Kelli
It had been almost two weeks since the mortifying, unexpected visit from AJ. Thankfully, Isaiah had been right about them getting an earlier flight, and Kelli had been spared having to have breakfast with his intense youngest brother. She wouldn’t be forgetting the expression on AJ’s face when he realized who she was. It worried her. Was this what she was in for with the rest of the family? Isaiah kept assuring her she had nothing to worry about, but the more she thought about it, the more anxious it made her.
The call she received from her father, the evening AJ had stopped by, had at least been good news. It’d be safe for her to return to La Jolla in as soon as three weeks—one month tops. So Isaiah would be free from this assignment in just a few more short weeks too. She wasn’t exaggerating when she said short. Unlike the months before he arrived, which had dragged on mercilessly, these last few weeks of utter bliss had flown.
The more she got to know about Isaiah and his tight-knit family, the guiltier she felt about keeping him from them for so long. She’d since overheard him on another call with Valerie, only this time he’d referred to her as Val and was as sweet as he had been the first time. Since things were so different now from the first time, Kelli asked him about her. She knew, without a doubt, he’d question any calls she got, especially from a guy, so she figured she had every right to ask what exactly was the nature of his relationship with his real estate agent, one he’d had to apologize for cancelling plans with.
Isaiah had explained there was, in fact, more than a business relationship between him and Val. She was more like family than just a business acquaintance, since he and his brothers were very close to her husband and his family. He explained the Morenos and the Romeros celebrated just about everything together. That event he’d missed because his stay here had been extended was a surprise birthday gathering for her husband, Alex. Valerie had told Isaiah about it the night he arrived here and spoke with her on the phone. He thought he’d be home in two days, so he had agreed to be there.
She’d heard him on the phone earlier with one of his sisters, assuring her he’d be home for the Monster Mash. So despite her dread of seeing his family again—especially Nathan—she was glad they’d be home long before what was apparently a big thing in their family: his uncles’ Halloween party.
When Kelli had suggested she and Isaiah enter the town’s chili cook-off, she’d done so in a playful not really serious sort of way. So she’d been surprised Isaiah had been all for it. They had everything they’d need with all the stuff the previous owners had left behind in the garage: a decent propane barbeque, not the most glamorous thing, but it was in working order; a folding table and chairs; even a dusty canopy. The only thing they’d had to purchase in town was the large pot they’d be using to cook it in.
Then Isaiah mentioned his uncles’ famous chili. He said his uncles bragged enough about how it was made completely from scratch, just as the rules called for, and how, in recent years, they’d entered and won a few of these chili contests. More importantly though, he said he didn’t like saying too much to them because their heads were big enough as it was, but their chili was damn good. “I actually showed up at one of their contests, and let me tell you those two take their chili seriously.”
“Oh my God.” Kelli clutched her chest. “You think they’ll give you the recipe? I just thought it’d be fun to try the cook-off. But we might actually have a shot to win.”
Isaiah peered at her but smiled. “What is it with you and winning?”
Kelli smiled, feeling a little embarrassed. “I just prefer to win than lose. That’s normal, right?”
“Babe, I don’t wanna ask them for it.” He shook his head. “Hell no. Those two live to feel needed. They’d probably offer to fly out here and do the cook-off with us.”
Smiling even bigger, Kelli squeezed his arm. “You think they would?”
“No.” Isaiah laughed, shaking his head adamantly. “I am not having them fly out here. They’d drive me nuts.”
Kelli pouted, making him laugh again, but by the end of the conversation, she’d convinced him to at least get the recipe from them.
~~~
Aside from the meat itself, they’d found just about every other ingredient they needed at the farmers’ market yesterday. That had been a stressful one for Kelli. Given how their first visit to the farmers’ market had ended, she’d hoped Isaiah would agree to waiting for her in the car while she bought everything on the list he’d made after calling Manny. Of course, Isaiah wasn’t having it. Kelli had asked him to promise to behave and asked that he just ignore any possible blatant gawking. He did promise to behave but only said he’d try to ignore any rudeness. Thankfully, they’d made it in and out without incident. But he had suggested she might want to wear her cocktail ring to the cook-off.
