Tangled: A Moreno Brothers novella (3 page)

It was still tiresome, but at least it was less stressful. Not
that Romero would be a jerk about it, but she still didn’t want him to think
she couldn’t handle this. When she started this, she thought it’d be a breeze.
It was just four hours of her day. She remembered thinking
“How hard can it
be? Plenty of women work full-time and still deal with their household chores
and families.”
But she hadn’t taken into account the commute time to and
from work, the extra hour she now needed in the morning to get ready while
helping the kids get ready as well, and making their breakfast and lunches.
Then there was the getting home and preparing them something to hold them over
until she could get a real meal together for them.

Having to squeeze in all the usual things she could do so easily
before she had to work was so much more exhausting. Like the stuff she typically
knocked out in one day on her errand day. Now she had to run errands several
times a week because there was no way she could squeeze them all in during the
few hours she had once she was out of work and still have dinner ready in time.
It felt like
far
more than four hours of her day were being sucked up by
this job.

The family dinner time at the table every night was
her
thing, not Romero’s. So she knew he wouldn’t have a problem if dinner wasn’t
ready when he got home. In fact, he often told her, even before she’d gone back
to work, to let him know if she wanted him to just pick something up for dinner
on his way home. After Romero’s grandma had died, Manny and Max had done their
best to raise him, but he’d told her about the many pizzas and buckets of
chicken or even frozen chicken wings they’d thrown in the oven for dinner. Having
dinner at the table every night with her family was something Isabel remembered
so fondly from when she was growing up. It was her family’s bonding time, and
she’d been a stickler for wanting to instill the tradition in her own kids.

It’d been easy to get them used to it, and the kids seemed to
enjoy it as much as she had when she was growing up. Only now it was getting
harder to have it all as perfect as she liked it to be with the rolls and salad
and even dessert ready just in time.

To top it off, with the holidays looming, she had added errands
to run. Buying all the Christmas stuff for the kids was something she’d
normally done when Amanda was in school and she could drop off Romeo with her
mom or sisters for a few hours. With both of them in school now, this year
should’ve been easier. Instead, her working during their time in school was
making everything feel overwhelming.

It was shameful to think not only had her mom done the same thing
with four kids but she’d done it all while working
full
-time for years
and years. Now here Isabel was working part-time for just a few weeks, and
already it was beginning to feel like too much.

But there was no way she was admitting this may’ve been a
mistake. She knew it had everything to do with her need for everything to be as
meticulous as ever despite her having less time to do it. Her only consolation
was that Romero would be all for her quitting. Still, it was humiliating to
think she couldn’t hang in there for at least a few months.
What kind of
example would she be setting for her kids if she quit this quickly?

Another consolation was that the job itself was gratifying.
Elliot was more than pleasant to work with, and it was nice for a change to be
able to engage in adult conversation for the better part of her days. She
remembered there was a time in her life when both kids were very little and she
lived for the playdates with Valerie and the other girls so she could get some
adult conversation instead of just baby talk when she was home alone with the
kids all day. It wasn’t so bad anymore now that they were a little older, but
it was still nice to discuss things that even some of the adults in her life
didn’t get. So being in a university setting was the ideal job for her, and
discussing these things with Elliot was incredibly refreshing.

She was even beginning to get over the initial awkwardness of
being alone in the classroom with him whenever he dismissed his class early. He
gave her the option to leave early as well and would still give her credit for
her full four hours. But it usually worked out if she stuck around because they
would work on lectures together. He’d let her take the floor a few times
already during his lectures and said whenever she felt up to it she could have
at it and do the entire thing on her own.

She still wasn’t feeling that confident. Elliot was one of those
professors she remembered from her early days in college. He had a gift. He was
so confident when he spoke, and he just had that
it
factor when it came
to speaking to his students. Some of his lectures were absolutely mesmerizing
and thought-provoking. How packed each one of his classes was, was proof of how
captivating he could be. Isabel knew from experience only the professors as
charismatic as Elliot were the ones whose classes stayed as full as his did
throughout the entire semester. She didn’t know it for a fact, but she was
fairly certain his classes were probably the first to get filled, and there was
very likely a long waiting list to get in.

The thought of giving a full lecture as
he
sat and
listened to
her
was actually a bit daunting, even though the few times
he’d given her the floor he’d called her a natural. She knew he was just being
kind. While she did feel confident and did notice she had everyone’s full
attention the little time she got up to speak, she knew she wasn’t nearly as
good as he was.

Today was one of those days he’d finished up early and he’d
excused his students, leaving them alone to go over lectures, she imagined. They’d
remained in the empty lecture hall long after the students had been dismissed,
discussing what he’d spoken of today.

Though she’d never tell Romero because without a doubt he’d be
beyond annoyed by it, this was by far what she considered the biggest perk of
her job. When she first told Romero she’d decided to get her master’s in political
science, he’d teased her that she’d done so to spite his uncles. They’d made no
secret of their abhorrence of anything political. As far as they were concerned,
all politicians were crooks and liars.

Isabel had no interest in running for office. But just like her
late father who’d dabbed in politics a bit, she too had always had an interest
in political science. And since politics was considered a touchy subject unless
she was discussing it privately with one of her siblings or her mom—who were
about the only people she knew who were even interested in discussing politics
at all—she didn’t get to discuss it often. Being able to do so in length with
someone who spoke as eloquently as Elliot, was probably her favorite part of
the job.

