Tangled: A Moreno Brothers novella (2 page)

t felt like old times—like when they’d first lived
together and started their married life—when their lovemaking was always a long
incredible marathon. You would think after all the time they’d already spent in
bed tonight they’d be worn out. Yet there they were in the shower for a reason:
because they’d been drenched in sweat after such an amazing lovemaking session.
And they were as excited as teenagers.

Isabel kissed Romero madly as he slammed into her against the
shower wall. As he pumped into her a few more times until he came with a grunt,
she wrapped her legs around him tightly, feeling that all-familiar sensation overwhelm
her.

“Oh my God!” She gasped as her body continued to tremble, holding
on to him firmly because she didn’t want it to end. “That was . . .” she said
breathlessly as she began to un-wrap her legs from his body.

“Something,” he said, leaning his hard, wet body against her and
kissing her softy then touching his forehead to her shoulder. “Something we
need to do more often.”

She smiled, still panting for air.
Now
she felt ready to
collapse, and if Romero’s heartbeat against her chest were any indication, so
was he.

They rinsed off for the last time and got out. Isabel wrapped the
towel around herself then around her head. Romero had already walked out into
their bedroom in search of underwear, no doubt, the only thing he wore to bed.
If it weren’t for the possibility of the kids walking in, he’d still be wearing
what he used to wear to bed before the kids were born—nothing.

Watching him walk around in his sexy-as-all-hell snug boxer
briefs made her smile. She’d been right earlier about his workouts paying off. He’d
never lost that tight look and those brawny muscles, but he’d pointed out a few
months ago that his abs weren’t what they used to be ever since he starting
slacking off from his workouts. The extra time he used to put in the gym he’d
been spending with the kids instead, but lately, with the Amanda in school full-time
now and Romeo in pre-K, her husband had stepped it up again, and he was even
more breathtaking than usual.

“That was nice,” she murmured as she walked out of the restroom. “I’m
surprised we didn’t get interrupted.”

He looked up at her and stopped, flashing that smirk of his, which
even after all these years still made her insides warm. “That was fucking
amazing. And I’m glad you enjoyed it, because I’m telling you it’s gonna start
happening more often. Quickies are good and all, but nothing beats tasting you
from top to bottom and taking my sweet time doing so.”

He pulled her to him, groaning before kissing her neck. Isabel
giggled as he loosened his hold on her and climbed into bed. She changed into
her kid-friendly but still sexy lacy shorts pajamas then walked over and
unlocked their bedroom door.

She turned back to Romero, who was still eyeing her with that
playful smirk. “That’s the good thing about no more babies,” she said
cautiously, but the very words had his smile flattening. “We get to do this a
lot more often.”

“We managed even when the kids were younger,” he said, eyeing her
a little too seriously.

“I know,” she agreed quickly. “I’m just saying it’ll be easier
now.”

“I thought you said you were gonna give it until next year to
decide.”

“I am,” she said, climbing in next to him and cuddling him, her
hands already roaming over his naked chest and abs.

“Sounds to me like you’ve already decided.”

“No, I haven’t.” She pulled back to look him in the eyes.

She really hadn’t. Just the other day she and Valerie had had
this conversation over lunch. Valerie and Alex were done having kids, but then they
had four. Isabel did like the idea of a bigger family, and she knew how much
Romero wanted at least a couple more, but the thought of having to start all
over was a bit overwhelming.

“I was just making an observation,” she said. “I mean, honestly,
when was the last time we were able to do that for that long without being
interrupted?”

Romero’s brow lifted, and she knew now maybe she shouldn’t have
brought this up and ruined the wonderful night they’d been having.

“Is holding off on this decision until the beginning of next year
just your way of humoring me, Izzy?”

“Of course not,” she said, sitting up and feeling a bit defensive
suddenly. “I wouldn’t do that. I really am on the fence about it still. It’s
just that we agreed I’d go back to work this fall, and I wanna see how that
works out first. For all I know I could hate it, but”—she reached out and
touched his face—“what if I love it? What if I realize I missed my career more
than I thought I would?”

