Romero

  “You know what? I’m getting real tired of—”

  “Belly Bell!” Isabel flinched when she felt fingers poke either side of her ribs. Art and Gina stood next to her smiling. By the time Isabel turned back to Pat she was already schmoozing with someone else.

  “Isn’t this crazy?” Gina’s eyes were big with excitement. “Daddy? Mayor of San Diego?”

  “Best thing about it,” Art said. “If he pulls this off, he only has to do it for a few years, then he retires with a ton of perks. He’s set for life.” He stopped for a moment and checked Isabel out. “Wow, Bell. You look good. What did you do?”

  Isabel smiled, feeling her face warm. Before she could answer, Gina answered for her. “Mom says she’s in love.” Well, at least someone was acknowledging it. “When do we get to meet this guy? Romeo?”

  Isabel laughed. “It’s Romero, and he’ll be here tonight. You’ll all get to meet him.” That did something to her insides. She prayed Pat didn’t do anything stupid. She hadn’t even finished her thought when Pat walked over to them with Jacob again. “I invited Jacob to sit with us for dinner tonight.” And there it was. Isabel was going to kill her.

  ***

  Manny and Max had left Romero’s room exactly as he’d left it. They told him it would always be his if he ever wanted to move back in. As usual Manny had been choked up about it and said there was no way he’d be able to take his things out.

  Since his apartment was so small, he took very little with him when he moved out, figuring he’d be back often anyway. So most of his dress clothes were still there. He’d showered there and gotted ready. He told Manny and Max where he was going that night. They were about as impressed as he thought they would be. “Fucking, lying, thieving politicians.”

  “Hey!” Romero had warned Manny. “Don’t ever say that in front of, Izzy. Politician or not, this is her dad we’re talking about.”

  Max stuck his nose into Romero’s bedroom. “Lookin’ good there, Moe,” he smiled. “You gonna be ‘round a bunch of big wigs tonight, uh?”

  “Yeah, I guess.” The only one he was worried about was her dad. Isabel had never actually said it, but from the stories she’d told him about her dad, the man sounded difficult. That’s probably where Pat got it from, because her mother was cool enough. All those years of literally judging people couldn’t fare well for Romero. “This is the first time I’m meeting her dad.”

  Max winced. “Really?” He looked Romero up and down. “So you’re wearing that?”

  Romero eyed himself in the mirror, scrutinizing his long sleeved black dress shirt and his charcoal grey slacks. “What’s wrong with this?”

  “Nothing but this is his first impression of you. You want it to be one he won’t forget. You know, make a statement.”

  “A statement?” Romero frowned.

  “Oh, I know. I got just the thing.” Max hurried away.

  Yeah, that’s what he needed—something out of Max’s closet to meet Isabel’s dad. Romero could already see the leopard tie or an oversized gold chain. He shook his head, buttoning the cuffs on his shirt.

  Max walked into his room holding a black fedora. It was actually kind of cool. “Here, try it on.”

  Romero did and looked in the mirror. “Not bad,” he said, with a grin. “I’ve never seen you wear this.”

  “Never have. I just got it a few weeks ago and I was waitin’ for a special occasion to wear it. Looks good on you. Now that’s a statement.”

  Manny stuck his head in the door. “What are you two up to?” He watched Romero adjust the fedora. “Cool hat. You wearing that to the dinner?”

  “I dunno,” Romero said, still trying to decide. “Max says I should.”

  “Just remember to take it off during dinner.”

  Romero patted Max on the back. “Thanks. I think I will wear it.”

  He changed his mind about the fedora half a dozen times before he got there and finally decided what the hell and left it on. He texted Isabel to let her know he was there. She said she’d meet him at the door.

  His jaw almost dropped when he saw her. He already thought she was sexy as hell but she wore a long sleeve black button down blouse that cuffed at the wrists tucked into a grey skirt that hugged her body perfectly. How the hell did he deserve her? “Oh my God,” she smiled, covering her mouth as he got closer. “We match.” He hadn’t even noticed that part; he’d been so busy ogling her.

