Page 88 of Make Me Swoon

“Are you sure?” he asks, studying my girl, and I nod.

“Positive.”

I spend the rest of my time waiting in line, studying her. She’s efficient, taking orders and making food like she was born to do it. By the time it’s my turn, I’ve already run through a million different opening lines.

Maybe that’s why it’s so disappointing when I get to the front of the line and open my mouth only for “Hi, I’m Harvey. What’s your name? And are you a fan of shotgun weddings?” to come out.

“Oh my god,” Rooney groans, taking a step away from me like he’s afraid that he might get second-hand embarrassment.

The girl blinks at me and then to my, and I’m sure Rooney’s, complete surprise, throws her head back and laughs. The sound is rich and wraps around me like a blanket leaving me feeling warm and at ease.

“That was a good one, Harvey. It’s definitely the most creative pick-up line I’ve ever heard before.”

“Oh my god. She’s just as crazy as you,” Rooney mumbles to himself and I want to glare at him but I refuse to take my eyes off my girl.

“I’m Coraline and this is my truck. What can I get for you two?”

Rooney hurries to order tonight’s special and I ask for the same thing then step to the side and watch her as she works.

“Did you just open this truck? I haven’t seen you around here before,” I ask, trying to strike up a conversation. I want to learn everything about her.

“Yeah, I used to be over in New York but my best friend just moved here and she convinced me to come up here too. This is my first night that I’m opened over here. I used to park over by Phipps Conservatory but there wasn’t that much foot traffic there late at night. This seems to be a better spot.”

She passes Rooney and I our takeout boxes and Rooney thanks her and then steps over to grab some napkins from the little condiment section on the side of the truck. I hesitate, not wanting to leave her just yet.

“I’ll see you around, Harvey. I hope that you stop by again soon.”

“We work over there at Eye Candy Ink so I definitely will, Coraline,” I promise.

She moves to take the next customer’s order and I head over to join Rooney.

“It’s really good,” he says around his bite of food and I open my own box, taking a bite of the waffle and nodding.

“We’ll have to come back again,” he says and I nod.

I know that I’ll be back again. Probably every night.

We finish our food and I reluctantly follow after Rooney as we head back to my car. I can’t help but take one last look over my shoulder as I climb behind the wheel. Coraline’s eyes meet mine and I smile as I head out of the lot and toward my apartment.

Maybe I’m not the only one who caught feelings tonight.

TWO

Coraline

I’ma sweaty mess the next morning, bent over the grill and scrubbing everything until it sparkles and looks brand new. It’s only ten in the morning but I’ve already been up for a few hours. I hit up the farmer’s market first thing and grabbed some more produce for the rest of the week.

I had grown used to ordering supplies for when I was on the other side of town and I almost ran out of ingredients last night. The traffic is a lot higher over here next to the clubs and I’ll need to prepare for it from now on.

“Hey, boo!” my best friend Sayler says as she climbs into the truck, scaring the crap out of me in the process.

“Hey, Say. What are you doing here?” I ask her.

Sayler has been my best friend since grade school. When she moved up to Pittsburgh a few weeks ago, I had come with her, wanting to stay close to the last bit of family that I had left.

Sayler works as a freelance graphic designer and website developer. She’s always been good with computers and is a phenomenal artist. I had asked her to draw a design for The Culinerdy Cruiser and she knocked it out of the park. I’m pretty sure it’s the reason why I get half of my business.

She also designed a website for me and helps with my social media and in exchange, I cook for her. She gets free food from the truck whenever she wants it. Which just so happens to be most nights.

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