Chapter 15
15
Hopefully, the flan mixito, which was really a total pain in the patootie to make, would result in more kisses. She’d practiced making it after watching four different YouTube videos. The dulce de leche was the simple part, but the flan? That had taken three different tries. The first two were only good enough for the garbage disposal. The third she took over to Lars, who was having a party that night.
He came over the next day to tell her it was a hit with his guests. Of course, he hadn’t eaten any. Lars also wanted to know when she was going to show up to one of his parties as he leered at her breasts. Once again, she told him she wasn’t interested in going for a run or spending time at the gym, and he quickly smiled at her and remembered that he was late for a personal training appointment. Not unlike Matt, when he had shot out of her apartment the week before. Hopefully, all the flowers Matt had sent meant that he wouldn’t pull that nonsense again. If he did, it wouldn’t matter if he bought out an entire florist shop and sent twenty pounds of chocolate. He would have been dead to her.
“Lainey, this is the best food I’ve had since my abuelita cooked for me back in Argentina.”
“Abuelita?”
“My mom’s mother. She passed not long after we moved to the States.”
She reached across the table and placed her hand over his. “I’m sorry.”
He turned his hand over and threaded his fingers with hers. “There’s nothing to be sorry for. It’s the way of life. Old people die. It’s the young people dying that rips a hole out of your chest.”
She tightened her grip on his hand, and he gave her a sad smile.
“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked softly.
He shook his head.
“In that case, how about dessert?”
“I don’t know if I can eat dessert at this point. Maybe a little conversation?”
“Okay. Would you like coffee? I have fernet to go with it.”
“My God, you’ve really gone all out. I only get fernet at just a few South American restaurants in DC and Baltimore.”
Oh, that smile. Hopefully, she’d win the same kind of smile when she served the flan. Or better yet, after he kissed her.
“What are you smiling about?” His voice was quiet. Hushed.
“I like your smile.”
“I like yours too, Lainey. Was that all that was making you smile?” He was still whispering.
She shook her head, her hair brushing her cheeks that she knew were turning red. Matt reached out and pushed a lock behind her ear.
“You don’t want to tell me?”
“I was just wondering what else I could do to make you smile.”
“Oh corazón, you make me smile all the time. Couldn’t you tell by all the flowers I sent?”
“Then why did you leave like there was a firecracker up your butt?”
Lainey ripped her hand away from Matt’s, then covered her mouth with both hands. Did she really just say that? What kind of codswollop, twaddle-minded idiot was she?
Matt burst out laughing. “That is wonderful. Did you really think that? I was pretty sure you thought I shouldn’t let the door hit me on the ass on my way out.”
Lainey slowly dropped her hands to the table. “Actually, I was thinking bottle rocket,” she whispered.
Matt chuckled again. “I like you, Lainey Simpson. I really like you. And so did my boss, Jada.”
“She did?”
“She absolutely did.”
“In that case, let’s break out the fernet. I haven’t tasted it. I hope it’s good.”
He winced. “It’s kind of an acquired taste, but whatever you don’t drink, I’ll finish.”
“Okay. It’s not like J?germeister, Everclear, Moonshine or Absinthe, is it?”
“You’ve tried those?” He sounded surprised.
“I did go to school in the South. Clemson might not have been known as a party school, but I was in a sorority. It was kind of expected. I couldn’t get away with not attending some fraternity parties.”
“Shit, Lainey. You should have been more careful, drinking shit like that? You could have gotten into some dangerous situations.”
“I always had a sorority sister with me. That was a rule I took very seriously. And I always kept it to a two-beer maximum. And if I tried something wild, like those shots, I would only drink a sip or two. Heck, that was all I could really handle. That stuff was awful.”
“That’s good to hear.”
“But I do like lemon drop martinis. Those are really good.”
“Well, why don’t you make some coffee and I’ll open the fernet? But let me help you with the dishes first.”
It took her a moment to take in what he’d just said. There he was, all big and muscled, sitting at her table. She’d eaten with her father and brothers many times when it was just family and she’d cooked. Never once. Not ever, had they even offered to take their plates to the kitchen, let alone offer to help with the dishes.
“You don’t have to do that,” she assured Matt.
“You cook, I help clean. Them’s the rules.”
“O-o-okay.”
“I’ll clear the table while you start the coffee. Then I can load the dishwasher.”
When he took the plates into the kitchen, he shook his head again at the extension cord. He was going to have to help her get that taken down. What in the hell was maintenance going to think when they saw all the touch-up painting they were going to need to do? Actually, probably nothing. After all, they’d been called three times to reset her outlets. He grinned to himself.
