One Classic Latin Lover, Please

by McClure, Marcia Lynn

  “You know,” Rome said from behind her, “I’ve never seen anybody swim like that before…and to music even.”

  Tierney glanced up to see Esther Williams gracefully dive off a rock formation, enter the water like an elegant swan, and begin to swim.

  “Yeah, it’s a corny ’50s musical,” she explained. “I love them.”

  “I know what a musical is,” Rome lightheartedly defended himself. “I have a mom, you know.”

  Tierney smiled. She figured she might like Rome’s mom.

  Just then, the front door opened, and Alec stepped in. He took one look at Tierney, another look at Rome, and laughed.

  “Well, isn’t this domestic?” he teased.

  “Tierney’s ironing my collar,” Rome explained.

  Alec nodded. “She’s gonna save you from another nagging from your mom, huh?”

  “Yeah,” Rome affirmed. “But, dude, wait until you see what I just picked up at the post office.”

  “You mean they got here?” Alec asked, suddenly very exuberant.

  “They did,” Rome answered. “And they are perfect, dude! We will totally rock the house tomorrow night at my parents’ party.”

  “Well, let’s see them!” Alec ordered. “Break them out, Romeo, and let’s try them on.”

  “Do not call me Romeo,” Tierney heard Rome correct her brother. “And we can’t try them on in front of Tierney. She might be a spy.”

  “I’m not a spy,” Tierney defended herself as she stripped Rome’s shirt off the ironing board and turned to hand it to him.

  “But you’re stressed,” Alec said. “I can see that by the ironing.” Alec reached out and took a cookie out of the tin of sugar-coated shortbread cookies Tierney had sitting on the free end of the ironing board with her movie list. “And by these,” he added, popping the cookie into his mouth. “I should’ve hidden my stash better.” Alec winked at her, however.

  “What…is this a family thing?” Rome asked, taking two cookies from Tierney’s tin. “What’s with you and your sister and—”

  “Hey, man, at least you don’t see me ironing and watching musicals when I’m stressed,” Alec noted.

  “Good point,” Rome mumbled as he reached out and accepted his shirt from Tierney.

  “Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it, Alec,” Tierney said, suddenly realizing she’d been staring directly at Rome’s broad, bronze, muscular chest as he’d buttoned up his shirt. “B‑but I suppose I should start preparing for that interview.”

  “You’ll do great, Tiers,” Alec said. “There’s no reason she won’t hire you. I know she needs the help, and no one else is as qualified as you.”

  “And besides,” Rome interjected, “if you decide not to take the job, me and Alec will teach you how to plow snow with us.” He grinned. “We could get you a pink four-by-four and have ‘bootylicious’ painted on the tailgate.” He looked to Alec and asked, “Right?”

  “Of course,” Alec agreed with a chuckle.

  “Watch it, Mr. Latin Lover Boy,” Tierney said, wagging an index finger at Rome. “Or else I’ll tell your mama that you didn’t iron your own collar after all.”

  Rome frowned and playfully said, “Oooo! Your sister plays hardball, Alec.”

  Alec laughed and then said, “Come on, man. Let me see the…the stuff.”

  Rome retrieved the package he’d been carrying from where he’d tossed it on the sofa. “See you later, Tierney,” he said, smiling at her. Then looking to Alec, he scolded, “Dude…when were you going to tell her she has to come tomorrow night?”

  “Oh yeah,” Alec mumbled. Looking to Tierney, he said, “By the way, Tiers, tomorrow is Halloween, and I promised the Novaks we’d both be at their party. Okay?”

  “Whatever you say, Alec,” Tierney said, shaking her head. “But do I have to dress up as anything? Are you dressing up?”

  Alec and Rome both smiled.

  “Hell yes, we’re dressing up!” Alec exclaimed.

  “But you don’t have to wear a costume, Tierney,” Rome said, obviously sensing her discomfort. “It’s about half and half. Some wear costumes, some don’t. No pressure.”

  “I-I might pass on wearing anything then…if that’s okay,” Tierney said. “I mean, I’m not prepared with anything.”

  “Oh, you don’t have to wear anything,” Rome said. “But my mom might think it’s a little scandalous if you don’t.”

