Romero (21 page)

“I heard the Brazilian steak house here is pretty good.”

No way was she doing a fancy restaurant with him. “I’d rather just grab something from the food court if you don’t mind. It
is
Saturday and I’d like to get this over with and out of here as soon as possible.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Big plans tonight?”

Not really. Even though she wasn’t looking forward to telling Romero about who’d she’d spent her day with, she was anxious to get home to him.
Home.
She thought of their conversation that morning. They were officially living together.

“I’ll take that smile as a yes.”

Isabel felt her face flush as she broke out of her daze. “I’m sorry.” God, she had to stop doing that. It was so embarrassing. “No, no big plans. But it
is
my day off. I’d like to spend some of it relaxing.”

“I gotcha.” He smiled.

When they got to the food court, he let her pick. She chose the fastest—a slice of pizza. Jacob seemed to sense her anxiety about being with him. He had to understand this was awkward for her. Even if it was for him as well, at least he wasn’t in a relationship now. She appreciated that he kept the small talk at a safe level, but just as they walked out of the food court on their way back to finish passing out the flyers he asked, “Are you in love with him, Bell?”

She turned to him surprised by the out-of-nowhere question.

“I’m sorry. It’s just that Pat said she didn’t think you two were very serious, and to be honest I wasn’t quite ready for what I felt when I saw you again. I was just hoping…”

Isabel glanced away. She was going to strangle Pat the very next time she saw her. “It is serious, Jacob, and I
am
in love with him. In fact, he’s moved in with me now. Pat…” Isabel took a deep breath. “Well, she doesn’t know too much about it—about him.”

“She said he’s a security guard?”

Isabel rolled her eyes. Of course Pat would tell him that. “He’s a private investigator and he owns his own security firm.” That’s right. If Pat was going to go around listing everyone else’s attributes she’d list Romero’s. She was very proud of them.

Things were a bit uncomfortable after that. Pat had told Isabel that Jacob said he’d missed her, but she never expected him to mention how he’d felt when he saw her. Pat had set him up for that. Probably put it in his head that she might still have feelings for him as well. God, Isabel was going to let her have it.

Romero had texted her several times throughout the day, mostly to ask how it was going and to tell her he missed her. He had a few things he needed to take care of that day, but lately he’d been trying to leave her days off open.

She was on her way home—finally. He was already there waiting for her. She walked in to find him unpacking a few boxes. “I went by my
old
place,” he said, with a smirk. “To pick up some more of my things.”

She took her shoes off, remembering how Valerie used to fling hers off as soon as she walked in. Romero was her new roomie now. What a difference. One she never would have imagined.

She swallowed and started toward the fridge like a coward, not wanting to face him when she said it. “Jacob and I were assigned to flyer—”

“You know she did.” He walked toward her that undeniable heat in his eyes again. “Just like she planned for him to sit at your family’s table that night—next to
you
. Don’t you see it?”

“Yes. I see it.”

He stood right in her face. “So did you and
Jacob
get a chance to catch up, Isabel? Talk about old times?”

“Don’t call me that. I already told you I hate hearing it from you.”

“Why? It’s your name.”

She felt a lump forming in her throat. She hated to see him—hear him like this. The tears were already blurring her vision. “Because you only call me that when you’re mad at me.”

“Not mad at
you
. Alright what do you want me to call you? Bell? Oh wait, that’s what
he
fucking calls you.” He spun around and stalked back toward the front room. She saw him glance around almost panicked then he saw them—his keys on the coffee table. He grabbed them.

“Where you going?”

“Out.” He glanced at his watch then back at her with a fury worse than earlier. “You know what? Fuck that.” He slammed the keys back on the table, making her flinch. She saw him wince then, close his eyes for a second as if trying to collect himself. His now fisted hand almost shook and he spoke through his teeth. “You were with your ex-boyfriend
all
day, Isabel. So what
did
you talk about? I wanna know.”

Seeing him so enraged and hearing him call her that again made the lump in her throat even bigger. “About the campaign, mostly.”

“Mostly? What else? Did he bring up the past? You and him?”

“No!” Her voice cracked and she took a step toward him. “It was all business. I promise.” She never wanted to be around Jacob again. Not if it upset Romero this much. She reached out for his hand and he recoiled but she grabbed it anyway. It
was
shaking. She looked into his eyes. They went from furious to panicked. Just like the night she’d told him Jacob had been her first. “What’s
wrong
with you?”

“Tell me the truth, Izzy. Did you talk about anything personal? I
have
to know.”

Hearing him call her Izzy, and
feeling
his scared eyes burn deep into her soul did something to her. “Yes.”

He pinched his brows the panic gone now replace with the heat again. “What? What did you talk about?”

“You.” She brought his hand to her mouth and kissed it. “He asked if I was in love with you. And I told him
yes
and that you’d moved in with me.”

“Why would he wanna know?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know.”

“You
do
know, Izzy.” His tone, softened just a notch and again his eyes searched for something deep inside her. “Tell me, baby.”

Hearing him call her that after he’d just called her Isabel twice had a hypnotic effect on her somehow and he seemed to know it. But it was working. She nodded, unbelievably hearing herself say, “Something about not being prepared for what he felt when he saw me again.”

She saw his jaw clench. “And what was that?”

“He didn’t say. I swear to you. After I told him I was in love and how serious my relationship with you is, we changed the subject.”

