BREATHE!

The ride from the hospital to Isabel’s apartment wasn’t even that long but it felt like an eternity and of course Romero hit every ga-damn red light there. When he pulled into the parking lot of her apartment, he saw her car was already there. Unlike him, she’d obviously missed all the red lights.

He hurried to her front door. The adrenaline of being with her again had given him a much needed second wind. With the night he’d had, he should be ready to pass out. Instead, he felt completely charged and ready to go. The door was open and he smelled the coffee the moment he walked through it. She was making breakfast, too.

Her comment about needing to talk, although somewhat promising, felt a little staid and it made him nervous. But he’d been serious when he told her he was willing to do anything. So whatever it was she wanted to talk about they’d get through it. They had to. After this week he knew, without a doubt, there was no way his life would ever be complete without her.

She smiled when she looked back from the stove where she stirred something around in the pan. Cautiously, he approached her from behind. He hadn’t even tried to kiss her at the hospital, though he nearly crushed her in his arms again before letting her get in her car.

He’d felt something. He couldn’t be sure but she held back and he didn’t want to push. Unable to help himself he brought his arm around her waist from behind and rested his hand on her belly. He leaned his face against the side of hers kissing her temple. “I missed you so much,” he whispered.

“I missed you, too.” For a moment she seemed to give in, leaning back into him, even turned her face allowing him to kiss her lips softly. But then she stiffened and straightened out again. “We need to talk.” Her tone turned sharp, just like that.

Even though he knew he should, he couldn’t pull himself away from her. “So talk.”

She pulled away to reach for a couple of plates and he had no choice but to let go. Then she dumped scrambled eggs onto each of them, sprinkling salt, pepper and cheese. “Nothing fancy today.”

“That okay, I’m not even hungry.”

They sat at the kitchen table and she wasted no time. “Tell me about Cici, and I mean the truth. All of it.”

Romero stared at her. He hadn’t even taken the jewelry bag out of the his trunk yet, afraid just looking at it would be too painful. “I bought you a ring. I was going to give it to you Saturday night after the party. I stopped at the jewelry store before the party and she hugged me because she got a good-sized commission out of it.” He reached out and touched her arm when she looked away. “She wears a lot of fuc…” He winced. “A lot of perfume.” Damn it he was going to have to try harder.

She moved the egg around on her plate. “What else?”

“That’s it.”

Her eyes were back on him again and they were full of emotion. “You never did anything with her?”

Alright, he said he’d do whatever it took, so he took a deep breath. “I was different before, Isabel.” Her eyebrows creased as if she was expecting to hear the worst. “I never slept with her if that’s what you’re thinking... but I would’ve. If her boyfriend hadn’t shown up that same night he slapped her… it probably would’ve happened. He slapped her because he caught us making out.”

Understanding swept over her face and she nodded. “Is that why you never forgot about it?”

“Yeah, I knew she had a boyfriend. Manny even warned me that he was a crazy ass**le and I should stay away from her, but I didn’t. I purposely set out to nail her because it’s what I did back then. I was an ass**le, too.” He pulled his chair closer to her and leaned in. “That’s not me anymore, Izzy. I swear to you.”

He saw she was trying to make sense of everything he said then she blew him away with her next question. “What about her son, Moe?”

He pulled back. “How do you know about him?”

Isabel pulled her arm away from him. “Is he your son?”

“No. Who told you about him?”

“I went to the mall Sunday. I saw her there with him. He called her mommy and his name was Moe.”

He dropped his head back. “Listen babe, I don’t know why she named him Moe or…” he changed his mind. It was best to just come clean. “Yeah I do.” He told her the story Cici had told him at Frisco’s, leaving out the part about Cici saying she never came back because she knew they’d end up finishing what they hadn’t the night her boyfriend slapped her.

“So do you think she has feelings for you?”

“No.” He reached for her hand again. “I don’t know and I don’t care. She knows the ring I bought was for my girlfriend. Izzy, trust me. You have nothing to worry about. I won’t ever go back to that jewelry store again. I won’t even go to the mall without you, if that’s what you want. I told you. I’ll do anything you ask.”

Her face flushed a tiny bit and for the first time that morning, he saw a hint of a smile. “You don’t have to do all that.”

Romero moved even closer to her. “Just tell me you haven’t given up on me. You don’t know what it did to me when Alex dropped off all my stuff.”

She ran her fingers through his hair. “I thought you had a son with Cici.”

That was it? She wasn’t running from him because of his temper issues? He couldn’t hold back any more and he kissed her. Damn he’d missed her lips. “You forgive me for Saturday?”