Romero (7 page)
Authors: Elizabeth Reyes
Romero turned to see Angel’s oldest brother being greeted by Angel and Sarah. “Yeah, that’s him.” He turned back to her. “Why?”
“I’ve heard a lot about Alex’s brothers. He looks just like them.”
Sal was still working on his master’s in business management, something no doubt Valerie had mentioned to Isabel—exactly the kind of guy Isabel was probably into. Of course, even without the education, Angel and his brothers always got this kind of reaction from chicks. He watched her, feeling a little disgusted, as her eyes lingered in Sal’s direction for too long, her dark eyes almost twinkled. For some reason he thought women like Isabel would be immune to this kind of shit, but her eyes even brightened, then there was an all-out smile.
Romero turned, fully expecting to see Sal giving her the same goo-goo eyes. Instead, he saw Valerie walking toward the bar, also smiling. Sal wasn’t even within eyesight anymore. As Valerie got closer, he could see her eyes were a little red.
“Are you okay?” Isabel asked as soon as she was close enough.
“Just dandy,” she said to Isabel then to Romero she said, “I need a shot. In fact line them up, I’m gonna need more than one.”
“Valerie, don’t,” Isabel warned.
“You said you’re driving right?” Romero poured the shot.
“Yeah, but—”
“So what’s the problem? If she needs a few shots, she needs a few shots.”
Valerie didn’t share anything about why she was feeling down. Isabel didn’t push either. Romero sensed it wasn’t something they wanted to talk about in front of him. He almost left them alone to talk, but then Valerie something that made him stop and pour himself another beer. “Did you meet Sal?”
Romero pretended to concentrate on pouring his beer with as little head as possible, as if he hadn’t had it down to an art since high school.
“No, but I saw him.”
“What did you think?”
It’s not like he cared. He wouldn’t even begin to pretend he and Isabel could possibly have anything in common. But the thought of a seeing those cute facial expressions, while she lay under him,
had
begun to cross his mind. He had to know now, if Sal was going to be doing some cock-blocking.
“He’s exactly like you described—Alex, only not as huge.”
“I’ll introduce you if you want. He’ll probably come by a little later. He just makes me a little nervous.” Valerie put out her empty shot glass for a refill.
Romero took it. “Why’s that?” He poured the tequila a little higher this time. “Why does Sal make you nervous?”
Valerie glanced around. “I don’t know. He’s a perfect gentleman and all, but he’s so smart.”
“That’s stupid. He’s just like Angel and Alex only he’s gone to school longer than them.”
He saw Valerie’s eyebrow shoot up when he used the word stupid. But it was. So he stayed in school longer, that made him different? Romero grew up with all three. Only difference with Sal is he could hold out longer before blowing a fuse, but it’s not like he never had. And unlike his brothers, he’d never gotten hung up on any one girl, but there certainly wasn’t a shortage of them.
“I know,” she said sounding a little defensive. “For some reason he just makes me nervous, okay?”
Romero rolled his eyes. “I’ll introduce you, Izzy.” He handed Valerie her shot, “That is, if you really want to meet him.”
He glanced at her casually and saw she blushed again, but not quite as dark as she had when he called her sexy. “If I meet him, I meet him. Don’t go out of your way.”
She didn’t have to tell him twice. He certainly wouldn’t. As luck would have it, by the time Sal made it over to the bar, the girls had gone over and sat with Sarah and the other bridesmaids. Isabel spent the rest of the evening away from the bar and Romero found himself fighting the annoying urge to look her way every five minutes.
Outranked
Even though it was heartbreaking all over again for Valerie, Isabel was proud of her. She’d confronted her demons. As sure as she was the day of the shower that she was completely over Alex, seeing him again had been so much harder than she had imagined. The devastating kiss he planted on her when he got her alone, almost did her in, but she managed to stand her ground. Isabel hadn’t been mistaken about Alex being shaken at the wedding shower. Valerie had lied tellin him she was seeing someone else now.
There were a few more events coming up before the wedding, but Isabel was determined to get Valerie through this. If that meant she had to be there for her at all the events, so be it. That made her think of something else—Romero. Since he was one of the best men in the wedding, he’d be at all the events as well. In the two weeks since the shower, she hadn’t quite been able to stop thinking of his smug smirk, and that look in his eyes when he called her sexy.
The woman doing her nails smiled at her suddenly, and Isabel realized she’d been smiling silly. She felt her face warm. What a goofball she must look like, sitting there staring into space with a big, inane smile.
As she usually did when her nails were drying, she wore her earpiece and spoke with one of her sisters or her mom. Since she’d been so busy lately with all the papers she had to grade, she had to get creative about making time to keep in touch with her family. This time it was Pat.
“Hear me out, okay?”
Isabel laughed. “Nothing good ever comes after those four little words.”
“But this
is
a good thing, Bell.”
“So why the forewarning?”
Her sister sighed. “Because I already know how you are. No is always the first word out of your mouth at the mention of anything out of your little comfort zone.”
“Not true.” But it was. She could almost see her sister rolling her eyes.
Instead her sister took a deep breath. “Whatever you say, Bell. Anyway, Charles has a friend visiting in a few weeks. He’s a highly ranked officer and—”
“Pat, you said you wouldn’t do this again.”
“Will you let me finish?”
Her sister would never stop trying to set her up with her husband’s highly ranked friends. Just like with her education and her career, Pat was such a control freak. She just
had
to have a hand in her sister’s love life as well. Isabel took a deep breath. “Go ahead.”
“He’s a very nice man, Bell.”
“So why’s he single?”
“Well… just like you. He hasn’t found that right person yet.”
Ouch!
“Just give it to me up front. What’s wrong with him?”
