I walk up to the counter. “It’s been a while,” Sam says, coming back from the kitchen.
“I know, I know.” I lean on the counter. “Miss me?”
“Every damn day.” I see a shadow loom over me, and Royce has his hands folded over his chest.
His smile is gone now, and he looks pissed. I ignore him and go back to talking to Sam. Sam has owned the Taco Hut for as long as I can remember. My mom and dad would bring us up here a lot after school when we were kids. Then Penelope and I started coming on our own. We even studied for some of our finals in here while devouring late-night snacks. Sam always gave us homemade churros that were to die for.
“Don’t mind him,” I say when I see Sam eyeing Royce. “He doesn’t know about boundaries. But I just met him today, so he could just be an asshole.”
Sam smirks but gives Royce a glare. I hear Royce grunt something, but I don’t catch it.
“How am I going to stay in business if your taco addiction is fading?” Sam teases.
“Blame Henry. He’s the one working me to death.”
Sam shakes his head. “Haven’t seen him for a few months either.”
“Because he knows I love this place and he’s avoiding me right now. Do you have any fresh churros?” I ask, giving him my best smile. I want something sweet for later when I’m at work tonight and have nothing to eat. Tacos don’t hold well, but the sugary dessert will.
“I think I may have a few,” Sam says, his eyes softening. “Only for you, though.” He shoots a look at Royce.
“Perfect, and I’ll take my usual,” I add.
“All right, eight tacos with extra cheese and sour cream.”
I hear Royce cough and mutter, “Eight?”
I look at him and shrug. “They aren’t giant. Kinda like mini tacos. They fry the shells, too, so they’re crispy little heaven-sent morsels of pleasure.” I can’t stop the moan that escapes me when I talk about them. God, it’s been too long.
“If they can make you make that sound, I’ll take eight, too,” he says, his smile back in place.
I turn in the other direction. I don’t want to face him because I can feel my cheeks burn. That did not just happen. “I’ll have a Diet Coke, too, and he’s buying.”
Sam chuckles and heads back to the kitchen. I go find a table outside and sit down. Royce follows me, setting my Coke down in front of me while taking a sip of his water.
“So I think our department is being staffed wrong. It’s not that I need more people, I just think that maybe there’s a faster way we can be doing things, something I’m not seeing. More productive, but not as much work—”
“Have you lived in New York long?” he asks, cutting me off.
I take a sip of my soda but ignore his question. “A few years back, a guy by the name of Jordan Chen used to work for us. Crazy good with computers, but he’s retired. Anyway, long story short, we never replaced him. He had contingencies in place, but I think things have become dated and some stuff has changed.”
“I can tell you were born and raised here. You talk fast.”
I take my sunglasses off and study him for a second. “What’s wrong? Can’t keep up?” I raise an eyebrow at him.
He only smiles. Again. Then takes a sip of his water. I inhale slowly and try to stay on track.
“Anyway.” I shift back as Sam comes over and sets our tacos down. “Thanks,” I tell him as he walks away. “I don’t think he’ll want to do it. I mean, I can reach out to him, but he has a daughter. She’s like him.” I think about it for a moment. “Kinda like him.”
“Did you know your lip lifts in the corner a little when you get annoyed?” His eyes are on my mouth.
“If you know you’re annoying me, then why do you keep doing it?”
He shrugs and opens the box with his tacos, but doesn’t move to eat one.
“Echo is—”
“See, your lip did it again. Does she annoy you?” He leans in a little, propping his elbows on the table and studying me. I don’t like it. He’s known me two seconds and already he’s reading me like he’s been doing it his whole life.
“Like I said, Echo is like her dad, but with some quirks. She can be—”
“Annoying?” he finishes. His eyebrows rise to let me know I did the lip thing again, but all I can think about is him watching my mouth now.
I take a breath and sit back, crossing my arms. Echo can be more than annoying. She has to control most things. “She can be unpredictable. If I tell her to do one thing and she thinks I’m wrong, she’ll just do it her way. It’s always her way.”