“Can you consider changing the name of that?” he yelled after me as I rushed away. I saw a few people idling by the truck, which meant they wanted a morning fix too.
It wasn’t the norm.
I usually had time to open and get dressed in some of the wrinkled clothing I stashed in a ball somewhere in the truck. I waved at a couple of guys I knew, one was a surfer, and then did a double take when I saw a black Rolls Royce idling in the parking lot.
One I’d seen before. One I’d ridden in just a week before.
My stomach flip flopped and a wave of queasiness followed. Not good. Sweating, I avoided the itch to duck down and hide.
As embarrassing as it was to admit, I actually gasped at the sight of both Dante and Bastian exiting their vehicle. Tall, built, and all straight lines in their black suits. Their shoes shone like they were made of diamonds and as my eyes trailed up, their faces didn’t disappoint either.
Both faces I knew.
Both faces I thought I’d never see again.
Bastian smiled like he’d heard my gasp. My mouth snapped shut.
I scoffed and rolled my eyes but not before witnessing how when he smiled it didn’t really meet his eyes. Not the way it had that night. His face had held youth and some sort of humor and connection with me on that jet. I’d felt like we belonged in the same universe.
But now, he was devoid of any emotion.
He could have been on Jupiter, light years away with the look he’d plastered on his face. Then his eyes cut away from me and I saw him scan the beach, like he was making mental notes.
My grandmother had always dealt with men like that. She said it was business, and the part of me that was happier being in the dark let it slide.
Those men walking toward my food truck were nothing but bad news. Bad news and a one night stand I wanted to forget.
Instead, he walked toward me, more lethal in the sunlight, like the night had cloaked his danger. He was ready to haunt me in the daylight rather than just my dreams.
As I opened the metal back door into my little sanctuary, I didn’t bother grabbing the ball of clothes in the corner. It was hot enough that I could make smoothies in a bikini anyway. It might be one of the last warm days, even with that chill in the air. The seasons were changing just as my life would be soon.
I threw some strawberries, yogurt, pineapple and ice into the mixer as I leaned back to see who was in the window. My first customer was an older surfer who switched up his drink every other day. “Jonah, what can I get you?”
“What are you making there?”
“The Pink Princess for Bradley. He likes them prissy.”
Jonah chuckled and turned to wink at Bradley who flipped him off. Then he shrugged and nodded toward the mixer. “I guess I like them prissy too. Add another to the blender.”
I dropped in all the ingredients and threw in two bags of my spice. I ground up cinnamon sticks, chia and flax seeds, agave extracted powder and other nutritional additions that added a pop of flavor. After adding a cube of frozen wheatgrass, I pressed the button.
As a longer line formed and I took down more orders, I spotted the suits moving slowly toward my truck, waiting their turn. Both of them scoped out the area like it was for some sort of sale. They’d soon learn this place was priceless, owned only by the water and the land. The seagulls may have had a few pieces of it too.
I handed another Pink Princess to the next customer and grabbed my hanging chalkboard sign as the beautiful men descended upon my food truck.
Suddenly my little window was letting in too much sun.
Scribbling a few additions to my chalkboard, I didn’t look up as I said, “What can I get you?”
Normally, if it was a newcomer, I’d welcome them and offer the list of special drinks, but men dressed so nicely where the sand dirtied you up and made you one with the beach irked me.
Especially when one of them was a man I’d slept with and hoped to never see again.
“I don’t know.” Bastian's hair curled every which way. Did he style it to look that good or was he just born with that rich color and perfect wave? “You don’t have a menu written out yet for me to choose from.”
I shrugged as I kept writing. “Well, most everyone got the Pink Princess smoothie today.”
“The owner of this company probably wouldn’t like to know that the girl he hired isn’t giving customers their full attention or all the options.”