  He saw her eyes go to his head and he touched the tip of the fedora with a smirk, “You like it?”

  “No, I love it.”

  He kissed her. That perfume of hers, mixed with the sweet scent of Izzy, was going to be the end of him. “God, you smell good.”

  She giggled; then for a moment she seemed troubled. “Something wrong?”

  “No.” She took his hand. “C’mon. Everybody is just getting seated. It’s a buffet so we’ll serve ourselves.” She turned to him and smiled. “You hungry?”

  “I’m gettin’ there.”

  Isabel introduced him to Art and Gina first. Funny, he liked both of these siblings right off. They were friendly and both complimented the fedora. Good ole Max came through.

  She pointed to a tall, distinguished and stuffy looking man in a suit surrounded by other suits. “That’s my dad. I’ll introduce you just as soon as he gets a moment.”

  Exactly as he’d pictured him. “No rush,” he smirked.

  Her mother said hello and said she was happy he could make it. The only acknowledgment she got from Pat was a forced smile. Then she quickly looked at Isabel. “Daddy wants all the family sitting together.” She pointed at the four seats left at the table where her mom, siblings and some other guy in a Navy uniform sat. Judging from all the fucking medals the guy wore, he was probably Pat’s husband. “Daddy’s next to mom. Charles and I are over there and this is you.” She pointed to the only seat left next to the guy in uniform.

  “That’s okay. I’ll sit at another table with Romero.”

  “Bell! Daddy wanted us all together.”

  Isabel glared at her. “I’m sitting with Rom—”

  Romero squeezed her hand. “It’s okay, babe. It’s just for dinner. We can move around after.” He didn’t want her getting upset over something her stupid sister planned. Then he got a bad feeling. If the guy in the uniform wasn’t Pat’s husband, and she’d obviously made the seating arrangements, who the hell was he?

  Isabel pulled him aside. “You’re not sitting alone.”

  “I won’t be alone,” he managed a smile. “This place is packed. Just one question, who’s the uniform you’ll be sitting next to?”

  She glanced away then back at him. “An old friend of the family. He’ll be helping with the campaign. And I’m not sitting next to him, because I’m sitting with you.” She gave him a look he wasn’t going to argue with. But this wasn’t a good way to start the evening.

  They sat two tables away from her family. “You’re disobeying your sister you know,” Romero teased.

  “Oh, she can go to hell.”

  “Izzy!” He chuckled. “I think you’ve been hanging around me too long.”

  “She can be such a pain sometimes.”

  Sometimes?

  Romero rubbed her back. The guy in the uniform at her family’s table came to their table. “Bell, you should sit with your family. I’ll sit somewhere else.”

  Bell?

  “That’s okay, Jacob. We’re fine.” She turned to Romero. “I didn’t get a chance to introduce you to my boyfriend, Romero.”

  “Nice to meet you, Romero.” He shook Romero’s hand. Romero nodded then Jacob turned back to Isabel. “C’mon, Bell.” For some reason hearing him call her that made Romero cringe. “Your dad would want you over there. You really should be. I wasn’t even going to sit there until your sister insisted.”

  That pissed Romero off. He knew Pat had something to do with the seating arrangements. But what made him even madder was that she arranged it so this guy ended up next to
Isabel.

  “Are you sure?” Isabel asked.

  “Absolutely. I’ll be sitting with my colleagues where I was planning on sitting in the first place.”

  Isabel finally agreed and they were back at the family table. He thought about how nicely this would’ve turned out for Pat if he hadn’t come after all. Isabel’s Dad finally made it to their table, along with Pat’s husband. As expected, Pat’s husband was in uniform, too. With just as many stupid medals as the other guy. Isabel introduced him to them both. Seeing how Charles held his military hat at his side reminded Romero to take off his hat and shake both their hands.

