by Alison Bliss
“Miss you, Mom,” Jessa whispered under her breath. She swallowed hard and exhaled slowly to keep the sadness from welling up in her eyes. Then she added, “But I’m here in Granite just like we planned. I made it.”
Jessa took a moment to compose herself while finishing off her water, and then she tossed the empty bottle into the recycle bin before checking the trash can next to it. She noted that it was only half-full. No point in changing it out yet. But there was some garbage littering the ground nearby, so she stopped long enough to pick it up and throw it away.
A voice cleared behind her. “Excuse me, ma’am.”
Startled, she whirled around, almost bumping into a man with light brown hair and deep set eyes. He stood so close to her that he towered over her short frame. At five feet four inches, she was usually shorter than most people. But this guy? He had to be at least a foot taller than her, which was a bit more intimidating than men of average height. Staring up at him was like trying to see the top of a skyscraper while you’re standing on ground level.
Jessa took a wary step back but smiled politely. “Yes?”
The handsome gentleman had a lean, muscular build, broad shoulders, and intense hazel eyes that seemed to bore holes straight through her. He was great to stare at, but he wasn’t smiling back, which unnerved her even more.
“Do you work on this food truck?” he asked, taking another step toward her. His words were neither friendly nor unfriendly, but his underlying tone sounded a bit hostile.
She nodded shakily. “Yes, I do. Is there something I can help you with?”
She’d never had anyone complain about her food before and hoped that wasn’t what this stranger was about to do. But if he did have a problem with something on her menu, then she definitely wanted to know about it.
“Yeah,” he said, shifting his position even closer. “You can get the owner of this food truck out here so I can have a word with him.”
One eyebrow rose as she took another step back, as if they were somehow unknowingly dancing with one another. “Um…him?”
“Yeah, the moron who owns this rig.”
For a moment, words failed her. She stood there blinking up at him while acid bubbled up into her throat. Did he really just call her a moron? And why the hell would he assume the business was owned by a man—because it happened to be on a truck? What kind of sexist bullshit was that?
Then again, judging by the guy’s lack of consideration for a woman’s personal space, she shouldn’t be surprised. He was obviously a jerk. A tall, handsome one, but still a jerk nonetheless.
As strange as it was, she almost couldn’t wait to see the look on his face when he realized he had just insulted the actual owner…who also happened to be a woman. Now who’s the moron, you chauvinistic pig?
Lifting her chin, Jessa tossed her head back and looked at him directly. “What can I do for you, sir?”
Confusion flickered in his eyes. “I already told you what you can do for me. I’d like you to get the owner out here so I can talk to him.”
She smirked. God, he was really cute but a little dumb. “Like I said, what can I do for you?”
His eyes narrowed. “Do you have a problem with your short-term memory or something? How many times do I need to repeat myself?”
Jessa gasped at his rudeness, and her blood boiled in her veins. “Look, I don’t know who you think you are, but—”
“Max Hager, the new city health inspector, that’s who.”
Oh, crap. Jessa froze in place as panic swamped her system. She’d just come close to telling off the one man who could shut down her food truck business with a click of a pen. Jesus. Thank goodness he cut her off and hadn’t allowed her to finish what she had been about to say. It definitely wouldn’t have been nice.
Whew! Dodged that bullet.
She sighed.
Weeks ago, when she’d applied for the permits at city hall, the previous inspector had passed her new food truck with flying colors. But that had been before she hit the road with it. She should’ve figured it was only a matter of time before the new health inspector showed up here to make sure everything was still up to code.
But God. Did he have to be so arrogant?
And really, why the hell was he so young and good looking? Every health inspector she’d ever crossed paths with in the past had been at least twenty or thirty years older than her and usually had something unattractive about them…like unruly nose hairs. But this man looked to be around his early thirties at most and didn’t seem to have an imperfect bone in his drool-worthy body.
Although Jessa was almost certain this guy couldn’t read her thoughts, he smirked as if he had done just that. And it sent something hot spiraling through her. God. What was wrong with her? She was getting hot and bothered by the hunky dimwit who happened to be the health inspector. As if that was a smart move.
Mr. Hager shifted his weight and crossed his arms. “Now, as I was saying…If you can get the owner out here so I can speak with him about a few infractions, I’d appreciate it.”
Oh no. Dread filled her. “Infractions?”
“Yeah.” He motioned to her truck and grimaced. “Apparently, this guy doesn’t know how to stay within the city ordinances,” he said, his tone full of arrogance. “So I’m here to educate him on the matter.”
Shit. Shit. Shit. Jessa didn’t know what she did wrong, but whatever it was, she would fix it immediately. She just hoped he wouldn’t suspend or revoke her permits in the meantime. “Um, okay. Give me just a second,” she said, heading toward the truck to tell the girls that she would be a little longer than they’d expected.
She barely made it halfway to the truck when the man behind her said, “By the way, what’s this idiot’s name?”
Jessa stopped dead in her tracks, and her stomach burned with irritation. Did this cocky bastard really just call me an idiot? Then she counted to ten slowly before turning around to face him. Being that he was the health inspector, he clearly had an advantage over her, so she thought it was best to keep her control—and her mouth—in check. But the mental restraint required to do so had her head throbbing with pent-up frustration.
