Making You Mine

Chapter 1 - Part 1

Three Months Earlier

As usual, Grace barely made it to class on time. Her morning interview had gone on longer than she expected. And for what? Sorry, but we're looking for someone more experienced. With her years of cooking in Mexico, she had more than enough experience. Who cared if she was still in culinary school? Some of the required classes she took were such a joke. Her cooking skills were far beyond them.

Joey leaned over as she took her seat. "Miss the bus again?"

She frowned while pulling her notebook out of her backpack. "No, the stupid interview went on too long."

"Not good?"

She shook her head.

Joey reached over and squeezed her hand. "Well, don't give up. It'll happen. You'll see."

Grace didn't even bother trying to smile. She was so frustrated. Joey was the only friend she'd made in culinary school in all three years she'd attended. She met him when she first started, and he was now one of the most loyal and loving friends she'd ever had. At first, she had a huge crush on him, until she found out he was living with his longtime boyfriend.

When she met his boyfriend Taylor, she fell in love with him too. Joey and Taylor were perfect for each other. Now they were her two best friends. Finally, she'd found friends her age to talk to and hang out with since she'd moved here from El Paso.

Just two years after she graduated high school, her mom met a trucker from California. Within a month, they were married, and Grace and her younger sister Rose were hauled out to live in California. Neither had been happy about it, especially Rose, who was just about to finish middle school at the time. Since then, her mom had divorced and remarried. She was on a roll with the truckers. Grace was now determined to make a name for herself and get her and her sister out of her stepfather's clutches.

She put on the reading glasses she'd bought at the drugstore on her way to class and turned to Joey. "What do think?"

"Since when do you need glasses?"

"I don't, but I'm hoping they'll make me look older. I have another interview after class."

He gave her a look. "They'll know how old you are as soon as they read it on your application."

She tried not to smile, but she didn't respond. Joey knew her too well. "Grace?"

"Hmm?"

"You didn't lie about your age, did you?"

She pretended to be completely absorbed in what she was reading, but the truth was that the glasses made her dizzy. Blinking hard, she continued to stare at the blurry notebook in front of her.

Joey nudged her. "I can't believe you. You don't think they'll find out when you have to show them your I.D.?"

She pulled off the glasses that had begun to give her a headache and rubbed her eyes. "I don't have to show them. It's already filled in on the application. I just changed the year so they'll think I'm twenty-three."

"Oh, please!" He waved a hand at her. "Honey, you don't even look your age, much less two years older."

She turned to him disheartened. "Really?"

"That's a good thing. Why would you wanna look older?"

"Because so far, at every stupid restaurant I've applied to, the manager has taken one look at me and dismissed me, like there was no way I could know what I'm doing. If I could just get my foot in the door and show them what I can do, I know they'll give me a chance." She pulled her long hair up in a bun and put the glasses back on. "How's this?"

He smiled. "Adorable—but twenty-three—no way."

Her shoulders dropped. "Well, I don't care. I think I can do this." She lifted her chin. "I'll walk in there with confidence. All I need is one chance to prove myself. Then I can tell them the truth about my age, and it won't matter."

Joey shook his head and started writing in his notebook. "Where are you applying now?"

She leaned over and whispered, "Moreno's in La Jolla."

"Why are you whispering?" he whispered back without even looking at her.

Grace glanced at the girls in the front row of the class and continued to whisper. "Because," she gestured to the girls with her pen, "they're always going on and on about the guys that run the place." She rolled her eyes. "The three dreamy brothers. I don't want them to hear and think that's the reason I'm applying there."

Joey turned to her. "Why are you applying there? That's like thirty minutes away by a car. Even longer for you, since you'll be taking the bus."

"Are you kidding me? Do you know what working at a restaurant like that would do for my résumé? It's totally worth the time it'll take me to get there."

Joey smirked. "Are you sure the dreamy Moreno brothers are not why you're going all the way out there?"

She rolled her eyes again and immediately regretted it. With the glasses on it, gave her a headache. She pulled them off, squeezing the bridge of her nose. "Trust me, I'm not looking to get swept up by some Mr. Suave. The way they talk about them, that's what they sound like. With only one left on the market, I'm sure he's quite full of himself, probably loving all the attention too. No thanks."

"Sounds like you've been doing a lot of listening."

"No," she said, too quickly, then smiled at him and admitted, "well, yeah, but only since I heard them mention how young the brothers are and how they run the show now—not their parents. I figured maybe they'll be more open-minded than some of these older, unbending jerks I've interviewed with."

Joey raised his eyebrows. "Good point."

Grace smiled. Maybe she actually had a chance this time. She could only pray. Time was running out. She needed a job now, but she refused to settle for the only ones she could get.

After class, Joey insisted on taking her backpack home so she wouldn't have to walk into her interview with it. He said he'd drop it off at her apartment later. He felt bad about not being able to offer her a ride, but he had another class he just couldn't miss. He squeezed her tight as he always did, wishing her good luck, and she made her way to the bus stop.