  Her father nodded but barely flicked a smile. “I’m afraid tonight we won’t get too much time to talk, but I trust Isabel will make arrangements for us to meet another time when we can speak more freely.”

  Neither Isabel nor Romero got a chance to answer before he was interrupted by someone with a clipboard and earpiece who knelt down next to him. Her father spoke to the guy for a while before turning back to the table and apologizing. “That’s what I was talking about. It’ll be like this all night.”

  Their table was the first asked to come up to the buffet. Since Isabel and Romero were the first back to the table, Romero took advantage to ask Isabel about Jacob. “Why does that guy call you Bell? I thought only your family called you that?”

  Isabel glanced at him then down at the napkin she placed on her lap, positioning it just so. He saw her take a deep breath. “We go way back. I knew…” She cleared her throat. “I dated him in high school.” Feeling a heat rise inside him, Romero stared at her but she wouldn’t look at him. Instead, she reached for the salt. “Pat didn’t think you were coming. I didn’t get a chance to tell her.” She stopped when Pat and Art reached the table with their plates.

  Romero didn’t care who heard. This was bullshit. He looked right at Pat. “You arranged for her ex-boyfriend to be here tonight because you thought I wouldn’t be?”

  Her sister looked scandalized, and Art smirked but said nothing, setting his plate on the table. Isabel put her hand on his leg. “Romero, not here. We’ll talk about this later.”

  Pat gathered herself then said, “He is going to be a Lieutenant Commander in the Navy—”

  “I don’t give a shit what he is!” Romero sat up in his seat.

  Isabel squeezed his leg. “Stop.”

  Romero tried his hardest to stay in control of his temper but he really wanted to tell the bitch off right there. She was fucking with the wrong person.

  “You need to watch the way you speak to—”

  “Pat,” Art interceded. “You need to mind your own business is what you need to do.

  Just then, Gina and Isabel’s mom returned to the table. With her eyes and mouth still wide open, Pat put her plate down on the table and glared at Art. If Romero’s expression was anywhere as intense as the anger he was feeling, her mother must have seen it. She then turned to Pat and asked. “What happened?”

  “Nothing,” Isabel said, quickly

  Romero turned to her and she gave him a look that begged. He took a deep breath. Only for Izzy he’d let this go—for now.

  Her mother pressed her lips together and placed her plate on the table then turned to Pat. “Do I need to remind you, all eyes are on us tonight?”

  “I’m not the one who—”

  “I really don’t care, Patricia.” Her mother spoke through a fake smile. “I’m sure you have something to do with the tension I’m feeling at this table right now. Just sit down and eat.”

  They all ate quietly, her father and Charles had obviously gotten sidetracked on the way back, but eventually they made it back.

  Even after dinner and all the boring ass speeches they had to sit through, Romero couldn’t even look in Patricia’s direction without glaring. They started a slideshow of all the highlights of Isabel’s dad’d career as a judge. Romero excused himself to the restroom.

  With one urinal broken and the other one occupied Romero stepped into a stall instead. He was nearly done when he heard someone step in the restroom talking. “I know, but I’m gonna be real busy for the next few weeks, so I can’t make any promises.” Romero was about to hit the handle to flush with his foot when he heard the next part and froze. “Yeah, but with her dad running for Mayor, this changes everything. This could open a lot of doors for me. I gotta stay close right now—be the ultimate sweetheart. Be patient and don’t worry. If I play my cards right, this will all work out. ”

  Romero stood there with one foot in the air and held his breath, trying not to make any noise.

  “Okay, I’ll call you and let you know as soon I make a few moves.”

  The door opened then closed and there was silence. Whoever that was, had left. Romero’s foot hit the handle and he banged his arm trying to get out of there fast enough. He hadn’t heard Charles speak too much, he’d hardly been at the table. He was too busy networking as he put it. Romero had been too pissed most of the dinner to pay attention to him anyway.

