Page 79 of A Dish Best Served Hot

“Two of the kids were staying in a tent city. They got harassed by neighbors and roughed up by the police, who were supposed to be de-escalating the situation.”

Saint shook his head. “What is wrong with people?”

“They suck.”

“Do you need to head over there?”

Lola lifted her head to eye him. “It’s your sister’s engagement party.”

“I know, but if you need to be with Yara—”

Did he not want her around his family? Sure, she’d been around Papo Vega plenty, and she’d seen Kamilah and Leo in passing, but this was a family party, and bringing her would be a declaration. All of Lola’s old insecurities reared back up.

“Saint, do you not want me to meet the rest of your family?” She was thinking specifically of his parents who had been on a prolonged vacation in Puerto Rico until two days ago. It was one thing to meet his youngest siblings and cousins, but it was quite another to meet his parents.

His head tilted to the side like he couldn’t have heard her right. “What?”

“Are you embarrassed to introduce me to your parents because of my family?”

“Absolutely not. Why would you even think that?”

“Because if anyone remembered my dad and everything he did it would be them, and—”

“Lola,” he interrupted her, “I want you to meet my parents. I want to walk into my sister’s restaurant with you on my arm and show you off like the queen you are. I want to tell everyone that I’m lucky enough to be with you and that, if they’re equally lucky, you can be a part of their lives too. Then I want you to work your Lola magic and have them all eating out of the palm of your hand, because more than anything, I want them to love you as much as I do.”

Lola blinked quickly. “Dear lord.” She fanned her face. “For someone who’s known for stony silence, you sure do have a smooth tongue.”

His lips curled. “You like my tongue.”

“Stop! Enough! You’re going to make me melt into a pool of horniness and then we’ll be late.”

He stood up and pulled her to her feet. “I know how we can take care of that and save time. We’ll just shower together.”

Lola snorted. “My shower is barely big enough for me. There’s no way we’ll both fit.”

“Trust me. I have it all figured out.”

Lola looked around the crowded main hall of Kane Distillery and cursed Saint for following his twin brothers out of the room without first introducing her around.

Suddenly she heard, “Her name was Lola. She was a karaoke girl. Whipping all her hair, and her dress cut up to there.”

Lola spun to find Leo walking toward her. She rolled her eyes at his teasing.

He stopped before her. “You look beautiful.”

Lola leaned in and kissed Leo on the cheek. “Thank you. You look handsome.”

“Keep it in your pants, León. I’m not trying to get on my brother’s bad side. He’s killed before.”

“Hey.” Lola smacked him on the arm with her clutch, probably harder than she should have considering they barely knew each other. “That wasn’t some video game he played from his living room couch while eating cheese puffs and releasing noxious gas out of both ends. It was real life, his life, and he lives with those memories every day. The last thing he needs is for you to throw it around like it’s a joke.”

Leo stared at her like he couldn’t believe that she’d just said that to him. Or maybe he couldn’t believe that she’d whacked him.

“Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Leo speechless. Have you?”

Lola turned to face the voice and found herself looking up at a blue-eyed giant. Okay. He wasn’t a giant, but he was certainly one of the tallest men there. He was at least six-four and as wide as a Cadillac. He was handsome too, in a Superman retired to become a sexy lumberjack kind of way. He looked like he could split a log with his bare hands like that GIF of Chris Evans.

Said large sexy man was currently looking down at Kamilah, making it obvious who he’d asked the question of. His eyes held a pinch of amusement, an underlay of lust, and a wealth of love. This was obviously the fiancé.

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