“What are you grinning at?”
“Just how many flowers are in your living room. I didn’t realize how big the bouquets were going to be until I told the florist I wanted to spend the same amount on the daisies. When they handed me this big handful, I got an idea of how I might have overdone it. But then again, I did leave like my ass was on fire.”
“There was that,” Lainey agreed, with a twinkle in her eye. “Why don’t you just leave the dishes in the sink? The coffee’s ready, and I want to taste the fernet.”
“I like your sense of adventure. I would never have expected this from a banker.”
“Something tells me that even though you’re a scientist, you like to be challenged, and not just mentally. I bet you’re the type who likes adventure sports.”
“Busted,” he said as he took the two mugs of coffee from her. “I remember my abuelo telling stories about the old days. He was quite the adventurer himself. He made his living as a gaucho. But that didn’t stop him from going mountain climbing in the Andes.”
“Really?” Lainey’s eyes were wide. “Your grandfather was a cowboy and a mountain climber?”
“You know Spanish?”
“Just the little that one of my nannies taught me. Tell me more about your grandfather.”
“He roamed all over Argentina before he met my abuelita. He said the day he met her, his wandering days were over. All he ever wanted to do from that day on was stay next to her and start a family.”
“That’s so romantic. Was it the same way for your mother and father?”
He picked up the bottle of fernet and poured a little bit into her glass and a healthy amount into his. He took a large gulp, then set it down. “No, not really. Mom met my dad in college when she was getting her master’s degree. As she explained it, she had lived a sheltered life, and I believed it. My abuelita and abuelo were strict Catholics and sent her to an all-girls Catholic school until she was ready to go to college. She was at the top of her class. When she wanted to go to university, they were so proud that they scrimped and saved and made it happen.”
“Mom was an only child, and they spoiled her, but she never acted like she was spoiled. She was one of the kindest people you could ever meet. But sheltered. Maybe even na?ve. Actually, there was no maybe about it.”
He paused again, and this time poured some of the fernet into his coffee. “Are you going to try yours?” he asked, indicating her untouched glass of alcohol.
“I forgot. I was too hung up by your story.” He watched as she took a dainty sip. Her eyes lit up. “Oh, this isn’t bad at all. I like this, Matt. I’ve been meaning to ask you. Is your name really Matthew? That’s odd that you would be named that when you were born in Argentina.”
“Are you the woman who didn’t know about the reset buttons on the electrical outlets?” he teased.
“Why? Am I right? I bet your name is Mateo or something like that, right?”
Shit!
“Yep, that’s the name I was given when I was born. When I came to America, Mom just went with Matt so that when I went to school, it made me fit in better. It kind of worked. But my brown skin still made me stand out like a sore thumb in Wilmington, Delaware.”
She winced. “I can imagine.” Then she winced again. “That is to say, I’m sorry that happened, and I can’t really imagine being in your shoes, because I was never in your shoes, you know?”
Mateo chuckled. “I get what you’re saying. Don’t worry about it. As soon as little league soccer and football started, nobody gave a shit. They all wanted me on their team.”
“Yeah, I could see that,” Lainey smiled.
“If you like the fernet, you should pour just a little into your coffee, then you’ll be living large.”
He watched as she carefully poured some of her drink into her mug, making sure she didn’t spill a drop. It was funny to watch how perfectly she tried to do things. Thank God she used paper towels instead of cloth napkins and extension cords for perfectly good outlets. Otherwise, he’d be intimidated by her.
She took a sip of her coffee. “This is good, Matt. Really, really good. I’m glad I’ll now have a bottle of it around.” They quietly sipped their coffee for long moments. It was nice that she didn’t feel like she had to fill every second with inane chatter.
“Is being a banker hard?” he finally asked.
“Not really. A lot of what I do has been repetitive. But three weeks ago, I got transferred to this new department, and the boss who was supposed to train me immediately went on vacation. That hasn’t been a walk in the park.”
“Why were you transferred?”
“I got a job as a management trainee. This is a fast track to becoming a personal banker, and that’s where I can do those loans I was telling you about.”
“Tell me more about the management trainee program. Did many people apply?”
“Unfortunately, yes. The only other person in my current department applied, and she’s kind of bitter that I got the position. I can’t tell if she is really kind of incompetent, or if she is doing things on purpose to make my job tougher.”
“Like what?”
