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She wanted to turn her face and put her lips to his. Before she could follow through with the impulse, several more people came in through a back door, making Carter draw back and look over her head to assess the new arrivals.

“It’s about time you guys came down,” Zander called out. He’d been serving drinks to everyone who was eating at the bar. “Hurry up before all the food is gone.”

Mila turned to see who’d interrupted the almost kiss.

“Skyler, Mason, this is Mila,” Rissa said, introducing the new people.

Skyler was tall, lean, with long brown hair and lightly tanned skin. She looked like she could be a supermodel, except for the haunted look in her eyes. Mason was massive. He wasn’t only tall, but thick. He reminded Mila a little of movie star Dwayne Johnson.

The way Mason hovered over Skyler made Mila assume they were together, except Mason was being very careful not to touch her. She really wanted to ask them what their story was, but the moment didn’t seem appropriate.

When she looked back, she found Carter staring hard at Skyler. She couldn’t decipher his expression, but it might contain a hint of longing.

Was the handsome man interested in Skyler?

Then he dropped his gaze back down to her and looked sad. “She’s going to have a rough time. She’s lucky she found this place.”

He felt bad for Skyler, not interested.

Mila tried hard to shove down the relief and happiness that made her feel. “I don’t doubt you, but what do you mean?”

Carter smiled at her. “Not my story to tell. I promise, if you hang out here long enough, you’ll hear all about it. These people are chatty! Anyway, if this is a date, we should be getting to know each other. Tell me all about yourself!”

“Really?” she asked with a laugh.

“Really!” he insisted. “I want to know everything. Where did you grow up? What’s your favorite movie? Music? Color? Anything and everything.”

Mila blinked, unprepared for Carter’s enthusiasm. “Um, well, I’m from Tea, South Dakota.”

“Tea?” Carter repeated. “Even your town of origin has a cute name!” He pointed to her food. “Eat, then tell me more.”

Mila started talking and eating. The next thing she knew, she’d told him all about growing up in a big family and being a caregiver for both her parents and younger siblings, and then nieces and nephews.

She described her old life, trying to give him the whole picture of the good and bad of living in a small, homogenous town.

She glossed over how she ended up in San Diego, but she eagerly told him all the things she adored about the diverse, fascinating place.

“Mila, Harper says their place might need a waitress,” Rissa said, interrupting Mila’s story about the first time she visited Hotel Del Coronado.

“I think it’s because she hates working there and wants to go back to working for Imani at Club Gaudium.

If you took the job, you’d be doing her a favor. ”

“Sure!” Mila agreed. “I’ll do anything at this point, even if it’s not making cakes, cookies, or pastries.”

“Pastries?” Rissa echoed.

“Originally, I was trying to find a job as a pastry chef, but I haven’t even been able to get a job at a donut shop,” Mila explained.

“You’re looking for a job as a chef?" Carter asked.

“I specialize in sweets,” Mila said. “You should taste my French Napoleon. They’re my best.”

“Are those the ones with the cream between layers of flakey pastry stuff?” Rissa asked. When Mila nodded, Rissa's eyes went wide. “Marry me!”

Mila laughed when Carter made a shooing motion. “Mila doesn’t want to marry you or Anatoly or Zan. And she doesn’t need a job.”

“I might not be marrying them, but I do need the job,” Mila argued, then focused back on Rissa. “Should I go talk to Harper?”

“Let’s exchange numbers,” Rissa said, handing her a cell. “Don’t worry about the appointment we had for tomorrow. You’re a special case. I’ll make sure you end up with the right type of job.”

“Right now any job will work,” Mila said, feeling truly hopeful. She was making friends, had a full stomach, and a wonderful dog all in less than twenty-four hours!

She balanced the snoozing Babette in her lap while she entered her information into Rissa’s phone. No sooner did she hand the device back to the woman than Carter was shoving his cell at her.

“Me too!”

She did the same again but this time when she handed it back, he held it up and snapped a picture of the two of them.

“There, now I can make sure I get to see your perfect face,” he declared.

Her phone chimed so she hid her heated face behind her hair while she checked to see that both Rissa and Carter had texted her so she had their numbers too.

That’s when she noticed the time.

With a gasp she looked over her shoulder to see it was dark outside. She’d been here much longer than the four hours allowed where she’d parked!

“I have to go!” she gasped, shoving her phone in her pocket and gathering Babette in her arms before jumping off the stool.

“No,” Carter argued. “The evening is still young. Please don’t go yet.”

“Tomorrow,” she promised, then rushed away as everyone yelled goodbye to her. She called back but was much too scared about losing the van to pause for even a second longer.