“Yeah, I think I’ll name my first born Chula Vista,” Max said with a snort.
“Denver’s actually not that uncommon a name,” Sal informed them with a chuckle.
Romero stopped listening to his uncles’ obnoxious comments because he was busy watching Izzy and Elliot talking just off the side of the kids’ table. Before Elliot’s “amazing” comment, Romero had already said he wasn’t going to obsess about the guy. Now here he was doing just that. Izzy’s back was turned to Romero, so he couldn’t see her expression, but the guy looked way too interested in whatever it was she was saying. Romero knew he was probably just being paranoid, but at one point it even looked as if whatever she’d said had wowed him because his eyes opened wide and his mouth fell open. If Romero weren’t mistaken, Elliot even seemed to catch himself because he glanced back at Romero and quickly changed his expression.
“So that’s the boss Alex told me about, huh?” Sal asked with a knowing smirk.
Romero took another swig of his beer and nodded, knowing Sal already knew why he was watching them so closely.
“Good-looking fella,” Aida said.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Manny’s face soured, and he held his hand up, all animated. “Where did that come from?”
“What?” she asked, taking a drink of her beer straight from the bottle as she always did. “I’m just saying he’s good-looking.”
“Yeah, but Moe don’t wanna hear that shit,” Manny said, glancing back at Izzy and Elliot again. “This is the guy his wife spends four hours a day with every day. He’s one of them intellectuals who probably throws his brains around to impress women. And you heard him,” he said, lifting his eyebrow exaggeratingly high. “He thinks she’s amazing.”
Romero rolled his eyes. “It’s cool. I’m not sweating it,” he lied.
It was partially true. That Izzy would ever do anything to jeopardize their marriage he wasn’t sweating at all. He knew he could trust her. But Manny was right about one thing. She did spend a lot of time with this guy at work. What the hell could she have to talk to him about now, and whatever it was, why couldn’t she come back and do it in front of Romero? It’s not like they were standing there until his daughter felt comfortable enough for him to walk away. They weren’t even looking in the little girl’s direction anymore, and his daughter wasn’t as timid as she appeared to be earlier, because she was already laughing with the other kids.
“You shouldn’t be,” Manny said, lifting a finger. “But don’t be stupid either. Remember what I told you. Keep your eyes and ears open.” His uncle pointed at his eyes and ears as if he needed to demonstrate. “You two is real young still, and Izzy’s probably just that professor’s type with her being all brainy and shit. I’m tellin’ you”—he shook his head—” I hear about this all the time down at the bar: guys in there talking about carrying on a flirtation with someone who’s off limits.” He pointed at Romero with that look he put on when he was being overly serious about something. “It’s usually someone they worked with too.”
“Izzy’s not like that,” Romero said, feeling even more irritated.
“Yeah, that’s ridiculous, Manny,” Aida said, shaking her head.
“I agree,” Sal said, standing up. “I wouldn’t give it a second thought.”
“Oh, yeah?” Manny asked, pointing behind Sal. “Look at your wife over there, kissing on that good-looking stud.”
They all turned immediately to where Grace was bending over hugging and kissing little Sal on the head. Manny burst into wheezing laughter followed by Max, and then Aida’s snorting started up. Their annoying outburst at least served a purpose. It got the attention of Izzy and Elliot. Izzy was watching and smiling, not looking nearly as mortified as she’d pretended to be last night when Romero reminded her that her boss would be having dinner with these two. Instead, she turned back and said something to Elliot. Then they finally made their way back to the table.
About fucking time.
There was only one seat open next to Romero, and he patted it, making sure he didn’t get stuck next to Elliot. He also didn’t want her to think for a second he’d be okay if she sat away from him somewhere next this guy to try to make him feel more comfortable. That wasn’t happening.
Izzy took the seat next to Romero as Elliot walked around the table to the open seats across from them. Thankfully, he didn’t say anything else that would have the hair on Romero’s body standing again.
