Love in Bloom (De La Fuente Family 3)

“Twenty-two,” she whispered.

He closed his eyes and left her alone.

Twenty-two.

Sweet and innocent.

Fuck him.

He rubbed his brow as he headed back to the kitchen to see if everyone was still around. Part of him wanted to carry on walking to get some fresh air and to forget about the whole fuck-up he’d made. But it had gone on too long and something needed to be said.

He should actually pat himself on the back for how calm he’d been with Erin. He should have been angry and pissed at her for purposefully hurting his family, but he’d stopped himself. Just to look at her now, he could see the difference between Caprice and Erin.

Sweet Erin.

He much preferred the name Erin, than Caprice, just like he preferred the woman. Even his libido had a hard-on for Erin. That wasn’t going to happen even if they were sharing a room. Although her innocence drove him crazy, she was far too young for him.

He’d already held a job for years and she was about to finish college and head out into the world with her degree under her belt.

Too young.

Too sweet.

Too innocent.

And he told her that they could still share a room. He could do it. He was a man who could control his reaction if he had to—plenty of cold showers.

Once he’d told his family, he coul

d go and get laid. He had no commitment to his agent or the PR team anymore, so if something did reach the papers, then what did he care? Erin had her own life to go back to…fuck! Did she have a boyfriend?

The last thought brought him up short, but why should it? He was going to get laid. He didn’t need to worry about Erin and sex.

The frown on his face deepened because all he could think about was her perfect breasts and the feel of her small fingers on his skin.

“Are you planning on standing there all day?” Emelia queried while he blocked the way from the kitchen to the rest of the house.

He cleared his throat and hoped his erection wasn’t visible. “No.” He walked closer, running his hands through his hair. “I need to talk to you all though.”

“Is Caprice okay?” his mom asked. “I’ve seen her looking upset before when she thought no one was watching, but I’ve never seen tears on her face.”

“I’ve so had enough of this and it’s about time I was completely honest with everyone.”

“Mateo, we know son.” His father held his gaze, but Mateo couldn’t work out exactly what they knew. There was no way they’d know about the fake engagement.

“Whatever you know probably isn’t the full story,” he admitted.

“We know about the hard partying and other things.” His father frowned, which let Mateo know that his father wasn’t happy with him.

“Okay.” He sighed heavily. “The full story is that I let the partying get out of hand and Donny had eventually had enough with me constantly making the papers for the wrong reason. He got the PR team involved and let them have full run at straightening me out. That’s where Caprice comes into it.”

“Now this we don’t know.” His father sighed, resigned.

His father’s reaction made him nervous. Even at thirty-two, he still valued and needed his father’s support.

He swallowed back his shame at the next lie he was about to admit to. “Caprice applied for a job at the stadium. I’m guessing someone there passed her info on to Donny. Anyway, she was offered enough money to complete her college studies to be engaged to me. Something isn’t right with the whole set up. I’m going to go and talk to the head of the PR team after the wedding. Basically, she was told that he’d only pay her if she made my life hell.”

“Are you saying the whole queen bitch was an act because I find that hard to believe?” Emelia’s question dripped with disbelief.