Top Shelf (Five for Fighting #4)

by Amber Lynn

  They walked hand in hand as they made their way to the door to the restaurant. A few patrons came out as they did so, and John could see instantly that they recognized his companion. The way their necks snapped back for a second glance made it pretty obvious, followed by the whispers.

  “I wasn’t thinking a porno, but if you want to pick up some new things to try, we could give it a whirl. My thoughts were closer to doing something normal people would do on a weekend night when they didn’t want to leave the house.”

  Jasmine glanced over and gave him a naughty little smile with her eyes. “I’m pretty sure we can be inventive on our own, so pointers not needed. I’m up for giving a movie a try, but I have to warn you I tend to critique, and if you thought we’d watch something I was in, you’re crazy.”

  “Well, obviously I’m crazy. I’m letting you lead me into a packed restaurant when I’ve already had to keep myself from snatching three guys up for undressing you with their eyes.”

  John figured it’d be too weird to watch her on the screen with her right next to him, so he really hadn’t thought about scrolling through the movie channels for one of her films. He’d seen quite a few of them anyway, and the made-up person on the screen didn’t hold a candle to the real-life one.

  He hurried to open the door for Jasmine and the instant rush of noise and smells was a little overwhelming. The idle chatter from the people filling the place made it hard to hear any single conversation, but one voice rose above it all as John tried to decipher what spices assaulted his nose.

  “Nieta, you didn’t tell me you were coming today,” a heavily accented male voice proclaimed.

  John wouldn’t have known who the words were directed at if Jasmine didn’t squeeze his hand and try to shrink into his side. He looked around for the person calling out to her, but it seemed like every eye in the restaurant turned in their direction.

  “Sorry, Papi. I didn’t know until just now I was coming.” The silence that had eerily descended on the place picked up as whispers of Jasmine’s name started up.

  “It’s no problem. You just head on back and ask for your special table.” An elderly Hispanic man appeared in front of them, all smiles for the woman clinging to John’s side. There wasn’t even a glance in his direction.

  “I’m kind of on a date, Papi, and we’ll probably just get some food to go, so we don’t mind waiting in line.”

  Mentioning John, even as nothing more than a date, caused dark brown eyes to turn in John’s direction. The man was probably six inches shorter than him, so he had to look up to see John’s face. It was clear from the white apron with various stains that the man worked there, but John was intrigued to find out who he was to Jasmine.

  “You don’t date, Nieta. At least not anyone you’d bring in here to meet me.”

  John smiled, attempting to look harmless. The situation seemed even more volatile than meeting Meemaw for the first time and trying to ensure she believed they were a couple.

  “John,” Jasmine said as she squeezed his hand, “this is Ernesto Rios, owner and executive chef of this establishment. Papi, this is my boyfriend, John. We just came from Meemaw’s, so I guess he’s getting a tour of my family.”

  Keeping his eyes on the man he was pretty sure wanted to punch him, John wondered how the two people around him were related. He knew nothing about her family besides her grandmother. Other than Jasmine’s tanned skin, which was shades lighter than Ernesto’s, he couldn’t see a familial connection. Their eyes were both brown in color, but the shades were different

  “And he’s still alive?” Ernesto looked doubtful.

  “If the offer to go to the back still stands, why don’t we head back there? I’m sure these people really don’t want to listen to all the details.” That was more than likely wishful thinking on Jasmine’s part, but John didn’t point that out.

  He was more than happy standing back and waiting for someone to explain to him what was going on, and he fully agreed on the part about finding fewer ears to listen.

  “Of course, Nieta. We’ll make sure you get your favorite burrito too. You’re getting way too skinny.” The skeptical looks John had been getting transformed into a big smile as the man turned to lead them through the crowd.

  Chapter Twelve

  Somehow they managed to get out of the restaurant only fifteen minutes later. Jasmine couldn’t stand the scowling on Ernesto’s face any longer than that, so once they had four burritos, she gave him a hug and said she’d stop by to see him again soon. He switched to speaking Spanish to let her know that if John did anything to hurt her, his testicles were going to be on the menu. Jasmine wasn’t exactly sure how much his customers would appreciate that.

  “So, I can’t say I’m totally fluent in Spanish, but I understood him calling you granddaughter and I believe my balls were threatened in some way,” John said as he opened the car door for her. With her hands full of about ten pounds of burritos, she needed the assist.

  Jasmine kissed his cheek and laughed as she slid in the car. “It’s probably good you didn’t hear the rest of the line about what would happen to your testicles. You don’t have anything to worry about, so I won’t bother spelling it out for you. And technically, he isn’t my grandpa, but he did date Meemaw back in the day.”

  The food was situated in her lap, so Jasmine pulled the door shut and waited for John to make his way to the other side. She’d hoped with the crowd that they’d be able to get in and out of the restaurant without making a big deal out of things, but she should’ve known better.

  John was quick to join her in the car and start it, but he didn’t immediately pull out of the parking spot. The burritos weren’t going to stay warm forever, so Jasmine was impatient to get moving.

