“No. You know anyone who could get me into one?”
I smile at the easy banter we have when we’re not at each other’s throats. “I might, if you play your cards right.”
Rey groans as she slides her shoe back on.
“Leave ‘em off,” I say. “We can pick up something curbside and eat in the car.”
“Oh, you don’t have to do that. I’ll survive.”
“We’ll get curbside,” I say. “Leave the shoes off.”
“I think we should go in somewhere where we can be seen together.”
“Another night,” I tell her.
She sighs in frustration. “Jonah—”
“Renee.”
“It’s Rey,” she says firmly.
“Another night,” I repeat. “Since you’re so hot to get in my pants, we’ll go out again tomorrow night. And the next night I have a game.”
“I’m pretty sure you’re the one who’s hot to get into mine,” she says in a teasing tone.
“Whatever you say.” I smile back at her.
Truth be told, Rey is my anti-type. Lily was different from her in every way. Not only did she have light blond hair and bright green eyes, she was the sweetest woman I’ve ever known. She was always smiling and rarely complained.
There’s no need to say that, though. Rey and I have already established we’re not compatible.
We drive around for about twenty minutes until I find the place I was looking for. Rey’s whole face lights up when we drive past it.
“Holy shit, is that a Cuban place?” she asks hopefully.
“Best one in the whole city, from what I’ve heard,” I say. “Thought we’d give it a try.”
“Oh,” she says softly. “Thank you.”
Logan told me Rey’s of Cuban descent, so I was hoping this place would be a good choice.
“I haven’t had ropa vieja in forever,” she says wistfully. “But can we go inside? Please?”
“Yeah, if you want to.”
“I really do.” She doesn’t groan as she slides the shoes back on this time. “Just to smell it and see it and feel it, you know?”
“Yeah, we can do that.”
Rey groans softly and I look over at her. “What?”
“I feel really bad for calling you a dick earlier.”
I smile. “It’s forgotten, okay?”
“Thanks.”
I park and Rey holds my arm as we make our way inside the restaurant, which is filled with dark wood and potted palms. The savory smells of meat and spices fill the air, and Rey breathes in deeply.
“I hope you’re hungry, West,” she says. “We’re gonna try everything.”
“I am.”
At the counter, Rey speaks Spanish to the guy who waits on us, and she doesn’t even seem to realize he’s gaping at her like a teenage boy having his first wet dream the entire time she’s speaking. After she orders, she reaches into her bag and I put out a hand to stop her.
“You’re not paying,” I say, taking out my wallet.
“Yes, I am. I just ordered at least a hundred bucks worth of food.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“But West—”
“It’s Jonah,” I say, tired of being addressed like a cop working as her partner. “And I’ve got it.”
She says something in Spanish and passes a card over to the guy behind the counter.
“No,” I say firmly, reaching past her with mine.
She says something in Spanish to the guy, and he laughs.
“What did you just say?” I demand.
“Nothing,” she says, feigning innocence.
“It better not have been about me being pretty.”
Someone in line behind us snickers and I narrow my eyes at Rey in a glare.
“Either you let me pay,” I say, “or I won’t do that thing you always beg me for in bed tonight.”
There’s another snicker behind us, and her red lips slide open in surprise.
We’re both holding our credit cards out and the cashier is talking to Rey in Spanish as she and I stare each other down.
“Well then, I’m not doing your thing, either,” she says in a level, challenging tone. “The thing with my fingers that makes you moan like a little girl.”
The snickers become full-on laughter now. She’s got no idea who she’s dealing with. I’ve been trash talking and locker room bantering for twenty years now.
“Tell the guy to take my card,” I say. “Or I won’t let you invite strange men to join us in the bedroom ever again.”
The line quiets other than a solitary, shocked inhale. Rey’s cheeks flush as she quickly says something in Spanish and puts her card away.
“That was a low blow,” she hisses as we find a table to sit at.
“If you quit trying to be in charge all the time, things would go a lot smoother.”
“I am in charge,” she whispers hotly. “Whether you like it or not.”
“We’ll see about that.”
She sulks in silence as we wait for the food. I reach across the table and take her hand, winking. Her face relaxes into the expression of a woman on a first date that’s going really well.
Her eyes tell a different story, though. They’re blazing. I’ve pissed off the hothead. This time, though, I’m not sorry. I’m more…amused. Rey thinks I’m not manly? I plan to show her just how wrong she is.
Chapter Seven
Reyna
“Stop pressing so hard. You’re supposed to blend, not rub the fucking skin off your face.” Kai rolls his eyes at me. “Here, give me the brush. I can’t watch this carnage.”
I pass him the makeup brush and sigh heavily. “It takes too long.”
“No, you’re just really impatient.”
He adds more bronze powder, drawing a line from the corner of my lips to up near my ear.
“How is that going to look good?” I look up at him from the stool I’m sitting on in front of a vanity in his makeup room. “I know it will, I just would never think to draw lines all over my face the way you do.”
“Blending.” Kai stretches the word into four syllables for emphasis.
“Where did you learn to do all this?”
He grins at me in the mirror. “At first I learned from a drag queen I made friends with. Then I started watching online tutorials and experimenting on my own.”
“A drag queen? That must’ve been fun.”
“Dolly Dixon,” Kai says warmly. “Still one of my dearest friends. Did I tell you I sometimes do makeup at a drag club, just for fun?”
“No, but now I want to know all about it.”
“Why don’t I just take you sometime?”
I grin with delight. “Really? I’ve never met a real life drag queen. I’d love that.”
“You can come be my whipping girl next time I go.”
“Perfect.” I tilt my cheek up to make his blending work easier. “Hey, last night I watched some of your videos. Can you show me how to do that smoky eye thing?”
Kai purses his lips. “I mean…I can try?”