“You don’t have to,” he’d been quick to add. “I’m just saying if what happened at the farmers’ market did so before things had changed between us, I ain’t promising shit if any of those rude idiots get on my nerves.”
Kelli played with the cocktail ring on her finger as the music playing in the car was interrupted when Isaiah’s phone ringing came over the speakers instead. They both glanced down at the screen on the dash. The moment Kelli saw the name on the screen she brought her hand to her mouth, stifling a giggle.
“Jesus Christ,” Isaiah muttered, shaking his head. “What is this? The fourth time this morning? I knew I should’ve never asked him for this damn recipe.” He clicked the answer button on his steering wheel. “What now, Manny?”
“Are you already cooking it?” Manny asked.
“We’re not even there yet,” Isaiah said, shaking his head.
Kelli gave Isaiah a scolding frown that reminded him to be nice to his uncle. Already he sounded annoyed and he’d just answered.
“What?” His uncle’s already loud voice got even louder. “What do you mean you’re not there yet? When do you plan on making it?”
Someone in the background, who Kelli could only imagine was his other uncle Max, said something. “I did tell him,” Manny practically yelled. “Wasn’t it the first thing I told you? I said you can’t rush chili. Nothing worse than rushed chili.”
“I’m not gonna rush. It’s not even eight. The judging isn’t until noon. And we prepped everything last night.”
“You did what?”
Kelli couldn’t help but giggle at how staggered Manny sounded.
“Fresh is always a rule at most of these competitions. And you’re in New Mexico! That’s like the fucking capital of chili. Everything needs to be fresh, right down to the tomatoes you can’t even pierce until your right there onsite. This kid,” Manny said, and there was more arguing between him and Max, even as Isaiah pulled into the park’s parking lot and they came to a complete stop. “I knew I should’ve flown out there. Why did I listen to you?”
“Alright, first of all, just calm your ass. You flying out here to help your grown-ass nephew cook a pot of chili is ridiculous.” Isaiah pinched the rim of his nose, shaking his head. “This isn’t that serious, and I meant we chopped the onion for garnish and made the cornbread at home. All the other vegetables that go into the pot haven’t been touched.”
“How ’bout the secret ingredients? You didn’t forget them, did you?”
“No,” Isaiah said, picking up his phone and switching Manny off speaker as he opened the door to get out. “I don’t see how chopped zucchini and carrots are so secret when you can easily see them in the chili.”
They walked around back and met at the trunk of the car as Isaiah continued the call with Manny. As usual, Kelli could hear pretty much everything. He was saying something about the way you mashed the tomatoes.
“Got it. Leave in a few big chunks. Alright, we’re here. I gotta go.”
After several uh-huhs and a few more got-its, Isaiah was finally off the phone.
“I swear to God, if he calls again, I’m turning my phone off.”
“You can’t do that.” Kelli pouted, leaning into him. “He’ll go crazy.”
“Well, he’s driving me crazy,” Isaiah said, pulling the garden wagon they’d found in the garage out of the trunk.
“He’s just excited. This chili sounds like his baby—his pride and joy—he wants it to do well.”
Isaiah rolled his eyes with a smirk then leaned over and kissed her. “I tell you what. Next time he calls you can answer.”
They got everything in the wagon, except the grill Isaiah had to take apart to get it in the back seat of the car. After Isaiah’s second trip back to the car, they had it all. It took them a while to get everything set up so they could start prepping and cooking, and Kelli began to wonder if maybe Manny wasn’t right. Maybe they should’ve gotten there earlier. Many of the other contestants’ stations were up and fully running when they first pulled into the park. But she dared not mention it. Isaiah did make a comment about this probably being the only thing people in such a small town had going on, so of course, they’d make a full weekend out of it.
They started prepping, and the more people that arrived at the festival, the more nervously excited Kelli got, except for the couple of times she got the feeling she was being watched. The first time she’d glanced up, a man a few tables over glanced away quickly. The second time it was a different man, and for a moment, it felt like déjà vu. Memories of that weekend so long ago in Seaport Village, when that man had given her the creeps, came to her.
