After the surprise inspections at the uniform factories, he met with the poor sap who suspected his girl of cheating. Before meeting Isabel, he didn’t understand why these guys would bother. Fuck the bitch was what he’d always thought. No girl was worth this kind of aggravation and he most certainly wouldn’t be spending hard earned money just to find out the obvious. Now what he didn’t understand was how these guys could have the patience to wait around and wonder. Romero would get right to it if he so much as suspected Isabel might be doing something behind his back.

More than anything what he found so hard to understand now, were the reactions these guys had to seeing pictures and video of their girls with someone else. It was mind blowing. He hadn’t thought much of it when he presented the last guy with pictures and he looked through them shaking his head and made a few comments about how he knew it. To see a picture of his Izzy so much as cozying up with another dude, would be beyond devastating. He didn’t even want to think about what he would do. He was only glad she’d told him how she felt about the whole subject of cheating that morning. The very thought of her with someone else, before she said it, had made him furious.

He met with the guy at his office on a construction site. Romero was going to have to think about leasing a small office space. This driving around all over to meet with clients was getting old. He’d talk to Valerie soon about looking for a place for him. According to Isabel, she really knew her real estate.

The guy filled him in on why he suspected his girlfriend was being sneaky—same as always—increased amounts of out-of-town meetings, secrecy and caught in lies, but most telling and one he got a lot, were the texts and phone calls at odd hours of the night. He almost felt like telling him, “Dude, we both know she’s cheating. Why do this?”

He stopped at his place before heading to Isabel’s to pick up some more clothes. As long as she didn’t object to him staying with her every night, he wasn’t sure if he’d ever come back to his place. In fact, his lease was up soon. Maybe he’d casually mention that to her.

When she opened the door for him at her place she held her hands out as to not touch him, but she still leaned in to kiss him. “My hands are covered in tomato, I was just dicing some. Maybe I should get you your own key.”

“That’d be cool,” he said, trying not to sound as excited as that made him. All right, he’d admit it. Living with her would be f**king awesome.

He started telling her about his day when she brought up her dad’s dinner. “Oh, by the way, the dinner is at six but my sister wants me there early to help out.”

Romero put on his best-disappointed face. “I can’t, babe. I’m meeting that client at five.” He couldn’t help feeling like an ass**le when he saw the discontent in her eyes. “I’m sorry,” he said, coming around the counter. “We’ll set up something with your dad another time. Okay?”

He kissed her. He was just getting going, thoughts of putting her on the counter and making it up to her entering his mind. Her loose shorts would make for easy access. Then her phone rang. “That’s probably my sister,” she said breathlessly, pulling away from him.

Well, damn.

He picked at the food in the different bowls she had on the counter. She wasn’t kidding when she said she was cleaning out the fridge today. He bit in to a piece of carrot and leaned against the counter.

“No. I’ll be alone. He has to work, but I’ll be there early to help you.” Isabel smiled at him and motioned for him to eat the food on the counter. He nodded with a smile of his own, checking her out. He could hardly believe she was all his. “When is Gina flying in?” There was a pause while her sister answered then, “And Art? Is he in town yet?”

Romero felt another twinge of guilt. This would’ve been the perfect time to meet the rest of her siblings. All of them in town at once—how often would that happen? Still, the thought of meeting them all under those circumstances was unsettling to say the least. He swallowed back the guilt.

Isabel wrapped up her phone call surprisingly fast. Her sister usually kept her on for much longer. Romero couldn’t be happier. Just watching her in her soft shorts and tank she wore—obviously bra-less, made him forget about his appetite and how much he’d rather be doing other things with her.

She started to tell him about what her sister had to say, as if he cared, when he pulled her to him and devoured her mouth. Forgetting his thoughts about putting her on the counter he started her out of the kitchen. He wanted her underneath him now.

“Where are we going? Don’t you wanna eat?”

“Oh, yeah I wanna eat.” He smiled then laughed, when he saw her face go beet red in an instant.

***

By Wednesday morning, with all the talk about the damn dinner he’d heard and listening to how excited Isabel was that her brother and sister were both in town he could hardly fight the guilt anymore. Isabel wasn’t the type to make him feel guilty about having to work. But she did say it sucked that neither Gina or Art would be in town until Wednesday afternoon. If they would’ve been she might’ve been able to set up something before then and have him meet them.

Still completely convinced that meeting them all tonight at that dinner was a bad idea, Romero had managed to finally shake off the feelings of guilt. Then he got a call from her just after lunch. “I’m so nervous about tonight.”

“Why?”