  “I know her opinion of your boyfriends probably matters, but does his? Because clearly he didn’t think very highly of me.”

  “And that matters to you?” She knew it did, otherwise he wouldn’t have asked. It was just weird to think John cared about what someone else thought when it came to what he wanted.

  “I don’t know. Should it? I haven’t been introduced to someone’s family since I was a teenager, and I’m pretty sure I didn’t make a good impression then either.”

  Jasmine imagined a dad waiting up with a shotgun for John to bring his daughter home. He had to have been a heartbreaker in high school, since it was pretty clear he was one as an adult. Although, the way his eyes were slightly narrowed as he looked for an answer to his question told her he was concerned.

  “So you haven’t had a serious girlfriend for what, a decade?”

  “Don’t you think you should answer my question before you move on to another one?” His right eyebrow lifted slightly as he asked. It wasn’t right that the look made Jasmine’s pulse tick up a notch.

  “Don’t you think we should get back to your place before I break out one of these burritos and make a mess of your car? You saw them being made, so you know there’s no way they can be eaten without the filling dropping all over the place.”

  The black leather seat underneath her legs probably didn’t mix well with salsa, and Jasmine didn’t doubt the heat hiding in the burritos would eat through to the springs. John had said he could handle spicy, but Jasmine couldn’t wait to see whether that was just because he was trying to look strong in front of Ernesto.

  “I feel kind of like a girl saying this, but right this second, I care a little more about your answer to my question than the car. Is it a problem he doesn’t seem to like me?”

  As John asked the question, his eyes remained on Jasmine, but as soon as the words stopped coming, he looked out the front windshield and gripped the steering wheel tightly. His knuckles weren’t to the level that they turned white, but they were close.

  “I wouldn’t say he doesn’t like you. I’ve just never brought another guy into the restaurant before, so I’m sure he doesn’t know what to think.”

  If Jasmine didn’t know what to think about how things
had been going with John, there was no way an outsider would understand what was going on. The realization made her sigh as she tilted her head back against the seat.

  “What? Did I miss something?” John sat back and reached over to grab her hand.

  “Other than me questioning my sanity, no. It’d probably be a good idea if we figured out a definition for this thing before we introduce you to anyone else, though.”

  The topic apparently was one they could discuss on the road, because John finally started the car and moved out of the parking lot before saying anything. It felt like they’d been sitting there for an hour, but really it’d only been around five minutes. John was able to skillfully maneuver into traffic and his foot pressed down to the floorboard as he hurried to get them back to his place.

  “Do you have a radar detector that I’m not aware of?” John hadn’t spoken, which was a little unlike him, not that Jasmine was exactly an expert.

  “Hey, I’m not the one who threatened to eat in the car if I didn’t get you home. Are you sure you don’t want to stop by your place and pick up some more things?”

  It was a thoughtful question, but not the discussion she was hoping to dive into. Before they’d left Meemaw’s, she’d grabbed a few outfits and extra shoes, which were in the ant-sized truck of the car. Neither one of them had really mentioned her spending the night at her own place. Jasmine’s simple plan for the immediate future was to be alone as little as possible. If she was left to let her brain wander, she knew she’d end up in tears.

  “Unless you have plans that require me to wear more than jeans and t-shirts, I’m good for a few days.”

  “Maybe I’m just curious about where you live. You’ve said so little about it, other than it’s a million times bigger than my apartment.” John remained focused on getting to his destination as soon as possible. It felt a little like something had set him off, and Jasmine tried to figure out what as she continued the conversation.

  “What’s there to say? It’s big and empty.”

  “But it’s yours. If we’re going to try to define ‘us,’ then we need to know as much about each other as we can.” There were some glances out the corner of his eye, but for the most part, John kept his eyes on the road as he spoke.

  As fast as they were going, Jasmine was thankful for that. Only knowing him for a few days, she had to wonder if the speed was usual for him, and he’d driven like a turtle earlier in the day for other reasons. Normally she didn’t have an issue with speed, but she preferred it on highways with a little more room.

  “Do you have an issue with me wanting to figure out what this is? I thought we’d skated around the issue already and I just wanted to reinforce that there’s obviously something more than just two people pretending to date. The idea terrifies me a little, but we’re not going to figure out what’s going on if we don’t talk about it.”

  “True, but I’m a little worried about what skeletons getting to know each other will bring out.”

  The intake of breath he took made it sound like he was going to say something else, but Jasmine interrupted. “Like who broke your heart when you were a kid?”

  She hadn’t forgotten he’d skated around the topic. He was busy being adorable asking about Ernesto, so pushing for answers wasn’t important in the moment, but she still wanted to learn more.

  “Does the who really matter?” John glanced over for a split second before he took a corner sharply. If the look was supposed to be a warning to hold on tight, Jasmine didn’t understand it as she scrambled to keep their food in her lap. “I had a girlfriend in high school who got pregnant. When she told me, I thought I should do the right thing and propose.”

  “So you do have a kid?” It was another moment when it was pretty clear he had more to say, but Jasmine didn’t know how fast he’d get to the point.

