Romero (The Moreno Brothers 4)

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.”

“Oh.” She nodded. “Did you find them?”

“Nah, they didn’t have what I needed.” Isabel got that same feeling when he looked at her, that there was some kind of inside joke, and she’d been left out again. Only this time there was no one around whom he might be csonspiring with. “So what do you do after you get your nails done?”

“Go home.” Maybe she should’ve said something more exciting.

His smile dissolved. “But it’s Friday.”

God, she felt pathetic. “I came here straight from work.” That smile would be the end of her.

“So you don’t have plans for tonight?”

“Um… well—”

“Good. Let’s go grab something to eat.”

“I’m… uh… now?” He caught her so off guard. She couldn’t come up with an excuse fast enough. Why she was trying? She had no idea, but she’d always been that way. Her first reaction to an invitation from any guy was to think of an excuse to say no.

“Yeah, why not?” For the first time, he didn’t seem so sure of himself. But he’d asked the perfect question. Why not?

“Okay. I am getting kind of hungry.”

The wicked smile was back. What could he possibly be thinking that was so damn amusing?

To her surprise, he suggested her favorite restaurant at the mall, calling it his favorite as well—Frisco’s, the fifties style burger joint with servers on roller skates. The waitress brought over their menus, but Romero told her he already knew what he wanted. The double Frisco with onion rings, and a strawberry shake. He asked her to bring out the onion rings first, like an appetizer. Isabel ordered the same. She handed her menu back to waitress. “Only make mine a single.”

Romero didn’t even wait for the waitress to leave before asking, “So, really? Friday night and you didn’t have plans?”

He made it sound so unheard of. “I don’t always make plans until the last minute.” As if all her plans weren’t meticulously thought out days in advance, but she kept a straight face.

He cocked an eyebrow. “You might still be doing something tonight?”

“Well, that depends.”

The eyebrow shot up even higher. “On what?”

She had to think fast. “Like who calls.” Because God knew, her phone would be ringing off the hook. “Or if I’m even feeling up to it, by the time I get home.”

“True,” he said, with that evil, evil smile, “because I just might wear you out.”

Isabel could’ve kissed the waitress for interrupting the moment. The waitress set their shakes down in front of them, and though Isabel pretended to be completely distracted by them, she couldn’t help but notice him sit back and really take her in again. As if when he’d done so at the shower, it hadn’t been enough.

“Wow.” Again, he didn’t bother to wait for the waitress to walk away. “I’ve never met someone who blushes so fast. It’s…” He snapped his fingers and laughed. “Just like that.”

Isabel noticed the waitress glance at her before walking away. Her face got even hotter. She took the straw in her mouth, closing her eyes for an instant. Her phone rang in her purse and she didn’t care if it was telemarketer, she was answering. “I gotta get this,” she said to a still smiling Romero. She pressed talk without even looking at who it was. “Hello?”

“Bell, I almost forgot. Daddy’s birthday is next week. I’m making dinner for him at my place. Keep Saturday open, okay?”

“Sounds good.”