Romero’s expression went even harder, and she had a feeling why. She’d
picked up on it loud and clear earlier. He hadn’t been thrilled about her going
back to work in the first place, and telling him she’d be working side by side
with Elliot had been an even more unwelcome announcement. But Isabel had
learned years ago it was best to just be completely honest even about the
things she knew would be grating for him when it came to things of this nature.
They’d been together long enough, and he knew better than to worry about things
like this.

“About that,” he said. “When you said you were looking forward to
going back to work, you said it was because you missed teaching. Now you’re
going back to push papers for this—”

“I told you I’ll be lecturing—that
is
teaching.” She sat
up, putting the pillow behind her. “It’s actually better this way. It’s almost as
if I’m interning, like before I ever got my own class when I taught middle
school. I got to take baby steps first and shadow other teachers. Only this
time I’ll be getting paid to shadow.”

“But you don’t need to do that; you’ve already been a teacher.”

“This isn’t the same, Romero. Teaching at a university level is a
completely different monster. I’ll be teaching adults, not middle-school brats.”

“How old’s this guy?”

All right, she knew this was coming. No matter how many years
they were married, Romero would always be Romero. She’d tell him everything he
needed to know so that he’d feel better, but no way was she allowing him to
make her feel guilty about anything regardless of the circumstances.

“I don’t know exactly, but if I had to guess, I’d say mid to late
thirties.”

“Is he single?”

Isabel took a deep breath, biting back what she really wanted to
ask. Does that really matter? But since she knew no matter how much he’d claim
it didn’t, it did. She may as well tell him the truth.

“He’s recently divorced.”

Romero stared at her now, the severity in his eyes weakened a bit
but his interest even greater. “And why do
you
know that?”

Isabel shot right back without wavering, “Because he mentioned it
when I told him about needing to be home for the kids. He said he understood. He
remembered when his kids were our kids’ age and not wanting to miss out on anything.
He said I should enjoy these years because they fly by fast. Then he said now
that he’s divorced he hardly sees the kids at all and he wishes he’d spent more
time with them when he’d had the chance.” Reaching for Romero’s hand, she could
already feel the tension in his arms again. “What are you thinking?” she asked,
and he stared up at her silently for a moment. “Don’t think about it, baby. Just
tell me what’s going through your head this very instant.”

His expression softened a bit as he pulled her down to lie with
him. “That I love you,” he said softly, kissing her nose as soon as she was
close enough. “And that I’m gonna pass out the moment we shut off the lights.”

Isabel searched his eyes, surprised by his response. This was so
not where she thought this conversation was headed. But he smiled and it was
genuine, so she smiled, relieved that for now this didn’t appear as if it might
be an issue.

Since they’d been married and especially once she decided to stay
home, there’d been very few incidents where his temper or suspicion of any guy
around her caused them to argue. They’d come a long way since their explosive
beginning. But then, since she’d been home with the kids, there’d been very few
times she had to spend around other men when Romero wasn’t around.

Isabel decided this was a good thing for them. She was bound to
get back into the work force, and they were beyond ridiculous insecurities.
Obviously, Romero had grown in the years they’d been married or they might
still be discussing Elliot. Instead, Romero’s arms were already wrapped tightly
around her, and he breathed in deeply, sounding as content as she felt.

~*~

Romero climbed back into bed, careful not to wake Izzy.
She’d been mumbling since he’d gotten out of bed in the first place.

“No,” she mumbled softly. “No
albondigas
for you.”

He chuckled softly, staring at her. She hadn’t done this in a
while. Her mumbling in her sleep was something that only happened once in a
great while. But over the years, he’d noticed it usually happened when she went
to bed especially tired. Last night had been so good it didn’t surprise him
that she’d slept this soundly.

