Alex was glad she wasn’t looking at him or she might see how incredibly annoyed that made him. He was determined to get through this without blowing up. “Anything else I need to know, Z?”
“That’s it. Other than he calls my cell all the time, but I don’t answer.”
Alex got up and walked to the sink. He poured his coffee out; his appetite for anything right now shot.
Valerie stood up and walked toward him. She put her arms around his waist. He was completely tense but her touch soothed him. “Alex, I hate to burden you with all this. You have so much on your mind already. Let me handle it. I don’t want you worrying.”
Was she insane? The guy was threatening her. “Valerie, I want you to tell me everything when it comes to this idiot, right down to every call you don’t answer.”
She looked up at him and frowned. “Everything? Really?”
“Yeah, really.”
She nodded and put her head against his chest. “Okay.”
Alex rubbed her back and kissed the top of her head. He’d been a fool to keep her out of his life for so long. She looked up at him. “Are we good?”
He smiled. It amazed him that minutes ago he felt ready to tear down a wall with his bare hands, and now just having her in his arms soothed him so deeply. What peaked now was his curiosity, and he reached down under her shirt. He’d been right, she wasn’t wearing any panties. His hand caressed her naked behind. Feeling a rush of heat, he picked her up. Instinctively she wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck.
He’d always loved that about her. She was always so ready for him. He devoured her mouth, walking over to the pool table in his den. He set her down and pulled the shirt off. Seeing her completely naked in the daylight on his pool table had him so hard it hurt.
But he had something else in mind first. Part of that conversation left him wanting to make sure she knew no other man could love her as much as he did. He wanted to drive her insane with pleasure. “Lay down for me, baby.”
She did as he asked and he pulled her legs up, kissing her inner thighs. Her trembling aroused him to no end. All his muscles clenched at once. He worked his way inward. Kissing and sucking her soft inner thighs, and he spread her legs wide. She was so petite. It was easy to pull her behind off the pool table and closer to his face, his mouth, his tongue.
Alex licked his lips, taking in what his dumb ass missed for too long. This was just the beginning of making up for lost time.
CHAPTER 16
The front door had all three locks on, including the inside chain. That was odd. Maybe Isabel got the creeps being alone. Valerie sure did when Isabel was gone overnight, but Isabel normally didn’t. That suddenly worried Valerie. Had Bruce come by and spooked Isabel? She knocked softly and waited. When Isabel didn’t open up, Valerie began to fish for her phone in her purse.
Thankfully, she heard the chain unlatch. Her phone was hopelessly buried somewhere in the pit of her purse. Isabel opened the door. She appeared to have just gotten out of bed. “Were you still asleep?”
It was only nine but Isabel was usually out of bed by eight on the weekend. It drove Valerie crazy, because she’d always liked to sleep in. Isabel just nodded and hurried back to her room. “I’ll be right out.”
She was wearing a robe. She never wore a robe. Valerie dumped everything down on the sofa then rummaged through her purse again for her phone. The phone in the kitchen started ringing.
“I got it.” She yelled, still digging through the messy purse.
The phone was on its third ring when Valerie finally found her cell and started toward the kitchen. She was halfway there when a bare-chested Romero walked out of the restroom into the kitchen. They froze at the sight of one another. He wore last night’s jeans and nothing else. Valerie glanced away from his very impressive chest. She knew he had a good build but seeing him shirtless was something else.
He cocked a crooked smile and gestured toward the kitchen. “You gonna get that?”
She shook her head quickly. No way was she taking another step closer to her roommate’s half-naked boyfriend. “It’s probably just a fax.”
That’s really the only reason they even had a landline. Her dad called her on it occasionally when he couldn’t get her on her cell. She’d let the answering machine handle it, if that was the case.
Her own voice came on the machine apologizing for not being able to answer just as Isabel walked out of the bedroom. She’d donned a pair of denim shorts and a t-shirt. She attempted to calm her wildly tousled hair with her hands. Valerie pressed her lips holding back a smirk. Isabel’s night had obviously been as pleasurable as her own. The machine beeped, someone cleared their voice then spoke.
“Isabel, this is Michael, I just wanted to tell you I had a fantastic time with you Friday night…”
Valerie’s eyes grew wide. Isabel started toward the machine, but Romero stepped in front of her blocking her way. To both Isabel and Valerie’s horror, the message went on. “…I’ll be here a little longer than I thought, so, I was hoping I could see you again before I leave...”
Romero stared at Isabel the whole time. Valerie’s feet were stuck to the floor. She had visions of leaping over the counter and kicking the machine to its death, but it was way too late for that.
“…I hope we can make this happen.”
He rattled off his number before the agonizing message was finally over. Valerie didn’t know whether to leave the room or stay there for moral support.