Page 77 of You Chive Me Crazy
I huffed. “Surprised you in a good way or a bad way?”
“Averygood way,” he said. “I went into eating this with the wrong mindset, certain I would not like it, and I wondered how not to hurt your feelings with my honesty.” He locked gazes with me. “But that was, without a doubt, the best potato I have had in my entire life. It was simply incredible. Really. I just couldn’t believe how much I loved everything about it, from the flavor to the texture, the aftertaste, even the presentation. I feel embarrassed for anticipating something completely different.”
I felt a wave of relief wash over me as I watched him from inside the truck as he savored the last few bites, moaning with delight.
And for some dumb reason, my eyes filled.
That was all I’d wanted to hear.
It was way more than I had ever hoped for.
Lucas grinned, looking up at me with what appeared to be a newfound sense of appreciation for potatoes. “Seriously, Zoe. That was a masterpiece. The flavors just worked together perfectly, especially that fantastic marinade you baste the potatoes with.That’syour big secret that sets them apart. It’s no wonder you have investors lining up for a piece of the action. You’ve got something very special here.”
Hands on my hips, and after pulling myself together, I glared at him. “Why couldn’t you have said that right after the first bite? You tortured me.”
Lucas chuckled, wiped his mouth, then tossed his plate in the trash before coming back inside the food truck. “Sorry about that.” Then he reached over and pulled me in for an embrace that sent zings shooting through my body.
“You’re forgiven . . . this time.” I didn’t want to let go of his wonderful hug, but it was time to get back to work. And there were also two more mouths to feed. To my delight, Rolando and Savannah both loved my potatoes every bit as much as Lucas did.
I slid the next order over to Lucas and snuck a peek at him as he added a huge dollop of sour cream, bacon bits, and then smothered the top with my spicy BBQ sauce. “Johnny! Your order is ready.” Lucas thanked the customer, then turned to me and asked, “What's the weirdest thing you’ve ever eaten?”
I thought about it for a moment as I started the next order. “I once tried a pizza with pickles on it.”
Lucas shook his head in disgust. “You don’t even want to hear the review I would write on that culinary abomination. Hard pass.”
“You'd be surprised what one could handle when hunger calls,” I said. “What about you, Rolando?”
“Ha! You want to talk about weird food?” he said, sliding another order ticket to me. “I had the unfortunate experience of eating duck pâté tacos.”
“Are you trying to get my breakfast to come back up?” Lucas asked, wincing as he grabbed his stomach. “Okay, Zoe, you dropped to second place. Rolando is the new disgusting-food champion. Who in their right mind would think of putting duck pâté in tacos? What’s next? Wasabi with chicken enchiladas? No, señor!”
“You’re so picky,” I teased him.
Lucas shrugged. “I admit I have high standards, but that’s a compliment, considering how much I like you.”
“Boom!” Rolando said, dropping an imaginary mic, then nodding his appreciation of what Lucas had said as he slid another order my way.
I couldn’t explain why, but I was feeling shy, the way my face was heating up. “Thank you. You’re not so bad yourself.”
“Uh-oh,” Rolando said, gesturing outside to the left. “Incoming.”
Lucas looked up. “Great. Here comes trouble.”
It was Damian, getting in line to buy one of my potatoes.
“Should we call the police?” I whispered.
“Unfortunately, being a dickie-doo is not against the law,” Rolando said.
The closer he got to the front of the line, the more my anxiety ramped up. “How am I supposed to control my stress levels with this crap?”
“Take a deep centering breath before he gets near you,” Lucas said. “He’s not going to cause a scene with all these people here. We just need to pretend as if he’s a regular customer, nothing more. Take his money, get him his potato, so he can leave as soon as possible. Thirty seconds, max. We can all hold our breath that long. We’ve got this.”
I looked over at Damian again.
He grinned, then got out of line, and walked away.
“That’s odd—he’s leaving,” I said.
