by Marie Harte
“For you, I could.”
“And Mom? Could you like her too?”
“I already do. She’s my friend. But probably only my friend. I don’t think we’re going to be the kind of friends who get married. Is that okay?”
“Are you sure?”
Felix nodded. “Another thing I learned. You can’t go back and relive the past. You have to make your own future.”
“Sounds deep.”
Felix laughed. “It is.” He stood and gripped his son’s shoulder. “Go on back to your mom. She’s had a rough time, so go easy on her. And remember, she’ll never be heartsick unless she doesn’t have you.”
“Okay. Bye, Felix.” Brandon ran back to his mother. Joey took him with her, waved to Felix, then went across the street to their housing complex.
“All right, lady. Want to tell me why you’re so interested in that young man’s conversation?”
She blinked and found herself under scrutiny from the bluest eyes she’d ever seen. She stammered a “H-huh?” and felt like the biggest moron on the planet.
“Well, hel-lo, Ms. Nosy.” Felix smiled, and wow, did he have straight, white teeth. “Now tell me why such a pretty lady is wasting time on an eight—sorry, Brandon—almost nine-year-old when she’d do much better with a man more her own age.”
Staring at that smile, she nearly swallowed her own tongue. “You know what, Mr. Handsome? I think you and I have some things to talk about.”
His grin grew wider. Then she mentioned her brother.
He lost all trace of happiness. “You’re right. Let’s go grab a drink. And talk.”
* * *
Lou had a headache. Between Mateo being clueless, Heller still being gone, and Foley bitching about a transmission job gone wrong—that Lou had had nothing the fuck to do with—he wanted to go to bed and never wake up. The day had gone on forever, ending only after Del had yelled at everyone to get the hell gone.
He clomped into his house and made his way to the kitchen to grab a cold and much-deserved beer.
And was met by his sisters and some douche in a suit.
“What the hell is this?” Lou asked, not even trying to be polite.
He heard scuffling down the hallway but got distracted by Lucia moving forward to poke him in the chest. “Why are you not defending your woman? You love Joey, yet you leave her to this?” She pointed to Suit Guy.
Hell. To Felix.
“What the fuck do you want?” he growled at the guy. “Didn’t you already do enough damage?”
Felix sneered. “Didn’t you?”
Before Lou thought about it, he felt himself moving, launching a fist, and making contact with Felix’s jaw.
His sisters Lucia and Stella gasped. Felix went flying and slammed into the fridge.
Felix, the guy who’d gotten Joey pregnant, then ditched her. The same schmuck who’d never been there when she was alone and lonely and dealing with her asshole parents. “Hold on, motherfucker.” Lou gave him a mean smile. “I’m not done.”
Except Stella inserted herself between Felix’s pretty face and Lou’s fist.
“You hit me, I’ll hit you back,” she snarled.
Felix’s eyes widened. “He’ll hit you?”
“No. I meant to add if. If he hits me.”
“I’d never hit my sister. Jesus.” Lou backed away in disgust. “Why are you here? All of you,” he added to the person, no doubt his mother or Carla, hiding in the hallway.
“Why did you hit me?” Felix asked.
“Because you’re a prick who took advantage of a young girl and left her to fend for herself. Why else?”
“What do you care? You handed her off just like I did. Except she had her parents to go to when I left. You dumped her, and she has no one.”
“Bullshit. I didn’t dump her. I was trying to do the right thing.”
“Which is what?” Stella interrupted. “Making her decisions for her? She says she likes you, why don’t you believe her?”
“She needs to do what’s right for Brandon.”
“She is.” Felix straightened and tugged at his cuffs. “She’s a better mother than the one I had. Than the one she has. I trust in her judgment. Why don’t you?”
“First of all, I don’t trust you, so I could give a rat’s ass about you,” Lou scoffed. “Second, Lucia, Stella, why are you here?”
Lucia answered, “Because I want to hear my brother tell me, looking me in the eye, that he’s just a scared coward.”
“What?”
“Yeah. You heard me.” Only Lucia would be brave enough to get in his face after the day he’d had. Then she poked him. Fucking poked him. “Look. You love Joey. We all know it. Abuela called it after dinner at Mama’s. Then you take her and her son in. You care for them. You help them. And you dump them? What is that? Why you running scared?”
“I’m not scared. And you.” He pointed at Felix. “Get the hell out of my house.”
* * *
Stella and Felix exchanged a wary glance. This had seemed like a great plan at the time. Enrage her brother into confessing his love while Joey hid in the hallway, overhearing it all. Except Lucia had gone off script. Lou had punched Felix, and if she wasn’t mistaken, by the sounds of the scuffle in the hallway, it was taking Carla and Maria to hold Joey in place. The woman wanted to leave and not look at their brother again. Oy.
No, wait. There she was, standing in the kitchen with Carla and Maria looking sorry. Fuck.
