CHAPTER 15

 

Originally the booth set up had the place settings across from each other but after that kiss and their talk Sal said there was no way he wasn’t sitting next to her. So they sat on the same side. He said he loved the Mexican fried rice and it would be a perfect addition not only to the menu but to the Sunday brunch. Grace still couldn’t believe this was all happening to her. It felt too good to be true.

Not wanting to move into any subjects that were too nerve-wracking or that might have her in stupid tears again she asked about something safe. She really did want to know more about his plans on expanding the restaurants into a franchise. He told her more about it but said he was having second thoughts.

“Actually I thought about what you said the day I gave you the tour. It might be smarter to keep it on a smaller scale and work on perfecting the restaurants rather than expand into too many, because I know I wouldn’t have the time to manage them all. If I don’t have a close hand in it all it won’t be the same.”

She frowned. “You have to trust other people’s judgments, too. You can’t do it all.”

“I can if I stick to fewer restaurants.” He’d already helped himself to a second plateful of the rice and he was nearly done with it. That made her smile. “No one cares about this as much as we do. The family has their hands full even with the two restaurants we have now.”

“Well maybe you should just do one at a time. Once you’re managing all three smoothly, then you can try for another until you feel like you can’t take any more on.”

Sal smiled and kissed her. “That’s exactly what I was thinking.”

Grace stuck to safe subjects for the rest of the night. She was amazed that this whole restaurant business started with his dad in a catering taco truck. Sal was obviously very proud of how far his dad had come. It gave Grace hope that someday she’d be able to do the same.

By the end of the night, Grace felt almost drained from the amount of emotions that evening. She was so glad when he’d changed the subject from her mom and dad earlier. She’d been pretty close to getting emotional about that again and she would’ve hated for him to remember their first date that way.

When he dropped her off, he kissed her again the way he had in the restaurant. She didn’t want it to end and it did go on much longer than their first kiss. He leaned his forehead against hers when it was finally over and gazed in her eyes. “You have no idea what you do to me.” Then he smiled. “Hell, I don’t even know how to explain it.”

The way he looked at her at that moment made her wonder if he could actually be feeling what she was feeling. “I can’t explain what I’m feeling either. All I know is… it scares me.”

“Don’t be. I’m not scared.” He lifted his eyebrows. “Okay, maybe a little. But it’s a good kind of scared, like I just boarded the ride of my life.” He kissed her nose and whispered, “Hold on tight.”

Even after talking to Joey for over an hour, going over every detail of her date and him reassuring her this was not only a good thing it was great she still couldn’t sleep. But it was like Sal said—a good thing. She was too excited.

Every time she closed her eyes she relived those incredible kisses.

~*~

 

Grace wasn’t sure what to expect when she arrived at the restaurant the next day. Their eyes met as soon as she walked in and he greeted her with most breathtaking smile. Her insides had already been going wild even before she got there. As she put on her apron in the back he startled her coming up from behind. She nearly let out a yelp before laughing when she realized it was him and he planted a long smoldering one on her.

The glare softened into a smile. “I like that. Okay, I’ll be discreet to an extent. But Gracie, if anyone gets wind of this or somehow finds out, I really don’t give a shit. It’s our business, not theirs. They’ll just have to deal with it.”

With that, he kissed her again and the ride began. Gracie decided not to fight it and just hold on tight.

 

~*~

 

That afternoon Sal got a text from Romero. He was at the game with Isabel.

That Melissa chick really pissed me off. Just an FYI you’ll probably be hearing from her.

Sal frowned and texted back.

What happened?

He sat back in his chair and waited for a response. Grace walked into the back room and he threw the phone on his desk, standing up. That could wait, this couldn’t. She smiled when he pushed the door closed and pulled her to him. “You on a break, or are you just here to see me?” He kissed her before she could answer and she giggled against his mouth.

The door handle jiggled and Grace pulled away. It irritated him that she cared so much about people finding out. Grace spun around and opened the cabinet when the door opened. Sofia walked in. “I thought you were interviewing today at Angel’s.”

