When Carlos finally found Gentry, he was walking away from the lingerie section of the women’s department and his face was red. Carlos nodded at him as they passed, but Gentry didn’t make eye contact. It looked like Anika had turned him down too. At least one thing had gone right that day. He wasn’t giving up on Anika. Tonight he’d show her that he really did care about her and her daughter Megan. Maybe he could ask her to lunch tomorrow.
By the time Anika showed up to help him at the Soda Fountain, Carlos had rehearsed about fifty different conversations in his mind. None of them had infused the confidence he needed to approach her again. He handed her a pair of work gloves. “So you won’t get your hands dirty.”
She laughed and slapped his arm with the gloves. She set them on the counter