The last guy Pat set her up with was the creepiest guy she’d ever met. Pat hadn’t met him until that night either. His eyes would bug out sometimes for no reason.
“There’s nothing wrong with him. I’ve actually met this guy a few times. Only I didn’t realize he was single, or I would’ve had you two meet a long time ago. He’s very good-looking, Bell. I promise, and he’ll only be here for a couple days. He’s stationed in Germany right now, but he’ll be back in California for good in a few months. Charles and I were going to have dinner with him when he flies out, so I thought it would be nice if you would join us.”
Who was Isabel kidding? Pat wasn’t going to take no for an answer. “When?”
“Some time in the coming weeks.” Isabel could almost hear her sister’s smile. “I’ll let you know when I know for sure what day.”
She wrapped up her conversation with Pat and gathered her things. On her way down the escalator, she was lost in thought. Visiting Germany might be nice one day.
“Izzy!”
She glanced around, spotting him at the bottom of the escalator. Romero stood there in jeans and snug black t-shirt. Since the t-shirt was much tighter than the dress shirt he’d worn at the shower, she could now see his impressive build. She could definitely see why he was in the security business.
That playful smirk she’d been thinking about for the past two weeks was now an all out smile.
“Hey,” she said as she reached the bottom.
“Fancy meeting you here.” He reached his hand out to make sure she didn’t trip on that last step.
She took his hand, taking notice of the firm grip. They stepped aside to let everyone else go by and stood off to the side of the escalators. “I was getting my nails done. What are you doing here?”
“Let me see?” He held her hand in his, examining her nails. “Very nice—no M this time?”
She shook her head, taking her hand back and examining her nails again. “No, they always get me with something extra. This time it was my toes.”
Romero looked down and smiled. “
Very
nice.”
The way he said that made her face heat up and she prayed he wouldn’t notice. “So what are
you
doing here?”
Just like at the party, even a simple question like that seemed to amuse him. “I just came down to uh, find a few tools I needed.”
“Tools?”
“Yeah, at Sears.”
“Oh.” She nodded. “Did you find them?”
“Nah, they didn’t have what I needed.” Isabel got that same feeling when he looked at her, that there was some kind of inside joke, and she’d been left out again. Only this time there was no one around whom he might be csonspiring with. “So what do you do after you get your nails done?”
“Go home.” Maybe she should’ve said something more exciting.
His smile dissolved. “But it’s Friday.”
God, she felt pathetic. “I came here straight from work.” That smile would be the end of her.
“So you don’t have plans for tonight?”
“Um… well—”
“Good. Let’s go grab something to eat.”
“I’m… uh… now?” He caught her so off guard. She couldn’t come up with an excuse fast enough. Why she was trying? She had no idea, but she’d always been that way. Her first reaction to an invitation from any guy was to think of an excuse to say no.
“Yeah, why not?” For the first time, he didn’t seem so sure of himself. But he’d asked the perfect question.
Why
not?
“Okay. I
am
getting kind of hungry.”
The wicked smile was back. What could he possibly be thinking that was so damn amusing?
To her surprise, he suggested her favorite restaurant at the mall, calling it his favorite as well—Frisco’s, the fifties style burger joint with servers on roller skates. The waitress brought over their menus, but Romero told her he already knew what he wanted. The double Frisco with onion rings, and a strawberry shake. He asked her to bring out the onion rings first, like an appetizer. Isabel ordered the same. She handed her menu back to waitress. “Only make mine a single.”
Romero didn’t even wait for the waitress to leave before asking, “So, really? Friday night and you didn’t have plans?”
He made it sound so unheard of. “I don’t always make plans until the last minute.” As if all her plans weren’t meticulously thought out days in advance, but she kept a straight face.
He cocked an eyebrow. “You might still be doing something tonight?”
“Well, that depends.”
The eyebrow shot up even higher. “On what?”
She had to think fast. “Like who calls.” Because God knew, her phone would be ringing off the hook. “Or if I’m even feeling up to it, by the time I get home.”
“True,” he said, with that evil,
evil
smile, “because I just might wear you out.”
Isabel could’ve kissed the waitress for interrupting the moment. The waitress set their shakes down in front of them, and though Isabel pretended to be completely distracted by them, she couldn’t help but notice him sit back and really take her in again. As if when he’d done so at the shower, it hadn’t been enough.
“Wow.” Again, he didn’t bother to wait for the waitress to walk away. “I’ve never met someone who blushes so fast. It’s…” He snapped his fingers and laughed. “Just like that.”
Isabel noticed the waitress glance at her before walking away. Her face got even hotter. She took the straw in her mouth, closing her eyes for an instant. Her phone rang in her purse and she didn’t care if it was telemarketer, she was answering. “I gotta get this,” she said to a still smiling Romero. She pressed talk without even looking at who it was. “Hello?”
“Bell, I almost forgot. Daddy’s birthday is next week. I’m making dinner for him at my place. Keep Saturday open, okay?”
“Sounds good.”
Romero’s eyes were on her the entire time. His lips wrapped around the straw of his milkshake, but his eyes never swayed from hers. “Are you near a computer? Can you look something up for me?”
“No. I’m not home yet. I’m out having dinner.”
Her sister was silent for a second then came the inevitable, “Umm… okay… with who?”
Isabel glanced at Romero again who hung on her every word. “With Valerie.”
Thankfully, the waitress dropped off the onion rings. “Oh… okay, tell her I said hello.”
“I will.”
Romero picked up an onion ring and took a bite. He glanced around very obviously. “I don’t see Valerie.”
Isabel picked up one of the onion rings, tearing it and half. “Trust me. If you knew my family, you’d understand why I said that. That was my older sister. If I had said I was having dinner with a guy, she would’ve had me on the phone forever, giving me a complete interrogation. She’s very… inquisitive about that kind of stuff.”