“I actually agree with you that health care reform as is, is a
bit flawed, but for business owners like my husband and me, and even his uncles
who’ve always been self-employed as well, some kind of healthcare reform was
needed and should’ve come a long time ago,” Isabel said as Elliot listened
intently. “Fortunately, both my husband’s and his uncles’ businesses are doing
very well, so health insurance is not an issue, but there are too many self-employed
citizens out there who aren’t as fortunate, and most of those people would be
uninsured if it weren’t for the laws that were recently passed.”

“You mentioned that before about your husband being self-employed.”
He eyed her curiously. “Security firm, right?”

“Yes.” She nodded. “And he stays real busy.”

“I take it you two met in college. Was he a business major?”

“No, actually, he didn’t attend college.”

Isabel was long over the idea that her sister had once tried to
put in her head that only someone with a college degree could be successful—in
her sister’s mind anyway. One of the reasons she knew her sister didn’t voice
her opinion much about that anymore was because Romero and his uncles were
living proof that her theory couldn’t be further from the truth. While his
uncles’ business was very different from Romero’s, even in a weak economy, both
businesses were thriving. And she was extremely proud of Romero. He was a self-made
man, and even now, the business continued to expand.

“Really?” Elliot seemed genuinely intrigued by this. “Oh wow. So
he just started his business all on his own?”

“Yep,” she said proudly. “I mean it wasn’t
that
simple.”

“Of course, of course,” Elliot agreed quickly. “No business ever
is.”

“He had to get certified in numerous things, pass a lot of state
and county tests, and build a solid clientele, etc. He still takes exams
whenever any of those certifications need to be renewed since the laws change
all the time. He’s also a private investigator. The business has expanded
extensively since he first started it. Not to brag or anything”—she smiled as
he stared at her—“but when I think of how far he’s come, it really is quite impressive
that he started what’s become such a big firm all on his own.”

“It does sound impressive,” Elliot agreed again, smiling with
her, “and interesting. I imagine there’s never a dull moment.”

“No.” She laughed softly. “He comes home with wild stories all
the time.”

“I’ll bet.” Elliot sat even further back in his seat. “So I’m curious.
How
did
you two meet?”

“Mutual friends,” she said, trying not to feel weird about the
turn the conversation had taken.

So far most of their conversations had been strictly politics and
work-related with a few inquiries about her kids and family. But she supposed
this was normal and he was just curious. She had to admit after getting to know
him over the past few weeks, even if their conversations had been purely
professional, she’d been very impressed with him in more ways than one. Clearly
having a PhD in political science and with all the lectures he’d given made him
very well-read and well-spoken. Those qualities in a man alone were attractive enough
regardless of his looks, but Elliot was all those things
and
good-looking.
She, too, had been
curious
about why any woman would divorce him.

This was another reason why she was certain there was never an
empty seat in lecture hall on the days he lectured. On top of captivating his
audience with his well-expressed views, he was also very easy on the eyes. With
all he had to offer, there was no doubt’ he was a favorite professor. Isabel had
seen it in the admiring eyes of all his female students. So the question of why
any woman would divorce such a catch was a curious one, though Isabel didn’t
dare ask something so personal.

He smiled, bringing the tip of his reading glasses to his lips. “I
thought maybe you two met by way of his job: something interesting like he fell
in love with the beautiful woman he was supposed to be investigating.”

Feeling her face flush instantly, she shook her head too quickly.
“No, nothing like that,” she said, swallowing hard.

“I’m sorry if that was inappropriate.” He sat up. “I didn’t mean
to embarrass you.”

Calling attention to the fact that she was probably beet red now
wasn’t helping. “No, don’t worry. I blush really easily,” she said, laughing
nervously. “It’s a curse and one of the first things my husband said he’d noticed
about me. He’s, uh,” she added, bringing her hand to her face and touching her
warm cheek, “still highly entertained by it, actually.”

He stared at her for a moment without saying anything then
smiled. “I can see why.”

Their eyes met for a moment too long, and without thinking, she
began blurting things out: how her former roommate was dating Romero’s friend
at the time and then about meeting him at Alex’s brother’s wedding shower. She
even told him how at first she’d been afraid they might be too different. “But
I guess it’s true what they say about opposites attracting, because here we are
years later, happily married with two kids.”

The moment she said that last part she felt utterly ridiculous.
For some stupid reason, she’d felt it necessary to throw that in, but he
already knew this! Her face began to warm again as the mortification set in.
Did
he possibly pick up on the fact that, for an instant there, she thought he
needed to be reminded?

Each day there were dozens and dozens of young, pretty, and very
likely single girls who sat in awe of their brilliant and very attractive
professor. He had to know this—had to know that while it went against school
policy to date his students, he still could have his pick of any single girls
on campus. Why in the world would he need to be reminded that his assistant was
happily married? Just because of his
beautiful
comment?

Jesus, she was an idiot.

“And they’re probably right,” he said, still staring at her in
that way he always had, but somehow it felt different now. “It’s probably why
my ex-wife and I couldn’t work things out. We were
too
much alike. Yet
my stubborn heart keeps getting drawn to women like her, women I can talk to
for hours on end and never get bored.” He smiled, and again the moment went on
a bit too long, but mercifully, he continued before she had to think of a
response to that—she had nothing. “My ex-wife is also a professor at a
university, only she teaches Women Studies.” He laughed softly now. “You can
imagine the discussions she and I had. While some of those discussions could
often get heated, it’s what I miss most. Any woman can offer physical pleasure.
To me, it’s always been about how a woman can pleasure my mind.”

For the first time since they’d been sitting there talking, there
was too long of a moment when neither said anything. Suddenly speechless,
Isabel took the moment to check her watch. “Shoot!” she said, standing up
quickly. “I gotta go.”