“I’m sorry, Alma. But I can’t.” A wicked idea ran through his head. She’d said she wasn’t interested in him—but just how true was that? “I have adate.”
Chapter Eleven
Alma gulped. A scowl passed over her beautiful face and she clenched her fists. “A date, Jaime? You’ve got to be kidding me. You’re a real piece of work, do you know that? Coming back into my life, flirting with me, teasing me by taking your shirt off, begging me to teach you about tequila, all the while you’re courting another woman. How long exactly have you been in town? Two days? Fuck you. What the hell is wrong with you?”
He grinned. He enjoyed her hint of jealousy. “Glad to see you haven’t lost your fire, though I saw the spark last night at Mezcalifornia.”
“Whatever, Jaime. Deal’s off. I don’t want to teach you about tequila and have you fix my socials. And clearly, you will never be a gentleman and it’s doubtful you will ever speak Spanish. If it was important to you, you would already speak it. I can’t wait for this nightmare to end. Just show up at the festival and leave.”
“Alma, relax. I’m doing a charity event for Leti. You know Leti? Santi’s sister.”
Alma’s face softened. “You are? That’s so sweet.” But her smile was quickly replaced with a flash of anger. “Why did you let mework myself all up about this? You saiddate. You could’ve just said ‘I have a fundraiser to attend,’ and I would’ve thought you were a lovely human instead of a manipulative narcissistic jackass.”
“Because.” He leaned in closer. Their lips were almost close enough to touch. Her sweet scent filled the space, the space that kept these two bodies that desperately wanted to connect apart. “I wanted to see if I had any chance with you at all.”
She rolled her eyes. “Well, you don’t. I’m not interested in you in the slightest. I just reacted that way because I thought it was pretty shitty that you would come up here and reenter my world and immediately flaunt your dating life in front of my face. Not because I want you currently but because you are my ex.”
He smirked. “Right. That’s exactly why you got upset.”
“You’re so cocky, do you know that? I don’t think it’s possible to turn you into a gentleman.”
“Anything’s possible.”
She threw up her hands. “So, Friday’s out. How about brunch—on Sunday? We could go to Napa.”
“I’ll go wherever you want. But let me plan everything, okay?”
She shook her head. “No. I can’t. I need to be in control. Let me think about it.” She looked at her watch. “I need to bounce. I have to stop by my parents’ house for a bit and then head to work.”
He smirked, opened his mouth, and then quickly shut it without muttering a word.
“What is it, Jaime?”
“It’s just—Carlos invited me to your parents’ house. I’m headedthere now.” He started cracking up. “I swear he told me you wouldn’t be there!”
Her mouth gaped open.
His gaze focused on her beautiful lips, how much he wanted to kiss them once again.
“I…I can’t even. You’re everywhere.”
He pushed his lustful thoughts aside. “Hey, I’m sorry about invading your life. Tell you what—I won’t go to your parents’ house. It’s too much. I get that. To be clear, I was going to leave you alone, but Carlos invited me to the festival, to the park to play soccer, and to your parents’ house.”
Her eyes raked over his body. “I appreciate that. I really do. But you should come.”
Confusion rushed over him. As much as he wanted to spend time with Alma, he had to get out of there—Santi was waiting for him patiently in the car, and this wasn’t how he wanted to reconnect with his ex, though he was happy to take any time he could get with her. Plus, he was intrigued that she wanted to change him. Didn’t women know that a man can only change if he wants to?
Did he?
“Why? Do you want me there?”
She shook her head. “No. Not really. But my parents would love to see you. And I have to leave for work in a bit, anyway.”
She had the option here to bounce, to not spend a second more of her time with him, but instead she gave him permission to go to her parents’ house.
“Don’t they hate me? I wouldn’t blame them if they did.”
“Well, they hated seeing me so fucked-up, but no, Jaime, they don’t hate you. They always liked you.” She gulped. “I mean, mydad thought you were going to ask him for my hand in marriage and propose to me, not dump me.”