This dickhead was really starting to get on her nerves, but she managed to answer him anyway. “It’s Jess.”
“Jess, huh? Does he have a last name?”
“Gibson.”
He nodded. “Okay. Well, tell this Jess Gibson fella that I don’t like to be kept waiting long, will ya?”
She nodded while gritting her teeth. “Sure. No problem.” Imbecile.
Jessa headed through the door to let Mary and Lisa know that she would be outside for a little while longer and to make sure they were handling things on their own. The last thing she wanted to do was leave them in a bind. But as she suspected, things were running just as smoothly as ever.
She didn’t bother telling them that the health inspector was waiting for her outside the truck. They didn’t ask anyway, so she figured she would just explain her whereabouts later. It wasn’t like they had anything to hide. She just didn’t want one of the customers to overhear and get the impression that something was wrong with her food. Because there definitely wasn’t. And if at any point the inspector asked to see inside the kitchen, she would be happy to prove it.
By the time she made it back outside, Mr. Hager had moved closer to the backside of the truck and was glaring at it as if he were looking for more problems. Figures. It was a little strange that he’d chosen to look at the back of the truck first since there wasn’t much of anything back there to actually look at. But at least he was away from the crowd, and the customers wouldn’t be able to hear whatever it was that he was about to tell her. She still wasn’t sure what it was, but judging by the scowl on his face, it didn’t look good.
She headed straight for him. “Mr. Hager?”
He glared down at her, making her feel even shorter than she already was. Then his hazel eyes narrowed. “Don’t tell me the owner wouldn’t come out
of there to meet me.”
“Um, no. Nothing like that.”
Now he just looked confused as ever. “Then where the hell is the guy?”
Sighing, she peeled off her pink disposable gloves and thrust out her hand. “You’re looking at her. I’m Jessa Gibson, but my friends call me Jess.”
Chapter Two
Max’s mouth fell open and then snapped shut.
He couldn’t have heard her right. Rarely was he thrown for a loop, but he’d been temporarily distracted by the insanely delicious aroma billowing out of the food truck. “Uh, did you just say that you were the owner of this business?”
She nodded. “I did.”
Well, shit. He hadn’t at all expected the owner to be female. Mostly because he figured that anyone who was callous enough to steal business ofrom an old man would have to be a real dickhead. This lovely, angel-faced redhead didn’t fit that description at all. But then he glanced up at the truck and sighed. Yeah, he looked like an idiot all right. The truck was called the Gypsy Cantina, and a woman’s face was plastered all over the side of it.
Her face, perhaps?
He stared at her in silence, letting his curious gaze roam over her. Yeah, it looked like her all right. Except the pretty, petite redhead standing in front of him was much more appealing than the picture on the truck.
She was curvaceous and feminine without being too girly. A deep amount of cleavage separated her full round breasts and was probably only visible to him because of their height difference and how closely he stood to her. But that rear end and those hips. Heaven help him, he’d gotten a good look at both earlier when she’d sashayed away from him.
“What can I do for you, Mr. Hager?”
With a gorgeous body like hers and a question like that, he could think of lots of delicious things she could do for him. Unfortunately, none of them had anything to do with her moving her fucking truck.
“Mr. Hager?”
Momentarily stunned by the pretty blue eyes that had lifted to his, Max blurted out, “Mr. Hager is my father. Please, call me Max.”
The second the words fell from his lips, he instantly regretted them. How the hell was he supposed to have any credibility as a health inspector when he was talking to her as if they’d just met in a bar? Lord, had he lost his damn mind?
But she smiled meekly at him and said, “Um, okay…Max.”
As strange as it was, he liked the sound of his name rolling off her tongue. That one little word said in that low, husky voice of hers had ignited a flame somewhere deep inside of him that sent sparks shooting straight to his groin.
It wasn’t like she was wearing anything too low-cut or provocative. Just a white V-neck top paired with khaki shorts and leather sandals. But the plastic apron cinching her waist made it easier to see the rounded curves of her voluptuous body. And her womanly figure held an underlying sexuality that stimulated much more than his brain.
Max swallowed hard, removing the lump from his throat.
He would do good to remember that she was nothing more than a customer-stealing vendor who just happened to look good enough to eat. He could ignore that last part of her though, couldn’t he? Yeah. Sure he could. Yet when she gave him another slight smile that sent shivers traveling down his spine, he knew his problems had only just begun.
“I guess it’s only fair that you call me Jessa then.”
Max frowned and blurted out, “Why not Jess?”
“Huh?”
“You said that your friends call you Jess.”
“Oh, they do. I’m sorry. I guess I was just thinking this was more official or something. But I wasn’t trying to imply that we couldn’t be friends.”
“Good. I’m glad to hear it.” He smiled at her, while punching himself in the gut with a hard mental fist. Quit worrying about whether or not she wants to be friends with you, dipshit. She’s not your friend. She’s the enemy. Fuck.
