Page 237 of Delicious

Taco Dirty To Me

KM Neuhold

ChapterOne

Bas

Ibob my head and drum on the warm edge of the grill, mouthing along to the Nine Inch Nails song that’s playing through the speaker I rigged up in the corner of the cramped space. Sweat beads on the back of my neck and my stomach rumbles thanks to the spicy smell of cooking chicken. I slide my spatula under the strips and flip them over, smiling at the comforting sizzle.

Whenever I tell people I own a food truck, they always ask two questions. ‘Doesn’t it get hot in there?’ Hell fucking yeah it gets hot in here. I’m sharing less than ten square feet of space with two grills. Sweating my ass off is just part of the deal. And ‘Doesn’t the smell of tacos make you sick at this point?’Dude, have you ever smelled tacos? Spending eight or ten hours a day breathing in the scents of grilled meat and fresh tortillas just makes me hungry. The fact that my sweat smells like chili powder and cumin doesn’t bother me either, but I am starting to suspect it’s the reason I can’t get a second date. Not that I’m losing any sleep over it. If a guy can’t appreciate the delicious smell of tacos that oozes out of my pores, that’s his loss.

Speaking of delicious things…

My heart skips a beat, and I lean farther to the left to get a better view of the mouthwatering man rocking a pair of blue scrubs and my favorite shy smile. His head is ducked just a little, his eyes on his feet as he makes his way down the cobblestone park path towards my truck.

The smell of charred chicken draws my attention back to the grill in front of me just long enough for me to scoop the meat off and throw together three chicken tacos on autopilot, darting looks back through the window every few seconds. Once they’re assembled and wrapped, I toss them into a bag and lean over the counter to hand them off to the customer on the other side. He shoves a few bills into the tip jar and saunters off, but he might as well have vanished into thin air for all I care about him. My focus is already one hundred percent on someone else.

“Hey there, Precious,” I purr, folding my arms on the sun-warmed metal of the windowsill and leaning out just a little farther.

He groans, his eyes snapping up from his feet and a smile twitching at the corner of his lips.

“I never should have let you find out my last name. It’s so embarrassing.”

“I saw it on your credit card,” I remind him, grinning a little wider as I devour him eagerly with my eyes. I don’t know what it is about Dylan Precious, but I amweakfor this man.

“Then I should have paid with cash,” he volleys back, the snark in his tone undermined by his growing smile.

“Don’t be salty, Precious. Your name is fucking adorable.”

He snorts a laugh and stuffs his hands into his pockets, making his powder blue scrub pants pull just a little tighter, inadvertently showing off the soft bulge between his legs. My mouth waters and I bite back the inappropriate groan building in the back of my throat. I need to stop ogling the poor man and get over this stupid crush. Last I checked, he has a boyfriend. And even if he didn’t, he’s never shown any interest in anything but my tacos.

“So, what can I get for you? The usual?”

He bites his bottom lip and nods. “Thanks.”

“Coming right up.” I wink and reluctantly pull myself back inside to get to work on his tacos.

Dylan

Ugh, why am I always so awkward? And whyyyyyy does he have to keep saying my last name like that, all deep and sexy. It gives me goose bumps… among other things. I glance around quickly, then adjust my growing chub when I’m sure no one is paying any attention to me. I should have known better than to stop by here wearing my scrubs. They don’t hide a damn thing.

My phone buzzes in my pocket and I pull it out to find a text from my best friend, who also happens to technically be my boss.

ROBBIE:

Excited about your blind date tonight?

I groan out loud and let my head loll back dramatically. Why the hell did I agree to this? It’s only been a few weeks since Jake and I split—it’s not like I’ve been pathetically single for years or anything requiring the drastic intervention of a blind date setup. I mean, fine, okay, I was practically single even when I was with Jake since he was always fucking other people and didn’t bother to make much time for me, but still.

My phone buzzes again.

ROBBIE:

I’m going to take your lack of response as overwhelming enthusiasm…

ROBBIE:

By the way, I’m heading out to the Jones’s farm to tag and vaccinate the new calves, so I won’t be reachable for the next few hours. Have fun!

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