  Tierney blushed deep red, even though she knew Rome was only teasing her. “I meant I might pass on wearing a costume of any sort, Mr. Novak.”

  Rome looked to Alec. “Dude, she keeps calling me Mr. Novak…like I’m her high school biology teacher or something.”

  Alec nodded. “Yeah…she does that when she’s been ironing.”

  “Okay, okay!” Tierney exclaimed. “You guys are like toddlers when you’re together. Go off and open your package and do whatever you’re doing. I’ve got to get ready for that interview.”

  “All right, all right,” Alec said, taking his sister’s hand and squeezing it with reassurance. “We’ll lay off. But you need to not worry, Tiers. Everything will work out. I promise.”

  “Yeah, it will,” Rome added. “And if you decide you don’t want the flower thing job, I know a Bavarian restaurant looking for bootylicious waitresses, okay?”

  Tierney rolled her eyes, even though Rome was amusing. “Okay. Now you boys run along and do your…whatever it is you’re doing.”

  Alec bent and kissed the top of Tierney’s head. “You’ll be fine, Tiers. Really.”

  Tierney nodded and tried to keep tears from welling in her eyes. But she was frightened and insecure—even for all Alec and Rome’s encouragement.

  “Good luck, Tierney,” Rome added. He grinned with sympathetic understanding. “And I’ll see you tomorrow night, okay? Whether or not you decide to wear anything.”

  He laughed, and so did Alec—and even Tierney couldn’t help but giggle.

  It took every ounce of self-control she had not to gawk after Rome as he left the room—as jaw-dropped as all the women in the restaurant had gawked at him the night she arrived. She raised her hands to her face. Yep—she could still smell the scent of him that had clung to his shirt. It was masculine, woodsy, and comforting somehow.

  Turning to unplug the iron and turn off the movie, Tierney thought to herself that there was no other option. She had to land the job at the florist’s. She truly could not imagine herself being able to plow snow—not for extended periods of time, anyway. Furthermore, the thought of waitressing scared her to death for some reason. She wondered for a moment if it were the thought of waitressing that scared her or the thought of working for Rome’s parents. What if she did go to work for them and failed at being good at her job? Then what would Rome think of her?

  Tierney shook her head—growled at herself under her breath for having such ridiculous thoughts. Rome was Alec’s friend, not hers. He was drop-dead gorgeous and probably on the top of every woman’s dream-man list in Leavenworth. Furthermore, Tierney had to get her own life together before she allowed herself to dream again—to dream of anything to do with romance, a man, love, or anything in the deep emotional category.

  Besides, she knew her lingering (albeit powerful) attractions to Rome was simply whatever that syndrome was called when a woman fell head over heels into infatuation with the man who’d rescued her somehow—and Rome had certainly rescued her. Tierney couldn’t even imagine what her life would have been if she’d actually married Dillon.

  “Dude, there’s some cardboard cutout guy in here,” Tierney heard Rome call out to Alec.

  “Oh, that’s just Tierney’s lover, man. No worries,” Alec answered.

  Tierney blushed to the tips of her toes even for the fact that she was in the room alone. “I’ll have you know that his name is Ricardo!” she called out.

  She giggled and rolled her eyes as she listened to Rome and Alec exchanging sarcasms about her cardboard lover as she headed toward her room. They we
re funny together. In fact, Tierney was suddenly overwhelmed with gratitude and understanding—a gratitude that Alec had found a true friend when he’d moved to Leavenworth and understanding of what a wonderful thing it was. She hoped she’d find a friend like Rome was to Alec. She remembered what Alec had said about Rome’s sister, Celeste. Maybe she’d find Celeste would be a friend to her.

  “Are you bringing this guy to my parents’ party tomorrow, Tierney?” Rome called from one of the bedrooms. “Because if he can’t make it, I could hook you up with a date who has skin.”

  “Open your package and mind your own business, Romeo,” she called in return.

  “Hey, lady! You call him Dr. Jones!” Alec scolded from the back room.

  Tierney laughed as she heard Rome chuckle, “Good one, man! I loved that movie.”

  Life certainly would be different living in Leavenworth with Alec. And suddenly the reiterated realization calmed Tierney’s frazzled nerves. Alec loved her. He wouldn’t let anything happen to her—she knew that. Even if she had trouble finding a job, Alec would take care of her. And all at once, Tierney O’Brien felt more secure and safe than she could remember being since she was a little girl.

