On the Steamy Side - Louisa Edwards [32]
Lilah smiled at the obvious satisfaction in Adam’s voice when he referred to his girlfriend. Devon, she noticed, rolled his eyes.
Before Devon could make the snotty comment she was sure was on the tip of his tongue, a young man hurried from the kitchen with a tray full of food.
“You need help, hon?” Lilah asked, ready to jump up.
“No, thank you,” the guy said. He was handsome in that brooding Latino way, Lilah noticed, although his bright gray eyes spoke of a varied heritage. His quiet voice as he asked the other cooks to clear space on the bar was only lightly accented.
Adam clapped his hands together and tugged Devon up to the bar. “Billy! My man. What have you got for us today? Billy Perez,” he said to Devon. “He started as a dishwasher, moved up to line cook a few months ago.”
Devon nodded, saying nothing, but Lilah noted the curl of his lip as he stared down at the plates heaped with colorful vegetables and spicy-looking chicken.
“The protein is a shredded adobo chicken; there’s corn tortillas and sliced avocado to go with it.”
“And this other mess?” Devon asked, pointing at a smaller bowl.
Billy’s cheeks reddened, but he drew himself straight and said, calmly enough, “I wanted to try a play on one of my favorite things to eat from when I was a kid in Mexico. Grilled corn with crema and spices is a common street food. I pulled the cornsilk out and flash-grilled the ears in their wrappers, cut the kernels off the cob and mixed them with some homemade chile-lime mayonnaise. The topping is grated parmesan, because it’s what we had in the walk-in, and a little fresh cilantro.”
“And the flecks of red?” Devon demanded.
“Diced sweet pepper.”
The ex-dishwasher was stoic under Devon’s interrogation, but Lilah still didn’t like to watch it. Where did Devon get off being so dismissive?
Unable, or unwilling, to keep her mouth shut, Lilah said, “Well! Are we gonna talk about it all night or are we gonna eat it?”
Billy shot her a quick, grateful look out of the corner of his eyes and Lilah winked.
“Right! Dig in, guys!” Billy produced a couple of serving spoons and they all passed the plates around.
Wow.
“I’ve never had Mexican street corn, Billy, but this is pretty darned delicious,” she told him. It was an effort to stop eating long enough to talk without her mouth full.
The corn had a caramelized flavor from the grill, and the tender, firm kernels popped in her mouth. Swathed in tangy, spicy mayo with a good citrus kick, one of Lilah’s most familiar flavors of summer, sweet corn, turned into her newest addiction.
Murmurs of appreciation followed by complete silence as everyone got down to the serious business of eating attested to the fact that Lilah wasn’t alone in feeling transported by Billy’s simple family meal.
Lilah watched the others, then inexpertly rolled her first soft taco. It was messy but scrumptious.
She closed her eyes, the better to savor the way the cool, buttery avocado cut the smoky spice of the moist chicken, and when she opened them, Devon was gazing directly at her, a heat that had nothing to do with the spicy food in his stare.
Swallowing was hard when her mind was suddenly filled with images of the night before, but she managed it.
Lilah fell into the deep blue of his intent gaze, breath quickening, blood pounding in her ears.
Adam startled them out of the moment with a heartfelt, “Hot damn, Billy. Best fucking thing I ever did, putting you in charge of family meal.”
Billy flushed again, this time from obvious pleasure in the compliment.
An infinitesimal sneer tugged at Devon’s mouth. “When you’re finished enjoying your street food, Adam, there are a few things I’d like to go over with you.”
His voice was silky smooth, but Lilah heard the derision in it. Devon, she saw, hadn’t taken a plate. He wasn’t even going to try the food?
Evidently not. Without a glance in Lilah’s direction, not that she cared, Devon turned on his heel and stalked back to the kitchen.
Lilah caught the frown