She stood there fidgeting with her fingers, looking every bit as confused as he felt. Her full lips retained an almost childlike pink hue though she seemed to be pursing them together. God, she was beautiful.
“Well?” she asked. “You said you needed to speak with me.”
“I, ah…”
Nope. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t possibly dupe a woman. Especially one as sweet and innocent looking as her. Maybe it was the smooth, flawless, pale skin with a smattering of light-colored freckles running across the bridge of her nose, but she came across as young and vulnerable. And that only made him want to protect her from anyone who would dare think about upsetting her.
Unfortunately, at the moment, that person was him.
When he’d first come over there, he had been looking forward to doling out a little retribution on Pops’ behalf. Now he couldn’t stand the thought of saying anything negative to her that might hurt her feelings. Max was a lot of things, but he wasn’t a man who would mistreat a woman.
Yet it wasn’t like he could really back down now. It was too late. He’d already stuck his foot in his mouth by telling her that he was the damn health inspector. And she was standing there waiting nervously for him to elaborate on the infractions he’d mentioned. Shit.
Say something to her already, moron. “I, uh…uh…”
Oh yeah. That was worth hearing.
God. What the hell had he gotten himself into? This whole charade was about to blow up in his face, and he couldn’t seem to stop it from happening.
Apparently, this Jessa woman had the patience of a saint because, after a full minute of awkward silence, she finally said, “Max, do you have a problem with me being a woman?”
Huh. Direct. Okay. He hadn’t really expected that out of her, but he liked it. Actually, he liked a lot of things about her. Although he didn’t mean to do it, his roving eyes raked over her shapely figure once more, and his pulse began to race. Damn it.
Maybe he wasn’t looking forward to this any longer, but he didn’t have a choice. Whether he liked it or not, he had to go through with it. “No, Jess. Not with that, specifically. But there are a few issues with your truck that we need to address.”
“Such as?”
Sonofabitch. I probably should’ve figured that out instead of watching her backside when she’d walked away earlier.
Glancing around, Max’s gaze fell on the food truck’s large back tires, hoping to think of something brilliant to say. “Well,” he said, giving himself a second to come up with something, anything. “I hate to inform you of this, but you’re parked too close to the curb.”
Yeah, that definitely wasn’t it.
She leaned around him and craned her neck to check the distance for herself. “Really?”
“Yep.” Max straightened his posture, hoping it would give him a more authoritative appearance. “Unfortunately, the city ordinance requires the tires of a food truck to be exactly ten and three-quarter inches away from the curb at all times. Your back wheel looks to be only about six inches from where I’m standing.”
“You’re serious?”
He forced himself to grin. “As a heart attack.”
“Okay, then. But why does the tire have to be that far away from the curb?”
Max felt his smile collapse. Jeez. Did she have to ask him a question he didn’t know the answer to? “Look, Jess, I don’t make the ordinances. I just enforce them.” Or make them up on the spot.
She stared blankly at him for a moment. “I—I’m sorry. I was just curious, that’s all.” She glanced at the tire once more. “It’s fine. If you say it’s too close, I’ll take your word for it and will avoid that problem in the future.”
He nodded and added some firmness to his tone. “By parking somewhere else, you mean?”
“What? No way!” She blinked at him and then shook her head adamantly. “Business is great here. There’s a nice breeze in the park, and my customers can sit at the picnic tables under the shade trees to relax and enjoy their lunch. It would be stupid of me to leave such a great location. Bu
t I promise next time I’ll be sure to check the distance to the curb to make sure I’m not violating any codes.”
Max ground his teeth together. “Might be easier to just move your truck somewhere else since…” He glanced around to find another issue and spotted a silver electrical box coming out of the ground. “You also need to be at least thirty feet away from the electrical box over there as well.”
She gazed past him at the large box sitting on top of the soil and then glanced at the backend of her truck. The distance couldn’t have even been half of what he said the made-up code required. “Hmm. Okay, well, I’ll check that next time too. Trust me, it won’t happen again. I don’t want to lose such a great spot.”
Damn. He sighed. “See that it doesn’t.”
Her voice turned bright and cheery. “So are we all done here?”
Nope. Not even close. Apparently, we’re just getting warmed up. “Not quite,” Max told her. “We still need to go over a few other issues.”
“Um, other issues?”
God, he hated this. But he needed to quit beating around the bush and put some real pressure on her if he was going to get her to actually leave, because she wasn’t budging as easily as he’d hoped.
“Yeah,” he said, his voice gruff. His throat tightened, but he shoved the rest of the words through his teeth anyway. “I don’t want to close you down, but I will have to if these problems aren’t immediately resolved. As the health inspector, I take my job very seriously.”
Christ. Even he thought he sounded like a prick. He could only imagine what she thought of him. He hated to think that he might be frightening her with his fake power of authority, but he had to play that card in hopes it would be enough to motivate her. If he was going to help Pops, then this gal needed to pack up and leave town. The faster, the better.
But unfortunately, she didn’t look worried at all. And when she spoke, her voice held a calm, soothing quality. “That won’t be necessary, I assure you. Just let me know what problems I need to correct, and they’ll be taken care of as soon as possible. I take my job very seriously too.”