Her hands on her hips, Joey taunted, “Yeah, Lou. Why are you running scared?”
* * *
Joey wanted to know. She missed Lou like crazy. Every minute without him felt like forever. She’d thought she could get over him easily enough. But she loved him and she missed him. She’d put on a brave face for Brandon, but he hadn’t bought it. Proof he hadn’t believed her had come when Felix and Lou’s sisters had arrived to kidnap her while Becky and Brandon shook hands and placed bets on who would apologize first. Not cool, Becky.
And since when did Felix get to involve himself in her life? He’d blown his wad, literally, nearly a decade ago.
Then again, what did she have left to lose? “Yeah, Lou. Why are you running scared?” she’d asked, and she wanted an answer.
He started, seeing her there. She wondered if he realized how lost and confused and hungry he looked. Hungry for her.
Behind him, Stella rolled her finger, as if to signal “keep going.”
“I’ve missed you, Lou. Why did you throw me away?” She hadn’t meant to add that last part, and it came out with a few tears.
He softened perceptibly. “Aw, cariña. I’m sorry. It’s just—”
“He thinks you’re going to be like our mom,” Lucia answered. “Because when we were little, Mama, bless her giving soul, had a lot of boyfriends. A lot. We didn’t have money for sitters, hell, for food. And she’d be out laughing, wining and dining her flavor of the week. So Lou took care of us. He watched us, changed diapers, somehow scrounged food for us. Abuela would find out, scold Mama, and come help out to get us back on our feet. All would be well. Then she’d find a new man and ignore us all over again.”
Stella looked sad. “And poor Lou thinks you’ll do that. That any woman with a kid is capable of it if she’s single. So he doesn’t date single moms.”
“And he doesn’t want kids of his own,” Carla added. “Oh, Lou. You’re so wonderful. Why would you not want to share that with your own child?”
Lou looked more than uncomfortable. “Can we talk about this later? In private?” he asked his sisters, glancing at Joey, then Felix.
“No.” Joey gave what she wanted him to hear. “I love you, Lou Cortez. Do you love me or not?”
He looked irritated. “Yes, damn it. You happy?” He shocked the entire room when he slammed his fist down on the k
itchen island. The bang made Joey jump. “I can’t eat. I can’t sleep. I miss you all the time. Fuck. What do you want from me?”
“A chance, you big idiot,” Stella answered before Joey could.
Felix bit back a grin and tugged Stella with him toward the front room. Out of the corner of her eye, Joey saw Carla, Maria, and Lucia join them, edging out the front door.
Leaving Joey and Lou alone. Together.
“You promised my son a Sounders game,” she said.
He grimaced. “I didn’t mean to. He’s just so damn cute and likeable.”
“You said you cared for me. You just admitted you love me.”
“You’re damn cute and likeable too,” he growled.
“But I’m not your mother. I don’t care how sexy you are, Lou. My son comes first. He always has. He always will. You need to trust me enough to know that.”
“I do. I think.” He rounded the counter and took her in his arms, searing her with a kiss that made her needy in seconds. “God. I want you so much. I need you back. But I’m… If I ever made Brandon feel like I did when I was young, I’d never forgive myself. Joey, I love my mother. But when I was a kid, and she was dating this guy or that one, sometimes I hated her,” he ended in a whisper.
“Yeah? Well, I love and hate my parents all the time. They judge me, they misunderstand me, and they insult me. How? By not acknowledging I have my own mind.” She punctuated that last by poking him in the chest.
“Ow. Cut it out!”
“No.” She punched him in the arm. And damn, but it felt good. “I love you, Lou. And it scares me to death. I’ve taken care of myself my whole life. I don’t need anyone but Brandon. And you.” She refused to cry again. “You showed me how to trust. How to open myself to a man and experience real love.” She yanked him closer and took him by the chin, staring up into his eyes. “I know you’ll always be there for me, because that’s who you are. The kind of man who watches his girlfriend’s apartment. Cares for her son and is always there for his family.
“Let me be part of that family. Let me help take care of you for a change.”
“Joey.”
“I want a real answer. Take a chance on me, Lou. Say yes and be there for kid soccer games. Taco Tuesday. Awkward dinners with the in-laws.” Seeing him look ready to bolt at mention of “in-laws,” she smiled. “A figure of speech. How about, the parents of your girlfriend instead? I tried, but I can’t scrub you out of my mind. Or my heart. I love you. And I don’t know what to do without you.”
“Joey, I’m scared, amor. Of making you cry again. I hate hurting you.” He pulled her in for a hug.
“Then how about you stop treating me like I’m fragile and make love to me again? I know I was an ugly sick person, but come on. You wouldn’t touch me after you moved us in. Why?”
He flushed. “Because the boy was here.”
“You’re going to have to get over that. I want a man I can make love to. Not a tease.”