  ❦

  “Well,” Tierney said, closing the door behind her, “she’s going to give me a chance, at least. Only three days a week, but it’s better than nothing, right?”

  “It’s awesome, Tiers!” Alec exclaimed from his place lounging on the couch. His smile was broad and sincere, and Tierney felt better at just the sight of it.

  The truth was that when Mrs. Potts had explained she wanted to hire Tierney on a contingency basis (until she was more certain she could afford to hire her, as well as that Tierney could really do what she claimed where arranging was concerned), Tierney had felt utterly defeated. A mere twenty-fours hours a week wouldn’t come close to making her financially self-reliant, even at the higher wage Mrs. Potts had offered.

  Yet the moment she walked into Alec’s warm, inviting home, the moment she saw him lounging on the couch with the TV remote in hand, she’d begun to feel better. His smile—the sincere pride she saw in it—further boosted her confidence, and Tierney owned the sense that this was just the first stepping-stone—that more would follow.

  “What’s she going to pay you?” he asked.

  “Twelve-fifty an hour…at first anyway,” Tierney answered. “If it works out, she’ll bump me up to a lot more and full-time.”

  “See?” Alec asked. “Things are coming together. I told you they would.”

  “Well…yeah, I guess. But…but I’ll still have to live with you for quite a while, Alec. I was hoping to give you your privacy back pretty quickly.”

  Alec got up from the couch, strode to Tierney, and gathered her into a warm, affectionate embrace. “I don’t want you moving out. Not until it’s necessary or both of us are really ready. I want you here for as long as I can have you. Okay?”

  Tierney smiled, returned her brother’s embrace, and sighed, “Okay.”

  “Now,” Alec said, releasing her, “I picked us up some dinner…and there’s a Hitchcock marathon on that old movie channel you like tonight. I figure we can grab some pizza and some popcorn and settle in. What do you say?”

  Tierney sighed again, for the feeling of loving security she’d missed for so long was washing over her like a warm summer rain.

  “I say perfect!” She smiled, tossed her purse in the corner, and added, “Let me just put some jammies on so I can be more comfortable, and we’ll start.” However, when Alec smiled and chuckled to himself, she frowned and asked, “What?”

  “Nothing,” Alec lied.

  “Tell me,” Tierney demanded. “What is so funny all of a sudden?”

  Alec shrugged. “Just that…well, anytime we talked about you today after Rome was over here, he just called you my ‘bootylicious sister.’ ” Alec shook his head. “You don’t know Rome the way I do. You’ll never hear the end of it.”

  “Oh, great,” Tierney sighed. The last thing on earth that she’d ever wanted was for Rome Novak to associate her with something so ridiculous.

  “It’s funny though,” Alec said then.

  “What else is funny?” Tierney asked, rolling her eyes with embarrassment and exasperation.

  “The fact that Rome never said a word about that stupid ’N Sync T-shirt you were wearing,” Alec answered. He grinned his naughty, smart-aleck grin and added, “I guess he was too intrigued with your…well, your apparently bootylicious booty to notice Justin Timberlake smeared all over your chest.”

  “Oh, great,” Tierney sighed. Then, desperate to change the subject, Tierney teased, “Did you see your Christmas Shoppe girl today, darling brother? And when do I get to meet her?”

  “No and never,” Alec answered. Shrugging his shoulders, he added, “Besides, Heidi Svensson is all hot after Rome. He’s just too dense to notice it. And any man who went up against Rome Novak for a girl’s attention would have to be a total fool.”

  Tierney didn’t like the uncomfortable, unhappy feeling that was knotting up in her chest. The girl Alec was interested in was only interested in Rome?

  “Well, does Rome have a girlfriend?” Tierney heard herself ask. She was astonished in that moment—for it wasn’t the question she’d intended to ask. She’d intended to ask Alec how he planned to handle the situation, but it wasn’t the question she heard come out of her own mouth.

  An understanding grin began to spread across Alec’s face then. “Ah ha! You did fall in love with him when I sent him to bust up your wedding,” he exclaimed.

