5. Daisy
DAISY
As we headed to the car, I walked slightly in front of him, feeling suddenly unnerved. To give myself something to do, I glanced at my iPad.
“I’ve got so many notes.”
“You’re really good at this,” Anthony remarked. “I thought you might need more prompting.”
“So did I,” I admitted, smiling from ear to ear. I was already getting praise? Damn, things looked much better than they had this morning.
Once we got in the car, I asked, “Where are we going?”
“What are you in the mood for?”
“Let me think.” I closed my eyes. “No Southern food.”
I was met with stone silence. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye. Yep, he did seem stunned.
“You don’t like it?”
“I do, but during my first month here, I only ate jambalaya, gumbo, po’ boys, and so on. One time I got violently sick after a gumbo and lost my appetite for it.”
“Understandable. How do you feel about Mexican food?” he asked.
“I love it. Tacos especially. I haven’t had any in a while. ”
“Then you’re in luck, ’cause I know where to get the best damn tacos around here.”
I laughed. “Very sure of yourself, aren’t you?”
“Extremely. I know my restaurants,” he teased.
“Is this one that your family owns?” I asked.
“No. Most of those serve local food. Don’t tell this to my family, but sometimes, like you, I’m not in the mood for anything Southern. It’s good to mix and match.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t give you away. Besides, I won’t run into your family anytime soon.”
“Yes, you will, since most of my brothers come into the office. Only Julian, who runs the bars, and Xander, the company’s CFO, went rogue. The rest of us are quite happy in the French Quarter.”
“But not all your employees are there, right? I mean, from what I’ve read, the conglomerate is huge.”
“No, most of our employees are spread out in other offices too.”
“Thought so. I did run into Chad this morning. He’s the one with restaurants, right?”
“Precisely.”
“I won’t tell him what you said. No worries.” I was tempted to wink at him but stopped myself at the last possible moment. He was my boss, after all. I wasn’t sure what brought on the change from this morning, but I didn’t want to cross a line and go back to things being awkward.
“Chad isn’t the issue—my grandmothers are. They’re chefs dedicated to Southern cuisine. They kind of look down on any other type of food.”
“Your grandmothers. Wait, uh, I think I remember one of their names. Isabeau?”
Anthony smiled. “Yes. Isabeau LeBlanc. She’s my dad’s mom.”
“All right. It’s all noted here.” I tapped my temple. “On the off chance I ever run into them, I won’t tell them your secret. ”
“You better not.” His smile was even bigger than before. Oh, this was fun.
And dangerous.
A little while later, we entered the Audubon neighborhood.
“I’ve been here once before. I love it.” When I first got to New Orleans, I did a tour of the city to get a feel for the layout.
“I live two blocks away. That’s why I know the restaurants in the area,” I told Anthony as he parked under a huge willow tree.
I got out quickly and marveled at the tree as he joined me.
“On my first day in New Orleans, I couldn’t believe there were ferns growing on trees.
It looks so surreal, like a special effect in a movie. ”
“They look normal to me. Then again, I did grow up here. After you.” He pointed to the gate in front of us.
The red paint was chipping off the restaurant’s sign, but the place looked lovely.
It was full of colors, all the reds and yellows and blues.
There were several wooden tables and chairs outside. They were colorful too.
“This place has a fantastic vibe.”
Anthony laughed. “I just come here for the food.”
The second we sat down, a woman came up to us. “Antonio, good day. You brought a friend, I see.”
“I’m his assistant,” I replied immediately, and the woman nodded. No sense in her misconstruing the situation.
“It’s the first time I’m meeting anyone from his office.”
“Don’t tell any inappropriate stories, please, Mercedes,” Anthony said.
Mercedes turned and looked at him. “Oh, but where’s the fun, then?”
I almost started to laugh. Anthony’s face was half incredulous, half scared.
Really? This mighty CEO looked scared? What was he hiding, and what did Mercedes know?
“We’d like to order, please,” Anthony said.
“Yes,” I agreed as Mercedes turned to look at me .
“Might I suggest our lunch mix? We include our most popular tacos.”
“Yes, please. I love tacos.”
“Then you’re in the right place. Antonio did well bringing you here.” She turned to look at him. “And for you?”
He settled on the same, and as she left, a younger guy who resembled her quite a bit came with two huge glasses of Coca-Cola, putting them in front of us.
After he left, I looked at Anthony, who shrugged. “They serve it on the house.”
“I see, Antoni o ,” I said, accentuating the o as Mercedes did because I couldn’t help myself.
He laughed. “I’ve told Mercedes repeatedly, but she insists it’s the only way to say it.”
I tilted my head. It was on the tip of my tongue to say Antonio fit him better. But this was a business lunch for God’s sake. He may take it as flirting if I wasn’t careful. Even so, I was dying to ask about whatever secrets Mercedes was keeping for him, but I didn’t.
