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Marissa nodded. Rick had moved from Florida years ago to be closer to family, but he missed his life and friends in the Sunshine State and went back often. He made no secret about wanting to return permanently.
“Who knows why Arnie and Angela haven’t picked Stephanie or one of the others. You’re the right person for the job anyway.”
Deep in thought, Marissa chewed slowly. “Leanne is in the Beverly Hills office. I wonder if they’d expect me to move to the West Coast.”
“I doubt it, but if it were me, I’d jump at the chance to move to California. Oh, but you have a kid, so your situation is different. You have a lot more to think about than yourself.”
Marissa wasn’t only thinking about herself and Theo. Her relationship with Bruno had become very important to her. They mostly saw each other on the weekends, but they packed a lot into those forty-eight hours, and a couple of times she and Theo had met up with him during the week and had dinner.
Could Arnie really be considering her for the promotion? If she didn’t have to move to California, the position would be perfect. Her heart thumped with the excitement of the additional responsibility and extra pay.
“If I get the promotion, you’ll be able to move up to matchmaker. Have you been studying the guidebook?” she asked Lori.
“I know it backward and forward. I sleep with it under my pillow at night to let the information seep into my brain through osmosis.”
They both laughed.
“I’ll make sure to put in a good word for you.”
“Thanks,” Lori said gratefully. “I appreciate all your help—answering my questions, walking me through the setup of a new account—all that.”
Marissa waved away the thanks. “The whole point is to make it easy for Arnie to slide you in there when the time comes.”
Lori’s face brightened. “I can’t wait!”
“Patience. Good things are coming.”
“For both of us.”
After Lori left, Marissa put in a call to Bruno. He picked up on the first ring.
“Hello, beautiful.”
She melted. She never got tired of hearing him call her that.
“Hi. Guess where I ordered food from today?”
“Where?”
“Garlique. I’m addicted to that place now. Everything is delicious. How in the world did you get rice to taste so good?”
“We cook it in chicken stock we make in house. That’s the secret.”
“My colleague and I enjoyed our meal. There are plenty of leftovers. I guess Theo will be eating chicken and rice with vegetables tonight cause Mommy doesn’t have to cook.”
He chuckled.
She loved the sound of his laughter.
“Did you pay for your order?” Bruno asked.
Silence.
“Marissa,” he said, a hard note coming into his voice.
“Don’t be mad, but I feel weird name dropping to get free food.”
“I don’t know why. I told you it’s fine. None of my family members have a problem eating for free at my restaurants, and you shouldn’t either. Next time, let the manager know who you are. I gave her your name already. If you’re disobedient again, I’ll have to put you over my knee, querida.”
