Forever Yours (The Moreno Brothers 1.5)

“He got here earlier than he’d anticipated,” she said, walking over to the cabinet to put the rose Angel had given her away. “So”—she turned back to Angel after closing the cabinet—“since he didn’t have anywhere else to be and his only friend out here was still working, he decided to stop by. I’ve talked to him enough about the restaurant that he knew the name. But he’s only been here for fifteen minutes.”

The defensive expression Angel had definitely noticed just moments ago eased up and she smiled. “It’s not as if I met him on my own somewhere isolated or dangerous. Alex has been here the whole time, and even though Alex said I could leave early, there was no way I was going to until you got here.” She walked past him toward the door but held out her hand. “C’mon, let me introduce you to him. He said he’s looking forward to meeting you.”

Trying not to frown, Angel took her hand and followed her through the main dining room and into the bar. The bartender was just setting a new beer in front of Leo and took his empty bottle. He stood when he saw Sarah and Angel coming. He was bigger than Angel expected.

Sarah did the introducing, and both guys shook hands, smiling politely. “I’ve heard so much about you. I feel like I know you already,” Leo said as he sat back down on his stool. “College football, huh? I haven’t been following. What’s your record so far?”

“Three and 0,” Angel said. “This last one was close. Our defensive line has had some holes lately because of some injuries, but my brother comes back this week, so that’s a good thing. The team we play this week is also three and 0, so after this Saturday, one of us will have a loss.”

Leo’s eyes opened wide in what appeared to be genuine enthusiasm. “That’s gonna be the game to watch this weekend, then. I’ll be on the lookout.”

Angel nodded, taking the stool behind Sarah’s and pulled it up closer to her so his legs came around her. He brought his hand around and rested it on her thigh “So how’s it feel to finally meet your sister in person?”

Leo smiled even bigger and turned his attention to Sarah. “I was just telling her it’s all I’ve thought about for weeks. The anxiousness to see her in person just built with every conversation we had.” He brought his eyes back in Angel’s direction as he lifted his beer bottle to his lips. “You have no idea.”

Leo peered at Angel while taking a swig of his beer. “No, I don’t,” Angel said, refusing to read more into that last comment.

He’d already made a conscious decision, from the moment they’d agreed on a date to meet with Leo, that he’d be open-minded. Angel was giving the guy the benefit of the doubt regardless what his gut said.

“I can’t even imagine,” Angel said as indifferently as he could, “finding out I have another sibling out there at my age.”

They made some more small talk until Leo finished his beer, and then Leo excused himself to the men’s room before they headed out to the marina.

Sarah turned to Angel as soon as Leo was out of hearing range. “So what do you think so far?”

Angel did his best to sound optimistic, though he still wasn’t feeling it. “He seems cool. I like what he did for that girl in the parking lot. It says a lot about a guy who’ll stand up for someone he doesn’t even know, just because he knows it’s the right thing to do.”

It really did. Angel knew Alex was impressed by that as well—probably why he was so quick to tell Sarah it was okay for her to leave early with Leo. But then he had no way of knowing this was their first time meeting.

Sarah’s phone buzzed on the bar counter, and she reached for it as she told Angel how she hadn’t even recognized Leo at first and how she feared when they were told there were two guys fighting outside that it might be Angel and the jerk Alex kicked out.

She read her text then smirked and responded. “I don’t suppose you’d be okay with me accompanying Valerie and her girlfriend to Havasu this weekend for an Oktoberfest thing.” She continued texting without looking up. “She wanted to go out there all summer and never got to, so she’s making up for it now. Sarah glanced behind her then looked up at him, raising a playful brow. “She didn’t say it, but I’m sure it has everything to do with Alex being in Hawaii all weekend. I know she’s been worried about it. I’m sure it’s her way of keeping her mind busy and not driving herself crazy all weekend.”

Angel slipped his hand in hers, glad that Sarah didn’t even seem to be considering it. He remembered how Sarah had caught that stupid lie about him not having seen or talked to Dana in years. “You’re not worried about my weekend in Hawaii, are you?”

“Of course not.” She looked up at him a bit playfully. “I shouldn’t be, right?”

“Of course you shouldn’t,” he said, squeezing her hand. “Sarah, I told you—”

“Then I’m not,” she said quickly, leaning into him. “Not at all. I promise. I was just teasing you.”

Angel wrapped his arms around her and did something he didn’t do too often in the restaurant because he knew it made Sarah uncomfortable to be so blatant; he kissed her softly at first and then he started taking it a little further.

“You two ready?” Leo’s loud voice in such close proximity made Angel flinch and pull away from her.

Sarah looked up at Leo, and Angel couldn’t tell if she was embarrassed or startled—probably both. “Yeah,” she said, her face flushing a bit, confirming to Angel she was a little embarrassed. “We’re ready,” she said, grabbing her purse from the stool.