She saw his expression harden again and his eyes darken. “Why would you?”
“I just told you?”
“I meant I know nobody will ever make me feel the way you do. So I’d never even expect it. Why would you?”
She shook her head. “My point was, all I could think of the entire night was you. The first thing I did when I got home was text you.” She leaned her forehead against his. “You forgive me?”
“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t,” he said, tightening her hold around her. “Truth is, I was being a hypocrite today.”
That confused her and she stared at him. He laughed. “I was mad at you for not telling your family about me, and I did the same thing to my uncles. I didn’t tell you about them because I was afraid of what you might think.”
“Why?”
“They’re… different, but they’re good guys. You’ll see when you meet them.”
She smiled. “Okay. But first you’re meeting my mom and sister.” She tried to act as if it were no big deal, but she was more nervous about it than she’d ever admit to him. “Tomorrow we’re having dinner with them.”
The first thing she did after Romero stormed out today and he didn’t pick up any of her calls, was call her sister and mom and made sure they kept their evening open for her. She had no idea Romero would be coming back tonight, but she was hoping by tomorrow she would’ve at least heard from him.
He stared at her silently for a moment, that intensity in his eyes that made her that perfect kind of nervous. “I think I love you,” she whispered.
His eyes widened. She held her breath. It was too soon. She shouldn’t have told him.
“You think?”
She was suddenly choked up. This day was too much. “Is it too soon?”
He sat up, putting his hands around her face. “You love me?” His expression looked almost frantic. Had she scared him that much? She stared at him, afraid to answer.
“I f**king love you, Izzy. I’ve been so scared to freak you out, but I do.”
She fell into his chest. “I love you! I do! And you’re happy?” This was insane.
“Yes, I’m happy!” His big hands swallowed up her face. “Are you crazy? I can’t stop thinking about you!”
His expression suddenly went from ecstatic to troubled. “What?” She searched his eyes.
“I don’t know about you, and I don’t think I wanna know, but I’ve never done this relationship thing. I probably won’t be very good at it. And I sure as hell never met any girl’s family, and your family…” His eyes were genuinely horrified. “I’m gonna screw this up, Izzy.”
“No you’re not,” she said, with a nervous laugh.
But the magnitude of this jolted her. She’d never dealt with anybody like Romero in her life. She was a peaceful spring day to Romero’s level-five tornado. She’d suspected it before, but he confirmed it today when he blew up. Oh, she saw him try to conceal it, but there was no hiding the inferno in his eyes. In the past, like any sane girl with even an ounce of sense, she would’ve run the other way from a man like Romero, but strangely, it was part of the attraction.
My family is going to love you. She almost said it, but she didn’t think she could pull it off with a straight face. “We can do this,” she said instead, kissing him.
“You really love me?” he asked, against her lips.
“I really do,” she smiled.
He stared in her eyes, as if he was still trying to find the doubt in them. He’d never find it because as much as it scared her, she’d never felt like this for anyone. It was everything she ever dreamed of and so much more. He kissed her, pulling her down on the sofa and pressing his body against hers.
She pushed away thoughts of asking him to wait for her to get a towel, so they wouldn’t mess the sofa. Okay, maybe she wasn’t entirely cured of her obsessive need for neatness and perfection. But she could work on it.
***
Yesterday had been one of the most emotional days of Romero’s life. One he wouldn’t be sharing with anyone else. Not even his uncles had gotten much out of him, except for an explanation of how he met Isabel and what she was like. Each time he’d started describing her he had to remind himself his uncles were watching him closely, because he got so into it. By the time he realized he was laughing about things there was no way his uncles could understand until they met her, they were staring at him as if they didn’t even know the guy in front of them.
Maybe they didn’t anymore. Maybe he was a new person. He sure as hell felt like one. Hearing Isabel say she loved him last night, had to be the best moment of his life. If he hadn’t heard her himself, he would’ve never believed it. Not only had he been certain what he was feeling for her was completely nuts, he’d known from the very beginning they were from different worlds. It was easy to understand how even then, he’d fall so hard for her. Even as he spoke about her to his uncles he couldn’t believe the crazy emotions he felt just talking about her. But he never expected someone like her to fall for him.
The anxiety he’d been so unfamiliar with, until he started seeing Isabel, was the only thing annoying about the whole situation. He felt it even now, as he drove into her apartment parking lot. Meeting her sister tonight was going to be a challenge. He’d never been one to fake what he was feeling and he already knew he wasn’t going to like her, but he didn’t want to screw things up, so for once in his life he actually planned on biting his tongue if he had to.