“Nah, I moved those to Monday. I’m only gonna do them on Monday and Tuesday now.”

Grace said hello to Sofia and walked out with her phone in her hand, in too much of a rush. Sofia looked at him funny, lifting an eyebrow. Sal sat back down at the desk not acknowledging her suspicion and grabbed his phone that had buzzed twice since he threw it down. He read the first text.

She got rude with Izzy when I told her she took your ticket and well you know me. I wasn’t having it.

I told her I’d pay for the damn tickets but she said you’d be paying her for this one way or “another” I told the bitch that’s probably what she needs. Ha! She didn’t think it was funny. >=)

Sal shook his head, exhaling loudly.

“What did he do?” Sofia asked.

“Just made another mess for me.” He tossed the phone back on the desk and turned his chair around. “Grace has another great dish for us. Mexican shrimp fried rice.”

“Ooh, sounds good.”

“It is. I was hoping to get it in tomorrow’s brunch ‘cause she said it can easily be made in large quantities. I already told Alex and he said he’d come in just to try some, but I was hoping you can come in to help in the morning. I totally forgot I’m meeting my buddy in the morning for a few rounds of golf. I already told him we’d have to do it earlier than we planned so I can get here early and see how it goes.”

He also wanted to spend as much time with Grace as he could before her two days off. He would’ve gladly just canceled the whole thing but Jason had beaten him to it, calling to tell him he was looking forward to it because he really needed to talk.

“Yeah, I can come in and open. As long as I can leave early. I have somewhere to be in the afternoon.”

His phone rang and he picked it up to check the caller ID. Melissa. Shit. “You can leave as soon as I get here.”

Sofia nodded and started out the door. “Can you close the door behind you?”

She did and he answered. “Hey, Melissa.”

“I can’t believe you gave that asshole those tickets.” It was really noisy and Sal couldn’t tell if she was yelling to be heard over the crowd or because she was that mad.

She was quiet and he wondered if she’d heard him. “You can’t just brush me off like that. Do you know what I had to go through to get those tickets?”

“Sweetheart, I didn’t ask you to, but I do appreciate it. I’m sorry it worked out this way but I won’t be there tonight.” He was trying to be as nice as he could. He knew what she was capable of.

There was a sudden roar in the background and she didn’t speak until it died down a little. “I can’t hear you. I’ll call you later.”

The line clicked and he threw the phone down again more frustrated than ever. He’d pay her for the fucking tickets if he had to, but he wasn’t responding to her calls anymore. He shook his head. Never again.

 

~*~

 

The evening was spent pretty much the same as the one before only a little less formal and the food Grace prepared was a bit more simple—tacos al pastor. They ate them in the kitchen with beer. She sat on the counter.

Just like the night before while she cooked she felt completely under control. It was only when she’d sat on the counter and Sal walked up to her, pushing her legs apart to get closer to her that her heart began to hammer away. She thought of how experienced and put together Melissa seemed. She’d probably done things to him that Grace had only read about. How could she possibly live up to that? She still held her bottle of beer in her hand as she draped her arms around his neck keeping up with his deep kisses. He groaned and whispered against her lips. “You’re getting so much better at this.”

She pulled back a little. “Why? I wasn’t good before?”

He let out a laugh. “Jesus, your lips have been perfect from the moment I first laid eyes on them and they taste even better, but you were a little tense in the beginning. I wasn’t sure you were enjoying it as much as I was.” He slid her closer to him and she felt his strong hard body against her, making her breathe a little harder.

“This is all a little new to me. But of course I’m enjoying it.”

She saw the confusion in his eyes. “You said you’d been in a relationship. I was gonna ask but I’m not sure I wanna hear about it.”

“I meant the only times I’ve ever been involved with someone it wasn’t just dating. Both times it was understood we were in a relationship, but neither lasted very long and I’ve never…” She felt her face flush when his eyes widened. “I was real young, too. It was right before my grandmother passed.”

