Eddie didn’t know that, of course, and I wasn’t going to tel him; but stil .

“I’m guessing any problem with Slick is a problem you can’t take care of,” Eddie said.

“I’l deal with it.”

“Jet.”

“I’l deal with it! It’s what I do! Okay? I deal with things. I’l find some way to deal with this too!” I shouted.

Yeesh.

After my outburst, he watched me for a beat and I saw his eyes change again. This time, they grew warm. I was finding I wasn’t real y very good with Eddie’s warm eyes on me. It did funny things to my thought processes.

His hand came up and he ran his knuckles down my jaw.

“Don’t do that,” I said, pul ing my face away.

“Chiquita, when you get done this afternoon, I’m picking you up and taking you to my house. I’m making a pitcher of margaritas, getting you shit-faced and you’re final y gonna talk to me.”

I stared at him in total shock.

“About what?” I asked, trying not to sound terrified.

“About anything.”

It was panic time. How it didn’t kick in earlier, I’d never know. I was beginning to feel weak in the knees and funny in the bel y.

Eddie went on. “We can start with why you’re workin’ at Smithie’s and we’l move on to why you wanted me to think you didn’t like Mexicans.”

Um, no way in hell.

“I can’t,” I said.

“Why not?” he asked.

“I just can’t. I have things to do.”

“What things?”

I stared at him for a second. “Just… things.” He ignored me.

“I’l be here at three to pick you up.”

I shook my head.

It registered at that inopportune moment that I could smel him, he smel ed real y nice and I liked it. It also smel him, he smel ed real y nice and I liked it. It also registered that I liked to feel the heat from his body and the way it brushed against mine. Furthermore, I also liked that warm look in his eye.

I liked a lot of things about Eddie.

No, I liked everything about Eddie.

Dear Lord.

I took a shaky breath. I noticed Eddie was watching me. I had to admit, I liked that too.

“Jet, three o’clock,” Eddie said.

“I like how you smel ,” I told him; just blurted it out, like a crazy person.

Once my idiotic comment was uttered, panic started to slice through the Eddie Daze but he saw it and put his right hand up on a shelf on the other side of me, by my hip, trapping me.

I looked up at him, flight on my mind but saw his eyes had gone fluid and he looked so flippin’ sexy, my bones went fluid too. So much so, I had to grab onto the material of his t-shirt at his abdomen to hold myself up.

His head started to come down and, I swear to God, he was gonna kiss me.

“Jet?” It was Indy cal ing.

I jerked back, hitting the back of my skul on the bookshelf.

When I looked at Eddie, his head was no longer descending, his eyes were closed and I could tel his teeth were clenched again, but he didn’t move away.

“Jet?” Indy cal ed again. Then I heard her say, “Oops!

Gosh. Sorry.”

Gosh. Sorry.”

I got up on tiptoe and looked over Eddie’s shoulder and saw Indy and Lee standing at the end of the row.

Lee looked amused. I knew this because he was smiling so much he looked like he was about to burst out laughing.

“Sorry, I wouldn’t interrupt but your Dad’s here,” Indy said.

“Great!” I replied brightly, letting go of Eddie’s shirt and ducking under his arm. “Thanks.”

I got a step away when I was jerked back at the middle. I looked and saw that Eddie had hooked a finger in the belt loop at the back of my jeans.

“Hang on there, C hiquita, I’m comin’ with you. I have a few things I’d like to ask your Dad.”

I looked up to Eddie. I wasn’t sure I wanted Eddie talking to Dad. “He’s just here for donuts.”

Eddie’s eyes locked on mine. “I could eat a donut.” I knew he wasn’t talking about donuts; he was talking about giving my Dad the same kind of third degree he just gave me.

Eddie jerked again on my belt loop and my shoulder came into contact with his chest. Then he said in my ear,

“We aren’t done.”

Eek.

A shiver of electricity, starting at my ear, went through my whole body. I ignored it and ignored him.

We were so done. We had to be done. I didn’t have the energy for this, I didn’t have the time for this and anyway, if I went up in flames of passion, who was going to take care of Mom?

Indy and Lee were walking in front of us; Eddie was beside me, his finger stil hooked into my belt loop.

“I don’t wanna hear it,” Eddie said, apparently to Lee because Lee answered.

“Come on, tough it up. I had ten years. You’ve had, what?

Two months?”

Eddie didn’t respond.

Indy fel back a bit and into step beside me.

“What are they talking about?” I whispered to her.

“You don’t want to know,” she answered.

It was stil a coffee crush when we got to the front, but I saw Dad sitting on the back of one of the couches, eating a chocolate iced, custard fil ed donut and drinking a latte as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

The minute he saw me, he shouted, “Princess Jet!” Eddie stil had his finger in my belt loop so I couldn’t rush to Dad and warn him to flee.

Instead I just said, “Hey Dad.”

Dad looked to Eddie and saw Eddie’s hand behind my back

“Chavez, looks like you don’t let grass grow.”

“Ray,” Was Eddie’s reply.

Dad’s eyes moved to Indy and he smiled, then to Lee who’d come up with us. “Fuckin’ A.” He breathed, the smile dying out of his face and he looked almost panicked.

“You’re Lee Nightingale.”

“Yep,” Lee said.

“Fuck,” Dad said.

I found this confusing. I looked from Dad to Lee and opened my mouth to speak when the bel over the front door rang and I heard someone cal my name.

I turned and stared.

It was Oscar, my latest ex. We’d broken up about a month before Mom’s stroke. Before that, we’d been together for two years. The break up was by mutual consent (mutual in the sense that I talked Oscar into it) and we’d stayed friends. He helped move Mom and me into our new apartment. He was a good guy and, sometimes, I missed him.