Ch. 36 – Rico
A s pans sizzled and water boiled on his small stove top, Rico raked a hand through his hair, then groaned. He’d just spent 20 painstaking minutes perfecting his hair before starting dinner. Did he have time to comb it into order before Jax arrived? The stove hissed as foam crawled down the side of a pot.
Shit.
Rico snatched his phone, practically juggling the thing, before pulling up one of three recipes to check the cook time again. A soft scratching sound had him turning his head. From the new enclosure on the coffee table, Sancho stared at him.
“I’m not nervous,” Rico argued to the rat. “You’re nervous. Shut up.”
He turned down the burner and the foamy water churlishly retreated below the lip of the boiling pot. So what if his entire body had been going through serious Jax withdrawal this entire week? So what if he dreamed of her honeysuckle scent every night? So what if the teasing, flirty memes they’d been texting back and forth all week gave his life new meaning?
And so what if this was the first time he’d ever invited a woman over for dinner ?
I should have taken her out to eat, Rico chided himself again as he pulled open the oven and checked the chicken and roasting vegetables. So why hadn’t he? Maybe because the five or six restaurants in his normal dating rotation hadn’t felt right. They held too many memories of other women. For Jax, he wanted to do something special. He also liked the idea of cooking for her, even if he’d never attempted something this fancy in his life.
His phone pinged with a message.
Jax: Parking
Rico’s heart turned into a jackhammer in his chest. He gazed around his apartment again. No used underwear stuck between the couch cushions? Check. No sudden appearance of mold on the ceiling? Check.
The bathroom!
Rico practically lunged into the small room down the hall. Sure, he’d already spent an hour scrubbing the toilet to within an inch of its life, but now he scoured the sink and shower again for any stray hairs. Everything looked clean and uncluttered, especially after he’d shoved all his skin and hair products in the cabinet beneath the sink. The place practically sparkled. But just for a little extra credit, he pulled a bottle of Febreze from beneath the sink and hit the handle a good 10 or 20 times.
Rico was just draining the couscous when he heard a shy knock on the door. Resisting the urge to check his teeth in the mirror one more time, Rico brushed his hands on his jeans and walked to the door. Sancho scratched at his enclosure again.
“ You’re nervous,” he hissed at the rat, before swinging open the door. He almost laughed, because Jax was . . . well, rocking true Jax fashion .
She wore a long-sleeved gray T-shirt with the fit of a beach towel over a lacey black skirt that stopped just above her knees. The ensemble included her ever-present black combat boots and the red clip-on tie she’d worn during their first interview. Her mahogany hair fell to her shoulders in thick, delicious waves, and when he breathed, he smelled her honeysuckle shampoo.
She clutched a bottle of wine to her chest with both hands.
“You look like a dream, as always,” he told her, stepping aside.
“I wore a skirt.” She released one hand from the wine bottle to point at said article of clothing. Her voice was low and dry as usual, but Rico could sense her nervousness. She limped slightly as she took small steps into his apartment.
“How’s the ankle?” he asked.
“Better every day. Still can’t run on it, but thank God I’m off those crutches. My armpits are so chafed.”
Jax stopped just a few feet inside the door as if she didn’t dare go in any farther and gripped the wine bottle so tightly, he worried it might shatter beneath her white knuckles.
Rico leaned forward and touched her shoulder. Jax stiffened. How could a woman so beautiful and so strong-willed turn into a terrified deer with just the softest touch? She was a study in contradictions, and Rico’s new mission in life was to ease her fears.
He brushed his lips gently on the apple of her cheek. “I’m glad you came. Make yourself comfortable.” He plucked the wine from her hands. “What have we got here?”
“That would be Theo’s new, award-winning red blend, Obsession,” Jax answered.
“Yeah.” Rico grinned. “I saw a pic of him posing with his ribbon on the winery’s social media page. ”
“Alanna made him do that,” Jax said with a short laugh. “Theo’s over the moon, but he doesn’t want to brag. So, Alanna’s bragging for him. She’s plastering the news everywhere. We’ve been even busier than usual this week.”
“Good for Theo,” Rico said, and meant it. His friend deserved a good break for once. “Guess I’m lucky you were able to snag me a bottle.” The blooming rose on the label looked more than a little sexual. Then again, it was probably just his dirty mind.
