just
invited Elliot to Moreno’s tomorrow. His eyes went wide, so she brought her
finger to her lips.
“Are you sure it’s okay. I don’t want to intrude or anything.”
“Oh no, no. That’s fine,” she assured him then gave Romero her
best puppy-dog look and pouted. “I’m sure my husband would love to meet you.”
Romero’s head fell back, but it wasn’t in that playful way when
he was exasperated about something. She knew him well enough to know he was pissed .
The moment she hung up she began to explain. “He was supposed to go
out of town for the holiday. It was the only reason I ever mentioned anything.”
She realized she was talking fast, but Romero had that look on
his face, the hardcore one reserved only for when he was truly mad at her,
which hadn’t happened in years, and she didn’t like it.
“He was talking about how hard this year’s holidays were going to
be since they’re the first since his divorce and how glad he’d been when he got
the invitation to go skiing, so I just mentioned he would’ve been
welcome to join us at Moreno’s. But his plans were solid. It was a riskless
invitation. I knew he’d be out of town. I’d get credit for being nice even
though I knew—”
“Why do you want credit for being nice to him?”
Isabel nearly groaned. “You know that’s not what I meant. I just
meant that—”
“So is he coming with us tomorrow or meeting us there?”
She exhaled deeply, feeling defeated. This was the last thing she
needed. “Meeting us there. What was I supposed to say, baby? The friend he was
supposed to go skiing with is a cop and got recalled at the last minute. His
entire family is back east. All the family members here are on his ex-wife’s
side.”
Romero stared her down for a long moment before once again
surprising her as he’d done often when it came to Elliot. He shrugged. “I guess
I finally get to meet this guy.”
The relief was instant as was her gratitude. The last thing she
wanted was to be arguing during the holidays. She walked around the center
divider and hugged Romero the moment she reached him then kissed his head. “Thank
you, babe, for not making a big deal about this.”
Romero brought his arm around her and looked up, puckering his
lips so she kissed them. It turned into one of his intense kisses, and she felt
his hand travel down her waist and over her ass where he squeezed hard. When
she pulled away, she was surprised to see him genuinely smirk.
“What?”
“This should be fun: your stuffy professor boss at the same table
with me, Manny, and Max.”
This time she did groan, bringing her hand to her face. While she
was incredibly relieved that this hadn’t turned into an argument, she hadn’t
even thought about what Elliot was in for with this family.
Six
Sirens
T
he Morenos gave all their employees the day off on
Thanksgiving. So even though they’d been having their Thanksgiving feasts at
the restaurant for years now, ever since their families got just too big for
any of their homes, they still did all their own cooking right there at the
restaurant.
As soon as they’d arrived, Izzy headed to the kitchen to help with
the cooking. All the men were on kid duty. While the women prepared the food,
the guys hung out in the dining room, looking after kids and babies and
watching football on the television screens hung all around the restaurant.
Romero had long ago figured out the women didn’t mind doing all the work in the
kitchen because the wine and sangria started flowing pretty early and there was
a whole lot of laughing going on. Most of the food was already done. They just
hung out in the kitchen, pretending to be busy, but the guys knew better.
None of them minded or dared complain. It was a good time for all
of them. Besides, for Romero anyway, it’d been years since he had any kids in
diapers or babies that needed to be watched every second. Though Izzy knew full
well he wouldn’t mind
invited Elliot to Moreno’s tomorrow. His eyes went wide, so she brought her
finger to her lips.
“Are you sure it’s okay. I don’t want to intrude or anything.”
“Oh no, no. That’s fine,” she assured him then gave Romero her
best puppy-dog look and pouted. “I’m sure my husband would love to meet you.”
Romero’s head fell back, but it wasn’t in that playful way when
he was exasperated about something. She knew him well enough to know he was pissed .
The moment she hung up she began to explain. “He was supposed to go
out of town for the holiday. It was the only reason I ever mentioned anything.”
She realized she was talking fast, but Romero had that look on
his face, the hardcore one reserved only for when he was truly mad at her,
which hadn’t happened in years, and she didn’t like it.
“He was talking about how hard this year’s holidays were going to
be since they’re the first since his divorce and how glad he’d been when he got
the invitation to go skiing, so I just mentioned he would’ve been
welcome to join us at Moreno’s. But his plans were solid. It was a riskless
invitation. I knew he’d be out of town. I’d get credit for being nice even
though I knew—”
“Why do you want credit for being nice to him?”
Isabel nearly groaned. “You know that’s not what I meant. I just
meant that—”
“So is he coming with us tomorrow or meeting us there?”
She exhaled deeply, feeling defeated. This was the last thing she
needed. “Meeting us there. What was I supposed to say, baby? The friend he was
supposed to go skiing with is a cop and got recalled at the last minute. His
entire family is back east. All the family members here are on his ex-wife’s
side.”
Romero stared her down for a long moment before once again
surprising her as he’d done often when it came to Elliot. He shrugged. “I guess
I finally get to meet this guy.”
The relief was instant as was her gratitude. The last thing she
wanted was to be arguing during the holidays. She walked around the center
divider and hugged Romero the moment she reached him then kissed his head. “Thank
you, babe, for not making a big deal about this.”
Romero brought his arm around her and looked up, puckering his
lips so she kissed them. It turned into one of his intense kisses, and she felt
his hand travel down her waist and over her ass where he squeezed hard. When
she pulled away, she was surprised to see him genuinely smirk.
“What?”
“This should be fun: your stuffy professor boss at the same table
with me, Manny, and Max.”
This time she did groan, bringing her hand to her face. While she
was incredibly relieved that this hadn’t turned into an argument, she hadn’t
even thought about what Elliot was in for with this family.
Six
Sirens
T
he Morenos gave all their employees the day off on
Thanksgiving. So even though they’d been having their Thanksgiving feasts at
the restaurant for years now, ever since their families got just too big for
any of their homes, they still did all their own cooking right there at the
restaurant.
As soon as they’d arrived, Izzy headed to the kitchen to help with
the cooking. All the men were on kid duty. While the women prepared the food,
the guys hung out in the dining room, looking after kids and babies and
watching football on the television screens hung all around the restaurant.
Romero had long ago figured out the women didn’t mind doing all the work in the
kitchen because the wine and sangria started flowing pretty early and there was
a whole lot of laughing going on. Most of the food was already done. They just
hung out in the kitchen, pretending to be busy, but the guys knew better.
None of them minded or dared complain. It was a good time for all
of them. Besides, for Romero anyway, it’d been years since he had any kids in
diapers or babies that needed to be watched every second. Though Izzy knew full
well he wouldn’t mind
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