  He ran out so fast, he slammed into an older man who hit the floor like a brick. “Oh, shit! You okay?” He bent down to help him up but the old guy was dazed. “Give me a sec, son. I haven’t seen stars like this in years.” He shook his head and blinked hard, making Romero feel worse than he already did.

  A woman who’d seen the whole thing rushed over to help. “Do you need help? Should I call someone? An ambulance?”

  Great—just what he needed—for Isabel’s dad’s announcement dinner to make headlines for this reason.

  “No, I’m okay,” the old guy said.

  Romero sighed in relief. Between him and the woman, they got the man on his feet. By the time it was over, he had no idea which direction the person on the phone in the restroom could’ve gone. “Damn it.”

  When he got back to the table, Charles wasn’t there. He looked over to where Jacob had been sitting most of the night and he wasn’t there either. He wondered if he should even mention to Isabel what he’d overheard. This could be something or it could be nothing. The guy couldn’t have been talking about Gina. She lived in New York. If it was Charles, it could just be work related, but if it was Jacob…stay close? Be the ultimate sweetheart? What the hell did that mean? To his Izzy? The guy was out of his fucking mind. But Isabel had said he’d be helping out with the campaign.

  On his way to Isabel’s car, after the dinner was finally over, Isabel began to apologize. “Stop.” He shook his head. “That was all your sister in there. You have nothing to apologize for. Has she always been that conniving? To have your ex show up because she thought I wasn’t coming?”

  “I’m not defending her, because when she found out he was making Lieutenant Commander and he was still single, I’m sure the idea of him and me reconnecting crossed her mind. But that wasn’t the sole purpose to invite him here tonight.” Romero held back all the sarcastic remarks that came to mind. He had no doubt that was exactly why her sister had invited him. “It’s also really important to her that my dad makes mayor. Jacob has connections now. He could be a big asset to the campaign, so she’s really counting on that.”

  The guy was going to be around for the whole damn campaign? “How long did you go out with this guy?”

  They reached her car and she stopped at the door and searched in her purse for her keys. She was stalling and it irritated him. “Izz?”

  “I don’t remember. It was so long ago—high school, Romero.”

  “Was he your first boyfriend?”

  She nodded, whispering, “Yes.”

  Feeling even more irritated now, he squeezed her hand. “Then you remember.”

  She lifted a shoulder and clicked the car opener on her keychain. “Just over two years.”

  “What!”

  She turned to him and he pinned her against the car. “It was a long time ago. This was the first time I’d seen him or talked to him in years.”

  The thought choked him, but he wouldn’t put it past her sister. “Was he your
first… everything?”

  “Do we really have to get into this right here? Right now?”

  That burned him up even more. “It’s either a yes or a no.” Just like all those saps that hired him to find out what they already knew—he knew the answer just by looking in her eyes and it killed him.

  “Yes, he was.” She caressed his face. “But what does it matter? There’s a reason why we didn’t stay together.”

  “And what was that?” He needed something—anything to keep him from walking back in there and telling her sister off. Pat had brought out the big guns tonight.

  “There was no spark. None, and after talking to him tonight it only confirmed it.”

  “What do you mean?” He felt a panic he’d never felt before, thinking of all those fucking medals her family had such a hard-on for. “Were you looking for a spark?”

  “No! Are you crazy?”

  Damn. He was. For her. Romero hugged her burying his face in her neck, taking in a deep breath of her—all of her. He was going to blow this. “You love me?”

  “You know I do.”

  He breathed in deep, knowing he had that much. He only hoped he could remember that every time he had to be around or hear about this fucking lieutenant commander, Jacob—her first. “I love you too much, Izzy.”

  CHAPTER 14

  Trouble

  Since Isabel had an early morning staff meeting to attend, she was out of the apartment before Romero. He finished getting ready. Not wanting to eat alone he decided to stop at Moreno’s for a breakfast burrito, maybe catch up with the guys. He hadn’t hung with them in a while.

  To his surprise, Sal was the only one of them there when he got there. He was leaning against the bar reading the paper.