Chapter Five
Jaime stood in front of Alma, taking in her beauty. Back when he first met her, she had been the most gorgeous girl he’d ever laid eyes on. But now, he was staring at a sexy, confident woman.
He had imagined this moment so many times, all the while assuring himself that it would never, ever happen.
They did not need to meet again. They were exes, didn’t share any children, hell, they didn’t even have a pet together.
She was in his past. And he had no clue what he even wanted in his future.
It certainly wasn’t any type of serious relationship for a long time, if ever.
But standing there so close to his ex made all those feelings that he thought he would never have again rush back.
She didn’t respond to him, just stared with her jaw dropped.
Jaime was mesmerized by her lips, which were painted bright red.
He put his hand on the bar to get closer to her.
The counter between them created some false sense of distance that prevented him from pulling Alma into his arms for one risky kiss.
A kiss he would throw away his life for.
A kiss that would never happen.
Say something, pendejo.
“Nice place you have here.” God, he was such an idiot. He had to at least acknowledge the awkwardness of the moment. But he couldn’t even bring himself to do that. “You look great.”
She sneered at him. Okay, complimenting her was not his best move, especially with a lame line like that. And he usually had all the lines and moves.
Her brother, Carlos, narrowed his gaze at Jaime.
They had been close once and used to always play soccer together.
Carlos was an amazing athlete, but so was Jaime.
Jaime used to feel an ease with Carlos that he never felt with his own brothers.
Ramón and Enrique loved him and had his back, but being the spoiled baby brother to his older protective siblings was a hard dynamic to break.
“What’s up, Carlos?” was the best greeting Jaime could come up with. A fist bump or bro hug was way out of the question.
Carlos just shook his head and turned to his sister. “Want me to handle this?”
She mouthed No. Her long hair cascaded over her breasts. “No. I got it.”
New approach. “I’d like to order your best tequila, on the rocks.”
Her jaw slowly closed, and she narrowed her gaze at him. “On the rocks? Only someone who knows nothing about tequila would order it on the rocks. Why waste my best liquor on someone who can’t even tell the difference between a blanco and a reposado?”
He winked. “Easy, babe—blanco means white.” Uh. He hadn’t meant to call her babe—he had no right to call her that. Even so, the term of endearment slipped off his tongue naturally.
Alma rolled her eyes and exhaled loudly. “I’m not your babe.” He could almost hear the contempt that was probably silently spewing in her mind.
Maybe this was a mistake. Not maybe, definitely. Santi had been right—Jaime shouldn’t have shown up here like this, unannounced. She had no warning, no way to prepare herself for his arrival. He had ambushed her. He was such an asshole.
He gulped. “I’m sorry for surprising you like this. Can we talk?”
Her beautiful, perfectly symmetrical face contorted. “Talk? About what? I have nothing to say to you.”
“Just talk. Catch up. It’s been so long. I know you’re working right now, but maybe later? When you get off?” He would love to get her off, but he kept his mouth shut.
She tossed up her hands. “You’re unbelievable Jaime, you really are. You show up here out of the blue after dumping me three years ago, and now you want to talk? I have nothing to say to you. Nada.”
Jaime clenched his fists. “Well, when you put it like that, it sounds shitty. I’m sorry, Alma. I was young.” And stupid.
“So was I, but I would’ve done anything for you. You said you loved me. Remember?”
Her voice rose and Jaime noticed that a few patrons were staring at him.
His gut wrenched—he hated making a scene.
“I do, actually. For what it’s worth—I meant it.
” In the moment. It was only after he said those words that he questioned them.
Not whether he loved Alma—but if he even knew what love meant.
“It’s worth nothing.”
Ouch. Her words stung, but he deserved them.
She closed her eyes and placed her hands together in a prayer position. After a moment, she slowly opened her eyes and gazed at him. “Jaime Luís Montez.”
The way she said his name tortured him—like he was a child being scolded by his mother. Though his own mother had never even bothered disciplining her youngest. He was the baby, neglected by her, and raised by nannies. Jaime got away with murder.
