Marco couldn't help laughing when Liam practically had a religious experience over a slider on a public beach. "Jesus Christ," he muttered, shaking his head as Liam tilted his head back dramatically. "Should I give you two a minute alone?" The smile tugging at his mouth made it clear he wasn't complaining. Still, the praise settled somewhere warm in his chest. He'd spent months testing recipes, tweaking ingredients, second-guessing himself every other day. Hearing someone react like that felt pretty damn good.
"Alright, that's one vote for keepin' the slider exactly how it is," he said, jotting a quick note into his notebook. "Good. I was getting tired of arguing with myself about it." At the introduction, Marco tucked the notebook back into his pocket and offered his hand. "Marco." He smiled. "And welcome to Cypress Cove, Liam. Brooklyn's a hell of a change from this place." He leaned back against the cart, folding his arms loosely across his chest. "I'm originally from Austin. Been here a little while now." His eyes flicked briefly toward the water before returning to Liam. "Opening a restaurant soon, assuming I don't drive myself insane trying to perfect every recipe first."
He reached for the third tray and held up one of the empanadas. "Which brings us to my current problem child. This thing and I have been fighting for two weeks." He handed it over. "Tell me if it's worth saving or if I need to admit defeat and let it die with what little dignity it has left." His gaze lingered on Liam a second longer than necessary before a crooked smile appeared. "Though based on your performance so far, I'm beginning to suspect you mostly volunteered because you enjoy making strangers nervous."
Liam smirked again, satisfied with himself at the man's reaction. This was going to be fun. He liked having this kind of effect on people, especially a man this hot. "Oh please don't, it's much more fun when someone watches." He quipped with a wicked smirk glancing over at the man to see his reaction. "You better not change a thing, I'm pretty sure that was one of the best things I've ever had the pleasure of putting into my mouth." Liam insisted. It was true, the slider was incredible but he also enjoyed testing the boundary between the two of them. He certainly wouldn't mind tasting thing other than the man's food.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Marco. Truly." Liam said biting his lip with desire as he shook the man's hand letting his grip linger just a moment longer than acceptable. "It's definitely been a pretty big change of pace." Liam agreed. "But so far I've been enjoying it. The views are nice." He said letting his eyes travel over Marco appreciatively. "What brought you to Cypress Cove?" He asked curiously before his eyes widened. "I'm sorry we just met, you don't have to share if you don't want to, it's none of my business." Liam insisted. "If the rest of your food is even half as good as what I've tasted then I have no doubt it'll be a massive success." He assured Marco. "I'll certainly be a regular." Liam insisted. "You know, I'd be more than happy to help you with that." He offered. An excuse to try more delicious food and spend more time with Marco, Liam could certainly think of worse ways to spend his time.
"What about them 's been giving you problems?" Liam asked. "Thank you." He said appreciatively as he grabbed the empanada from Marco a spark seemingly running between them at the touch. "I make you nervous huh?" Liam teased with a playful smirk before taking a slow deliberate bite of the empanada. He closed his eyes and hummed as he savored the flavor. "It's definitely worth saving." Liam assured Marco. "It's still a solid dish for sure, but you're right there's something there that's not quite working as well as the other two..." He admitted as he tried to think what might elevate the dish to the same level as the other things he had tried. This one had him stumped.
