the cabinets and refrigerator and found all the ingredients. Lexia made a practice of shopping every week and kept her kitchen well stocked. Since it was relatively early, she decided to make homemade corn tortillas instead of using the store-bought ones. She defrosted the shrimp, removed the tails and seasoned them with a rub made from seasoned salt, pepper, cumin, paprika and chili powder, then skewered them. Next, she went to work on the cilantro sauce. Just as she finished, her phone rang. She quickly washed and dried her hands and ran to catch it. Seeing Samantha’s name on the display, she said, “What’s up, girlfriend?”
“Hey, girl,” Samantha said. “Aaron has to work late tonight and I was wondering if you wanted to grab a bite to eat.”
Lexia smiled. “Oh, so now you have time for me,” she teased. Since Samantha and Aaron started dating four months ago, Lexia and Sam rarely hung out during the week.
“Whatever. We’ll see if you have time once you and Mr. Gray start hanging out.”
“Yeah, right. We won’t be hanging out. The man has playboy written all over him. You saw him. Besides, I’m sure he has tons of women running after him already. Remember he was a model.” Against her better judgment, she’d read more about him and found out that he had modeled all over the United States and in several other countries. There had been thousands of photos of him with an array of beautiful women, and in some of the shots, they seemed quite cozy.
“Mmm-hmm, I saw him, all right. Saw that he only had eyes for you.”
“You were asking about dinner.”
Sam laughed. “You can change the subject, but you can’t change Khalil Gray’s blatant attraction to you. Now, regarding dinner, I can pick something up and bring it over or we can meet up somewhere.”
“Actually, I’m experimenting with a recipe, shrimp tacos with a cilantro cream sauce on homemade corn tortillas.”
“Say no more. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”
Lexia heard a beep. “Sam?” She pulled the cell away from her ear and glanced down at the display. Sam had hung up. She chuckled, shook her head and continued preparing dinner.
Twenty minutes later, she opened the door to Sam.
Sam held up a bag. “I stopped and got our favorite Moscato.”
“In that case, come on in.” They both laughed.
She followed Lexia to the kitchen. “Do you need me to do anything?”
“If you can grill the shrimp while I make the tortillas, that would be great.”
“Sure.” Sam washed her hands, then carried the plate with the shrimp skewers to the stove. She laid them on the preheated built-in grill. “Mmm, this smells so good. What spices did you use?”
Lexia rattled off the list while pressing the tortillas. When she finished, she heated the comal and added the tortillas, one at a time. Once everything was done, Lexia added some of the sauce to the shredded cabbage and mixed it in. “All right, let’s try this.” They fixed their plates, filled glasses of wine and sat at the kitchen table.
Sam rubbed her hands together. “I’m starving.” She bit into a taco, chewed and groaned. “Oh my goodness, Lexi, this is absolutely divine. And this sauce.” She spooned more onto her half-eaten taco. “It’s so light, like a summer day. What’s in it?”
“That’s what I was going for. It’s light sour cream, cilantro, lime and a dash of salt. I’m planning to do this for the cooking demonstration at the food festival next month.” She was pleased by the outcome and agreed that the light dish would be perfect for summer.
“Girl, I hope you’re planning to make at least a hundred of these because folks are going to be lined up for miles to get one. This would be a great recipe to add to the menu at the café.”
“Maybe.” She had been thinking about adding a few calorie-conscious items to the menu, especially since the low fat coffee cake seemed to be such a hit. One woman had called it guilt-free indulgence. “What do you think of adding three or four healthy dishes so people have options?”
“With the fitness craze going on, I think it’s a great idea.” Sam sipped her wine and added slyly, “I’m sure Khalil would appreciate it. Who knows, he might start coming in for breakfast and lunch.”
Lexia took a big gulp of wine. As much as she tried to deny it, the prospect of seeing Khalil sent a thrill through her. What would he think of the tacos?
“See, you’re over there thinking about him.”
Busted, she picked up a stray shrimp and popped it in her mouth. “No, I’m not,” she lied. “I was thinking about what other dishes would work well.” The smile on Sam’s face said she knew better, but she didn’t comment.
“Are you ready for your date tomorrow?”
“It’s not really a date.”
“That’s not what he told me on his way out last week when he asked me to make sure to set aside two pieces of that coffee cake. You might want to redo your twist out and wear something cute.”
Lexia groaned and rose from the table with her plate. “He’s coming to my job, so he’ll have to settle for my work clothes. If he wants anything else, he might want to find one of those models he’s used to.”
Yet, hours after Sam left, Lexia found herself searching through her wardrobe for something other than her normal khakis and pullover knit top.
By the time she made it in to work the next morning, Lexia was in a foul mood. She’d spent a restless night dreaming about a man she had no business even thinking about. Her life was simple and uncomplicated and she wanted it to stay that way. She decided that today’s “date” would be the last one, no matter how much Khalil affected her.
“Lexia, there’s a guy outside asking for you,” Jayla said, poking her head in the office.
Her gaze flew to the clock on the wall. He was twenty minutes early. Sighing inwardly, she came to her feet. “Thanks, Jayla. I’ll be out in a moment.”
“Okay.” She disappeared.
Lexia drew in a calming breath, rehearsed her I-can’t-see-you-again speech in her head and went out front. A relieved smile lit her face at the sight of Cameron standing outside the café. She stopped to give a meal order to Mr. Willis, then pushed through the doors. “Cam, I’m so glad to see you.”
“Hey, Lexi.” She could hear the sadness and fatigue in his voice.
“You want to come in and eat?”
Cameron shook his head. “Too dirty.”
She scanned him from head to toe. His hair was matted and littered with pieces of lint, the shirt and jeans looked like the same ones he’d had on when she saw him last and she suspected he hadn’t bathed since then, either. But beneath the dirt and grime was a good-looking man with a heart of gold. “How about we go sit on the bench outside and talk. I’ll bring you some breakfast.”
He nodded and shuffled out the glass doors leading to the back parking lot.