“That’s it? The whole day. That was the only personal thing you talked about?” He searched her eyes again. “No memories?”

“
No
. Nothing.” She leaned in and kissed him. He barely moved his lips at first, but she continued to kiss him until he suddenly thrust his tongue in her mouth, kissing her
hard
.

Just as suddenly he pulled away. “I don’t want you around him anymore,” he said, bringing her to him by her waist.

“Okay,” Isabel agreed breathlessly, without even thinking about it. What was he doing to her?

He kissed her again, deeper, then bit her lower lip hard, but not hard enough to hurt, arousing her to no end. She bit back. His breathing became heavier. “Tell that fucking sister of yours,” he said, between kisses, “that I know what she’s up to.”

“Um hmm.” Isabel was incredibly turned on, and she didn’t even understand why. She didn’t care anymore that he was disrespecting her sister. Pat had disrespected him, so she deserved it. She undid the top button of his jeans and yanked down the zipper.

They moved over to the sofa. Romero pushed his box of things onto the floor. He always did love her easy-access clothes and ever since he’d told her, she’d done her best to accommodate. She wore a denim skirt that he slid his hands up now, pulling her panties down roughly. “Get ‘em off.” He pulled his hands away to take his wallet out of his pocket and pulled a condom out. “I’m not playing, Izzy.” Never once taking his penetrating gaze away from her, he pulled his jeans down and stepped out of them, then put the condom on. “I swear to God. If you don’t tell her, I will. And trust me you don’t want me to.”

She nodded, transfixed in his eyes, not really caring about what he was saying. It was times like this she felt he had some kind of spell on her. She’d done as he asked and was ready for him when he moved on top of her. He kissed her just as he entered her—kissed her so deep and with so much passion, she felt it down to her curled toes. “No one else will ever love you like I do, Izzy.” He moved faster and she moaned. “You know that, right?”

“Yes,” she barely managed to say, feeling her body react in the usual way it reacted to him—crazy with excitement.

“Say it, baby. Say no one will ever love you like I do.” Her entire body trembled and she moaned even louder. “I wanna hear it.” His voice rasped.

“No one else.” She could barely believe she’d complied so easily, but it was the truth. She wasn’t lying. She believed him without a doubt. “Only you can love me like this.” He stared deep in her eyes for a moment, continuing to
love
her like only he could. She held on to him, amazed at what he did to her. If what he wanted was to own her, he had from the moment he first kissed her. Not just physically but in every way imaginable. She was a sensible grown woman and if she stepped out of the picture for just a second, she might see something wrong with it, but there, that moment, nothing felt more right than being
his
, and she wanted nothing more than for him to know it—feel it.

He squeezed his eyes shut, finishing with a groan. “Only you, Romero,” she panted, feeling the incredible pleasure rip through her body. No one could ever make her feel the unbelievable mixture of emotions he’d put her through this evening alone and she never wanted anyone else to. “I promise.”

Never in his life had Romero felt the need to impress anyone. He’d always done and said as he pleased and if anyone didn’t like it they could just go to hell. Now here he was carrying the golf bag Sal had lent him, ready to meet Arturo, Isabel’s dad, for a round of golf and he was nervous as shit.

Sal had once again gone over the rules and showed him how to keep score, giving him tips then reminding him to watch his language.

Romero thought it was supposed to be just him and her dad but to his surprise and somewhat relief, Charles and her brother, Art were there also. At least it wouldn’t be so one-on-one.

After greeting all of them and making some small talk about the weather, they all made their way on to the course. Romero didn’t even care that he would most likely come in far last as long as he didn’t make a total ass of himself. They all knew he’d never played before. What he didn’t expect was for Art to be worse than he was.

“Maybe you should just watch,” Isabel’s dad said, disgusted, as another chunk of grass flew in the air and Art’s ball rolled off to the side.

Art laughed. “Hey, I’m just here to spend some time with my old man. I couldn’t care less about this stupid game.”

Charles spent more time on his phone than engaging in conversation with them. When he wasn’t talking he was checking his email or texts, then responding.

Romero felt her dad’s eyes sweeping over him, but nothing said he was impressed. He hated feeling like he was being scrutinized. He shook it off and answered as aloofly as possible. “I’ve been doing security for years but I only got the business off the ground this year.”

It was her dad’s turn to putt and as usual, he took his time setting up. Both Charles and Art were on their phones again. Romero stood a few feet from Charles who’d stepped away to answer his call. The entire time he hadn’t paid any attention to any of their phone conversations until he heard a bit of Charles’s current call that caught his attention. “I know, my love. I’ll be done here in about an hour and then I’m all yours for the rest of the day.”

Just hearing it brought a foul taste to Romero’s mouth. How could anyone miss Pat? They continued playing and her father continued to grill him casually. “Is your family originally from La Jolla?”

Romero prepared himself to take the shot before answering. He swung and then watched as the ball flew through the air. He was getting pretty good at this. He turned to her dad who was still watching the ball. “Nah, I was born in Calexico, same as my uncles and dad. We moved up here a few years after they opened up their business. Said the schools and area in general were better for raising a kid. I was about four.”

“What kind of business do they run?”

He knew it was coming and even though he always told himself he didn’t give a shit what anyone thought. Annoyingly, he was beginning to realize that he did now, and maybe he always had. “A bar.” He glanced at her dad then back at Art, who awkwardly set up for his shot. “The Silver Dollar, over on First Street.”