Chapter 2 #2
She'd only had a date to prom because he was her lab partner and beyond the expected slow dance, they'd talked about lab work the whole time.
She might be clueless when it comes to guys and relationships, but she hadn't really felt like she was missing out until... now.
"I'm lucky I bumped into Lexie today," Kaleo explained and gave Mia a quick rundown of their interaction. It was nice hearing it from his perspective. "And I spent much of the day trying to figure out where to look for an apartment."
"Kaleo..." Mia's voice was thoughtful. "Are you Hawaiian?"
"Hapa," he answered. "That means half."
Lexie saw him look over at her. "Or some combination, I don't know exactly. But a few of my ancestors are Chinese Hawaiian, so it's mixed up in there. And maybe a couple of other things in there somewhere."
Someone at another table called Mia over for their check and Lexie relaxed a little without Mia's watchful eye.
"Sorry about Mia. She's been determined to get me to date someone, I think she saw me with you and assumed-"
"I'm okay with her questions. She cares about you. It's a good thing."
His smile warmed her from the inside out.
"It was great when they hired me from time to time. I didn't have it in my schedule for a second full time job and classes. It was hard enough to balance the one and school, but a part-time job where the food is amazing? I was in."
The curtain opened and Cesar stepped out with two plates.
He lifted his chin in greeting to Kaleo. "I hope you'll come back and try some of the other dishes, but I understand you picked what Lexie did to get out from under my daughter's microscope."
Kaleo took the plate that Cesar handed him and breathed it in.
Lexie smiled and when he opened his eyes he looked right at her.
"This smells amazing."
Lexie laughed softly, her shoulder shaking with laughter. "It's going to taste even better."
After they started eating, their conversation eased quite a bit and while Mia stopped by their table a few times to get them refills and later, the check, she held off asking personal questions.
Thank goodness.
Her 'short' dinner was officially a long-er one, but she was trying hard not to let it weigh on her. She'd been head-down in her books for so long she wasn't even sure she remembered how to have a normal friendly conversation.
And yet, here they were.
It felt too good to end as quickly as she'd intended.
Kaleo leaned in, using his spoon to point toward the bowl on the tray. "What was this again?"
"It's shrimp chowder. The veggies are great in it, but those bites of shrimp? And the hit of cayenne?"
He smiled at her. "I'm going to have to introduce you to chili pepper water. I'll see if my aunt can ship some over to me."
She raised an eyebrow at him. "Chili pepper water?"
"It sounds... blah, but the taste is incredible when added to food. Especially beef. I'll have to make it for you."
Lexie wasn't sure if he meant it the way her heart was starting to hope that he did, but she knew that he was waiting for her to say... something.
"I... I think I'd like that."
The words were easy enough.
The best and the scariest part was that she meant them.
Looking for a diversion to distract her own thoughts, she grasped on the first idea she could.
"Oh, hey... do you want to show me what places you're looking at for apartments? Maybe I can tell you something about the neighborhoods or maybe I can answer some questions?"
She wasn't sure if he heard her nerves in her voice.
Or maybe he might see how nervous she was, trying to keep things interesting.
"You know," he nodded, "I should have thought of that. I was sitting there looking at these listings and feeling like I was still flying blind."
Kaleo turned his head to look up at the clock on the wall and then he turned to look at the restaurant around them.
They were the only two left inside.
Lexie could hear Mia and her dad in the kitchen cleaning up. "I'd be happy to, but I don't want to keep them from going home."
She stood up and reached for his plate.
"Are you done?"
He looked down and then back up at her. "I did everything but lick the plate. I think so."
She looked down at his plate and saw that he was right.
A quick look at her plate said she'd nearly done the same thing.
"Okay, I have eyes. I should have seen that." She hid her gaze from him for a moment. "I'll take these in the kitchen and then come out to help with the tables, if you don't mind."
Kaleo was up on his feet. "I can help, too."
She opened her mouth to refuse but he continued.
"At the firehouse we all clean tables and do dishes. It's part of the job."
Without waiting for her to say anything, he got up and moved to the doorway before her, holding the curtain back so she could go into the kitchen.
She looked up at him as she passed through the curtain.
He looked good across the table.
This close?
Close enough that she could see the beginning of a little shadow on his cheek?
And his open smile?
Wow.
He was even better looking.
By the time she handed the plates off to Mia and picked up a bucket to start on the tables, she knew that her whole face must be red.
"Here," Kaleo was still holding the curtain back with one hand and now he was reaching out the other, "Hand me the bucket. I'll get started on our table."
"Uh... thanks..."
He took the bucket and started to wipe down the table.
She took a second cloth out and started on the table next to theirs. "I know you do this at work-"
Kaleo turned his head to look at her and her voice caught up in her throat. "It's really no big deal."
"Well, you did buy me dinner."
He raised a brow as his hand was still busy wiping at the tabletop. "Happy to." He rinsed and squeezed out the extra water in the wash bucket. "Besides, I could have searched for weeks to find a place this good. Finding it on the first day in town? Talk about lucky."
She did the same with her cloth and moved past him to the next table.
She knew that she was lucky to meet him on his first day.
In a city as big as Center City was, the chance that she would have met him at all was staggering.
Well, they were both going to work near each other, but still-
"I know you've got your studies to do, so if you don't have the time to go over the apartment listings, I'll be okay."
Lexie knew that he was giving her an out.
It was true that she'd spent more time out than she'd given herself, but... This was a big thing for anyone moving to a new city. Finding a place to live.
If she didn't at least look through the listings to give him a direction to look in, he might end up stuck somewhere that didn't suit him.
"I live about a block over from here. If you don't mind coming with me for a little while. We can go over the listings that interest you."
"Thanks, I promise not to stay long." She heard the earnest tone in his voice. "I know we spent more time at dinner than you probably wanted to. I'm just glad we got a chance to meet again. You really were a lifesaver today."
She finished another table, and they started to move to the next few tables.
"In Hawaii, there's always someone willing to lend a hand. I was worried that Center City would be different."
"It is, sadly," she felt horrible telling him that, but it was the truth. "Sometimes they outweigh the good people around us, but I grew up on Mister Rogers."
Kaleo paused for a moment as he wiped off a tabletop. "I did, too. PBS in Hawaii was my jam growing up. My mom and aunt grew up on him, too. They were always reminding us not only to look for helpers, but to be helpers as well."
She heard his words and felt the warmth in her chest growing. "Me, too."