wrapping his arm over her chest while he gave a bill to the vendor. “Do we
have a problem?” he asked, turning toward the men and pinning them with his
stare.
The asshole who had harassed her backed off right away. The
massive guy didn’t move an inch.
“No problem, man,” he said.
Tate hadn’t taken her eyes off him. “Little Carlos?” she
asked in an incredulous tone. “Is that you?”
He broke into a blinding smile. “Not so little anymore, preciosa .”
“Carlos!” she shrieked and launched herself at him. He
hugged her tight. “It’s been forever since I saw you. How have you been?”
James braced his legs apart and locked eyes with him. This
Carlos was going to end up with a broken jaw if he didn’t move away from Tate.
“Tate,” Carlos said, looking warily at him. “Introduce me to
your man before he rips my head off.”
Damn right.
Tate turned to James, who pulled at her belt loop the second
she let go of the guy and wrapped his arm around her, bringing her against his
side.
“Carlos, this is James, my fiancé. James, this is Carlos, a
family friend,” she introduced them, and they shook hands. Yeah, little Carlos
his ass. This guy was built like a tank, his grip deadly strong. “Carlos’s
family runs a Mexican restaurant here in town.”
“Not anymore.”
“You closed down?”
Carlos smirked. “Not exactly. I don’t know if you remember
because you weren’t around much in the winter, but my dad had a thing for
Christmas. Went nuts with decorations and shit like that. Well, five years ago
he decided to get a real Christmas tree, and when he went about watering it, didn’t
realize the lights were on, and he managed to electrocute himself.”
“Oh God,” Tate whispered, covering her mouth with her hand.
“No, no. He survived. Apart from zinging you with an
electric shock whenever you touched him at the beginning, he made a full
recovery. But apparently he had an epiphany while on the other side. His
grandmother appeared to him and told him he had to open a sushi bar.”
And James thought his family was nuts.
“But your family is from Tijuana. Mexican food is—”
“Yep. We tried telling him, but it didn’t help. He had my
grandmother rolling maki sushi in no time.”
Tate stifled a laugh. “And how’s it going?”
“I’m sure we are the first Mexican American family to run a
sushi bar in the whole frigging universe, but apart from that we are doing
okay. Lots of fusion. You need to come visit us.”
“Sure we will.” They spoke for a little while before saying
their farewells.
“Let’s go, baby. I want to get to the beach,” James said.
On their way to the truck, Tate threw him an amused look.
“Listen, about those guys at the ice-cream stand. You know this is the
twenty-first century, don’t you?”
“I know.” And that was why he hadn’t mopped the floor with
them.
“I can take care of myself. I do it all the time in the
restaurant.”
Yeah, she didn’t need anyone to take care of her. She didn’t
need to rely on anyone. Or bother anyone. And wasn’t this the key to their
issue?
“I’m sure you can, but you’re mine, and I take care of
what’s mine. You know it. We’ve gone through this before. And the motherfucker
was hitting on a woman wearing an engagement ring in front of her man. What the
fuck? He’s lucky he has all his teeth intact right now.”
She laughed softly and shook her head but said nothing. Good,
because he wouldn’t back down. He really didn’t give a fuck what was
politically correct nowadays; protecting his woman and making sure no one
bothered her was his job. Having her fending for herself when she was in pain
or hurting wasn’t part of the deal, never mind how independent and
self-sufficient she thought she was.
They made their way to the seafront cabins on the outskirts
of Cape John. Before he had time to park properly, Tate had already jumped out
of the truck. “Wow. Everything is different but
have a problem?” he asked, turning toward the men and pinning them with his
stare.
The asshole who had harassed her backed off right away. The
massive guy didn’t move an inch.
“No problem, man,” he said.
Tate hadn’t taken her eyes off him. “Little Carlos?” she
asked in an incredulous tone. “Is that you?”
He broke into a blinding smile. “Not so little anymore, preciosa .”
“Carlos!” she shrieked and launched herself at him. He
hugged her tight. “It’s been forever since I saw you. How have you been?”
James braced his legs apart and locked eyes with him. This
Carlos was going to end up with a broken jaw if he didn’t move away from Tate.
“Tate,” Carlos said, looking warily at him. “Introduce me to
your man before he rips my head off.”
Damn right.
Tate turned to James, who pulled at her belt loop the second
she let go of the guy and wrapped his arm around her, bringing her against his
side.
“Carlos, this is James, my fiancé. James, this is Carlos, a
family friend,” she introduced them, and they shook hands. Yeah, little Carlos
his ass. This guy was built like a tank, his grip deadly strong. “Carlos’s
family runs a Mexican restaurant here in town.”
“Not anymore.”
“You closed down?”
Carlos smirked. “Not exactly. I don’t know if you remember
because you weren’t around much in the winter, but my dad had a thing for
Christmas. Went nuts with decorations and shit like that. Well, five years ago
he decided to get a real Christmas tree, and when he went about watering it, didn’t
realize the lights were on, and he managed to electrocute himself.”
“Oh God,” Tate whispered, covering her mouth with her hand.
“No, no. He survived. Apart from zinging you with an
electric shock whenever you touched him at the beginning, he made a full
recovery. But apparently he had an epiphany while on the other side. His
grandmother appeared to him and told him he had to open a sushi bar.”
And James thought his family was nuts.
“But your family is from Tijuana. Mexican food is—”
“Yep. We tried telling him, but it didn’t help. He had my
grandmother rolling maki sushi in no time.”
Tate stifled a laugh. “And how’s it going?”
“I’m sure we are the first Mexican American family to run a
sushi bar in the whole frigging universe, but apart from that we are doing
okay. Lots of fusion. You need to come visit us.”
“Sure we will.” They spoke for a little while before saying
their farewells.
“Let’s go, baby. I want to get to the beach,” James said.
On their way to the truck, Tate threw him an amused look.
“Listen, about those guys at the ice-cream stand. You know this is the
twenty-first century, don’t you?”
“I know.” And that was why he hadn’t mopped the floor with
them.
“I can take care of myself. I do it all the time in the
restaurant.”
Yeah, she didn’t need anyone to take care of her. She didn’t
need to rely on anyone. Or bother anyone. And wasn’t this the key to their
issue?
“I’m sure you can, but you’re mine, and I take care of
what’s mine. You know it. We’ve gone through this before. And the motherfucker
was hitting on a woman wearing an engagement ring in front of her man. What the
fuck? He’s lucky he has all his teeth intact right now.”
She laughed softly and shook her head but said nothing. Good,
because he wouldn’t back down. He really didn’t give a fuck what was
politically correct nowadays; protecting his woman and making sure no one
bothered her was his job. Having her fending for herself when she was in pain
or hurting wasn’t part of the deal, never mind how independent and
self-sufficient she thought she was.
They made their way to the seafront cabins on the outskirts
of Cape John. Before he had time to park properly, Tate had already jumped out
of the truck. “Wow. Everything is different but
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