Page 35 of Truth or More Truth (Throwback RomComs #3)

thirty-three

. . .

“ I ’m taking the red-eye tonight to Chicago,” Bobby tells me over the phone Wednesday evening.

“I’ll be in meetings all day tomorrow through dinner.

But I want to see you after that, if it’s not too late for you.

I’ll be heading back home early Friday morning so I’ll be back by the time Kelli gets home from school, and I want Opal to be able to take the night off.

She says she doesn’t mind the around-the-clock work since it’s hopefully only for a few weeks this time, but I don’t want her to burn out.

She hasn’t left the house since Nanette came home Sunday other than to get some snacks Kelli was craving.

The woman is a total pushover for that kid. ”

My heart tumbles around in my chest, both at knowing I’ll be seeing Bobby in about twenty-four hours and from his dedication to his family and employee.

“I’ll be free whenever you are. I don’t care where or when.” Maybe I shouldn’t sound so eager or available, but I don’t want to play games with this man. He deserves to know where I stand and how I feel.

“Excellent.”

I wonder if his dimple is showing, and the mental image of his smiling face puts a grin on my own.

“I’ll be at the Drake,” he tells me. “Since I’m not going to be there even one full night, I’m camping out with Diego in his suite.

He came back from the Dominican today and will be in the city for a couple weeks while he does some stuff with his foundation.

Would it be too much trouble for you to meet me at the hotel? Or would you rather I come to you?”

“I’m happy to go downtown.”

“Great. How about you plan to get there by eight? You can hang out with your buddy Diego if I end up taking longer than expected at dinner.”

“Sounds great.”

“And if our little pal ends up being too much of a third wheel, we can head down to the hotel bar to get away from him.”

I chuckle. “I have a feeling we’ll be hitting that bar.” I hesitate only a second before adding, “I can’t wait to see you.”

“I can’t wait to kiss you.”

I burst out laughing. “Yeah, that, too.”

“How’s my favorite road trip buddy?” Diego wraps me in a bear hug the moment I step through the door into his hotel suite. Then he grabs me by the shoulders, holds me away from him, and looks me in the eye. “You good?” He waggles his eyebrows. “Ready to see your lover?”

I wriggle out of his grasp and swat him on the chest. “Don’t use that word.

It squicks me out.” I move past him into the living area, which is exactly as ostentatious as I expected Diego’s home to be.

The man likes to make a statement, and the statement here is “I miss the Caribbean, so I’m channeling that aesthetic, taking everything up a notch, and creating my own fancy tropical oasis in the middle of the Upper Midwest.” I wonder if Ruth Hamilton realizes what this man will do to her home if she allows him to move in.

He follows me in. “Squicks?” His forehead wrinkles. “I don’t know this word.”

“That’s because I made it up,” I explain, plopping onto a plush orange-and-turquoise couch. I wonder if the hotel sprang for this decor for him, or if he paid for it. “It means . . .” Instead of using words, I screw up my face into a grimace, clench my fists, and make my entire body shudder.

Diego points a finger at me. “Got it. I wouldn’t want you to squick again, so I’ll refrain from calling Bobby your lover in the future.”

I shudder again, and he laughs before holding a hand out to me.

“Up, woman. Do you not smell the deliciousness coming from the dishes on the table? Our dinner has already arrived.”

No more than five minutes after I hung up with Bobby last night, Diego called, inviting me to eat dinner with him tonight while I wait to see Bobby. I accepted the invitation after ensuring he wasn’t the one who would be cooking. I’ve heard stories of his kitchen disasters.

“You look lovely, by the way,” Diego says as he leads me to the dining table, which is loaded with multiple covered dishes.

“Why thank you,” I say with a curtsy as I glance down at my burgundy wrap dress. “I wore it especially for you.” I considered choosing something more casual, but since I anticipated heading to the hotel bar with Bobby, I didn’t want to be underdressed.

Diego laughs. “You’re a liar, but a muy bonita one.” He pulls my chair out and then takes the seat across the teak table from me.

“What are you feeding me?”

He whips the lids off two of the dishes with a flourish. “ Pollo guisado, mofongo, and a few other Dominican dishes. I made the chef here learn to cook some of my favorites from back home.” He bobs his head from side to side. “He does a decent job of it.”

“OK, I know pollo is chicken, but what’s mofongo?”

“Fried plantains with yummy spices.”

“Sounds—and smells—wonderful.”

