She shook her head. “I like to try new foods. I just have a New England palate, that’s all.”
“Anything else I should know? Vegetarian? Food sensitivities? Anaphylactic shock caused by peanuts?”
She laughed. He grinned back at her, his expression more relaxed than she had ever seen it. “Peanuts? Just what is in this burrito? No, no other restrictions,” she said.
He nodded and began a conversation with the man behind the counter in rapid, fluid Spanish. Luke accepted two long-necked Mexican beers with one hand and used the other to guide her to a nearby table.
She sat down in a red plastic chair. It was just a business dinner with her boss. Something she and Johanna used to do on a regular basis. Only Johanna never made her pulse sing an aria just by touching her elbow.
She cleared her throat. “What’s our number? I’ll fetch the food.”
“Don’t have to,” Luke said. He pushed one of the beers in front of her and then took a deep swallow from his. “Enrique will bring the food to us.”
She looked around. No one else was receiving table service. All the other patrons went to the counter to bring back trays packed high with plastic baskets filled with foil-wrapped food and tortilla chips. “Another perk of being the CEO of Ruby Hawk?”
He frowned. “Because I’m CEO? No. But because of Ruby Hawk?” He used his beer bottle to indicate a boisterous group of teenage boys, joking with each other as they dug into their food. Each one wore a bright gold basketball jersey, with a small red bird emblazoned on the front. They reminded her of her brother. “You could say that. We sponsor the league, while Enrique lets this team eat here on game days. Enrique got the worse bargain.”
She smiled. Feeding an active teenage boy was something her family knew well. Or at least they used to. “I bet. Was the league your previous commitment?”
“How did you know?”
She indicated his damp hair. “I doubt a business meeting would require shampoo after.” A vision of him standing under a shower jet, water cascading off that flawless rear end hidden under his jeans, steam rising off the smooth biceps peeking out from the sleeves of his T-shirt, nearly caused her to choke on her beer. She put the bottle down and ducked under the table to rummage in her tote bag.
Once she was sure the color in her face had returned to normal, she resurfaced, a file folder in her hand. “So,” she said, attempting to sound brisk and professional, “as I said earlier, you were right. I hadn’t looked outside the box. These candidates—” she slid the folder over to him “—should be more to your specifications.”
He pushed the folder away. “Maybe. But I never discuss business while hungry. It leads to poor decision-making. Speaking of, here comes our food.” The man who took their order placed a tray on their table, carrying on another conversation in Spanish with Luke that ended with both men laughing and shaking hands. When he left, Luke turned back to Danica. “Dig in.”
* * *
Luke sat back in his chair. The stress that caused his shoulders to be in a perpetual knot since his meeting with Nestor was currently at bay, thanks to coaching a hard-fought basketball game that helped focus his mind outside his company. And, he had to admit: he liked watching Danica’s reactions.
She glanced around the taqueria, smiling at the other patrons. He noticed it lingered the longest on the youth basketball team, her expression somewhat wistful, before she turned her attention to her food. He was about to ask her why when she let out a small groan.
“This burrito? Is amazing.” She took another bite. The look on her face was pure pleasure. He wondered what else would cause that expression to appear and found himself shifting in his seat.
“It’s even better with salsa,” he warned, taking his own bite of the cheese-beans-and-rice-filled concoction.
“No way,” she said with a sigh of contentment, and took a long drink from her beer. His gaze fixated on her mouth, her plump lips wrapped around the neck of the bottle. When she swallowed, it caused an answering pull in his groin. Good thing she couldn’t see under the table.
She caught his gaze with hers. Her eyes were more than just green, he noticed. Flecks of gold rimmed her pupils, while a band of forest green encircled her irises. What if he were to reach across the table, cover her luscious mouth with his, see if he could make those eyes darken to emerald...