Pat walked away with the guy before Romero reached the table. Romero patted Alex’s shoulder as he passed him. “’Bout time,” Alex said.

He hugged Valerie, before sitting down next to Isabel. She slipped her hand into his and was about to kiss him, but he pulled back a bit. “Who’s that guy your sister brought over?”

Isabel’s brow pinched slightly. “A friend of Charles.”

“Why’d she bring him over to you?”

“To say hello. I hadn’t seen him in a while.” She searched his eyes. “What’s wrong with you?”

The heat he normally felt about Pat doing this kind of shit was more intense this time. He was so sick of her. “Nothing’s wrong with me. What’s wrong with you?” Isabel almost pulled her hand out of his but he held it. The waiter came by and Romero asked for a beer then brought his eyes back to Isabel.

“Hey, what took you so damn long?” Alex asked, then lowered his voice and leaned in closer to Isabel and Romero adding. “This party is a real sleeper.”

Valerie shushed him. Romero didn’t take his eyes off Isabel. “I was downstairs with Sal, having a couple drinks.”

“A couple?” Isabel’s face soured. “Your breath is giving me a buzz.”

Romero ignored the comment. “When’s your sister gonna stop playing her f**king games?”

“Nice. So you have a few drinks and you forget all about trying to clean up your act?”

Romero took a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself, but it was so much harder when he’d had a few. For him alcohol was a toss up, it either calmed him or did just the opposite and if he’d known what he would be walking into, he would’ve never had that last shot. He squeezed her hand. “Your sister does that to me.”

She must’ve seen it in his face because she touched his cheek with the back of her hand. “Please stop,” she whispered. “He asked her about me. She mentioned I was here and he’s the one that wanted to come over a say hello. That’s it—nothing more.”

Was she kidding? That only pissed him off more. “Why was he asking about you? Who is this guy?” Romero glanced around. He spotted the guy by the bar and sure enough he was looking in their direction. “Is he someone you went out with?” Romero stared him down. He had to get hold it together. If the guy didn’t stop looking their way he was but one breath away from standing up and asking if he had a f**king problem.

Isabel’s fingers touched his chin, turning his face back to her and looked him in the eye. “Please don’t do this now. I’ll tell you about it later.”

“Tell me what?” He was done. If her sister had pulled another stunt, he wasn’t holding back this time. “Is this another ex-boyfriend?”

Isabel stood up and held her hand out for him to take. He stood but turned back to the guy who had finally stopped looking their way.

“Where you going?” Alex asked as they walked past him.

“We’ll be back,” Isabel answered for him.

For the first time Romero noticed just how sexy the dress Isabel wore was. He’d never seen her in it. Here she didn’t even think he was going to make the party until he texted her earlier. The heat inundated him. “Babe, why are you wearing this?” he said, as he caught up to her and walked next to her.

“Why not? Don’t you like it?”

“Yeah, but I wasn’t gonna be here.” He stopped right in front of her. He knew he was being obnoxious. But this whole thing was making him crazy. What was Isabel going to tell him about this guy later and why was she dressed like this if he wasn’t supposed to be here? “So why the f**k would you wear something so…”

Her expression went hard and this time she spoke through her teeth. “You texted me you were coming before I left the apartment. I thought you’d like it. I bought it for you.”

He stared at her, his heart still thudding against his chest. All he could think of was how much he hated Pat. “Oh.”

She started walking again and he followed her. They walked out of the banquet room and she took him to a corner, near the stairs. “What is the matter with you? How can you just blow in there like that and start a fight?”

“I’m not fighting with you. I’m just sick of your sister.”

“She didn’t do anything.”

He held her face in his hands and kissed her but his heart was still hammering away. “I’m sorry. Okay? Just tell me one thing.”

“What?”

He knew he had to stop. She was going to see him for what he really was. He already saw that she was losing patience with him. But he couldn’t. “Is that an ex-boyfriend?”

“No!”

“Then why was he asking about you?”

Finally, he saw the irritation in her eyes weaken and he knew he had good reason to be suspicious. “That’s Michael.”

Romero stared at her. “Michael?”

“Yeah,” She put her hands around his wrists. His hands were still on her face. “The guy she set me up on the blind date with.”

It suddenly came to Romero. “Is that who that is?” He took his hands off her face. “She invited a guy she’s trying to set you up with here tonight?” Fucking bitch!

Before he could walk away, she grabbed his hand and pulled him back. “Romero, he was Charles’ friend before he was the guy she set me up with. This is a party for Charles, remember?”