“In case you can’t tell, this bar is packed. My bar is packed. And I have a very important critic coming in tonight. I don’t have time for this drama.”
As if on cue, an older man wearing a shiny black suit walked in the front door. He beelined to the bar, straight to Alma.
But her focus didn’t leave Jaime.
She raised her voice. “And I have no desire to talk to you. None. Not today, not tomorrow, never. So please, just leave.” She pointed her long, manicured nail toward the door. “Now. I’m not asking.”
Jaime winced. He hoped the man in the suit wasn’t the critic, watching this telenovela play out.
He needed to exit now before causing more of a scene and damaging her business.
He considered pleading with her, but his gut told him he was fighting a losing battle.
He didn’t want to make this any worse than it was or disrespect her any further.
But he couldn’t bring himself to leave either.
He rubbed his neck and looked right at her and spoke in a low tone.
“I’m sorry I came by your work unannounced.
That wasn’t cool of me. And I’m sorry about what happened in college.
I was young and not ready for forever.” He pulled his business card out of his pocket.
“I’m in town for a month, staying with Santi.
I would love it if you would let me take you out to lunch, at least to explain why I was such a complete asshat and ended things so abruptly.
But if not, I respect that.” He slid the card over to her on the bar.
She picked it up, glanced at it for a second, and then tossed it in the trash.
Alrighty then.
The man in the suit’s face narrowed into a scowl.
He definitely seemed like a critic. For Alma’s sake, Jaime hoped he was wrong.
Time to bounce.
“Got it. Goodbye, Alma. This bar is amazing. I’m proud of you, and I don’t mean that in a condescending way. Just that you’ve done well for yourself. I’m in awe. Good night.”
And with that, Jaime turned and walked out of the bar. The man in the suit followed a few steps behind him and stomped to his car.
Looked like starting a tequila brand wouldn’t be as easy as Jaime had first thought. Though it may be easier than what he had just done—leave the only girl he’d ever loved behind.
And now that he had seen her again, he was certain that what he felt for her years ago was in fact love.
Jaime reached into his pocket to grab his phone and shot off a text: You were right. I’m on my way.
He walked down Tiburon Boulevard and made a sharp left into one of his old comfort restaurants—a place that might be able to take the sting out of Alma’s rejection.
Sam’s Anchor Cafe.
Oh, Sam’s. Back when he and Alma were in college, and she would visit her hometown, he would take her on day dates in Tiburon.
Life was so carefree then. They would sit on the deck overlooking the water and dream of their future.
Even then, Jaime was cautious not to promise her anything.
He was always painfully aware that he was a Montez first and foremost, and he couldn’t just do whatever he wanted to whenever he wanted to.
Though now, with his father’s absence, he finally felt free.
Not that he was ready for a relationship.
Back then, he admired Alma because her parents had no expectations that she would return home and work on the family business.
In fact, it was quite the opposite. Her mother was a maid, and her father was a gardener.
They worked so hard their entire lives so their children could have better ones.
So, though Alma definitely felt pressure to help out her parents financially, she was free to pursue whatever career excited her.
Her dreams were her own. There was no family business to work for, no decade-long business rivalry to tarnish her company’s hard work, no wrongs of her family that she needed to make right.
Growing up in San Diego, Jaime had a blessed life, well, besides his parents’ acrimonious divorce.
Jaime lived in La Jolla, went to the best private schools, and was coached by the best soccer players.
He spent his summers surfing in Baja and his winters skiing in Lake Tahoe, with spring breaks sunbathing in Kaua’i and Thanksgivings hiking in Yosemite.
And as the baby, Jaime always had Ramón and Enrique there to protect him.
Being the son of a fast-food tycoon also came with perks.
His father had introduced the fish taco to San Diego, and later to the rest of California.
It had been a rousing success, until his father and Ramón bought the block in Barrio Logan where Julieta’s own restaurant was.
Turns out that Julieta’s mom, Linda, was his father’s spring break fling, and his father had stolen the fish taco recipe from Linda.
Luckily, Ramón was able to fix things without further damaging the brand.