“Do you want us to go through my notes?” I attempted to sound professional as I tapped the screen of the iPad. I put it in the center of the table between us so he could read it as well.
Anthony reached forward, and I assumed he’d grab the tablet; instead, he touched my wrist. “No. We’re eating. Not the time for business.”
I licked my lips, immediately putting the iPad away. Oh goodness. I’d liked his touch a little too much. I felt as if I was catching fire under his gaze.
“Is that a usual rule of yours?” My voice was surprisingly even considering how off I felt.
“Yes. In fact, I usually put my phone on Airplane Mode during lunch so no one disturbs me.”
“How clever. But I still have some questions about the job,” I went on as I took a sip of my Coke to give myself something to do. I needed to blab and make small talk to keep myself from overanalyzing my reaction to him. True, we’d flirted this morning, but I needed to get over it.
“Sure. Fire away.”
“Are you always on location, checking things? And am I supposed to shadow you all the time, or will I also spend time in the office itself?”
He looked at me intently. I didn’t shy away from the eye contact.
“It depends on the time of year. Right now, there are a lot of music events. We’ll be out in the field, sorry to say, very often. But that usually doesn’t take the whole day. This afternoon, for example, we’ll be back in the office.”
“Perfect. That way I can work on my notes and see what else needs to be done. Is my presence required at the events too?”
“Sometimes, yes. But Dorothy had that in your contract, right?”
“Yes, there’s a clause about events in the evening.”
“Is that going to be a problem?”
“Not at all. I honestly have no life outside work.”
Was it my imagination, or did this information make him happy? I couldn’t come up with any more questions for the life of me—I was too busy getting lost in those sinfully dark eyes. Luckily for me, Mercedes came with our plates.
“Enjoy, you two.”
“Thank you.”
After she left, I focused on my plate. Six huge tacos with a side of fried rice and beans. Goodness, that was generous—we could’ve split this.
“Which are your favorites?” I asked.
“Pork.”
“Usually, I like beef the most, but let’s see what the verdict is on this.” I bit into my first taco and instantly did a little dance in her seat. “Oh, Anthony, you really are good at picking restaurants.”
“Not Antonio?” he challenged, a flirty smile playing on his lips and a sparkle in his eyes.
I swallowed hard, grabbing another taco instead of answering. Thankfully, he didn’t press the issue.
I glanced up and realized he was still watching me. The intensity in his gaze took me by complete surprise. I’d pay a penny or two for his thoughts. I wasn’t quite finding my footing when it came to interacting with him, but maybe things would become easier as time went on.
“This is definitely one of my top taco restaurants,” I informed him after the third one. “Though I’m already a bit full.”
“Don’t let Mercedes hear you say that. She’ll go on another tirade about how people these days don’t enjoy food anymore. They just think about calories.”
I laughed. “She’s onto something. But this is actually quite a big portion for lunch. I’ll go straight into a food coma if I eat all this.”
“Don’t worry. Your boss won’t get mad at you,” Anthony said as he bit into his last taco.
“My boss seems surprisingly friendly. Considering…” My voice faded. What was I about to say? Considering he seemed to be stone-cold when I stepped into his office this morning?
Anthony put his half-eaten taco down. “As I said, I’ve got some things to make up for.”
I wondered what that meant. Was he just making an effort to be extra nice to me right now because he realized he was short with me earlier? Would he go back to being steely once we were back at the office? That couldn’t be. He seemed genuine right now.
Then again, he seemed very genuine this morning at the coffee shop as well, until he saw me on his couch.
But something told me this was the real Anthony LeBlanc—or, as Mercedes would say, Antonio .
As I focused on my last taco, I wondered if we’d eat together every time we were out of the office. After I finished eating, I downed the rest of the Coke, feeling completely stuffed.
Anthony immediately rose from the table. “I’m going inside to pay, and then we can head to the office.” He spoke rather briskly, which took me by surprise. He’d seemed very laid-back before, as if we weren’t on the clock.
“Sure. Should I give you?—”
“No, of course not. This is on me.”
“Thank you, Anthony.” Probably a business expense.
He was in and out of the restaurant in minutes.
“That was quick.”
“Mercedes is very efficient. She offers this platter at lunch so people don’t waste her time deciding what to order.”
“She’s a spitfire. I’ll definitely come back here.”
“Whenever you’re in the mood for tacos, let me know and I’ll bring you here.”
“Why would you do that?”
He sucked in a breath, then swallowed hard. His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. “Because you’re fucking gorgeous, and?—”
I gasped, and he stopped abruptly and closed his eyes. A few seconds later, he opened them slowly, looking at the ground as if trying to brace himself.
“That was out of line. I brought you here, thinking we could start over with a clean slate, but it just made things more complicated. At least for me.”
Holy shit! His eyes had darkened a tad. So it wasn’t just me. He felt it too.
“But I’ll do better from now on.” He seemed to have spoken more to himself than to me, so I just nodded.
But I wasn’t sure he was right about that—not at all.