Chapter 11
11
Lainey looked in the mirror for the sixth time. Did she have lipstick on her teeth? Hadn’t she blotted? She leaned in closer. Nope, no lipstick.
Dang it, calm down.
The problem was, she hadn’t been on a date that she had been looking forward to since college. She’d been on too many dates to count that her dad, mother, and sister had set up, and not once had she given even a little bit of a boonswoggle if she looked good. Okay, she did care that her breath didn’t smell, but that was the low bar she’d set for all those pompous country club idiots. And as for the college boys? Well, there had been two. One was named Randy, and that had been apropos. Then there was Rob. Both of them had been boys, and neither of them had lasted too long.
She’d been beginning to think there was something really wrong with her, and then boom. Suddenly, lust had hit her like a freight train. And even more, there was a healthy dose of ‘like.’ So yeah, not only did she want her breath to be minty fresh, but she also wanted to look really, really good.
She jumped when she heard the doorbell ring, and her dog whined.
Darn it.
She’d left Xena all snuggled up in her safety bed and here she was nosing her way into the bathroom.
“Xena, it’s going to be okay.”
Dagnabbit!
She should have told Matt to knock on the door, quietly. Anytime she called for maintenance to come to her house, she coaxed Xena into her closet and had her lie down in the comfy bed Lainey had bought for her. There was water and food and chew toys. She was debating whether to put a TV in there, but maintenance didn’t come over there all that often.
Lainey crouched down and cupped the black and white border collie’s muzzle and petted her head. Xena relaxed into her touch and some of her trembling stopped. Lainey prayed Matt wouldn’t ring the bell again. She prayed he was patient.
“Everything’s good.” She stroked the silky hair of her friend’s back, then Lainey stood up. “Follow me, okay?”
Xena had no problem walking as she followed Lainey down the hallway to her bedroom. She’d been surprised that having three legs wasn’t a problem for the little girl, when she’d put a leash around her and took her from the kill shelter to her car.
The doorbell rang again after Lainey got Xena settled. She gave her the little Elsa doll that was her favorite chew toy and got up to answer the door. On the way, she stopped and looked in the bathroom mirror.
“Drat.” She still hadn’t put on her earrings. And they were pretty. Maybe he could have a cookie while she put in her earrings and put on her lip gloss.
Yay. A plan.
She scooped up her garnet earrings and hustled out of the bathroom and down the hall, through her living room to the door. She stopped before unlocking the door and took a deep breath, then slowly let it out.
There. She was ready. She smiled, then opened the door.
Oh no.
He was wearing a white dress shirt with the top two buttons undone and some kind of slacks, but who cared? The white against his bronze throat was…
Lainey looked up and up and took in his square jaw and pronounced cheekbones and then was caught up in dark brown amused eyes.
Holy heck, had he realized I was staring?
Say something.
“You look beautiful.”
Lainey slapped her hand over her mouth. She couldn’t believe she’d said that. He grinned at her. She needed to invite him in, but her hand was still over her mouth.
I’m such an idiot.
“Come on inside,” she mumbled as she took her hand away from her mouth and opened the door wider. She glanced up at him through her lashes and saw his mouth was fighting a smile.
“I think you’re the beautiful one,” he whispered.
She tried not to frown, but as she assessed his face, she saw nothing but truth, so she smiled back at him, relieved.
“Do we have time for you to have a cookie while I put on my earrings?” she asked. Good, she sounded like an adult.
“Yeah, we have time, but I don’t need a cookie,” he chuckled.
Lainey blushed. She totally sounded like she was offering a five-year-old a cookie. She looked toward the kitchen where his treats were waiting.
“You don’t understand. I promised to bake you cookies. So, I’ve got a container of alfajores for you to take home and I just thought?—”
“Alfajores?”
She jerked her head back to him at his sharp tone and slowly nodded.
“You baked me alfajores? Those were my favorite thing that my mom baked for me and my brother.”
Lainey felt some of the tension draining out of her shoulders. “Oh, so you like them. That’s good. Does your mom make them with dark chocolate or milk chocolate on the outside?”
“She used to make them with dark chocolate.”
“Used to?”
“She passed away a while back.”
“So, it’s just you and your brother?”
Matt said nothing for a moment, then finally he shook his head. “No, he died in his early twenties. It’s just me.”
Shoot!
He must have seen her look of dismay because he started talking again.
“I can’t wait to taste your baking. I hope you have more jewelry to put on than just earrings,” he teased.
“Why don’t you sit up on the barstool at the island, and I’ll serve you up two cookies. What would you like to drink with them?”
“Do you have milk?”