Her explanation as to what they’d been talking about for so long was vague: something about his daughter who was supposed to have spent the holiday with her mom. She was a daddy’s girl and had actually called pleading with him to bring her today. His son, on the other hand, who was in his rebellious early teens and still angry about the divorce refused to come when Elliot had invited him too. It all seemed innocent and harmless enough. Yet the annoyance still lingered.
Minutes later, when they announced the buffet was ready for everyone to come up and help themselves, Romero waited until Elliot got up to serve himself. He leaned into Izzy, lowering his voice. “He brought you flowers?”
As if prepared for the question, she quickly clarified, “It’s a table arrangement. He said he didn’t want to walk in empty-handed, and since this is a restaurant, he felt silly bringing a dish or dessert, so he brought that.” She pointed at the arrangement sitting at the center of the table where Alex had put it down. “And he brought it for the host, so technically, it’s for the Morenos, not me.”
Romero pursed his lips, staring at her with no choice but to accept the explanation. Though admittedly it did make him feel better. He stopped short of asking why they’d taken so long to get back to the table and what the hell else they’d been talking about for so long. He knew his unease with Elliot was unfounded and he had nothing to worry about, but he couldn’t help feeling irritated regardless. He was, however, determined not to ruin the holiday over something he knew wasn’t worth it.
“There goes Romeo,” Isabel said, standing up. “I’m gonna go help him.”
“Babe, leave him. He can serve himself.”
She gave him a look then shook her head. “He’s gonna make a mess. And that’s a brand new outfit he’s wearing.”
Just then Alex and Angel sat down across from them with loaded plates, reserving a seat each for Valerie and Sarah. “Where’s Valerie and Sarah?” Izzy asked.
“Making sure the younger kids don’t make a mess,” Alex said, placing his satin napkin on his lap.
“You see,” Izzy said to Romero with a smirk. She leaned over and kissed him. “Aren’t you gonna eat?”
“In a minute when the line dies down,” he said. As soon as she walked away, he turned back to Alex and Angel. “What I need is a fucking shot.”
Alex’s eyes were immediately filled with humor as he glanced back at the buffet area where Elliot still was. “That bad?”
“What?” Angel asked, confused.
“Isabel’s boss is here.” Alex chuckled. “A divorced professor. Isabel’s his assistant and you know this guy.”
“Why’s he here?” Angel asked, looking as irritated by this as Romero.
“Thank you!” Romero said, standing up. “She invited him.” He shrugged. “Don’t get me started. I need a beer. You guys want anything?”
They both said, “Yes,” and he was off toward the bar. With all the employees having the day off, there were no bartenders on duty either, but Eric and Sof were behind the bar. “Grab me three beers, Eric, yeah?”
“They’re not all for you, right?” Sofie teased, smiling.
Romero smiled. “Nah, your brothers. You guys sitting by us?” he asked as Eric placed the beers on the bar one by one. “There’s still room.”
“Four o’clock.”
Max’s loud voice in his ear made him jerk his head away, and he turned to his uncle with a scowl, feeling even more irritated. “What?”
Max asked Eric to get him a beer too and a soda for Manny then repeated, “Four o’c
lock,” gesturing with his eyes.
Romero turned in the direction Max had gestured and stopped cold when he saw Izzy and Elliot standing in a corner, chatting again. They were each holding a full plate in one hand and a drink in the other. Just then Elliot glanced in their direction then said something to Izzy, who turned to Romero and smiled. She turned back to Elliot, and in the next second, they both started back to the table.
Was she kidding him with this shit? Izzy had to know this guy being here in the first place was already trying his patience. Having to not only hear but see the admiration in his eyes when he called her amazing was bad enough, but seeing his wife blush like a school girl about it had just shot things up a hundred notches. Now this? What the fuck was she doing? He grabbed the beers without saying another word to anyone and stalked back to the table.
The moment he sat down her hand was on his thigh. “What’s going on?” he asked, not bothering to lower his voice.
She squeezed his thigh, smiling as she lifted her glass to her lips. “I’ll tell you later.” Before he could protest, she squeezed again. “Trust me, please,” she whispered behind her glass. “I can’t say anything here.”
