Page 28 of On the Power Play

Delia’s eyes snapped up. “You got one this morning? What is it?”

Just then, the waiter arrived with their tacos. The scent of slow roasted meat along with chilies and onion made his mouth water, and Jack wasted no time before digging in. He took a bite, barely avoiding juice dripping under the sleeve of his shirt with a quick lift of his elbow.

Delia stared at her plate.

“Is something wrong?” he asked, still holding his taco.

Delia worried her bottom lip. "I don’t usually eat while I'm out. I think I impulse ordered.”

Jack looked between her and his partially eaten taco. “But you’re hungry.” She nodded. “So you should eat.” She didn’t make a move, so Jack took another bite. When he finished the taco, he used a napkin to wipe his fingers.

Movement outside the window caught their attention. When Jack’s eyes focused beyond the glass, he saw a girl and her boyfriend recording them from the sidewalk. Delia smiled and gave a small wave. “I'll just ask for a box?—”

Jack stood and jerked the table away from the wall, and Delia gasped. He sandwiched his chair between the window and the end of the table, moving as close to the corner as he could to block the view of any onlookers. “There.” He picked up his second taco and took the messiest bite he could muster. “I’ll eat like this so no matter what pics they’re able to get, nobody will be looking at you.”

Delia clapped a hand over her mouth, but it couldn’t hide the smile stretching from ear to ear. “What?”

“You can’t understand me?” Jack shoved the food into his right cheek until it bulged. “I said?—”

Delia snorted and grabbed her napkin. “No, stop, I get it.” Her eyes squinched, and she grabbed onto herself like she didn’t know what would happen if she let her laughter out in full force.

Jack wished he could see what that looked like. “The tacos are really good.” He licked his lips.

“I can see that.”

“You should try them.”

Her eyes flicked to his. “I’m working up to it.”

“Just—”

“Fine!” Delia picked up her taco like she was trying to remove a plastic femur without hitting the buzzer in the game Operation.

"Shove it on in." Jack spread his elbows on the table and hovered to make sure nobody could get a glimpse of her leaning over her plate. Delia took the most dainty bite known to humankind, but her eyes lit up. "See? Better fresh than to-go."

"Yeah." She nodded and took another mouse bite.

Mary appeared at the end of the table, her eyes wide. "What the hell is happening here?"

Jack felt like a kid caught with his hand in the bag of chocolate his mom hid behind the cereal. "We're eating?"

"Yeah, I can see that." She shot Delia a look. "You'll eat for him? The stranger you met ten minutes ago? Really?"

Delia chewed and swallowed. "No, it's late, so I know I'm going right back to the hotel room and won't have to deal with fuzzy teeth.”

Fuzzy teeth? Was that what this whole thing had been about?

Delia pointed to the glass. “Plus he blocked the?—"

"That's all I had to do to get you to eat a proper meal? Put my ass between you and the cameras?" Mary put her hands on her hips.

"Only if it's a nice ass," Jack quipped as he picked up his last taco.

Delia stifled a smile, and Jack's stomach flipped. And that was the exact moment he knew he couldn't, in fact, sign the contract.

Chapter Eight

"You didn't sign it?" Clara hissed as they got back into his truck. Jack hit the start button and turned on the seat warmers. "Jack, seriously? Was there something terrible in one of the clauses?"

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