Lets get you all warmed up for Romero. If you've read Always Been Mine this scene will be very familiar to you. Only now you get to be in Romero's head and see what he was really thinking when this happened. If you haven't, the scene is pretty self explanatory. Only thing you need to know is, even though this is pretty early on in their relationship, it's been
firmly established that they are
exclusive.
Waking up next to Isabel was a mixed feeling for Romero. On the one hand, he loved seeing her first thing when he woke up. On the other, he was afraid if he got too used to it he’d never want to wake without her again. He wasn’t sure if she was ready for that. His feelings for her had taken him by storm. He was afraid of freaking her out.
Hearing something in the front room, he sat up. He frowned when he realized he woke Isabel, but then smiled at her perfectly naked body. “That’s probably Valerie. What time is it?”
“Nine.”
“Really?” She sat up. “Already? I never sleep that late.”
Romero smiled, remembering why. “We had a long night.”
Isabel got out of bed and searched her closet. “What are you looking for?”
“My robe. It’s in here somewhere.”
She found it, flung it on and hurried out the room. Romero sat up and pulled his jeans on. He walked out into the restroom. When he walked out of the restroom, he saw Isabel hurry back into the room. The phone in the kitchen rang.
“I got it!” Valerie yelled from the front room.
It kept ringing so Romero walked out into the kitchen. He froze when he came face to face with Valerie. She seemed surprised to see him, especially since he was still shirtless and barefoot. Her expression amused him. “You gonna get that?”
“No,” she said, her eyes obviously trying to avoid his bare chest. “The answering machine can pick it up.”
The machine went off just as Isabel came out of the room, now dressed in shorts and a blouse. Romero turned back to Isabel when the machine beeped.
“Isabel this is Michael. I just wanted to tell you I had a fantastic time with you Friday night…”
Isabel took a step toward the machine, but stopped when Romero stepped in front of her. The heat inside him, already on the rise. The kind of heat that made him do things he never wanted Isabel to be witness to. He swallowed hard, trying to understand what he was hearing. She’d said she was with her sister Friday night. He listened as the message went on.
“… I’ll be here a little longer than I thought, so I was hoping I could see you again before I leave…”
He couldn’t take his eyes off Isabel, feeling his heart beat pick up with every word the fucker on the machine said.
“… I hope we can make this happen.” He left his number for her, then hung up.
“Funny story,” Isabel said, attempting to make light of it, but Romero felt on the verge of exploding.
He tried to stay calm, hoping she did have a reasonable explanation. “Yeah, Isabel? Tell me about it.”
“My sister set this up before we even started going out.”
Instantly Romero saw red. “You were on a date with this guy Friday?”
“No, we just had dinner—”
“That’s a date! What else did you just do with him?” Vision of her with another guy assaulted him and the guys words slammed into him. “You know what? I don’t wanna know.” The urgency to get out before he snapped had reached a disastrous stage. He rushed to the room. “Whatever you did, it was fucking fantastic!”
Romero pushed the door to her room open, slamming it against the wall. There were only a handful of times he’s felt this way in his life and each time he’d exploded beyond his control. He didn’t want that to happen now. That side of him was off limits to most people he knew, but especially, Izzy. He grabbed his shoes and slipped one on as she walked into the room, closing the door behind her. He couldn’t even look at her.
“I’m sorry. She’d set this up a long time ago.”
With his heart already pounding away, he attempted to speak. “Why would she still expect you to go if you’re with me now?”
She didn’t say anything. He stopped what he was doing and stared, feeling the hurt pummel through him. She still hadn’t told her sister.
“I just didn’t think it was a big deal to get—”
“Not a big deal? You lied to me!” She flinched when he yelled and he immediately regretted it. That was it, if he didn’t get out of there now, he might do or say something worse he’d regret.
Feeling his temper reach a level where there was no turning back from, he slipped on his other shoe and grabbed his shirt, rushing past her and out the bedroom door.
“I’m sorry, Romero,” she said, as he walked past a very stunned looking Valerie.
“I’m sorry, too. Go call him back, Isabel. Make it happen.” He grabbed his keys and wallet and rushed out.
He fought the incredible urge to go back and demand to know what the fuck was so fantastic about Friday night. No guy would call a date fantastic if nothing had happened. That’s the reason why he stopped her before she answered. If she so much as admitted to kissing the guy, Romero would’ve gone off the deep end for sure.
Coming very soon...