Most of the time, the things she said in her sleep had to do with
him or the kids. She’d even scolded Max once in her sleep for cussing in front
of the kids. It was always highly entertaining, and he loved teasing her about
it.

He frowned, knowing his chuckling had woken her because she began
to shift and open her eyes. Even half awake, she was fucking beautiful, and he
had to smile. She stared lazily at him, her expression a bit confused obviously
about waking to him staring and smiling at her the way he was. “What are you
the soup Nazi now?”

“What?” she asked, her brows pinching together.

“Were you dreaming about
albondigas
?”

She stared at him for moment then smiled, her face flushing
instantly. Romero groaned, burying his face in her neck.
Jesus,
he’d
never get enough of seeing her blush. Even after all these years, it still
happened often, and Romero still found it to be one of her most adorable
quirks.

“What did I say?” She laughed, nudging him away playfully.

“You said, ‘No
albondigas
for you.’”

Repeating it made him laugh again. Izzy nudged him again for
laughing at her, but she was smiling now too.

“I don’t remember what exactly I was dreaming. I just remember I
was in the kitchen and the kids were running amuck.”

Romero finally managed to pull himself away but not before
kissing her on the nose. He laughed some more. He’d figured as much because she
often disciplined the kids, especially Romeo, by threatening to hold their
favorite dishes or special treat she made for them hostage until they behaved.

“You hadn’t done that in a while,” he said just as the kids ran
in the room and jumped in the bed with Izzy.

“Well, with the kids back in school,” she said, squeezing Romeo
in her arms, “and me going back to work soon, you can expect it to happen more
often. I’ll probably go to bed completely spent more often now.”

The mention of her going back to work squashed Romero’s good mood
a bit, but he didn’t want to be too obvious about it. He really did want to be
supportive of her decision to go back to work, but, like Manny, he secretly had
wished she’d waited longer before doing so.

His security firm was highly successful and only becoming more
and more lucrative each year. Financially, they didn’t need her to go back to
work, but Romero understood that wasn’t why she was doing it. She’d worked hard
to earn her degrees. It had taken her longer than all her siblings to earn her master’s
because she’d done online classes and just a class on campus here and there in
the past five years. But she’d finally done it last year, and Romero was very
proud of her. At the time, he’d hoped it was just a goal she wanted to achieve
but that she wasn’t seriously going back to teaching this soon.

Of course, Izzy’s sister Pat was the one doing most of the
encouraging that she should go back to work. Despite his relationship with Izzy’s
sister having improved enormously since he’d first met her, she was still Izzy’s
overbearing sister. The woman would always be annoying when it came to a lot of
things. Romero had just learned to deal with her ass. The good thing was, after
all these years, she knew better than to purposely get on his bad side. And
since Romero had been so convincing about being all for Izzy going back to work,
Pat couldn’t know hearing her constantly nag Izzy about using her degree and
getting back to teaching was annoying as shit.

Still, it wasn’t just Pat. Izzy really did miss teaching, and she
deserved to get back to it. So regardless of how disconcerting it was that she’d
be working side by side with this recently divorced professor, Romero was going
to be as supportive as he said he’d be. He trusted Izzy completely. The only
consolation and hope he’d held onto was that she was already talking about how
tired she’d be once she went back to work. She’d already said if it got to be
too much she’d quit ASAP.

Romero could only secretly hope now that it would be.

Three

Silly

hree weeks into her new job, Isabel was finally getting
the hang of her new routine. But it didn’t make it any less exhausting than
that first week. Before she figured out what the safest time was for her to
leave the university once she was done so she’d be on time to pick up the kids,
she’d been close to calling Manny or Max, who worked closest to their school,
to pick them up because she thought she might not make it. Luckily, both times she
had. It’d been close, but she’d made it. It took a few days, but she had it
down now—not just what was the latest she could leave but what route to take that
took the least amount of time.