“Then let’s go somewhere else.”
No way was he waiting until later. He glared at Elliot, who appeared to be avoiding eye contact. If that mother fucker was trying to pull a fast one right here under his nose, holiday or not, shit was going to blow up.
Isabel wiped her mouth and stood up. “Where you going?” Valerie asked.
Izzy picked up her glass and smiled. “Refresh.”
Valerie immediately lifted her glass and downed what was left of hers and held it out to Izzy. “Will you bring me some more wine, please?”
Taking the glass from her, Izzy glanced around. “Anyone else?”
“I’ll take another beer,” Aida said.
Well shit. They were going to be there all night if Izzy took everyone’s order. Thankfully Aida and Val were the only two takers. The moment they were far enough away, Romero started, though he did his best to ask as calmly as he could. “What’s with you and the professor doing all this private talking?”
“He was asking about one of Alex’s relatives, but he didn’t want anyone to hear.”
“Why?”
They reached the bar that was empty now. Izzy walked around to the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of wine but glanced around to make sure no one was within hearing range. “Don’t look, okay? I don’t know her, but the girl in the purple dress sitting at the same table with Alex’s parents is Denver’s ballet teacher. She’s been hitting on Elliot lately and even suggested they go out for a drink some time.”
She concentrated on pouring the wine in the glass then closed it and pulled out a bottle of cranberry juice, refilling her own glass.
“So?” Romero asked without the slightest interest in turning around to see who she was talking about.
This was why the guy had to pull Izzy aside and talk to her privately? To gossip about his love life? What the hell did Izzy care?
“She’s here with her husband,” she whispered. Now Romero turned around. “Don’t be obvious,” she whispered anxiously.
Romero didn’t know the girl either, but she was pretty hot. And she was hitting on Elliot? He turned around to look at Izzy suspiciously. “You sure he’s not making that shit up?”
Izzy practically rolled her eyes. “Why would he? And the worst thing is I don’t know if that’s one of their cousins or one of their cousins’ wives. I don’t remember ever seeing her before. All we know is she’s wearing a wedding band and she’s sitting next to a guy who keeps kissing her, but I don’t recognize him either.”
“What’s her name?” Romero asked curiously now, wondering if her name would ring a bell.
“Reagan.”
Nope.
After putting the bottle of cranberry juice back in the refrigerator, Izzy handed him Aida’s beer and lifted the two glasses. They started back to the table. “But you can’t say anything here. You can ask Alex about her another time. Don’t open up a can of worms tonight.”
Feeling a bit drained after having gotten himself worked up so fast for the second time tonight, Romero actually exhaled now. The restraint he’d shown tonight was impressive even to him. Izzy didn’t know the half of it. If this had happened a few years back, he would’ve opened up a can of something else on Elliot’s ass, and things would’ve gotten ugly real fast. Thankful now that he’d grown up enough to keep his cool at least long enough to get the facts straight, he caressed Izzy’s back with his free hand. She looked up at him with a smirk.
Without having to say it, they both knew what had been going through Romero’s head, and he felt like an ass now. “I’m sorry,” he said without explaining for what.
“Yeah, yeah,” she said with a playful smile.
While she stopped and checked on the kids, Romero fixed himself a plate. When they got back to the table, Valerie thanked Isabel for her refreshed glass of wine and Aida thanked her for the beer.
“Whatcha drinking?” Aida asked, pointing at Izzy’s glass of cranberry juice.
“Just cranberry juice,” Izzy said then brought a spoonful of mashed potatoes and turkey to her mouth.
“But we’re celebrating tonight,” Aida said, taking a long swig of her beer.
Izzy chewed her food slowly before wiping her mouth and looking up at Aida. “Too many calories,” she said, glancing up at Romero with a smile then back at Aida. “I’m trying to cut down.”
Romero didn’t think anything of it. Every now and again Izzy would go on some fad diet. Usually she and Valerie or one of her sisters would do it with her. It’d last a few weeks, and then she’d be back to eating whatever she pleased.