“Theo says you don’t drink,” Jax spoke up. “That bottle is for me.”
“Nonsense, Jacklyn. I drink when I have a reason to.” Rico winked at her and made his way to the kitchen.
“It’s Jax. You know my name is Jax.” She crossed her arms, flummoxed but also smiling.
“Here.” Rico gestured to a chair in front of the kitchen island. “You can watch me make you dinner.”
She laughed at that. “I never ever imagined that you cooked.”
“Oh, I don’t,” he assured her. “I follow recipes.” At the counter now, Rico waved his phone, which included all three recipe tabs in the browser. He pulled open a drawer, rooted around, and came up with a corkscrew. Pulling two dusty wineglasses from a high shelf, he ran them under water, then set them in front of Jax.
“I believe you might know what to do with this.” He held the corkscrew out to her.
“You’re being charming. You know I hate when you’re charming.” But she held out her hand and he laid the corkscrew in her palm.
“Tigers and stripes. Can’t change ’em,” He responded with a shrug. “Plus, you secretly like that I’m charming.”
Jax gave him a crooked smile as she took hold of the wine bottle and applied the corkscrew. While he pulled the chicken and vegetables out of the oven, she glanced into the living room. A pang of self-doubt rippled through Rico. Would she think his place was too small? Too old? His leather couch contained a few cracks. His TV should probably be about 10 inches larger. He needed about a hundred more fancy books on his bookshelf.
“Wow,” she said, staring at the massive structure on the coffee table. “Your rat lives in a palace.”
Rico beamed as he set the hot dish on the countertop. “Rats need lots of exercise and engagement. Sancho’s original place was just a fish tank. It didn’t have anything in it.” He plucked a spatula from a drawer. “But he’s not my rat.”
“Sure he isn’t.” Jax’s eyes followed the tangle of plastic tubing in the new enclosure. She noted the rat wheel on level one, the salt lick on level two, the rat hammock on level three, and the scattering of chew toys throughout.
Rico pulled down two plates, quickly scraping off a tiny flake of dried food on one plate with his thumbnail while Jax wasn’t looking.
“I think we should break the Bishop story early next week,” he said to change the subject.
“Do we have enough?” Jax slid a glass of wine across the island toward him. “We still haven’t found any evidence of kickbacks or that he sabotaged Theo’s winery.”
True enough. They’d both been pounding the pavement this week but hadn’t come up with any new major breaks.
“If we keep snooping around, word’s going to get back to Bishop.” Rico carefully doled out a bed of couscous on each plate. “And the next city council meeting is in two weeks. Bishop’s going to call for a vote on rescinding Theo’s land use exemption. We’ve got to get this story out before the vote. If Yucca Hills residents love The Rose and Thorn as much as I know they do, they’ll give Bishop so much hell, he’ll have to abandon his plans.”
Jax took a long, contemplative sip of her wine. “I just really wanted to nail the mayor.”
Rico smirked at her.
“God, does your brain live in the gutter or does it just own a timeshare down there?” She propped her elbows on the breakfast bar. “You know what I mean. Bishop is colluding directly with his campaign donors to line their pockets. And he tried to buy The Rose and Thorn right out from under Theo to enrich himself.”
“We don’t have any solid proof of that,” Rico reminded her as he laid a chicken breast on top of each pile of couscous and drizzled lines of tzatziki sauce over both plates.
“Yes we do!” Jax shot back.
“But neither of our sources will go on the record,” he pointed out as he added the oven-roasted green beans, carrots, and brussels sprouts to the plates. His source had confirmed that Bishop golfed multiple times with the regional vice president of Porter Development Co. They almost surely had broken the law against colluding to spend super PAC money.
Jax had managed to reach an ex-employee of Porter. The woman had left the company two years ago but had confirmed that Porter often agreed to make sizable donations to local politicians only after extracting promises on building permits and approvals. Both sources worried about their future employment prospects if their names were attached to the story.
“We have enough,” Rico assured Jax. “Even just showing that a mayor is playing favorites with a big campaign donor and trying to run a local institution out of business in an underhanded way will grab attention. It’ll put Bishop on the defensive.” He picked up the plates and brought them over to the breakfast bar .
“It won’t put him in jail, though,” Jax grumbled. “Or get him kicked out of office.”
