Carmen’s expression softened and she lifted a hand to caress his cheek. “The comment was out of the blue. It just shocked me, that’s all,” she reassured him. “But don’t worry, it doesn’t make me uncomfortable.”
“All right then.” He grinned before pulling back and frowning slightly. “Wait, why’d you lock your door?”
“Dad’s not gonna be home tonight.” She sighed. “Night shift. He’ll probably come in around seven in the morning tomorrow.”
Asa was looking at her intently right then, making Carmen feel funny on the inside. “What?” she asked, not breaking eye contact even though she wanted to because of his scrutinising gaze.
“You sounded a little bitter,” he remarked, lifting an eyebrow.
“It’s nothing.” She shook her head. “I’m just being unreasonable, that’s all.”
“Missing your dad isn’t unreasonable, Carmen,” Asa said, leaning down to kiss the top of her head. “I’ll get to meet him some other time. It’s not like I’m going anywhere.”
Carmen smiled contently and slipped her arm through his, pulling him along as she began walking down the porch steps. “Come on,” she said in an upbeat tone. “Tonight is yours and mine, everything else can wait.”
“I like the sound of that,” Asa said, pulling her in closer to his side as they walked towards his truck. And even if she wasn’t looking at him right then, Carmen could still hear the grin in his voice.
48.
Mi Amor, Mi Cielo, Mi Sol
Carmen knew that there was no such thing as a perfect person, but she was beginning to believe perfect nights existed. Because, honestly, there was no other word she could take from the entire English vocabulary that would better describe their date so far.
Since Asa was aware of Carmen’s love for nature, he’d decided against taking her to a restaurant and instead brought along a picnic basket then drove her to the public park in her neighbourhood.
“Pick a good spot,” Asa said as he killed the engine and they climbed out of the vehicle. “We’re in your territory now and I don’t really know the places around here.”
Carmen shot him a confused smile. “Why did you bring me here then? We could have gone to a place you were familiar with.”
“Tonight is about the both of us,” he told her, grabbing the picnic basket from the back of the truck while she carried the blanket and the mini icebox. “You like nature and spending your time in fresh air, so we’re at a park, one where you’re comfortable with.”
“And which part of this night is about you?” She smiled at him, touched at his thoughtful gesture.
He held up the picnic basket with a grin. “Mexican food—home-cooked and a hundred percent guarantee to make you fall in love at first bite.”
Carmen snorted, the laughter escaping her lips before she could help it. “Tell me you didn’t actually cook for me.”
“Of course not. I bugged the daylights out of my mum to prepare all this. She made a huge fuss and all that, but it was just a cover. Secretly, she was thrilled that I was keeping her involved in my love life.”
Something ugly reared its head inside Carmen. Here was Asa, gushing about a parent who wanted to know about the girl he was seeing, whilst her own father had not shown even a shred of interest today. She pushed the thought away. Dad’s working, she reminded herself. His patients needed him.
They managed to find a good enough spot in the park, and Carmen proceeded to spread out the blanket while Asa set down the icebox and began unpacking the picnic basket.
“You know, I’ve never had Mexican before,” Carmen mused out loud as she sat down.
“We talking about food or guys?” Asa raised both his brows, fighting off a smile.
Carmen just shot him a look of disbelief, feeling her stomach jolt and the tips of her fingers tingle whenever Asa made a remark like that.
“Both,” she mumbled, trying to ignore the blush as she reached forward to open the icebox.
“You’re blushing again,” he grinned, seeming extremely satisfied with himself.
“I thought seeing me blush drove you insane.”
“Yeah, and you told me sanity is overrated anyway.”
“That has to be crossing a line of some sort,” Carmen grumbled. “Using my own words against me like that.”
Asa’s lips slowly pulled up into a smirk as he leant back on his arms and cocked his head to the side, his eyes burning into Carmen’s. “Oh,” he said in a low voice. “I plan on crossing lines all night long, mi amor.”
Carmen sunk her teeth into her lower lip, biting down on the smile really hard because yes, she loved it when he spoke to her that way.
“Come on.” Asa laughed, shaking his head to himself and shifting from his position. “Let's start with the food or I'll end up spending the rest of the night finding ways to make you blush.”
“You know, I don’t think people come to the park with food and blankets at half past eight in the night,” Carmen said, sounding amused.
“We’ll just have to make history then,” Asa told her, catching her eyes and offering her a tender smile. “Besides, the park is very well-lit with all these lampposts and garden lights. It might as well be late noon or something.”
Carmen hummed in agreement, her eyes instantly widening as soon as one of the food containers was opened and the aroma hit her nose.
“Now,” Asa declared grandly. “Let me introduce you to some fine cuisine.”
And so Carmen let herself be