Even during the holidays, it wasn’t unusual for Izzy to decide to cut down on something. She’d never been big on drinking anyway. He wouldn’t have given it another thought until Elliot said something that made Izzy noticeably tense.
“Yes, I was just telling Isabel the other day that cutting down on alcohol alone could make a big difference when trying to shed a few pounds.”
Romero’s eyes immediately went from Izzy’s cranberry juice to Elliot’s stupid smiling face then back to Izzy. Is that what this was? This idiot had made a comment about her needing to “shed a few pounds,” so she was cutting back?
His wife knew him too well because she was already soothing his instantly sparked annoyance by caressing his inner thigh. “I just decided I wanted to cut down a little what with Christmas around the corner. You know how the kids love making all those cookies and gingerbread houses.” She laughed softly, spearing a piece of turkey with her fork. “I’m not cutting down on any of that stuff. That’s for sure.”
“Well, that’s smart,” Valerie said. “Because, God, I know what you mean. As much as I’ve always been able to eat and not worry about gaining weight, this is the only time of the year I feel like I need to get my ass in the gym, or my jeans start getting unbearably tight.”
“I like them tight.” Alex smirked just as he took a drink of his beer.
Valerie rolled her eyes, smiling. “Yeah, well I like to be able to breathe when I wear them.”
Izzy’s hand had begun to caress Romero a little higher up his thigh now, and as much as he hated to admit he was that easy, she’d managed to bring him down again—so much so he leaned in and pecked her sweetly in an attempt to demonstrate how cool he could be about this whole damn professor thing. He even went as far as smiling at Elliot when he glanced his way and noticed the somewhat apprehensive look the guy gave him. Romero may’ve been able to conquer his explosive temper when it came to this stuff and even manage to snuff the roaring inferno down to frail embers rather quickly, but there was one thing he’d never be able to mask, nor would he ever try. The hard expressions Izzy read so well would always be a clear indicator of what he was feeling. He’d been ready to blow more than once tonight, and Elliot, no doubt, had picked up on that.
Good.
Just because Romero was being all grown up about this and not acting on his anger as he would’ve a few years ago, that didn’t mean he couldn’t send Elliot a message loud and clear without saying a word. Elliot should not get any ideas about trying anything sneaky with Izzy.
For the next hour or so, they all chatted and laughed, and Romero actually thought it a good thing now that Izzy had invited Elliot. He seemed harmless enough, and he was kind of cool in a brainy kind of way. And there were no more instances of irritation. Getting to know Elliot a little better made him feel like less of a threat.
“So what’s it like working with Isabel,” Valerie asked with a grin. “I know firsthand what a stickler she can be. Is she driving you crazy yet?”
Elliot smiled, glancing at Izzy. “No, not at all. As I told your brother-in-law earlier, I think she’s amazing. I’ve never had such an easy teacher to mentor before.”
Romero stared him down but kept his cool. After hearing Elliot refer to Izzy as amazing the first time, Romero heard Elliot also referring to his own daughter and a few of the dishes and desserts as amazing. Romero would chalk it off now as this probably being one of the words the guy overused. But he could feel his uncles eyeing him, and he knew what Alex and Angel must be thinking. So Romero put his arm around his beautiful wife and smiled. “Yeah, Izzy is pretty amazing.”
The surprised and impressed looks he got all around, including from his wife, were not missed. Even he was pretty impressed with himself again. But he’d already been given one free pass tonight. More than one actually.
Regardless of how easily Izzy had let him off the hook tonight for jumping to conclusions so quickly, he knew he’d gotten lucky. He seriously had to get it together. He wasn’t that guy anymore. He couldn’t just lose his shit the way he used to once upon a time. As Manny had said, Romero had kids to think of now, kids who could be scarred emotionally for life by being witness to one of his uncontrollable rages.
Bottom line was, unless his Izzy actually did something with this guy, which he knew would never happen, Romero had to learn to let shit go. Even if Elliot were attracted to her, the only justifiable reason Romero could be mad about that was if Izzy did anything to encourage him to do something about it. He owed it to her and his kids to keep his temper in check. Tonight had been too close.