Page 20 of Taco Daddy

“Definitely,” Eden interjected.

“But how did he humiliate you?”The question was asked with complete genuineness.

Rita opened her mouth.Closed it.Shefelthumiliated, yet she couldn’t think of a quick answer to Bree’s question.

“Well, he approached me under a false pretense.If I’d known he was… Taco Daddy, I never would have scened with him.”She didn’t want to say his name, and saying ‘the owner of Rojo Fondo taco truck,’ was way too lengthy, so Taco Daddy it was.Since she was Taco Girl, it fit.

“Why not?”

“Well… because…” Rita floundered.“Look, he obviously overheard what I said about his tacos earlier today, and he set out to embarrass me.”

“What did he do that was embarrassing?”Bree pushed.“It’s just… I caught a glimpse of him after we finally spotted you in the crowd, and he looked pretty devastated watching you walk away.”

He had?

“Then why didn’t he follow me?”Rita huffed.Not that she’d wanted him to follow her.She was pretty sure if he’d grabbed her again, she would have punched him right in his handsome face.

“A bunch of people stepped in front of him, including a scary-looking Domme,” Bree supplied.

“That’s Mistress Cyana,” Eden piped in.“She was a Domme back when I visited the Outlands with my ex, and she isdefinitelyscary.If she thought you were a submissive in need of protection from a Dom, she would have put Taco Daddy on the floor before she allowed him to follow you.”

Oh.

“It doesn’t matter,” Rita said, rubbing her forehead.“I’ll never see him again.I am never going back to that taco truck again, and I am never going back to the Outlands again, so it’s a moot point.”

“Dammit,” Bree muttered.“I really wanted to try that grilled cheese truck next to it.”

“Touch of Brie?”Eden snorted a laugh.“You would.”

“Brie is the supreme cheese, and those grilled cheeses looked amazing, and you know it.You wanted to try them, too.”

“You two can go when I’m not able to make it,” Rita said, leaning back against the headrest as Bree pulled into the parking lot.Both of them started to protest, but she shook her head.“It’s going to be a crazy week at work for me, anyway.I have a big project due in two weeks, so I won’t be able to meet up for lunch every day.”

“Or we could bring lunch to you,” Eden suggested.“You shouldn’t be denied the epic grilled cheese just because you have to work.”

That made Rita crack a smile.She really had thebestfriends.Which was why she could never tell them she didn’t really care about the grilled cheese.

9

Andres

After one of the worst weekends of Andres’ life, it was no wonder he was a little snappy at work that week.His nephew had taken one look at Andres’ expression on Monday morning and averted his gaze, put his head down, and got to work.Smart kid.

Andres did his best to put a smile on his face, but finally, he realized the real reason he had insisted on manning the cash register.He was hoping to catch sight of Rita.It was a poor decision since he didn’t have the patience to be in charge of customer service right now.So, he got Jose to switch with him and went back to concentrating on putting the tacos together and getting the blonde out of his head.

A lot easier said than done.

He kept thinking of all the things he could have said to her, all the ways he could have made the situation better, but it was far, far too late.Hindsight was twenty-twenty, and it was also a taunting bitch.

On Wednesday, Andres had turned to hand a pair of tacos off to Jose when he saw a flash of pink out of the corner of his eye.Looking up, he recognized Pink Hair, Rita’s friend, standing in line for Owen’s truck.

“I’ll be right back,” he said, not caring it was the middle of the lunch-hour rush, not caring Jose was alarmed by his sudden departure.All he cared about was seeing if Rita was with her friend, and if not, if her friend could be persuaded to tell him where Rita was.Or, at the very least, pass on a message.

It didn’t occur to him until he was standing in front of the two women he’d last seen accompanying Rita, he didn’t know how to convince anyone that he deserved a second chance… or realize he was still wearing his stain-spattered apron and his hairnet.

The hairnet was what seemed to capture the two women’s attention.Andres resisted the urge to reach up and snatch it off his head.

“Um, hi… I’m…” His voice trailed off as both of the women crossed their arms in a united gesture of disapproval.

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