For a moment, she considered mentioning it to Isaiah. But after a while, she began to notice how many eyes were not just on her but on them, and she shook off the unease she’d begun to feel. She and Isaiah seemed to be the curiosity of the chili cook-off. All the contestants were eyed curiously by passersby but not the way she and Isaiah were being eyed. No doubt they were all still whispering about the incident at the farmers’ market.
“Does your brother like being famous?” she asked as she cut up the secret ingredients.
“There are times when he hates it, but he’s used to it by now.”
“Have you ever envied his fame?” she asked with a smirk, knowing how little patience Isaiah seemed to have when it came to so many things.
“Hell no!” His answer was so immediate it made Kelli giggle. “If I weren’t so damn proud of him, I might envy his God-given talent but never the fame. I’ve had a taste of what that might be like just being related to the guy. After my accident last year, I couldn’t believe how relentless the media were. I mean I knew enough from AJ telling me stories, but fuck, having to deal with them directly, the way I did after I got out of the hospital, was annoying as shit.”
“Well, I’ve never had to experience anything of the sort, and I’m glad I never have because even this is making me uncomfortable.”
Isaiah glanced up from where he was cooking the different meats with a confused expression. Kelli glanced around them casually. Isaiah followed her lead. It seemed to take him a second to get what she was talking about; then he scoffed. “Yeah, I don’t think I’d have the patience for small town gossip either. Really? One little public scuffle weeks ago and we have an audience now?”
He grabbed a towel and wiped his hands then took the few steps toward Kelli. She moved forward, thinking he was trying to get around her. Instead, he stopped right behind her and kissed her exposed nape. “What are you doing?” she asked, immediately tensing up.
Isaiah leaned over her shoulder, bringing his hand around her front and pressed his body against her. “Relax, Kel. Just checking to make sure you chop those just the way Manny said you should.” He kissed her neck then actually sucked for a moment, making that now familiar oh-so-tingly sensation between her legs come alive instantly. “And giving these nosey fucks a show if that’s what they want.”
Kelli glanced up, completely scandalized, as she felt what his show was doing to him. Proof of exactly what his sucking her neck had done to some of his body parts was pressed against her ass now.
“You need to stop,” she whispered as she noticed a few of the people watching glance around or walk away from where they’d been standing around pretending to be watching everyone with equal interest.
“Yeah, I really do.” He swayed his hips against her ass one last time before pulling away. “Damn,” he said as he walked back to the pot with the meat.
Once behind it, he casually adjusted the front of his pants. Kelli couldn’t help laughing. “Guess that backfired on you, didn’t it?”
She watched as those sexy lips curved into a smirk, but he continued stirring the meat, all serious. “Should’ve anticipated that happening.”
Two girls in what appeared to be high-school cheerleading uniforms approached their cooking area. They dropped off all the utensils, napkins, and cups they’d need for the cook off. One of them commented on Kelli’s gorgeous cocktail ring. Of course, Isaiah immediately informed them it was her engagement ring. After admiring a it a bit closer and congratulating them, they walked off, and Kelli turned to Isaiah, her heart all warm and fuzzy.
“I think I love being engaged to you.”
Isaiah turned to face her with a smile. “Well, enjoy it”—he leaned in and kissed her—“because it’s not gonna last.”
If it hadn’t been for the kiss and sweet smile he followed up with, that comment might’ve hurt. “What does that mean?” she asked, pulling back a bit.
“That when we’re actually engaged”—he brought his arm around her waist, pulling her to him—“it won’t be for long. I’ve never understood people who get engaged and stay engaged for years. What’s the point? If you can’t get married for a few years yet, then don’t get engaged until then.”
“A wedding takes time to plan.”
He studied her face curiously. “You wanna big wedding, Kel?”
“Are you kidding me? I blog about fashion and style, and I do hair and makeup. My whole life I’ve been dreaming about my elaborate princess wedding.”
She kissed him, but as much as she wanted to stay there in his arms, she had to get back to chopping vegetables. When she reached the cutting board she’d set up, she glanced up at him, still feeling the butterflies going wild in her stomach that they were even talking about this.
