Fools Rush In by Janice Thompson

think the customers would really love it.”
    “What’s stopping you?” D.J. gave him a puzzled look.
    “Can’t find the right song.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “All of his daily specials have a Dean Martin song as a basis,” I explained. “He’s into themed specials. We’ve done a lot of searching but just can’t come up with the right song for a barbecue pizza.”
    “Hmm.” D.J. didn’t look convinced. “I wouldn’t mind taking that on as a project, if you’d agree to let my brother help come up with the recipe for the pizza.”
    “Son, you’ve got a deal.” Laz extended his hand. “And here’s another thing . . .” With a twinkle in his eye, he turned to me. “If you come up with the perfect song, I might just let you date my niece.”
    “Uncle Lazarro!” I literally felt the color drain from my face, and for a moment I thought I might faint. Again.
    Only when I heard D.J. say, “Well, I’ll work double hard then,” did I snatch my first breath of fresh air. I flashed what I hoped would look like a coy smile, and he winked.
    Okay then. This put a whole new spin on things.
    I basked in the glow of this new possibility for approximately seven seconds. That’s exactly how long it took my ex-boyfriend, Tony, to make it from the front door of the restaurant to the counter where we all sat. He saw the gleam in my eye, and I realized I’d been caught with my hand in the cookie jar.
    Oh, but what a cookie jar!
    I couldn’t stop the giggle that rose up. I wanted to holler, “Yee-haw!” but stopped short, suddenly confused. Was it yee-haw or hee-haw ?
    Oh, what difference did it make? With D.J.’s hypnotic blue eyes staring into mine, only one thing mattered. I needed someone to pinch me—and quick!

8
    You Belong to Me
    Mama always says, “ A mali estremi, estremi rimedi —desperate times call for desperate measures.”
    As my gaze shifted back and forth between D.J. and Tony, I realized I’d fallen on desperate times. But what could I do? D.J. didn’t know Tony from Adam, and Tony . . . well, Tony looked like he didn’t really care to know D.J. at all—outside of a boxing ring, anyway.
    Tony pulled up a chair, sat as close to my stool as possible, and muttered a stiff, “Hey, Bella.” Though he spoke to me, his gaze never left the handsome deejay sitting on my left. As he raked his fingers through his thick, dark hair, unspoken words shot out of my ex’s eyes: “Hey, cowboy, did I just catch you flirting with my girlfriend?”
    Only, I wasn’t his girlfriend. Hadn’t been for weeks now. When would he get it?
    I managed one word: “Tony.”
    Jenna, coward that she was, decided she’d better get back to work in the kitchen. Laz, never one to miss out on anything exciting, leaned his elbows onto the counter and stared us down, as if he anticipated dueling pistols to be whipped out at a moment’s notice. Duh -wayne sat there with a loopy smile on his face, completely oblivious.
    First things first. I’d better introduce Exhibit A to Exhibit B. That way, at least D.J. would know the name of the man who’d pummeled him when the police asked for information.
    “D.J. Neeley, this is Tony DeLuca.”
    “Pleased to meet you.” D.J. nodded with sincerity etched on his handsome face.
    Alrighty then. Exhibit A was doing just fine. On to Exhibit B.
    “Tony, this is D.J. from Splendora,” I explained. “He’s the deejay for the upcoming country-western themed wedding I told you about.”
    “Ah.”
    I’d never known Tony to be short on words. In fact, I’d never known any Italian man to be short on words, so the sudden gap in the conversation made me nervous. I prayed D.J. wouldn’t fill in the empty space by telling Tony this was his first gig. I could only imagine what that would do to the conversation. I could already read Tony’s mind as it was.
    Thankfully, Jenna came to my rescue with our fresh-fromthe-oven Simpatico special and a cheerful, “Howdy, y’all!” The twang was