Ian had no trouble keeping up with me. I kept wondering what he was thinking about as he followed me. I was surprised he was going to all the trouble. I thought he would’ve been happy to see me go. Funnily enough, my sister thought otherwise. She had predicted he would ask me to come back. She believed he had ulterior motives for coming to Chandler Media, but I’d told her she was crazy. “Crazy like a fox,” she’d responded.
Alicia’s parking lot was almost full; that was a good sight for me. Alicia and Jose deserved the continued success. I had never met harder working or kinder people, and their food was to die for, especially their smothered burritos. My mouth was watering just thinking about them.
Ian parked his car in the space next to mine. We met each other on the sidewalk. He looked up warily at the place. I forgot, this probably wasn’t his style. He was more of the quiet café type, or at least he used to be. Oh well, if he wanted to talk to me, he was going to have to do it on my turf.
“I hope you like Mexican.” I knew he did, but I was treating him as if I didn’t know him at all. I could tell it bothered him, but I wasn’t sure why.
He tilted his head. “Of course,” he replied.
I led the way to the entrance. There was a bit of awkwardness when we got to the door; we both reached for it at the same time and our hands touched. Where the heck did those tingles come from? I backed off quickly and let him open it. I had no problem with men opening my door, and normally I assumed they would, but I was making no assumptions with Ian, now or ever.
“Um . . . Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He waved me in.
As soon as we walked in, we were hit with the sound of their live salsa band. I had forgotten Fridays were their salsa night. I could tell it made Ian a little uncomfortable. Perfect. He deserved to squirm.
We didn’t even make it to the seating hostess before Alicia accosted me. “Kelli!” she said as she squeezed me to death. She looked me over like a fine Mexican momma. “Eres hermosa.”
Another reason to love this place—it was a great self-esteem booster. “Gracias, igualmente.”
She kissed my cheek and then she noticed I brought company. “Ahh, who is this, Hermosa?”
I wanted to say, “Don’t get your hopes up.” She was constantly trying to set me up. “Alicia, this is Ian. He’s the new Marketing Director at Chandler.” You had no idea how hard that was to say.
She pressed her lips together and patted my arm. I probably shouldn’t have told anyone I was hoping to fill that position. I could have done without the look of pity.
Ian took his cue and shook her hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“You should know Kelli is muy talented.” She dropped his hand and wrapped her arm around me.
Ian tugged on his collar. “I’ve heard that a lot today.” He sounded sincere, but there seemed to be a hint of annoyance mixed in.
On that note, Alicia showed us to a booth toward the back. It was the farthest away from the band which pleased Ian. She took our drink order and kissed my cheek before she left to fill it.
Ian was fixedly staring at me.
“Do you want to know what’s good here?” I asked.
“Sure.” He grinned. “But I was wondering, does everyone in this town know you and love you?”
I laughed. “I think you’ve met most of my inner circle today.”
“Yes, and it’s been painful. I may be the most hated man in Nashville at the moment.” He unfolded his napkin and placed it on his lap.
I couldn’t help but grin and be delighted about that, but I kept mysarcastic comments to myself. It sounded like he’d had enough for the day. I may not like him, but I wasn’t one to pour vinegar into open wounds, at least not all at once.
He leaned forward ever so slightly. “So, Kelli, I think we may have gotten off on the wrong foot today. I’d like to start over if we could.”
“You think?” I responded.
He sat back and folded his arms. “How about this, let’s not discuss business for now.”
“Then whatever do we have to talk about?”
“Well, we haven’t seen each other in almost thirteen years.”
I took a chip from the bowl and dipped it in their homemade salsa. “Really? Has it been that long? I guess time flies when you’re having fun.”