“Not that I ever actually believed I’d have one, it was more of a dream than anything.”
“Really? You’ve never believed you’d get married or have a big wedding?”
“Nope.” Their eyes locked and she knew he’d be confused. “Most of my friends’ parents were divorced, so it was hard to believe in true love being real. My own parents didn’t exactly make a compelling case for it. They never even got married. But mostly I think it was my dad being such an asshole when it came to committing to one woman. When I’d failed to feel any of the things I was supposed to feel for my first everything, I was pretty convinced the whole true-love thing was all a sham, something the entertainment commercial world made up to sell jewelry, movies, records, romance novels, and all things Valentines and wedding related.”
“You don’t feel that way anymore, right?”
The way he was staring at her, with an air of uncertainty, actually warmed her. For over a year, she’d convinced herself it was best she lost Isaiah early on because she could never hold on to someone like him forever. That he would question even for a second that she was so hopelessly in love with him, was slightly relieving. So often she held him in such high esteem; it was nice to see he could be as insecure and as human as she was.
“Of course I don’t.”
“Good,” he said, smiling big. “Because if it’s a big wedding you want, then a big wedding you’re getting.”
Just as the swarm of butterflies fluttered inside her again, Isaiah’s phone rang again, and his smile flattened. As expected, he rolled his eyes when he glanced at the screen.
“I’m not answering it.” He put the phone back down on the table. “If you want to, go right ahead. Tell him my hands are full and I can’t talk. He can give you all the tips and crucial details he forgot to give me the last ten times he called.”
Kelli almost didn’t, but she felt bad. Despite how much the man could annoy Isaiah, she’d heard in his voice how much this meant to him each time he’d called before. So she wiped her hands and walked over to the phone.
“Hello,” she said as Isaiah shook his head but smirked, pecking her.
“Who’s this?”
“This is, uh, Raquel,” she explained, pulling a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “Isaiah has his hands full right now.”
“Ah, yeah, the girl he told me ’bout. I hope you mean his hands are full with the food and not any funny stuff.” He cackled so loudly it made Kelli smile. When he was done laughing at his own joke, he sobered. “Listen. Tell him I’m down here at his cousin Moe’s. His brother and sisters are here too. They’re all asking how comes he never told them about this cook-off. They could’ve gone down there and cheered him on.”
There were lots of voices in the background, mostly women, but she heard a few male voices as well. “Okay, I’ll tell him.”
She shrugged, glancing at Isaiah with a smile. Kelli wasn’t sure if he meant right now or when she was off the phone. “Also tell him to make sure he seasons early and seasons often. The chili should be cooked low and slow.”
The male voice in the background got louder and clearer as if he’d gotten closer to Manny’s voice. “Is that my brother?”
Kelli’s heart skipped. She couldn’t tell if it was AJ or Nathan. Manny told him he still had more chili cooking tips to give. Then the phone muffled and the other voice was talking.
“Hey, ass, how come you didn’t tell me about this? I don’t have to report back to the station for another three days. I could’ve flown out there, and we could’ve been the much-better-looking Romero brothers’ chili tag team.”
If it weren’t because Isaiah’s hands were literally full—he actually looked as if he could use another hand—Kelli would’ve shoved the phone at him. “This is um . . . Raquel.” She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, unbelievably grateful she’d gotten into the habit of introducing herself as Raquel before adding, “But if you wanna wait a second—”
She stopped when she saw how adamantly Isaiah shook his head and mouthed the words “Hell no!”
“Actually, he’s gonna be busy for a while.”
“Raquel?” Nathan’s voice turned playful. “So are you his assistant today? You better-looking than me? We look a lot alike in case you’re wondering. Only I got a lot more muscle.”
Laughing nervously, she gave Isaiah a pleading expression, but it only made him laugh. “You answered it. You’re talking to him.”
“Yeah, he’s, uh, doing most of the cooking. So I guess that makes me his assistant.”
She was not about to address his second question. Incredibly, she heard Manny say something about Nathan needing to stop bothering them while they were trying to concentrate on the chili. One of the female voices in the background asked something about Isaiah.
