“And we should make double of everything.”
“If we’re going to be working late nights, I need to figure out a new schedule for Beefcakes. I can’t wake up to bake at three a.m. and then run the registers all morning while doing this late into the night.”
I gave him a sympathetic smile. “You and Neil are interviewing for new employees this week, right?”
He nodded. “Yeah. Finn’s agreed to help us out when he can, but he’s weirdly busy at odd hours. And Neil leaves for Budapest right after Mom’s surgery.”
Poor Liam. He had so much on his plate. So much to worry about. The least of which was this food truck. “It’s going to be okay,” I whispered.
Liam nodded but worried the inside of his cheek and turned back to lift the mac & cheese out of the fryers, putting them in a paper bowl and bagging them up. “What if tonight is just a fluke?”
“It’s not,” I whispered back. “I can feel it.”
“You’re so sure?”
As he handed me the packaged mac & cheese balls for the waiting customers, his fingers grazed mine. A jolt surged up my arms and my breasts tingled with awareness. Like a bear coming out of hibernation, my libido was ravenous and roaring to life. I turned so that Liam wouldn’t see my reaction and handed them over the side of the food truck to the awaiting customers before yelling out, “Next!”
I looked down, marking the drink voucher in my notebook so I could keep track of what I owed Nick tomorrow.
“Chloe.” I snapped my gaze up to find my sister looking up at me with red-rimmed eyes. In her hands, she twisted the strap of her purse between her fingers. “I’ve been so worried about you. Can we talk?”
“I don’t know… I’m working—”
I felt Liam’s hand on my back, nudging me toward the door. “Go,” he said gently. “I can handle the register for a while.”
Elaina and I walked in silence to a picnic table in the park and each sat down.
“I’m sorry,” Elaina said first, sniffing and dabbing her eyes with a tissue. “I’ve been such a mess since Neil and I broke up, and I’ve taken it out on you.”
I shook my head, reaching across the table to hold her hand. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think that going into business with Liam would hurt you so much. Maybe you’re right… maybe I can’t be alone. It’s like I jump from relationship to relationship. It’s my crutch. I need to learn to walk without it—”
“No,” Elaina said. “Don’t listen to me. Seriously, what do I know about any of this? I only had two boyfriends my whole life and both relationships ended disastrously.”
“I hope you’re not buying this house just to… I don’t know… get away from me and Liam—”
“No,” she said with such emphasis, I was truly surprised. I thought for sure she’d made a rash decision based on our fight. “Honestly, it’s time for me to have my own place. But I loved living with you again.”
“Me, too.” And I did. I was really going to miss having Elaina at home with me.
She dropped her voice to a whisper. “Chloe, I’m sorry, but I need to say this. You and Liam look really happy together. If you like him, you should go for it. He’s a good guy. A really good guy. I know you like him… and I think he likes you, too.”
I stole a glance at him, framed by the lit window of the food truck. Impressive triceps pushed hard against the seams of his shirt as though a simple flex might cause the stitching to give out entirely. I shook my head, looking back to Elaina. “I don’t know. We’re business partners now. It seems irresponsible to get involved with so much on the line.”
“Just think on it. I don’t want you to end up miserable and alone… like me.”
My heart squeezed at her admission. “If you’re so sad, why don’t you talk to Neil?”
“I’ve tried!” Elaina cried, a sob breaking through her usually steely exterior. She quickly covered her mouth with her hand, composing herself. Then calmer, she restated, “I’ve tried calling him. He won’t talk to me, okay?”
My face softened. “You didn’t tell me that.”
She shrugged, trying to downplay this, but I saw through her façade. “It’s embarrassing. He asked me to marry him. I said no to the proposal, but I didn’t want to break up over it. I just needed more time.” She dropped her face into her palms and I quickly kicked my leg around, shifting to the other side of the bench to hold my sister as she cried. Her head fell to my shoulder, tears soaking through my shirt. “I’m sorry.”
“You already said that.” I rubbed her back as she continued talking through the tears.
“I know. I’m not saying it’ll be easy to see you and Liam as a couple… but with enough time to adjust, Neil and I will learn to deal with it. We’ll have to.”
“Well, brace yourself,” I said. “The whole town is going to think Liam and I are an item after tonight.”
“Because of the news story?”
“That… and we ran into Dan today at Greico’s.”
Elaina’s wet eyes went wide. “Oh…”
“With her,” I added.
“Uh-oh. What’d you do?”
I winced. “Liam and I pretended to be a couple… to make him jealous.”
“Do you want him to be jealous?”
“No… yes. Kind of.” I dropped my face into my hands. “I don’t know, Elaina. Seeing him with her… I just… Am I going to be alone forever?”
I felt Elaina’s hand reach across and hold my arm. “You’re not alone. You have Mom, and Dad, and Tanja, and me—”
“Oh yeah?” I asked, dropping my hands to the counter. “Are you going to make me come four times in one night?”
Elaina scrunched her nose, looking momentarily stunned. “Jesus. Could Dan make you come four times?”
“No,” I admitted. Most nights, I was lucky to have one orgasm with