Ah hell. She fell the lump in her throat forming. Not wanting to ruin the moment with her damn tears again, she kissed him, this time putting more into it than before. She put the bottle down and ran her fingers through his hair, kissing him frantically. The arousal she felt was electrifying. Any thoughts of crying vanished, instead all she could think of was the possibility that Sal would make love to her one day—maybe soon. She moaned in his mouth and he moaned in response. His hands caressed her back and she wished she had the nerve to tell him to do more. Even though his body was pressed against her and he kissed her just as madly as she kissed him, he was incredibly gentle in every other way.

Grace moved up even closer to him so her legs straddled him completely. Feeling brave, she wrapped them around him and felt just how aroused he truly was when he pushed up against her. He pulled away from her mouth and made his way down to her neck. Feeling his tongue as he kissed and sucked it made her squirm. She’d made out a few times but it’d never felt like this. “This is crazy,” she said breathlessly.

He stopped and looked at her. “What is?”

She stared at him and infuriatingly she felt the lump in her throat again. “The way you make me feel.” She hugged him burying her face in his neck. No one had ever made her feel this way. Ever. She didn’t know what to make of it, but it was getting embarrassing.

His caressed her slower now and he kissed the side of her head. “Gracie, you have no idea how glad I am that you’re feeling it, too.”

She took a deep breath before she pulled away from him and looked in his eyes. “Really? What is it, because I don’t understand it. I’ve never felt anything like this.”

“I’m not sure. But I’m older than you and like I said yesterday. I’ve never felt it either.” He kissed her softly. “Just go with it, Gracie. Whatever it is, it feels damn good.”

He tilted her chin up and gazed in her eyes for a moment before devouring her mouth again.

 

 

~*~

 

Sunday morning Sal ignored three calls from Melissa and didn’t respond to any of her texts. He’d talk to Jason on the golf course about possibly getting Kat to talk to her about backing off. The last thing he needed was her causing any problems with him with Grace.

Since it was a last minute change in time, they weren’t able to start as soon as they got there and he wouldn’t be done as early as he hoped. Jason had walked off to get them both coffee and Sal read Melissa’s latest text.

You know better than to ignore me. I’d say after what you did yesterday the least you could do is offer to make up for it.

He texted her back.

I’ll pay you for the tickets.

He could kick himself for having listened to Romero. His phone buzzed again.

U know that’s not what I mean. You owe me a night out, Salvador!

Exhaling, he knew what he had to do. He may as well get it over with.

Can’t do it. I’m seeing someone now. Sorry.

Jason got back with the two coffee’s and Sal put his phone away. He could go back and forth with Melissa all day if he left it up to her.

“So the bachelor party is in two weeks. You’re gonna be there right?”

Sal had forgotten about the damn party. Just being here right now when he could be back at the restaurant with Grace had him feeling antsy. He didn’t even want to think about giving up a whole weekend with her just to go to some stupid bachelor party, but there was no way out of this one. He’d already agreed and Jason and him went too far back. Plus there was no way he was explaining that he didn’t want to be away from a girl he’d only just started seeing. “Yeah, I’ll be there.”

“Good.” Jason smiled, getting in the cart. “We’re all flying out Friday and coming back Monday.”

Hell no. Sal climbed in on the passenger side of the cart. “I can’t do all that. But I’ll meet you guys up there Saturday, then I gotta get back Sunday.”

“I’ll have a few drinks with you. I’m not flying out there for nothing. But I’m not doing anything crazy either.” He had Grace to think about now. Jason was lucky he was even going.

Turned out what Jason wanted to talk about was the cold feet he was beginning to feel. Sal did his best to assure him it was normal. The guy had been living with his girlfriend for years now. What difference would it make if he got married?

Talking about marriage inevitably made him think of Grace. Though in the last couple of days everything made him think of her. Even the phone that continued to buzz in his pocket made him think of her. He was really going to have to do something about Melissa before she did anything stupid.