“Any news on when my brother can come home?”
“A few weeks at the longest,” she offered, trying to think of something—anything—she could say to cut the call. “I have to—”
“You coming with him?” Nathan purred. “I’m actually way better looking than he is. Just thought you should know.” That nearly stopped her heart; then he laughed. “I’m just playing with you, sweetheart. Tell Sai his sisters are gonna kill him the moment they see him. We all could’ve easily made it out there for the weekend.”
“Okay, I’ll let him know. He needs me to help him now.”
Nathan wished her and Sai good luck before finally ending the nerve-wracking call. She turned to see Isaiah rifling through all the containers on the table. “Shit, don’t tell me I left the peppers at the house.”
Kelli’s eyes opened wide as she put Isaiah’s phone down, and she began scouring their area, searching for them. “I could’ve sworn we brought them.”
The peppers were like the number one ingredient Manny had harped on so much. It had to be these specific types of peppers and no others. Luckily, they’d found them at the farmers’ market and now they’d forgotten them? Then it hit her and she grabbed the keys. “They’re in the backseat on the floor. I didn’t want them to get smashed, so I separated them from everything else.”
With that, she was off sprinting toward the car. Once back with their key ingredient, it was on. The rest of the time they spent cooking felt almost like one of those cooking shows they’d been watching together lately, the competitive ones where it always seemed to come down to the wire. As unnerving as it was to be constantly checking how they were doing on time and getting it all to come together, Kelli had a blast. They spent more time laughing and sneaking in kisses than they did worrying about getting it perfect. Isaiah even laughed about how annoyed Manny would be if he could see them.
When they were finally done and their judging bowl was collected, they were able to relax and just enjoy passing out the samples to festival attendants. They got so many compliments on the chili they felt pretty confident they’d at least place—something that excited Kelli to no end and had Isaiah laughing and kissing her every time she smiled, giddy from the compliments.
“Manny doesn’t relax at all during these things until it’s completely over and he’s won.” Isaiah laughed during one of their breaks from the herds of people coming by for a sample. “What’d he want by the way?” he asked, already rolling his eyes.
Things had gotten so hectic right after she’d hung up, Kelli had completely forgotten to even mention it. It made her nervous to even say Nathan’s name, but keeping to herself that she’d talked to him would probably be worse. “Basically,” she said as they both sipped a beer, “to season early and often and cook low and slow.”
Isaiah laughed, shaking his head, then pulled her to him. “That guy is too much.”
“I also talked to Nathan.”
Instantly, the smile was gone, but he seemed more worried than angry. “You did?”
Kelli nodded, trying to read him. “He took the phone from your uncle to scold you about not telling him about today. He said he was off for the next three days and could’ve easily made it out.”
To her relief, Isaiah smirked. “Yeah, that would’ve been fun. What else did he say?”
With a lift and drop of a shoulder, Kelli sipped her beer again before glancing away. “As soon as I told him I was Raquel and that you had your hands full, he asked if I was your assistant and then if I knew when you’d be home. I told him a few weeks.”
That was all she was giving him. Kelli was not about to tell him how playful Nathan had gotten with her. It wasn’t as if Nathan knew who she really was. It served no purpose, and she didn’t want Isaiah thinking even for a second that she’d enjoyed it. Thankfully, that seemed to satisfy him because he squeezed her tighter then kissed her softly. The kiss deepened, making her tingle everywhere as his passionate kisses usually did, until they heard someone clear his throat.
Isaiah pulled away immediately, almost annoyed, but his expression softened when he saw who it was. “So it’s like that now?” Matt said as he and Lori stood there, holding hands and smiling silly.
They’d already been by a few times earlier, but they hadn’t had a chance to chat, and Isaiah hadn’t been all over her as he had been moments earlier.
Kelli ignored the question, licking her still-wet lips. “Are you two back for more chili?”
Matt put his hand over his belly. “God, no! We’ve had so much chili I won’t be eating any for a few months now.” He glanced around then leaned in, lowering his voice a bit. “Some of the chili sucked ass! We had to spit out a few.”
