Maybe it was that she was an employee and it felt a little wrong or maybe it was that he remembered her aversion to him in the very beginning and the thought of any chance with her seemed like an impossibility at the time. Whatever it was, the feeling got stronger with each moment he stood next to her.

Another look at her dish and he had to admit it looked as good as it smelled but he could hardly concentrate. Now all he could think of was touching Grace. “Is it ready?”

“Almost, it just has to sit for a little bit. You can make it with chicken or beef also but shrimp was always my favorite. This was also another one they used to order a lot for parties because it can easily be made in large quantities.”

Sal turned to her. Standing this close he was tempted to lean in and kiss her but really had to be careful. Sure, she agreed they were on a date, but things would get incredibly awkward if he tried something she wasn’t ready for and she rejected him, especially since they’d still have to see each other every day. She blinked her big almond shaped eyes. “It’s actually really good served with Cadillac Margaritas.”

“Well let’s do this.” Sal pointed towards the bar. “Who better to fix them than you? I want the whole experience here, Gracie.”

She smiled and started toward the door. God what she did to him was insane. He walked behind her, wondering how long he could put off making a move. Even if it wasn’t a physical one. Not much longer that was for sure. Getting her to agree to give him a chance would more than suffice for now.

Grace went to the bar. Sal grabbed a lighter from just under the counter and walked out to one of the booths in the corner to set it up.

“What are you doing?” She asked from behind the bar.

“I’m setting up the table. I told you already. Just because we’re here doesn’t mean it’s not a real date.” He lit the candle in the middle of the table, glad he managed to derail any more talk about her mom and dad. He wanted to know all about it—all about her—but the intense stuff could wait for another time. Tonight he had other subjects he wanted to touch on. Like what his chances with her were. She’d already mentioned dating someone didn’t mean she was into them. He knew she’d been referring to her date last night but it could’ve been her subtle way of hinting he shouldn’t be putting too much weight on tonight. He’d get it straight before the night was over. After grabbing a couple of the pre-wrapped silverware, kept under the hostess desk up front, he walked back to the booth. Grace had already poured the margaritas and walked them to their table. She placed them on the table then smiled at him. “I’ll be back with the food.”

Sal inched his way closer to her, taking in the mixture of her warm skin and lotion maybe. He leaned in to help pick up one of the plates, when she turned her face their lips were just inches apart. “We could—” She stopped and stared at his lips then her eyes wandered up and met his. “I was gonna say we could also warm tortillas to go with this if you want.” He saw her gulp but she didn’t move away from him and he was sure she was feeling the same thing he was.

Putting the plate down, he leaned in and kissed her softly not wanting to come on too strong, but he did trace her lips with his tongue. The taste of her mouth was incredible, just like he’d imagined. Noticing her inexperience almost immediately only excited him more, but he forced himself to go slow and be gentle. It wasn’t easy.

He continued gently, placing his hand behind her neck and she leaned back allowing him better access. Then she eased her mouth open, inviting his tongue in and he really had to restrain from devouring her mouth. She followed his lead as his tongue moved around hers and he moved in closer, feeling her breathing become slightly labored. He didn’t want to stop but he had to before things got too heavy. He still had the rest of the night with her. Forcing himself to, but not before giving her a few more soft pecks, he pulled away and stared into her eyes. She licked her lips. “You don’t want me to what?”

At first, he didn’t know what she was talking about. The kiss had clouded everything out but then he remembered. “I don’t want you to think I’m coming on too strong on our first date.”

“But I meant what I said about not dating anyone that’s already seeing someone else.” He had to get this one straight. “You’re really not then right?”

“No. I’m really not.”

Sal peered at her. “So who were you talking about when you told Oscar you were?”

“I just said that so he wouldn’t get any ideas about asking me out.” She shrugged. “I didn’t want to be mean, especially because I knew I’d have to work with him.”

The relief felt too good. Sal didn’t even try to hide his excitement. He cupped her face with both hands and he kissed her again. This time just a quick one. “But you’ll be okay with this, right?”

She bit the corner of her lip and hesitated. “I’m not sure.”

He pulled back to look at her better. “Why?”

“You’ve never been in a relationship. I have. I’ve never done the casual dating thing. I’m not sure if that’s something I’d like or could handle. Your sister said—”

“Never mind what my sister said, Gracie. My family only knows what I want them to know. I was away at school for a long time. Believe it or not, I did have a relationship or two. Just nothing I would consider serious or very meaningful, so I never mentioned them to anyone.” She stared at him and he knew what he’d say next was risky but she’s the one that brought it up. “I wasn’t going to say this tonight but I don’t want you to take this casually. Not once have I ever considered dating someone that works for the restaurant. I never thought I would. Not until I realized I want more than just a date.”

She blinked and looked away then turned back to him. Her eyes glistened. “I do, too,” she whispered, her voice nearly breaking.

She was by far the most emotional girl he’d ever met. But he was glad she was emotional about this. It meant she really cared and it felt damn good.

This time he hugged her. Having her in his arms finally, felt better than what he’d expected. It felt perfect. Like that was exactly where she belonged. Keeping his hands off her while they worked was going to be a challenge. But a challenge he more than welcomed.