Page 94 of Make Me Swoon

“Hey, um, I was wonder if maybe you’d––” He’s cut off by the arrival of the next round of customers and he gives me a sad smile, shifting out of the way slightly.

“I’ll see you tomorrow night?” he asks as he steps out of the way more and I nod, giving him one last smile.

I try not to watch as he crosses back to the shop and heads inside. He stops when he reaches the door and looks over his shoulder.

For one brief moment, our eyes meet and cling. Even in the dim light and with the distance, I can see the fire burning in his eyes and it calls to me. I want to go to him. I want him to wrap those lanky arms around me. I want to feel his lips on mine, his body on mine.

I force myself to look away and paste on a smile as I take the next round of orders and get back to work.

Sayler shows up a few minutes later and I give her a grateful smile as she takes over the counter. We work for half an hour before we get another break and I know what she’s going to ask before she opens her mouth.

“Has Harvey been by yet?” she asks and I nod.

“You just missed him. He came by right before you got here.”

She frowns and I pass her a water, aiming the fan at her for a few minutes.

“Did he ask you out yet?” she asks and I shake my head.

“I think he was going to tonight but we got interrupted.”

“Maybe next time. It’s obvious he’s into you. We just need to get the timing right.”

She scrunches her nose and I swear I can almost see her doing the math in her head of when would be the ideal time to run into Harvey.

“It’s not like it matters. I can’t go out with him.”

“What? Why not?” Sayler demands, frowning at me.

“I’ve got this truck and I need to get my business off of the ground. I don’t have time to worry about guys right now.”

Sayler sighs and takes a drink of her water.

“You can’t always predict everything, Cora. Especially not when you’ll meet ‘the one.’”

“I know. It’s just like you said. I just need our timing to be right.”

Sayler frowns, not liking me using her words against her but we get another few customers then and I’m saved from her arguments.

Still, as I turn back to the grill to get cooking, I can’t help but steal one last look at the front doors of the Eye Candy Ink shop, hoping to get one last look at Harvey before I push him from my head once again.

FIVE

Harvey

Today ismy last night of work for the week and I’m exhausted. I’ve been looking forward to stopping by Coraline’s food truck before I head home and pass out. It’s been a long week, filled with back-to-back clients and I’m desperate to catch up on some sleep.

I step out of Eye Candy Ink, locking the door behind me before I look across the street to The Culinerdy Cruiser. There’s a long line tonight and I smile, happy that people seem to be recognizing how talented my girl is. As I get closer though, I realize that something is wrong.

Everyone in the line seems a little annoyed and when I glance up to the truck window, it looks like the guy ordering is yelling at my sweet girl. He’s leaning over the ledge, gesturing to the takeout box and I can see that Coraline is trying to calm him down. I can also see that she is trying to hold back her tears and I react without thinking.

I head up to the food truck door and knock. The guy who was yelling at Coraline has stormed off and I don’t have to wait long for Coraline to open the door for me.

Her cheeks are flushed, her eyes shiny with a sheen of unshed tears, but her face seems to relax a bit at the sight of me.

“Thank god. I thought you were another customer coming to yell at me.”

“Has that been happening a lot tonight?” I ask carefully and she nods, her eyes still a little glassy.

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