Isaiah and Kelli laughed. “Did it really?” Kelli asked then turned to Isaiah. “Why would anyone go through all the trouble of entering with suck-ass chili?”
“They probably don’t think it sucks.” Isaiah laughed.
“I hope no one said that about ours,” Kelli said with a sudden drop in confidence.
“Oh, no,” Lori said immediately. “Yours was probably one of the best we had. And I’m not just saying that. It really was.”
They chatted for a bit more until another herd came by. Matt let Kelli know where’d they’d be watching a band play and drinking beer so they could meet them there later.
Once they were out of chili and they knew it’d still be a while before the winners were announced, they strolled around the festival. For as small a town as this was, the crowds were huge, and they had a ton of vendors that didn’t even have anything to do with the chili cook-off. They ended up by the band for a while with Matt and Lori then headed to where they’d be announcing the winners of the cook-off.
With so many entrants, Kelli would’ve been happy to be named as one of the ten honorable mentions after the first five initial winners. So both she and Isaiah were floored when they announced the results.
On their way home, they called Manny to give him the news. He’d called several times during the announcing ceremonies, which seemed to go on forever. But Isaiah had sent all his calls to voicemail, and while Kelli felt bad, she refused to answer and risk having to talk to Nathan again.
“Third place out of almost a hundred,” Isaiah informed Manny as soon as he answered.
Manny laughed then announced it to the family members, who instantly chanted in the background. “I’ll take it. Me and Max didn’t even place until our fifth or sixth competition and this was your first time. Just goes to show how good that recipe has gotten.”
“Let me talk to him,” a guy in the background said, and this time Kelli knew for sure it was Nathan.
Trying not to stiffen too much in her seat, she braced herself. Manny argued with Nathan for a few seconds about not being done talking to Isaiah yet, but in the end, Nathan convinced him he just wanted to ask him something real quick, and it was his voice coming in over the speakers.
“Hey, Sai, your assistant said you’d be home in a few weeks. You got a date yet?”
“No, nothing specific, but it shouldn’t be long now.”
“Alright, well, let me know as soon as you have one. The guys down at the station are trying to get a golf tournament together in the next month or so. Me and Kendricks want you on our team.”
“I don’t know if I want you two on my team,” Isaiah said with a smirk. “You two suck.”
“Stupid, I beat your ass last time we played.”
Isaiah laughed, and Kelli knew for sure she’d never get enough of seeing that smile on his face. Just looking at him had her inhaling deeply and smiling all goofily.
“Hey,” Nathan said. “How ’bout that assistant? The girl you’re watching? She hot? She sounded cute.”
Isaiah’s big smile flattened slowly. “You’re on my car speakers. She can hear everything you’re saying.”
Nathan was quiet for a moment then laughed. “Oh, yeah? That’s okay. She was the one flirting outrageously with me today when I spoke with her. It’s the only reason I’m asking.” Kelli’s widened eyes met with Isaiah’s as she adamantly shook her head. “I mean you should’ve seen me blushing over here.”
“You’re full of shit,” Isaiah finally said and Nathan laughed.
“Damn it. I blew it with the blushing thing, huh?” He chuckled some more. “Or I would’ve had you.”
“Oh yeah”—Isaiah rolled his eyes with a smirk—“you would’ve had me.”
Manny was saying something again in the background. “Alright, alright, relax,” he said to Manny. “Sai, I gotta go before this guy bursts a ’roid. Just be sure to let me know as soon as you gotta date so I can set this thing up, k?”
“I will.”
“Bye, Raquel,” he added in that same murmuring way he had earlier.
“Bye, Nathan,” she said, feeling her face warm but not because she was blushing.
Well, maybe she was, but not for the normal reasons a girl does when a good-looking guy flirts with her. This was by far way more awkward than she’d imagined it would be. And that was saying a lot because she’d imagined it would be very uncomfortable when it finally came time to be around Nathan and the rest of his family as Isaiah’s girl. She was dreading it so much. Already this felt beyond awkward, and Nathan didn’t even know who she really was. How in the world was she going to deal with this when they got back?