Page 23

“So, what do you think about the place I picked?” I asked as we walked inside.
“It’s one of my favorite restaurants.”
“Seriously?”
“Dispel your assumptions, Amy. It’ll make this easier.”
I blinked in shock, but his answering smile told me he enjoyed my surprise. I immediately wiped it off my face.
“Thanks,” I said. “But you’re not allowed to say anything else to me until there’s an order in for at least three tacos.”
“Understood.” He gestured for me to go ahead, and I ordered everything I wanted. If he invited me out, he was footing the bill. After ordering the tacos and an elote, he paid, and I looked forward to eating my favorite foods without the guilt of spending money raining down on me.
Hopefully, by the end of this, I’d have a job, and I wouldn’t have to worry about my financial situation anymore.
We found a small table near the window and sat. Mas Tacos was the cozy kind of place where there wasn’t space between a person and their guest. If their food wasn’t so good, then I would have chosen somewhere else.
“Can I speak to you now?” he asked.
“It depends on what you have to say.”
I should have said not to talk to me until we got our food. I wasn’t fully in business mode, and I didn’t know how to turn on the side of me that could get this job. I’d already misstepped way too many times while talking to Levi. I didn’t need to do it again. If Mom and Dad were here, they would tell me this was exactly why I was fired.
“How did you find this place?” he asked.
“I used to come here during high school with my gram.”
“What was she like?”
My heart panged. “Isn’t this a little personal for an interview?”
“This isn’t an interview. This is lunch.”
“You’re my potential new boss. Of course this is an interview.”
His mouth formed a slanted smile. “How about we make an agreement. Everything said at this table is off-the-record. Deal?”
“Is this one of those interview manipulation tactics where you try to catch me off guard and then see what kind of person I truly am?”
“No.”
Did I believe him? Probably not.
But whatever filter I did have was hanging by a thread, and his welcome dismissal of it was easy to accept.
“Fine, but I’m hunting you down if I don’t get a job.”
“I assure you, I have nothing to do with the job hiring process. Except where I asked for your interview to be rescheduled.”
“You better not be lying.”
“I promise I’m not.”
I eyed him up and down, taking in all the ways he’d changed over the years. He had thick-rimmed glasses now, which only brought out how bright his eyes were. That, coupled with his dark hair, made him even more unfairly attractive.
“Since when did you decide to go for the Clark Kent look?”
He blinked. “What?”