His lips tug at one corner, and I realize I said that aloud. My eyes squeeze themselves shut. Dammit, this is getting worse. I open up one eye to see Remi trying to control his laughter.
“Hi, Remi,” Candee chirps, and I open both eyes, giving her my attention.
“Hi, Candee. I’m glad at least someone’s happy to see me,” he comments.
Wait a second. Candee has been here before, which means she knew Remi works here.
“Oh, believe me, she is. Um, is your friend here? The blond one?” she asks, and I kick her shins beneath the table. “Ouch. Don’t do that,” she chides, rubbing the spot I hit her.
“Nicholas?”
“Yes. Nicholas.”
I shake my head at her brassiness as Remi suppresses a grin. “No. He doesn’t work here.”
“Where does he work?”
Goodness!
This time Remi chuckles. “He works at Garner’s, the automobile repair shop.”
“Oh.” Her eyebrows draw together in deep concentration, and I have no doubt she’s thinking about how to go to that repair shop.
“And what can I get you?” Remi asks, looking at me.
“Um, what’s good here?” I ask.
He shrugs. “Depends on the person.”
“I’m asking you. What do you like?”
And just like that, he stares at me for a few seconds. “Maybe the chicken sandwich. They’re nice,” he says, rubbing his thumb over his eyebrow. “So?”
I narrow my eyes. “I’ll take a grilled cheese sandwich and an espresso.” I turn toward Candee. “Candee?”
“The same,” she mutters.
He takes our order and leaves.
“You knew he worked here?” I accuse as soon as Remi’s out of earshot.
Candee shrugs. “I already told you, he could be your rebound. But that’s not the point. The point is I am hungry, and last time I was here, they served great food.”
“Yeah, right. That’s why you ordered something great? And I don’t want a rebound.”
“My mind was elsewhere,” she admits.
“Anywhere near Garner’s?”
“Something like that.”
“Tell me what you’re planning—and don’t say nothing,” I warn, giving her the stink eye.
“When was the last time your car broke down?”
“What?” Is she freaking serious?
She has the audacity to look indifferent. “You asked what I was thinking, and I told you.” She shrugs.
“Don’t even think about doing anything to my car,” I exclaim. This is our only mode of transport, and I’d go crazy if my car broke down.
“I was going to ask your permission before I did anything to your car,” she explains, and I calm my racing heart.
“Thank you,” I reply, my voice laced with sarcasm.
A few minutes later, Remi comes up with our order. “Bon appetite.”
“Thanks,” we say in unison, and he leaves us with our meal.
Candee grabs the sandwich and stuffs it in her mouth. “Mmmmm,” she moans with closed eyes, drawing attention to our table. “Hiss iss hukhing gooomm,” she praises with her mouth full, which I’m guessing means “this is fucking good.”
Her enthusiasm makes me take a big bite too, and I suppress a moan. This is seriously good. We finish the sandwiches in record time.
After a long burp, Candee announces, “I need to use the bathroom.” She hops from her chair and leaves the table. In the meanwhile, I take my phone out to see there’s a message from Paula.
Paula: Kaci, please. Let me explain.
A sudden ache hits my chest. Being away from Paula and Ryan has made me realize that I miss Paula more than I miss Ryan. Maybe all the pain I’m feeling is because I lost a good friend. Ryan and I were not that serious—he wasn’t the one. But Paula and I were friends—best friends. She was there whenever I was down. A shoulder to cry on.
“Hey …”
I suck in a breath, looking up to see a blurry Remi. “Hey …” I use my fingers to wipe the wetness beneath my lashes.
He’s seated in Candee’s place, staring at me with frowned eyebrows. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Boyfriend?” he asks, pointing at my phone.
I shake my head. “Ex …”
“Ex or you’re just fighting?”
“Ex. He cheated on me.”
His brows furrow. “Was he blind?”
I chuckle and shake my head. “He wasn’t.”
“Seems blind to me,” he comments. For some stupid reason, my heart flutters, and I can only stare at him.
“Maybe Ryan found my best friend nicer,” I reply, applying a brake to the flutters.
He gets back to frowning. “Jackass’s name is Ryan?” He rubs his brows. “And he cheated on you with your best friend?”
I nod.
“Wow,” he whispers. “He sounds like a douchebag to me.”
“It’s a little more complicated than that,” I add, feeling the need to defend him. “Ryan and I were breaking up anyway because we were going to different colleges, and we didn’t really think a long-distance relationship was going to work. But then, I saw him kissing my best friend,” I answer, my shoulders slouching. “I’m not sure I can call it cheating when we were planning to break up anyway, but the fact that he was with my best friend hurts,” I admit, biting my quivering bottom lip.
“You’re right, that’s a little more complicated, but he still sounds like a douche to me.” He shrugs.
And the fluttering is back.
I want to ask him if he has a girlfriend, but it would make me sound like I’m looking for a rebound, and I don’t want that. “Are you not working?” I ask instead.
He shakes his head left and right. “I’m on a break.”
His gaze drops to my lips as my mouth forms an “O.” Fully aware of where he’s looking, I slowly relax my lips. Heat gathers at my cheeks, and I keep waiting for his gaze to move back up, but they don’t. My lips feel dry. And are getting drier by the second.
Don’t lick your lips.
The spot behind my jaw starts to ache. His lips part, causing water to gather in my mouth, and my tongue darts out, just enough to touch my bottom lip. Remi’s eyes darken. The ache behind my jaw intensifies. I lick my lips, his gaze following the path my tongue is covering, and I swallow noisily.
Remi’s gaze hits mine, and his chest releases air slowly. It’s at this moment that I realize how fast my heart is beating. How hot I feel, and how strongly I’m pressing my thighs together. What the hell just happened? In Candee’s words—for dingleberry’s sake, he was just staring at my lips. And I was turned on.
I was freaking turned on.
Remi clears his throat. He looks away with his fist covering his mouth, and then he looks back at me, clearly surprised by what just happened. We give each other an awkward smile. “Um, you did nice the other day,” he praises, trying to break the tension.
A smile grazes my lips. “Thanks.”
“So.” Elbows on the table, he leans on them and asks, “You still don’t like dancing?”