Page 41 of Twisted Beauty
“Mateo,” Tito said, “tell her about chef.”
Matt glanced at Liv and then back at Tito. “She’s not interested in hearing about my life, Tito. Let’s just eat.”
Liv tilted her head and flashed him a smile. “If it has to do with food, I am. You should know that.”
Matt chuckled. “Fair enough. But my chef days are behind me. I’m now employee of the month at El Brujo Loco.”
“You can’t do both?”
“Too busy. First order of business, rearrange the shop to make it more inviting.” Matt wasted no time changing the subject, and Liv sensed that the topic was off limits. Though she couldn’t imagine why. If she could cook more than peanut butter and jelly, she’d be bragging about it all over town.
“I invite everyone in,” Tito said with a mouthful of tamale. “I invite Liv to lunch.”
“And I can’t tell you how much I appreciate that, Tito,” Liv said. “My camera thanks you too. This rain wouldn’t do good things to it.”
“You were out taking pictures this morning?” Matt asked.
Liv sighed. “Yes, I know. I should have checked the weather first. Stupid move.” If she could ever stop making an idiot of herself in front of this man, it would be a monumental accomplishment. But they didn’t have summer thunderstorms back home, so she hadn’t thought to check. And wasn’t the rainy season here supposed to be over by now? It seemed late for this kind of storm.
“An honest mistake,” Matt said. “So where’d you go?”
Well, I wandered around aimlessly, imagining your tongue in my mouth. “That park by the Cultural Center.”
“Isla Cuale. Great place.” Matt finished off his wine and picked up the bottle to refill everyone’s glass. “The murals there are incredible.”
Liv nodded. “I’ll have to go back to the park though when the weather’s better. I didn’t make it very far before the rain started.”
“Mateo take you another day,” Tito said. “He show you.”
Liv tried not to laugh. He was just so cute. “Thank you for caring. But I’m pretty sure I can find them myself.”
Fortunately Matt was smiling too—a genuine smile that showed off his dimples. And that made her stomach do a little flip.
“Tito and I tried to track down some of the local artists once,” Matt said. “We thought about having a small mural painted on the shop.”
Liv took a sip of wine, and tried to picture what kind of image would work for his shop. “That would be amazing. You’d like that, Tito?”
“Sí. If it stop Mateo from trying to change the shop inside.”
This time Liv couldn’t stop herself from laughing. “I think it’s a brilliant idea. This place will look wonderful with some artwork in it. Did you have any luck finding the artists?”
“Not yet,” Matt said. “We’re still asking around.”
“Haven’t most of these murals been here for years?” Liv asked.
“Some of them. The whole Muralism movement actually started in the nineteen twenties. The government commissioned murals for public buildings, hoping to reunify the country after the Mexican Revolution. So it was mostly social and political messages. Most people don’t know this, but it was headed up by Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, and David Alfaro Siqueiros. They’re called ‘the big three.’”
He paused, apparently waiting for her to say something. She realized she’d been staring at his mouth, watching him talk. She was fascinated that he knew so much about the history of art here, and how animated he was about it. Until now, the only sides she’d seen of him were the brooding and the sarcasm.
“So it’s all political?” If she wanted this new, chattier version of Matt to stick around a little longer, she needed to keep him talking.
“Not anymore. Eventually, the artists wanted to express their own ideas and values. So, basically, they rebelled. I’m sure you know all about that.”
“Me?” Liv almost laughed in his face. She was anything but a rebel. “Why would I know about that?”
“Isn’t that what all artists do?” He had a smirk on his face. “You’re a photographer. And a pain in the ass. I’m guessing you like to color outside the lines.”
Liv stared at him, speechless. He considered her an artist?