Rico placed a napkin next to her elbow and another next to his plate, then moved to the silverware drawer. “It’s a serious ethical breach. Bishop will be in serious hot water, believe me. I interviewed a political ethics professor from UCSD today and ran some hypotheticals by him. His quotes are going to be devastating.”
Jax frowned into her wineglass. “It’ll have to be enough.”
Rico laid a fork and knife on each side of her plate. “Next week, I’ll confront Bishop and Porter’s CEO. We’ll see what they have to say for themselves.”
“I want to do the confrontations with you,” Jax spoke up. “I want to wipe that smug smile off the mayor’s face when we tell him exactly what we’ve got.”
“No.” Protectiveness rose inside Rico as he took his seat beside her.
“It’s our story,” she insisted, misreading his intention. “You’re not going to take all the credit and glory. I worked just as hard on this as you.”
“I know you did—”
“So, we confront Porter Development and Mayor Bishop together.”
Rico sighed. “It could be dangerous.”
“I know. I accept that.” Her honey-brown eyes were full of daggers.
This so wasn’t how he wanted this night to go. “Let me think about it,” he hedged.
“Think away, but I’m coming.” Jax folded her arms.
Okaaaay. Definitely time for a subject change. Rico lofted his wineglass. “To . . .” His mind sputtered. “To adorable baby giraffes.”
She snorted and lifted her glass. The sound was absolutely adorable. They clinked. Rico took a long, slow sip, enjoying the play of rich flavors across his tongue. Theo was right. He didn’t drink often, but he’d add another half mile to tomorrow morning’s run to make up for the extra calories. It was so worth it.
Jax looked down at her plate, her eyebrows lifting. “This looks . . . good.”
“You sound surprised.”
She stuck a cautious fork into the couscous. “I thought you only lived on protein shakes and vegetable juice.”
He laughed. “Believe it or not, this is very healthy.” He waved his hand over the plate. “We’ve got lots of high fiber vegetables coated in olive oil. That’s healthy omega-3 fats for you. Lean protein in the chicken. And I used whole-grain couscous for more fiber and protein.”
Jax rolled her eyes.
“Healthy doesn’t have to mean bland or boring,” Rico teased, cutting into his chicken. He was pleased to find the meat tender when he popped a piece into his mouth. The tzatziki sauce gave it a pleasant punch of zest.
She cautiously put a forkful of couscous into her mouth. Rico watched her carefully, his heart tightening.
“Mmmmmm, good,” she said, swallowing. “My compliments to the recipes.”
It was odd and a little scary how much Rico enjoyed watching Jax eat the food he’d made for her. Somehow, he felt he was protecting her in a way that made no sense but still felt good to his soul. He looked down to his own plate and took another bite of chicken.
“So, how’s your roommate?” he asked after swallowing. She’d notably steered clear of giving him an update on that situation in their text chats during the week.
Jax stopped chewing and frowned. “Fine. ”
Lie.
Rico put an elbow on the counter, curiosity provoked. “How did you two become roommates? You seem, um, different.”
Jax looked down at her food and tucked a dark stand of hair behind her ear. “I moved to Yucca Hills in middle school and it was like this huuuuge deal that I had two moms. Some of the kids were real shits about it, but Haley didn’t mind. We both played tennis and took lessons with the same coach.”
She took another bite of food and Rico caught sight of the cute little mole on the side of her neck. He longed to nibble on that mole. Be patient, he reminded himself. Tonight, he would move at Jax’s pace.
“We were actually super competitive at first,” Jax continued after swallowing a few vegetables. “I thought she was a snob, but we eventually became friends. Haley was funny and bold.” Jax laughed. “She was sooo boy crazy even back then. I don’t know. I guess I thought she was exciting.”
“And things changed?” he asked.
“Haley didn’t change. Not really,” Jax admitted. “She just got . . . more extreme over the years. She never really cared about tennis. She only played ’cause her mom made her. In high school, she quit and switched to cheerleading.”
“I can definitely see her as a cheerleader,” Rico said with a laugh before taking another sip from his wineglass.
“Haley had a bad fall senior year,” Jax continued. “Tore her ACL. She loved to party even before. She drank. Took pills. But the doctors gave her pain meds for her injury and things kind of went downhill from there.”
“What do you mean?” Rico pressed. This was the most Jax had ever opened up to him .
