Page 62 of Guava Flavored Lies

CHAPTER28

After dancingwith Sylvie until three in the morning, Lauren hadn’t slept more than hour on her couch before getting up to shower and get back to work.

They’d gotten so hot and heavy on the dance floor that Lauren had half-expected Sylvie to come home with her. But when they walked back to their cars parked behind the bakery, Sylvie said goodnight instead.

All morning, Lauren wondered whether Sylvie would try to pretend nothing happened between them. In the light of day she might panic about family approval, or ancestral honor, or something equally dramatic.

As she rolled up to her booth, dragging her wagon through the sand behind her, Lauren spotted a small, white cooler in front of her closed stall.

On the cooler, there was a large to-go cup and a note. She immediately identified the neat cursive as Sylvie’s handwriting.

You need a real café con leche today with real milk. FROM A COW.

Lauren’s heart banged against her ribs like a slasher-film victim trying to get into the neighbor’s house. She glanced over at Sylvie who was trying hard to look too busy to notice her.

With damp hair loose at her shoulders and wearing a fresh t-shirt and leggings, Sylvie never looked more beautiful. Lauren smiled as she imagined Sylvie making her a coffee and then amusing herself as she wrote the note.

“Good morning.” Lauren clicked open the padlock and started rolling up the first canvas wall.

Sylvie pretended to be startled. It was all Lauren could do not to rush over and kiss her. Her typically ridiculous behavior was suddenly irresistible.

“I thought you’d decided not to come.” Sylvie looked at her smartwatch.

Lauren abandoned her task and strolled to Sylvie’s booth. They both knew the festival didn’t open to the public for another hour.

“Did you miss me so much that you were counting the minutes until I got here?”

Sylvie made a show of pretending not to care, but even as she shrugged, she moved to the back of the booth where there was a space between the tables. Lauren continued toward the same spot like magnets pulled to a singular location.

Looking around, Lauren made sure no one was paying any attention to them. Most of the other vendors hadn’t arrived yet, and the ones who were around were too busy cooking to notice them.

Before Lauren could reach for Sylvie, Sylvie surprised her by hooking her finger in the waist of Lauren’s shorts and pulling her in.

“You have a terrible work ethic,” Sylvie’s lips gazed Lauren’s mouth sending a rush of electricity straight down her spine. “All that time in California made you forget that on time means you’re already late.”

Sylvie punctuated her criticism with a minty kiss. Before Lauren registered her lips, Sylvie pushed her away. “I thought I was going to have to open your booth for you,” she added before returning to the food she was unpacking.

Lauren would’ve had whiplash if she didn’t know how to read Sylvie so well. Instead, she took her in stride and followed her into her booth. “What are your plans tonight?” She sipped the objectively delicious coffee Sylvie made for her.

“Other than sleep after this super long week?” Sylvie shot back before offering Lauren a freshly baked guava and cheese pastry.

Unaware of how hungry she was until that moment, Lauren took the offering, eating half of it in one bite. She reveled in it for a moment before acknowledging that their recipes really did taste identical no matter what the families told themselves.

“On a Friday night, Campos? Really?” Lauren took another pastry. A small, round meat one.

Sylvie’s honey eyes filled with delight as she watched Lauren inhale her food. “What do you suggest, party animal?”

“I don’t know.” Lauren poked around Sylvie’s warming case and took a ham croquette. “A date?” she suggested, her mouth full. “A real one. Not just hanging out after this thing.”

Obviously unsure of what to do with Lauren’s slapping of a label on what they were doing, Sylvie shifted her weight between her sneaker-covered feet.

“We’re dating, right? I don’t want a high school repeat,” Lauren added before taking another sip of her coffee, her grumbling stomach finally appeased. “We didn’t exactly nail it down last night.”

“And where do you propose we go on this date?” Sylvie propped a hand on her slim hip.

“Caro is having a big thirty-third birthday bash tomorrow,” Lauren suggested.

“Which Caro?” she asked reasonably as there were three women named Carolina in their extended circle. They all went by Caro.

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