Immediately, his head came up and I noticed his smile had vanished.

He stared at me a second, eyes dark, then he spoke.

“I’m not makin’ fun of you, Sadie. I’m teasin’ you. There’s a big f**kin’ difference.”

I watched him and realized belatedly that his smile had not only vanished, Mr. Mood Swing was getting downright angry.

He kept talking, proving me right.

“Mujer, you’re gonna have to learn, pretty f**kin’ quick, to trust me. I’m not like the people you know, the society bitches, the ass**les your father recruited. You don’t have to shut down. You don’t have to put those f**kin’ shields up. Christ, I want you to be who you are.”

Yes. I was right. He was downright angry.

My heart lurched.

I did it again. I insulted him. Not as badly as last night but not good either.

“Hector –” I started.

“This is your gig, Sadie. I can’t help you. You’re gonna have to figure it out and fast. I’m not walkin’ on eggshells wonderin’ what f**kin’ reaction you’re gonna have to everything I say. I’m gonna say this once so pay attention. I’m not passin’ the time here, enjoyin’ a sweet, hot piece for the f**k of it. If you don’t get it yet, I’ll give it to you. What we got, it means somethin’. Do you understand?”

My heart lurched again but this time it felt nice and that warm, happy glow hit my chest.

“I understand,” I whispered.

“You better f**kin’ understand,” he bit out.

I closed my eyes tight then opened them again.

“I’m sorry.” He stared at me silently and I continued. “About just now and about last night. I was horrible, I said horrible…” I stopped and then started again, “I’m working through it, I promise.”

He kept staring at me, a second then two then his fingers slid into the side of my hair and I saw his mood swing again but not fully, he was holding onto some of his anger, I could see it.

“Jesus, you’re a pain in the ass,” he muttered.

“I’m sorry about that too,” I said instantly and I meant it.

His thumb came out of my hair and started sliding along my temple.

“I’ll make up for it,” I told him.

His eyes were watching his thumb but at my words, they came to mine. “Yeah?”

“I’ll buy you a building,” I offered.

His body went tight and his eyes narrowed.

“Or, an island somewhere,” I went on quickly. “I don’t know how much islands cost but there has to be one in my price range.”

It was then I felt him relax, his mouth did that fighting-a-grin thing, I knew he finally let go of his anger and the happy glow settled in.

Since what I was doing appeared to be working, I kept talking. “It might just be a beach and a palm tree but what else do you need on an island?”

He lost the fight with his grin, his head descended and I carried on, even when his lips were against mine.

“We’ll bring a cooler and a picnic basket…” I stopped talking because he started kissing me, open-mouthed and sweet.

His body settled on mine, his arms were sliding around me when his cell rang.

He lifted his head and I saw right away that he’d morphed again, this time looking frustrated.

He pressed into me as he reached to the nightstand to nab his phone.

“This is over, mi cielo,” his eyes came to me as he flipped open his phone, “I’m takin’ you to a f**kin’ island.” Then he put his phone to his ear and clipped, “Yeah?”

My gaze was on Hector’s face, my thoughts were on being on an island with Hector and in the very, very back of my mind, I figured my Mom would like that. I mean, I wasn’t altogether certain my Mom would be thrilled about Hector’s creativity in the sack (or my response to it) but what he did to me was beautiful in its way and he made me feel good so she had to approve of that.

Right?

Then I saw his face grow tight and thoughts of my Mom’s approval of Hector disintegrated.

Oh no.

What now?

“No joke?” Hector said into the phone, his eyes moving to me and I did not like what I saw. Not at all.

“Right,” he went on. “We’re comin’ down.”

Without saying good-bye, he flipped the phone shut, tossed it on the nightstand and then stared at it, face still tight, body now tense.

“Hector?” I called.

His chin dipped and he looked at me.

“Maybe we’ll go to an island today,” he murmured.

Damn and blast!

“What?” I asked.

His face went soft and he muttered, “Shit, Sadie.”

“What?” I snapped.

He rolled us and once he got to his back, he did an ab curl, his hands tugging at the backs of my knees so we were sitting with me straddling him. His head tilted back, mine down, my hands on his shoulders, his arms loose around me.

“Your gallery has been torched,” he told me.

Convulsively, my hands moved to his neck and my fingers squeezed.

“Oh my God,” I breathed.

“Fire started at five this morning. It’s out now, they don’t know how much damage yet but it didn’t spread.” He paused then asked, “You insured?”

I was speechless so I nodded. For some reason, all I could think of was my lovely gift wrap and organdie ribbon, now probably reduced to ash.

And Lisette’s paintings!

I closed my eyes tight and, not even thinking about it, I dropped my head until my forehead was resting on Hector’s.

“Lisette’s paintings,” I whispered, his arms tightened and I opened my eyes.

“You wanna go down there?”

“No,” I told him. “But I’m going to go.”

His hands went to my waist, he lifted me off him and to the side. He came over me, off the bed, hands back to my waist, he pulled me out of bed and set me on my feet.

Without a word, he tagged my hand and led the way to the shower.

* * * * *

After Hector and I had our (yes, our!) shower, I called Buddy and Ralphie to give them the news.

Buddy answered and I felt weird. After last night, I thought they’d be mad at me but Buddy’s voice was its usual soft and sweet.

“You okay, sweetheart?” he asked.