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Desiree sat down and crossed her legs. “Looks like I interrupted your dinner.”
“You want some?” He opened the pizza box and showed her the inside. Four slices left.
She crossed her legs and whipped out a notepad and pen. “No, thanks. I already ate. Tonight I’m covering a lot of ground. I want to make sure we know as much about each other as possible before we go to my boss’s house, where the dinner will take place. I was thinking we could say we’ve been a couple for six months?”
Montez shrugged. “Works for me.”
“Perfect. Maybe we met through mutual friends? My friend, Nina—”
“Whoa, time out.” He used his hands to indicate the universal sign for time out. “We need to stick as close to the facts as possible. The fewer lies we have to remember, the better.”
“Good point. So, we met at Kizzie’s Diner and hit it off.”
“Sounds good to me. Might want to leave out the one-night stand part.”
She shot daggers at him. “I wasn’t planning to mention that. Hobbies… you mentioned golf and hiking before.”
“That’s right,” Montez said around a mouthful of pizza.
“You know I like hiking too. I read a lot and swim laps a couple of times a week at the gym near my house. I haven’t done much photography lately, but I showed you some pictures at Kizzie’s, so you’re familiar with my work. Next, you need to know the names of the people you’ll be meeting. They’re Ethel and Mark Stumpton, and Mark is a second-generation owner of Carolina’s Closet. It was founded by his mother, Carolina, and after she passed, he took over.”
“Got it.”
The rest of the conversation consisted of them discussing their jobs. Montez learned she took a marketing manager job at Carolina’s Closet because they offered a better benefits package and opportunity for advancement than the job she had before, and she eventually became one of the vice presidents of marketing. He gave background information on his family’s business, which was the brainchild of his mother, the CEO. His father worked there as the CFO.
“Any other family members work there?” Desiree asked, scribbling fast.
“My older sister, Stacy, and my brother, Devonte, who you talked to before. Stacy is our COO, and Devonte is in charge of intake and scheduling. My younger sisters and brother aren’t interested in the company. My brother’s in grad school, one sister is abroad, and my other sister is in med school.”
She finished writing. “Got it.
“What about you?”
“I have…” Desiree paused. “I haven’t seen you write a single note the entire time I’ve been here.”
“I don’t need to. I have a good memory.” He sipped his beer.
“Montez.”
“Relax and trust me. Go ahead.”
She pursed her lips but continued. “I have a younger sister who’s a social worker. She got married a few years ago and moved to Alabama, where her husband is from. Her name is Monica.”
They continued the conversation, covering details about each other’s family that they should know if they had really been in a relationship for six months. Montez listened to her talk as he went to the kitchen and dumped the empty beer bottle and pizza box.
“Number one pet peeve?” she asked, looking up at him.
He idly tossed a foam basketball in the air as he paced in front of the windows facing the parking lot. “People who are habitually late.”
“Ohmigod, that’s the worst. I hate it too.”
“It’s rude as hell. My time is just as valuable as yours.”
“Exactly! I have a friend who’s like that. We stopped inviting her to go out with us.”
“That sucks.” Montez tossed the ball in the air and caught it.
“We didn’t have a choice. Some places won’t seat you until your entire party has arrived. It was annoying, and her explanations were always lame.”