“She’s handing me things that I can’t read, and I’m supposed to decipher them before I can properly enter them into the system. Or she’ll tell me that somebody called and won’t give me the right number. Stuff like that. Since I only worked with the head of the department for four days, I don’t know if he puts up with this kind of malarky or not. I would hope not, but when I called her on it, she said she just shows her cleavage and she gets along with Mr. Pine just fine.” Lainey shuddered. “Can you imagine?”
Talk about sheltered. If she only knew how many straw-blonde, painted up, mini-skirt wearing, thong-showing Frog Hogs had actually flashed their tits at him and his fellow SEALs, just to get their attention. She’d probably die of shock.
“Hmmm,” he shook his head noncommittally. “So, what do you do when you have trouble with the numbers?”
“Eventually, I can figure it out. There was this one time I had to call down to the Cayman Islands and validate an account number. I had to talk to someone else who was new. He was busy telling me his life story, and how his uncle was the vice president of the bank. Took me forever to validate the account. You wouldn’t believe how many cryptocurrency transactions flow through the Cayman Islands.”
“Aren’t they known for being a big tax haven?” Mateo asked, trying to sound ignorant.
“Yeah, and they are also known for money laundering. Thank God we have strong policies in place that look for those types of things. However, I’m going to recommend that we bring on a strong cyber-security programmer like some of the bigger banks use. That’s just an added layer of protection.”
Bingo! Just wait until I tell Gideon and Kostya about this!
“I think I’m ready for that dessert now,” Mateo said with a wide grin.
I knew it.
His gut reaction had been right all along. There had been no way that Lainey Simpson could ever have been mixed up with the Kraken, or some kind of money laundering scheme, or even cheating at cards. His woman was way too fucking honest. Bonnie, Jada, Leila, Amy, Lark or even Nolan’s Maggie didn’t even come close to Lainey when it came to honor or kindness. She had it in spades.
She got up from the table, and he started to get up as well.
“No, stay where you are. The dessert is a surprise.”
“Okay.” He flashed a smile at her. He was curious to see how she intended to top tonight’s dinner. He liked pies. Maybe pie?
He heard the refrigerator door open. Then he heard the whoosh of one of the burners being lit. Okay, it wasn’t pie. He waited, and then the wonderful smell of dulce de leche wafted out of the kitchen. His absolutely full stomach, a stomach that had had three helpings of cabonada and three empanadas, suddenly felt empty. But seriously, who couldn’t want dulce de leche?
He watched her come out to the table. For a second he looked at the dessert, but then he focused on Lainey. He watched as her hips swayed as she carefully took each step. Then, before he thought it couldn’t get any better, her breast brushed against him as she placed the dessert in front of him.
He didn’t need to look up to know it was an accident. When she sat down with her plate in front of him, her cheeks were bright red. Yep, a total accident. He looked down at the dessert. The flan looked perfect, and the scent of the dulce de leche took him back to Argentina. He closed his eyes for just a moment, flashing back to a dinner with his mom, Luis, and his abuelo, as they all waited impatiently around the table for his abuelita to bring out the flan mixto. He opened his eyes and sighed.
“The whipped cream is the kind from the can, but everything else is homemade. I hope you like it.”
How in the hell could she sound hesitant? The woman was a miracle worker. No wonder Brax had told him to be careful. Mateo was definitely in over his head.
He continued to stare at Lainey in the soft light of the dining room. He watched as she bit her lip. She looked worried.
“Aren’t you going to try it?”
“Oh yeah. Fuck yeah, I’m going to try it. I’m probably going to ask for fourths. Then I’m going to want the rest of it for breakfast.”
“Uhmmm.” She was blushing again. Finally, after he’d picked up his fork, she responded to what he’d implied.
“That could be arranged. But it’s really important that you heat the dolce de leche up properly. You have to use two pans. One on the bottom filled with hot water, and the pan on top you fill with the chilled caramel. Otherwise, it burns. I could teach you before you leave…”
Mateo put his fork down. He reached over to where her hand was balling up her paper towel. “How about I sleep over tonight and you heat it up for me in the morning?”
“We can’t—I mean, you can’t sleep in my bedroom. Xena’s in my closet. That’s her safe place.”
Oh yeah, the three-legged dog. But it definitely sounds like Lainey is getting on board with the idea of us sleeping together.
Thank Fuck.
“Corazón, I wasn’t thinking about us going to bed together. It’s too early. We’ll work it out a little later. How about that? Right now, I want to savor this gift.” He picked up his fork and scooped up a small bite of flan, whipped cream, and dulce de leche and tasted heaven.