  “What?” Tierney nearly shrieked. “No! No! Not at all! Would you be serious for a minute?” Yet she wondered in the same instant why she was so defensive. “I just meant to ask if this Heidi chick has a reason to think she might be able to get her claws into Rome. And I want to know what you’re feeling about it all. I mean, if you like her—”

  “Rome thinks I like her,” Alec interrupted. “But I have my eye on someone else.”

  “You do?” Tierney asked, nearly giddy with hope. “Who?”

  But again Alec shrugged. “The proverbial perfect woman that every man wants who’s completely out of my league…and reach.”

  “Tell me!” Tierney begged. “I have to know. And anyway, maybe I can help.”

  “Nope. It’s not worth mentioning, Tiers,” Alec said. He exhaled a heavy sigh. “But…if you admit to me that my pal Rome rang your bell when he showed up at that damn shower Mom was throwing for you, I might give you a hint as to who the woman is that rings mine.”

  “I can’t admit something that didn’t happen, Alec,” Tierney fibbed. “I’ll just wait, I guess…keep my eye on you and wait. I’ll figure out who this mystery woman of yours is, one way or the other.”

  “He rang your bell, Tiers,” Alec said, smiling at her. “I know he did. I can read you like a book when no one else in all the world can.”

  But Tierney simply straightened her posture and said, “I’m going to go put on my stupid bootylicious pants now, Alec. So cue up an Alfred H. movie—preferably something with Cary Grant—and I’ll be right back.”

  ❦

  Yet all night long—during every Hitchcock movie they watched, during every bowl of over-buttered popcorn Tierney shared with her brother—Rome Novak kept popping into her thoughts. He’d been popping into her thoughts constantly since she’d officially met him such a short time ago in his parents’ restaurant. And Tierney had been constantly trying to drive him out of her thoughts since. In truth, it was wearing her out.

  But as she thought about what Alec had told her—that even Heidi Svensson was “hot after” Rome—Tierney felt more and more discouraged somehow. Even for her success in getting her foot in the door with Mrs. Potts, Tierney felt discouraged, and she knew it was because of Rome.

  Part of her even wished for a brief moment that Alec had never sent that perfectly gorgeous man dressed as a perfectly gorgeous Latin lover to her bridal shower to convince her
not to marry Dillon. Yet if Alec hadn’t sent Rome, Tierney was pretty sure she would’ve married Dillon—and that would’ve been a disaster.

  “Man, what I wouldn’t give to make out with Ingrid Bergman back then,” Alec commented as he watched the last scene in Hitchcock’s famous Notorious. “She was a real beauty, if you ask me. All, like, natural, you know.”

  “Yep…she was,” Tierney said.

  Tierney looked at her brother—studied him for a moment. How hard would it be to like a girl who only had eyes for your best friend? Tierney imagined it would be miserable. And yet it was obvious Alec valued Rome’s friendship enough to let the matter slide.

  Alec O’Brien was a good man—in spite of their mother’s best efforts. Tierney admired him for so many reasons, and now she had another. Alec was a true and loyal friend to Rome Novak. She wondered if Rome were as true and loyal to Alec. But then she remembered his flying out to Monterey, dressing up like the classic Latin lover Tierney had always dreamed of, and braving a mob of women to do what he’d done to help her. Yep, Rome Novak was a true and loyal friend to Alec as well—not to mention handsome, built like the archetypal muscular male, suave, clever, playful, an excellent dancer, a perfect kisser…

  “What are you thinking about?” Alec asked, jogging Tierney’s thoughts back to the movie. “Your face is all red.”

  “Oh, nothing,” Tierney fibbed again. “I think I’m just a little overheated.” Tossing aside the blanket she’d had on her lap, she smiled at Alec and asked, “Which movie next?”

  Chapter Four

  “But they won’t expect me to do anything, right?” Tierney asked as she watched Alec adjust his wig. “I mean, the lip-synching thing…it’s totally voluntary, isn’t it?”

  “Oh yeah,” Alec assured her. “Rome’s parents just have anybody who wants to do one let them know a week or so before the party.” Alec smiled and nodded with triumphant pride as he studied himself in the mirror. “And this year, me and Rome…we’re gonna blow his mom’s mind with this.” He turned around, struck a pose, and asked Tierney, “So? What do you think?”