We hear a key jiggling the lock, and Diego jumps off the couch, where we’ve been hanging out and chatting since finishing the delicious dinner.

“As much as I’d love to watch how this goes down, I’ll leave you two to greet each other in private,” he says as he jogs toward his room.

The bedroom door snicks shut as the entry door opens. I stand as Bobby appears, his eyes scanning the room until his gaze lands on me. His handsome face lights up, and my hands are suddenly clammy, so I wipe them on my thighs.

He scans me up and down and then stalks toward me. I’m only able to take a few tentative steps toward him. Bobby comes to a stop in front of me and takes my hands in his.

“Hey, are you OK?” he asks.

I nod. “Just nervous,” I admit.

His dimple pops. “Me, too. Even so, I’m going to kiss you.”

“You’d better. And don’t tease me this time.”

Bobby chuckles as his hands cup my face and his gaze slides from my eyes down to my mouth. “I’ll save the teasing for later.” Then one warm hand slides to the nape of my neck and he brings my lips to his.

My hands fist in his shirt as he takes the kiss from tender to heated after what seems like only a few seconds but could be minutes for all I know.

One of his hands glides down to the small of my back, and he pulls me flush against him.

Then he backs me toward the couch as a muffled voice calls out from the other room.

“Are you done with the kissy-kissy, or should I stay in here a little longer?” Diego asks.

Bobby and I both laugh as we pull our mouths apart.

He rests his forehead against mine. “I don’t know why I thought I didn’t need my own hotel room.”

“It’s fine,” I say. “Being alone in a hotel room might’ve put some pressure on us that we don’t need quite yet.”

Bobby angles his head back and searches my eyes. “That’s exactly why I did this. Not that I don’t want to take things to the bedroom with you someday, but I don’t think today should be that day. We should probably go on a date first.”

“Might be a good idea.”

“Helloooooo,” comes from the other room.

Bobby sits on the couch and pulls me down onto his lap. When I give him a questioning look, he quirks an eyebrow. “Don’t you want to see how he’ll respond to this?”

With a nod and a grin, I reply, “I sure do.”

“It’s safe to come out,” Bobby calls out.

Diego is out of his room in a flash, a smile splitting his face as he takes us in. He clasps his hands under his chin like a little kid in a donut shop. “I cannot tell you how happy this makes me. All of my American friends are marrying each other!”

“Hold your horses, Uncle Diego.” I hold a hand up. “We haven’t even gone on a date yet.”

He waves a hand in the air. “Pedantics.”

Bobby shakes his head. “Pretty sure that doesn’t mean what you think it means.”

“Whatever.” Diego perches on the coffee table in front of us. “Now, what are we going to discuss first? How about where you’ll live when you get married?”

“We,” I point between Bobby and myself, “are going to head downstairs to the bar and discuss various topics amongst ourselves.” I point to him. “You are going to stay here and not start planning our wedding.”

Diego sticks his lip out in a pout. “Fine. But I’m calling Kelli and finding out what she thinks about all this.” He points a finger at us and moves it in a circle.

Bobby huffs. “I don’t love that idea, but I’ll never try to stop you from calling your favorite teenager. I actually can’t believe you haven’t called her to talk about us already.”

“I’ve been busy. And calls to the US are expensive when I’m back home.”

“I think you can afford it.” Bobby nudges me up and then stands and takes my hand. “If you’ll excuse us, we’re going to head downstairs for a while, and then I’ll take Melissa home. Don’t wait up.”

“Oh, I’m waiting up.” Diego lets out a vaguely evil-sounding chuckle before wrapping me in one of his signature hugs. “But I guess I won’t be seeing you again tonight, my beautiful Melissa. We’ll get together again before I leave town, though, yes?”

“I’d love to. ”

“Good. Then you’ll get a chance to thank me for the new, very expensive and extremely comfortable chairs that will automatically appear at your office over the weekend.” He points at Bobby. “Take good care of both of my ladies tonight.”

My eyebrow goes up. “Both?”

Bobby sighs. “He’s talking about you, of course, and his Lamborghini, which he named Luna.”

“You’re going to drive me home in a Lamborghini?”

Diego bows. “Only the best for you, senorita. I usually make it a rule to not let anyone else drive my Luna, but your Bobby is the exception to many, many rules.”

I give Bobby a soft smile. “I’m beginning to learn that about him.”

“He is one in a billion.” Diego claps his hand over his heart. “Treat him well.”

“I will. I promise.”