Page 20 of The Rebel

Mercedes turned and looked at him. “Oh, but where’s the fun, then?”

I almost started to laugh. Anthony’s face was half incredulous, half scared.

Really? This mighty CEO looked scared? What was he hiding, and what did Mercedes know?

“We’d like to order, please,” Anthony said.

“Yes,” I agreed as Mercedes turned to look at me.

“Might I suggest our lunch mix? We include our most popular tacos.”

“Yes, please. I love tacos.”

“Then you’re in the right place. Antonio did well bringing you here.” She turned to look at him. “And for you?”

He settled on the same, and as she left, a younger guy who resembled her quite a bit came with two huge glasses of Coca-Cola, putting them in front of us.

After he left, I looked at Anthony, who shrugged. “They serve it on the house.”

“I see, Antonio,” I said, accentuating theoas Mercedes did because I couldn’t help myself.

He laughed. “I’ve told Mercedes repeatedly, but she insists it’s the only way to say it.”

I tilted my head. It was on the tip of my tongue to say Antonio fit him better. But this was a business lunch for God’s sake. He may take it as flirting if I wasn’t careful. Even so, I was dying to ask about whatever secrets Mercedes was keeping for him, but I didn’t.

“Do you want us to go through my notes?” I attempted to sound professional as I tapped the screen of the iPad. I put it in the center of the table between us so he could read it as well.

Anthony reached forward, and I assumed he’d grab the tablet; instead, he touched my wrist. “No. We’re eating. Not the time for business.”

I licked my lips, immediately putting the iPad away. Oh goodness. I’d liked his touch a little too much. I felt as if I was catching fire under his gaze.

“Is that a usual rule of yours?” My voice was surprisingly even considering how off I felt.

“Yes. In fact, I usually put my phone on Airplane Mode during lunch so no one disturbs me.”

“How clever. But I still have some questions about the job,” Iwent on as I took a sip of my Coke to give myself something to do. I needed to blab and make small talk to keep myself from overanalyzing my reaction to him. True, we’d flirted this morning, but I needed to get over it.

“Sure. Fire away.”

“Are you always on location, checking things? And am I supposed to shadow you all the time, or will I also spend time in the office itself?”

He looked at me intently. I didn’t shy away from the eye contact.

“It depends on the time of year. Right now, there are a lot of music events. We’ll be out in the field, sorry to say, very often. But that usually doesn’t take the whole day. This afternoon, for example, we’ll be back in the office.”

“Perfect. That way I can work on my notes and see what else needs to be done. Is my presence required at the events too?”

“Sometimes, yes. But Dorothy had that in your contract, right?”

“Yes, there’s a clause about events in the evening.”

“Is that going to be a problem?”

“Not at all. I honestly have no life outside work.”

Was it my imagination, or did this information make him happy? I couldn’t come up with any more questions for the life of me—I was too busy getting lost in those sinfully dark eyes. Luckily for me, Mercedes came with our plates.

“Enjoy, you two.”