  “No, I don’t have a kid. She was only telling me about the baby because she’d already agreed to marry his father. As far as I knew, we’d been exclusive for over a year. Imagine how surprised I was to find out she’d had at least five other relationships during that time.”

  The bitterness in John’s tone made it clear the female involved hadn’t been forgiven. Never feeling a connection, at least not one strong enough to put an exclusive label on a relationship, Jasmine only had her acting experiences to relate to. A part of her felt she’d pull out a knife and castrate John if he came to her and said he’d gotten someone else pregnant, but the whole jealousy feeling was a little new to her, so it could’ve been mild overreaction on her part.

  “And, what? That experience made you the playboy you are today?” Understanding why one teenage relationship gone bad shaped his experience was a little beyond Jasmine’s intellect.

  “It made me realize normal is overrated. Why settle down with a family when the world can be your playground. What about you? What made it take your grandma’s final wishes to push you to pretend to be in a relationship?”

  Jasmine almost wished she had a broken heart she could use as an excuse. It sounded better than her refusal to ever try a real relationship. John was finally slowing down, since they were only a couple of blocks away from his place. Miraculously, he hadn’t hit a single red light during the ten-mile trip.

  The closeness didn’t give her a chance to really come up with an eloquent way to put her answer. “I guess I’ve just never met two people I believed were really in love, so why should I bother trying?”

  Recent events actually made the statement a lie. It was hard for Jasmine to understand the concept of love, but the interactions she saw between Casey and Dylan painted a pretty good picture. The way they seemed to always know what the other one was thinking and the strange looks they had in their eyes when they looked at each other had to be love. If it wasn’t, they were really good actors, because Jasmine hadn’t been able to replicate the emotions she saw between them.

  “Really? What about your parents? Or your grandparents?”

  “Meemaw used to tell me that a gypsy had cursed the women of our family to lives without love.”

  “Why?” It was John’s turn to interrupt before Jasmine could finish a thought.

  They were pulling into the garage, so chances were they were going to have to continue the conversation on the way to his place. It was dark in the garage, kind of homey in a way, but Jasmine was sure there were other people around, and she didn’t know that she wanted to share her story with anyone else.

  “Do you mind if we continue with me asking ‘why, what?’ as soon as we get up to your place?”

  “Only if I get to carry you, so I control our speed. You can’t tell me there’s a gypsy curse on your family without giving me all the details.” He flexed his eyebrows up and then winked at her before he jumped out of the car, letting loose of the connection their hands had once again maintained.

  She wanted to point out the ten pounds of burritos in her lap, but figured he’d understand why she let herself out of the car without being swooped up into her arms. The urge to touch him made it easy to veto her usual desire to get from place to place under her own power. She didn’t think he’d appreciate burrito carnage on him anymore than he would his car.

  That conclusion was evidently wrong, because he wasted no time closing the door behind her in one motion as he bent to pick her up bridal style. The bag of burritos swayed a bit, but she managed to get it resettled in her lap before their meal went everywhere.

  “You do realize I didn’t agree to this, right?”

  “Are you sure? Because all I heard was, ‘John, please carry me up to your apartment, where I’m going to tell you all of my secrets. Then, I want to throw all the knick-knacks off your coffee table and,’” a throat clearing from somewhere around them caused John’s horrible impersonation of Jasmine to trail off.

  Jasmine’s amused grin faltered a little as she saw a mother and a small child walking to their car. The mother had her hands around the poor little boy’s ears. Jasmine could see why she might be co
ncerned, but she also had a feeling John’s little tale wasn’t about to move to the R rating.

  John merely laughed at the glare he received and kept moving towards the elevator. “I guess she hasn’t heard about your friend’s burritos. I was going to say you wanted me to feed you.”

  “Sure you were.” She didn’t doubt him, but Jasmine figured it’d be fun to tease him about it. “Shouldn’t you go back and tell her you don’t have knick-knacks on your coffee table. A few sports magazines and a remote aren’t exactly little figurines.”

  “Nah. I don’t even know who she is, so I don’t really care about my street cred. Maybe we should make out in the elevator, though, just in case she forgot something and has to run back to get it.”

  A carefree laughter Jasmine wasn’t used to hearing bubbled up from her chest. It was unfair that as good-looking as John was, he also had a personality that set her at ease. She should’ve been on pins and needles, trying to figure out what kind of game he was playing, but somewhere inside she knew he didn’t have a secret agenda. He was just a good guy, with a bad boy reputation.

  And if she wasn’t careful, it wasn’t going to be long before she was admitting she loved him. The thought came from somewhere out in left field, but she didn’t bother shooting it down. She knew she was in trouble, and him making good on his threat to make out didn’t help matters.

  The moistness from his tongue lashed out first. It was impossible to tell whether its task was to cool her lips down for the onslaught to come, or if it was meant to light a little fire, because all she felt was a warm explosion as each individual cell in her body rejoiced for what it had grown to know was coming after John started kissing.

  If he didn’t knock it off, they were never going to get to the burritos, not that they were a high priority in Jasmine’s mind anymore. Grabbing a firehose and putting out fires seemed a little more important in the moment.