Running his hand through his hair again, he watched as she stepped out of her car holding a paper bag in one hand and her purse in the other. She closed the driver side door but then opened the back door and pulled something else out. Byron had been too caught up with her long legs and the very high wedge sandals she wore, he didn’t immediately notice what she’d pulled out of the backseat.
Gulping at the sight of her making her way to the shop door in her short denim shorts and those hot ass shoes, Byron once again attempted to be cool. He focused on that other thing she was holding. Best he could make of it from where he was standing, was that it appeared to be an aluminum tray of some kind covered with foil. She stuck his clothes in an aluminum pan?
“Hey,” she said smiling beautifully as she walked into the lobby.
“Hey.” Byron’s eyes zoomed in on the slightest peek of her midriff just above her shorts button.
While the soft lavender crop top didn’t quite reach the top of her shorts, allowing for just a tease of her soft skin underneath, it was nowhere near as short as the one she’d worn at the gym the day he’d seen her with the meathead.
“Here you are.” She handed him the paper bag she was holding.
Shaking off the reminder of her and the meathead at the gym before he could start unreasonably grinding his teeth, Byron took the bag with his clothes.
“Thanks.”
Focusing instead on the tray she held in her other hand, he glanced at it curiously then at her. Already her face tinged with color and she cleared her throat. “Xochitl and I thought we should get you a little something as a gesture of our gratitude for what you did Friday night.” Immediately feeling panicked, Byron started to protest that they didn’t have to, but she went on quickly. “Oh, it’s nothing big. We had no idea what you might be into, but we figured everyone is into food. It’s just a small tray of enchiladas suizas.” She shrugged smiling sweetly. “Kind of my specialty. So, really it was no trouble at all.” She handed him the tray that wasn’t a small tray at all. “The tray is still kind of hot. I prepared them last night but didn’t put them in the oven until I text you to make sure you’d be here.”
Byron took the tray and peeked inside under the foil. They looked and smelled heavenly. “You made these yourself?”
Not sure how much longer he could watch her blush before he took her face in his hands and kissed it, Byron smiled at her timid expression, glad now that his hands were full.
“I did.” She smiled with a nod. “Xochitl would’ve helped, but she can barely toast her bread without setting off the smoke detectors.” She giggled making Byron smile even bigger. “I made them, but she was on cleanup duty. So, it was a team effort.”
Taking in the enchiladas again, Byron noted just how many she’d made. “This isn’t a small tray, Vannah. That’s a lot of enchiladas. You sure you don’t want to take some back with you?”
“Oh, no.” She shook her head indulging him with that sweet yet nervous laughter again. “Xochitl made sure I made enough for us too. I figured since I’d be dropping them off at your job, you might want to share with your co-workers.” She glanced out to where the guys were working. “Trust me, I’ve cooked for enough guys to know all about how much they can grub. I made sure to make enough.”
Glancing back at him, their eyes met and her previously bright eyes widened in question—or alarm. It wasn’t even until that moment, that Byron realized how hard his expression had gone. Fortunately, before his dumb ass could start up again with any stupid and unwarranted remarks, she added more to that last comment that shouldn’t have been so unreasonably annoying.
“I have two brothers and lots of cousins,” she explained quickly making Byron feel like an asshole for evidently making her feel like she needed to. “My brothers have been known to eat an entire tray like that on their own.” She laughed softly again but it sounded forced now, nervous. “Not in one sitting of course. But entire trays that size have gone missing from the fridge in less than a day when they’re home all day.”
Feeling the tension ease up, not just from the initial comment but from his ridiculous reaction to it, Byron forced a smile. “Yeah, I’ll have to think about whether or not I want to share with these guys. Knowing them, they’ll tear through the tray in minutes.”
She smiled a bit more naturally this time. “Well, I don’t want to take up too much of your time—”
“You’re not.” He walked around the counter with the tray. “I’m taking a break right now. As a matter of fact.” He opened the drawer where they kept boxes of plastic cutlery and pulled out a fork. “I think I’ll try these right now. Have you had lunch?”
“I haven’t, but those are for you.”
“Vannah.” He shook his head. “You said it yourself. You made enough for all my co-workers and while I’m still not sure I’ll be sharing these with them—” or anything else about her “—I sure as hell don’t mind sharing with the chef herself.”
Byron stopped short of adding, especially one as sweet as her. He was already pushing it by inviting her to have lunch with him. Yet, at the same time his insides were also going nuts because she appeared to accept the invitation. She’d already pulled the purse off her shoulder with a smile and came around the counter with him when he motioned for her to do so.
Starting to pull out a chair for her, Byron thought of something. “Or we can go in the break room. Seating might be more ideal in there.” Ignoring the warning sirens going off in his head, Byron took it one step further. “We can also go upstairs to my apartment. I have a full kitchen there where there’s more than just bottled water I can offer you to drink in that fridge, as opposed to the water dispenser in the break room.”
Holding his breath for a moment, he exhaled in relief, smiling big when she crinkled her nose in a curious gesture and glanced upstairs. “You live up there?”
“You didn’t know that?” Seeing her blush intensely this time, as she shook her head had him chuckling, but he let her off the hook. “Yeah, I do.” He asked one of the guys to come cover the lobby while he went to lunch. “Come on, I’ll show you.”
She followed him up and despite the battle of contradicting arguments going on in his head, the excitement about getting some more time—alone time with her—was winning out. He was a grown man, for fuck’s sake. He could handle this.
Texting Gus, to let him know he’d be upstairs for a while and he’d have to cover the lobby, Byron walked Vannah through his small apartment.
“No school today?” he asked as she took a seat at his kitchen table.
“I had classes this morning. Then I have to put in some hours in study lab later this afternoon.”
Byron set the tray of enchiladas down on the table and grabbed some plates. Relieved that he actually had more than just bottled water and beer in his fridge he offered her the other options. “Aside from water, we got juice boxes, Coke Zero and Starbucks bottled coffee.”
“Ooh, I’ll take Starbucks.”
Grabbing one for her and a soda for himself, he took the seat next to her at the table. She’d already served them both. Three enchiladas for him and one for herself.