Romero

  “You will,” he said, looking up behind her with a smile. “Ready for another one, big guy?”

  Angel and Alex walked up to the bar. Angel had a box of bottled waters and Alex held a box of some other kind of bottled beverage. Isabel glanced around but didn’t see Valerie. “Where did Valerie go?”

  Then she saw it. Alex looked visibly shaken. He wasn’t the same Alex as when they’d walked in. Great. Something happened already. “I’m out.” He said, his jaw tight.

  “What?” both Angel and Romero said almost at the same time.

  “I gotta go to the restaurant. I’ll be back.” He walked away without even glancing at Isabel.

  “That guy works too much,” Romero said.

  Isabel searched around the backyard. She hadn’t even noticed how many more people had arrived. Every table in the big backyard was just about full and there were many people still standing. Then she spotted Valerie. She stood at the opening of the canopy that covered the entire backyard. Something was definitely wrong. She slipped off the bar stool, grabbing her purse.

  “Where you going?” Romero asked.

  “To see about Valerie.”

  “Bring her over here.”

  Isabel pressed her lips together as she hurried to Valerie. Yeah, that’s exactly what Valerie needs—to get drunk and stupid, just in time for when Alex got back.

  ***

  “Will you move?” Romero made way for Angel to finish dumping the bottled waters into the ice chest next to the bar. He hadn’t taken his eyes off Isabel. His first impression of her when he saw her walk up to the bar, he knew she’d be uptight. He was right—definitively not his type, if he even had a type. But he knew for sure uptight schoolteachers weren’t it—or at least he knew he wasn’t their type.

  He just hadn’t expected her to be fun. He’d never met someone whose facial expressions did so much telling. From the moment he called her narc, he noticed it. Everything he said or did, her face had so much to say about it. From the way her eyebrows pinched in, to the way her eyes opened wide at some of his comments. And her lips were something else. The way she pressed them together suddenly, then fell open in the next instant. He’d also never seen anyone blush so instantaneously. Her face turned beet red in a blink of an eye. It was highly entertaining.

  “Don’t even.”

  Romero turned to look at Angel, who glanced at Isabel, then back at him. “What?”

  “Sarah said she’s a brain—not for you.”

  “What? You don’t think I’ve banged a few brains in my time?” He tried not to show how annoyed Angel’s comment made him.

  “Easy,” Eric said, as he walked up to the bar.

  Romero glanced at Eric then glared back at Angel. Angel laughed. “Trust me, she’s not your type. She’s got some class. Don’t go embarrassing her either. Sarah said she’s shy.”

  Romero shook off Angel’s comments when he saw Isabel was on her way back to the bar without Valerie, and smirked. “Too late.”

  Both Angel and Eric followed Romero’s wicked smile. “Be cool,” Angel warned.

  “Always,” Romero said, pouring himself a beer from the keg.

  Angel walked away holding several bottles of water in his hands. Eric asked for a cup and Romero handed it to him. Isabel seemed down when she reached the bar. “Where’s Valerie?”

  Isabel took a seat at the bar. “She went to the ladies’ room.”

  “You mean restroom.”

  Her eyebrows pinched. “What’s the difference?”

  “We’re at someone’s house, not a public place. So there is no ladies’ or mens’ room.”

  She pushed her glasses up, frowning. He stared at the design on her French tip nails that he noticed earlier. He reached for her hand, and found it was soft, just as he expected. She flinched at his touch but didn’t take her hand back. He pulled her hand gently to him for a closer look. This close, he saw it was the letter M in calligraphy. He glanced up at her but didn’t ask. It obviously didn’t stand for Isabel. He let her hand go and she glanced around, not offering an explanation.

  “You wanna beer?”

  Her lips twitched slightly. “You have wine?”

  There was another ice chest off to the side, with some wine bottles chilling. He’d never been into wine, or into chicks who drank wine. He glanced back at her as he pulled two bottles of wine out. White and pink—was the only distinction he saw. She asked for the blush, which he assumed to be the pink, and poured her a glass.

  He noticed the keychain that hung out of her purse with the San Diego Padres emblem. “So you’re a fan?” He gestured to the keychain after placing the cup of wine in front of her.

  She frowned. “I was, but after the year they had last year… I dunno. The Diamond Backs are starting to look good.”

  “What?” Romero stared at her in disbelief, loving the way her startled eyes opened wide. “You don’t just turn your back on your team when they have a bad year.”

  “One? They’ve had like three or four in a row.” She sipped her wine.

  Romero shook his head adamantly. “You from the San Diego area originally?”

  “Laguna. I moved to La Jolla after college.”

  “Close enough. Number one rule for a true sports fan. You’re born to your team. Choice was never an option. And even if you move away, that’s your team forever. You carry the keychain around daily. You should know that.”

  Isabel laughed and he finally got to see what her face looked like lit up. All her cute expressions had slowly given away that she wasn’t as uptight as he initially thought—now that sweet smile that brightened her entire face was another tell-tale sign. He gulped hard. She was something else.

  “No, I didn’t know that. Thanks for enlightening me.” They talked for a while longer about The Padres. Then he asked a few random questions about where she got her nails done and they made small talk about the horrible parking at the mall, but after seeing her bring the tip of her thumb to her mouth for the second time, the M on her finger stared at him. He finally asked something that actually interested him. “So who’s the M for?”

  Her eyes did the asking.

  “The M on your nail.” Romero handed her a second glass of wine.

  “Wow, this is a lot,” she said, taking the cup. “Maybe I can pour half of it in another cup for Valerie.”

  He watched her take a sip and he waited, taking a swig of his beer. She glanced around, looking antsy.

  “Izzy?”

  She looked back at him. Again she didn’t even have to speak, her eyes expressed her confusion.

  He couldn’t help smiling. “The M on your nail. Who’s it for?”

  She brought her hands up to look at her nails again. “Oh, my name.”

  “Your name’s Isabel.”

  “My last name is Montenegro.”

  Romero took a big satisfying drink of his beer then said, “Ms. Montenegro. Is that what your students call you?”

  She nodded. “Romero is your last name, right?”

  “Yep.”

  “So how come you don’t go by your first name?”

  He shrugged. “Never have.”

  “Why?”

  “Long story. I just don’t.” He turned away from her questioning eyes. “You sure Valerie didn’t leave?”

  “No, I’m driving. She didn’t bring her car,” she sighed. “But she is taking long. I hope she’s okay.”

  “Why wouldn’t she be?”

  She seemed apprehensive but finally said, “I think she was upset about something she and Alex talked about.”

  “Ah,” Romero nodded, remembering all the drama those two had gone through over the years. “The never-ending booty call.”

  “Is that what he calls it?”

  “No.” He smirked at her murderous glare. “It’s what I call it. Those two have been going back and forth forever. They should just get it together or get it over with.”

  “Well it’s been over with for a year now.”

>   “Hmm,” he chuckled, bringing his cup to his mouth.

  “It has been,” she insisted.

  “So why is she still getting upset about something he says?”

  Her lips pressed shut. Romero couldn’t help feeling smug as she glanced away. Then her expression changed—softened. “That must be Sal.”

  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.

  CHAPTER 5

  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.”