“It’s dumb,” she replied. He could practically see her trying to scrabble back behind her walls.
“Not to me,” he told her.
Jax gave him a look over her wineglass as if she wasn’t entirely sure she believed him. Finally, she relented. “Haley and I always had this dream that we’d go to USDC together. I got in on a tennis scholarship. Haley barely graduated high school. She went to a local community college for a semester but didn’t re-enroll. She never really liked school.”
Rico swallowed another bite of food. “But you don’t go to USDC. You go to Sagebrush Canyon College.”
Jax swirled the wine in her glass. If Rico wasn’t mistaken, a slow flush crept up her cheeks. “USDC wasn’t for me. I, uh, burned out on tennis. Quit the team, then left after my first year. I moved back to Yucca Hills. Haley already had her own place, so I moved in. She’d gotten a job at the winery, and Theo hired me on, too.”
Jax stared past her wineglass as if she’d forgotten she was even holding it. “I was kind of in a dark place for a while, but eventually I realized I wanted more than a winery job for the rest of my life. I enrolled at Sagebrush Canyon College to finish my degree. I like it a lot better than USDC.”
She tipped back her glass, drained it, then put it down with a soft clink.
Rico had questions. Roughly a million, to be exact. What dark place had she been in? Why had she really left her first school? Even without years of honing his reporter’s instinct, Rico knew Jax wasn’t telling him the whole story. Yet, when she glanced at him, he saw the edge of vulnerability in her eyes.
He wouldn’t push her. Not today. When she was ready, she would tell him. Looking down, he was surprised to see they’d both polished off their food. Thank you, AllRecipes.com. Rico picked up Jax’s empty plate, stacked it on his, and brought them to the sink.
“Well, as you know, I have friends of very questionable character as well,” he said to change the subject.
Jax laughed. “Hue and Theo? Come on. Those two are teddy bears.”
Now it was his turn to laugh. “Hue, a teddy bear? I won’t tell him you ever said that. He’d be personally offended.”
“I love how grumpy and growly he is.” Jax’s smile illuminated the room and did weird, uncomfortable things to his heart. “He intimidates the shit out of people. It’s awesome.”
Rico needed to look away from that smile. He ducked into the fridge and pulled out his prize.
“What’s that?” Jax leaned forward in her chair to get a better look.
Rico held up the carton of strawberries. “Dessert.”
“Fruit? Are you serious?” She dropped back in the chair.
“Oh ye of little faith.” Rico couldn’t help smiling. Jax was getting sassy, which meant she was feeling more comfortable. Rico washed the fruit, cut off the tops, sliced them in half, then piled a handful of strawberries halves on a single small dessert plate. He then reached into the fridge and pulled out his secret weapon.
Returning to the table, he placed the plate between them, shook the whipped cream bottle, and added a dollop on top of the strawberries.
“Only you would consider fruit to be a dessert,” she grumbled.
“Strawberries are full of antioxidants, as well as fiber, manganese, and potassium,” Rico chided her. “Oh, and they have vitamin C, too.”
She smirked, grabbed the can of whipped cream, and sprayed it directly into her mouth.
Rico shook his head, laughing. “You’re on a date. You know that, right? ”
She swallowed, then opened her arms. “This is me. Take it or leave it.”
“I’ll take it.” He hadn’t meant the words to come out as a growl.
Her smile slipped just a little as she lowered her arms.
“Jax, we don’t have to do anything tonight,” Rico told her quickly. “Just cooking you dinner and learning about your life is more than enough.”
She didn’t answer. Instead, she swiped a dollop of whipped cream from the strawberries with her index finger and held it out to him.
“Come over to the dark side with me,” she teased.
Rico opened his mouth, leaned forward, and gently sucked the whipped cream from her fingertip.
“Sugar is good, right?” she asked.
“Good.” It had nothing to do with the whipped cream. Heat ripped through Rico’s body. It would be hard—make that nearly impossible—to get through this night with nothing more than amiable conversation. But if that’s what Jax needed, he’d find a way.
Jax tossed one strawberry half into her mouth, then stood up. “Let’s go,” she said.
Rico almost choked on his strawberry. “Where?”
“Bedroom.” She walked toward the room in question.
“Jax, are you sure?”
She tossed a look over her shoulder, her dark eyes smoldering. “Bring the whipped cream.”