Lainey bit her lip. He looked all muscley and fit. He probably drank some milk substitute or non-fat milk. “I only have whole milk.”
“Perfect. That’s the only thing you should drink with alfajores as far as I’m concerned. Are you going to join me?”
“I’ll have half of one. I did a taste test on two earlier.” She grinned. “I had to make sure I wasn’t poisoning you. But first, let me finish getting ready.”
“Take your time.”
He watched as she walked down the hall. She looked damn fine.
He hadn’t been giving her a line when he told her that she looked beautiful, because she definitely did.
Mateo looked at the Argentine cookie on his plate. It looked good, but he didn’t have high hopes. Rarely did people in America get it right. He was glad that Lainey was down the hall when he took his first bite. That way he didn’t have to mask his reaction.
As the cookie got close to his mouth, the smell of the dark chocolate hit his nose and he smiled. But he kept his glass of milk close at hand and took a small bite. The two soft, buttery cookies covered in chocolate crumbled in his mouth and brought back memories of his childhood. He put his hand under his chin, so that he didn’t make a mess, then the dulce de leche layered between the cookies burst across his tastebuds, and he groaned.
So good.
So, fucking good.
He chewed slowly, savoring the flavors that mirrored his childhood, but the experience was over far too fast. He took a bigger bite, downing half the cookie, and forced down another moan of pleasure, but this was right on up there with an orgasm.
Again, he chewed slowly, his eyes closed. He didn’t set down the cookie, instead he finished off that last bite, content knowing there was another on his plate and more to take home.
He heard a soft laugh beside him. It had a hint of music in it.
He looked sideways. “You caught me.”
“You’re looking like I imagined I looked yesterday and today. Those things are addictive. I had to get them out of my house yesterday really fast.”
He tilted his head, and she answered his unasked question.
“I did a trial run yesterday. They were eighty-five percent right. Not like today’s batch. Today is at about ninety-five percent. Yesterday’s cookie wasn’t as crumbly. But it didn’t stop me from sampling a few. After all, I had to figure out what was wrong, didn’t I?”
Her eyes were sparkling.
“So, what did you do with the rest?”
“I gave them away to my neighbors. There’s Lars next door. Normally, his body is his temple, but he made an exception. Then there is Mr. and Mrs. Lyles. They’re older. He probably shouldn’t be eating them, but he said at ninety, he isn’t going to have some doctor taking away the joys in his life.”
“Sounds like a smart man,” Mateo smiled.
“I was hoping today’s batch would come out perfect, but you were going to be the ultimate judge. By the look on your face, it seems like I came close.”
“You didn’t come close. These are beyond perfect. I think I’m going to have to start puncturing your tire once a week so I can come and rescue you, just so you’ll make these for me again.”
“I don’t think you’ll need to do something that drastic.”
“We’ll see,” he muttered.
She laughed. “I’m ready.”
He eyed her from head to toe. “You certainly are. I’m going to have quite a time keeping you all to myself.”
Lainey laughed again. Pretty. He was right, it did sound a little like music. “Keep talking me up like that and you’ll for sure get more cookies. But I was also thinking of making chocotorta.”
Mateo’s chin lifted and he stared at her.
Is she for real?
He was the one who was supposed to be doing things to pry information from her, not the other way around.
“No? You don’t like that dessert?”
“Oh. No. That’s not it. I love that dessert. I even remember getting it for my birthday. It was for special occasions.”
“Is that something else that your mother made for you?” She picked up her raincoat and he took it from her so he could help her put it on.
“Mom did make the chocotorta, but she said she didn’t do it as well as her mother did, so she found a bakery close to us in Wilmington.”
“Delaware?”
“Yeah, like I said. She was a silicone research scientist for DuPont.” It was always best to keep his cover as close to the truth as possible. And that was the truth.
“Hmmm. That sounds impressive,” she said as Mateo opened the door for her.
“It was, especially for a woman coming from a South American country in the late nineties.”
He waited for her to lock her door, then he walked with her to the elevator.
“You sound very proud of your mom.”
“I am.”
They made their way to the lobby, and he ushered her out the front door to the visitors' parking.
“Can I tell you a secret?” Lainey asked as he opened the passenger door.
“I would love to know all of your secrets,” Mateo said in a teasing tone, but deep down he was serious.
“I have been wanting to ride in this car as soon as I saw it. I love old muscle cars.”
“Then you’re in for a treat.” He shut her door, walked around to the driver’s side, and folded into the car. He watched as Lainey grinned when the car rumbled to life.
“Yep, I’m loving this already. I hope the reservation isn’t really close.”
“Consider your wish granted.”