The Lemon Sisters (Wildstone #3)(102)

“It’s true,” Jake said, and nudged Kel, and since Jake was in a wheelchair, Kel got the nudge right in the back of the knee and just about went down.

“Everything on the menu, and I do mean everything,” Jake told him, “is gold. It’ll all melt in your mouth and make you want to drop to your knees and beg Ivy here to marry you, trust me.”

At this, Ivy sent Jake the sweetest smile Kel had ever seen. Then those compelling eyes were back on him, the sweet completely gone.

All right. So clearly he was rusty at this whole being human thing, but given the past six months of hell, this wasn’t a surprise. He tried a slow, easy smile that had gotten him whatever he’d wanted in the past. “What do you like best?” he asked her.

Jake just grinned. “Aw, man, she’s gonna eat you up and spit you out. I’m so happy.”

Caleb just winced.

Ivy leaned out her serving window a little bit, bracing her weight on her elbows. She had hair the color of fire, a stunning pile of red held back by an elvish headband that left a few strands around her face, framing it. Her apron read I DON’T WANNA TACO ’BOUT IT. “What do I like best?” she echoed, a small smile playing on her lips.

“Yeah.” Just looking at her, he could feel himself relax for the first time in . . . way too long. Something about her did that to him. Instant chemistry. He hadn’t felt it often in his life, and it always ended up a train wreck, so why the hell he felt relaxed, he had no idea. But it had him flashing another smile. “How about you pick for me?”

A smile curved her mouth. “Fair warning—I like things hot.”

“I love things hot,” he said.

Caleb and Jake both shook their heads.

“I didn’t think he was stupid,” Jake murmured to Caleb.

“Shh. I don’t want to miss him getting his ass handed to him.”

Ivy just cocked her head at Kel. “Think you can handle the heat?” she asked.

“Oh yeah.”

“Five minutes.” And she shut the window on them.

Kel followed the guys to one of the two picnic tables at the entrance to the courtyard, where they sat to wait for their food.

Caleb looked at Kel and shook his head. “Man, as much as I enjoy seeing you get your ego squashed, I feel duty bound to warn you: Whatever’s making you smile, it’s never going to happen. Ivy’s not the girl you have fun with and walk away from. And plus, she hates cops.”

“Agreed,” Jake said. “You’ve got a better shot at stealing Sadie away from Caleb. And good luck with that. Your cousin’s woman is batshit crazy over him, God knows why.”

Caleb just smiled, apparently not feeling the need to defend his relationship.

Kel was happy for him. Very happy. Caleb hadn’t given his heart away . . . ever. And for good reasons, which Kel had hated for him because he was a good guy. “About time you found someone who deserves you.”

Caleb met his gaze. “I like having you here,” he said quietly, kind enough to leave out the tone of recrimination. What he didn’t add was that it’d been a long time, too long—which had been all Kel’s fault. He’d spent the first ten years of his life here in the city, he and his sister and his parents. They’d lived next door to his aunt and her kids, including Caleb. Kel hadn’t realized it at the time, but they’d all been poor as dirt, because his parents had always managed to make it seem like they’d had everything they’d needed.

Then his mom had destroyed the happy illusion with a single, shattering mistake, creating a huge rift none of them had recovered from. Two years later had come yet another blow. His dad had died, and Kel and his older sister, Remy, had gone to Idaho to be raised by their grandparents.

It’d sucked.

“You see Remy yet?” Caleb asked.

Kel’s sister had moved back here to San Francisco after getting married last year. And no, he hadn’t seen her yet. And yes, he was stalling.

“Your mom?” Caleb asked.

Kel slid him a look.

Caleb raised his hands. “Hey, just asking.”

“Uh-huh. Do you ask all your employees such personal questions?”

“No, just my brother.”

“I’m your cousin.”

“You’re my brother,” Caleb said with meaning.

Kel sighed and looked over at Jake.

Jake shrugged. “He likes to adjust facts to suit him. But you knew that already.”

Ivy came out of the truck with three baskets. She served Jake first, then Caleb, and finally Kel. She handed him his basket and stood there at his side, a tiny pixie of a woman in that sassy apron, elvish headband, and painted-on jeans, faded to a buttery softness with a few ragged holes that he somehow knew were authentic and not purchased that way. Her boots were serious and kickass, and because he was a very sick man, they turned him on.

Since she was clearly going nowhere until he tried her food, he took a bite of what looked like the most amazing breakfast taco he’d ever seen and . . . almost died. It was very spicy, but also the best thing he’d ever tasted.

Ivy smiled at him. “Still think you can handle the heat?”

Jake and Caleb were doubled over, laughing their asses off. “I’m not a cop,” he managed to wheeze, holding her gaze while he took another bite. And another. Holy shit, yeah, he was going to eat her food the entire three weeks he was here. If he lived that long.