“Stop.” He dragged her closer and put her hand over his crotch. “You make me hard by breathing, cariña. You want me to prove it? We can go into the back and—”
“No. Stop!” His mother and grandmother appeared in the kitchen, his abuela with her hands over her ears.
Lou angled Joey in front of him, swearing under his breath.
“M’ijo, I’m so sorry.” Renata sobbed. “It’s all my fault. Oh, Luis, I’m sorry.” Renata hugged her son to her with a desperation Joey would have called overly dramatic, except she felt it, being crushed between the pair. Apparently Abuela and Lou thought so too, because they sighed and rolled their eyes.
“See?” Lou said to her over his mother’s head. “This is what you get if you come to live with me.”
“Live with you?” Joey swallowed. “Brandon too?”
“Yeah. I owe him a Sounders game.” Lou smiled, seeming finally to drop the tension and worry he’d been carrying. “I love you, baby. I’m sorry. I’ll try to do better. But if it doesn’t work, I’ll—”
“Make it work,” Abuela said in English, plain as day.
Lou gaped at his grandma. So did his mother.
Joey frowned. Hadn’t he said his grandma didn’t speak English? That sounded plain enough for her to understand. “What? Your grandma makes sense. No giving up or going back. Together, right…Guapo?” She laughed.
Lou gently nudged his mom aside. “Excuse me, Mama, Abuela. Sorry, but I need to take my woman in hand. Can you get everyone outside to go home? I need privacy for me and my…novia.”
Abuela and Renata clapped and yelled, then hustled out the door.
“Finally.” Lou dragged Joey to the bedroom. “I promise. We’ll move you guys in.”
“Wait. Novia?”
“Sweetheart. The permanent kind.”
“Oh, that’s fine. But the moving in? That’s a little soon for me, but—”
“No buts. Well, not those kind.” He waggled his brows, and she blushed. “Strip, woman. We’ll talk after. But right now I’m about to explode if I’m not inside you in the next forty-five seconds.”
“Forty-five? Kind of specific, aren’t you?”
“Forty-four, forty-three, forty-two…” he counted down as he stripped.
True to his word, he caused a major explosion when he got to one. Joey lost her mind, and her heart, to the second-most important man in her life. Her flower guy.
Chapter 23
A week later, Lou thought it a crying shame Joey continued to tease him about losing weight and getting crabby. So he’d missed her. So what? But no. Now she teased him about being sensitive. And J.T., that bastard, didn’t deny it.
“Oh yeah. He was nearly in tears, missing you,” the jerk was confiding as Joey shook with laughter while watching Brandon’s soccer team race around the field on a sunny Saturday afternoon.
“Come on, Colin. Get the lead out,” Del yelled as they watched her son run in pursuit of a goal.
“Go, Brandon,” Lou boomed, turning several heads. “Sorry, too loud?”
“No, no.” Liam smiled. “You’re fine, Lou. Just fine.”
J.T. chuckled. “Dad’s just glad someone other than him is getting ogled by the SMA.”
Joey frowned. “SMA?”
J.T. grinned. “Soccer Mom Association.”
Joey and Del glared at him, and Joey said, “I’m a soccer mom, J.T.”
“So am I,” Del growled.
“In his defense, I wouldn’t say ogled so much as frowned at,” Liam added to be helpful.
Both Del and Joey glared him into silence.
“Anyway.” Lou put his arm around Joey and led her a step away from J.T. “Are the new accommodations to your liking?” He’d officially moved her and Brandon into the house the previous night. Brandon had his own room, Joey and he had christened his bed the right way, and they had plans to see her parents at dinner. At her parents’ home. Tonight. Shoot me now.
“I love the house.” Joey pulled his face close. “I love you.” She kissed him on the lips.
“Hurray!” From the field, Brandon cheered and pointed at them. Then got hit in the head with the ball because he hadn’t been paying attention to the game.
“Ouch.” Lou felt for the kid, who just smiled, all goofy, and went after the ball. Lou turned to Joey, only to see her staring at something in the parking lot. He followed her gaze. “What the… Is that Felix? With Stella?”
She smiled. “I thought I sensed something there. Don’t worry. Felix isn’t the boy he once was.”
“But…Stella?”
“Look at it this way. He’s a lawyer, and he’s got a successful job. He’s not a rocker, married, or in the mob.”
Lou would talk to his little sister later. Felix…well, hell. He actually liked the guy. More because Felix had finally done right by Joey and Brandon. And because he did
n’t care for Joey’s parents either. They had that solidarity going for them.
After a moment, Joey leaned back against his chest and wrapped his arm around her middle. “This, Lou. This is what I’ve always wanted.”
“Yeah, me too,” he whispered. “I love you.”
“Now about us making Brandon that soccer team he wanted.” She rubbed his hand over her belly. “Any thoughts about that?”
“One play at a time, Joey. Let’s get through the wedding first.”
“Soon as you’re ready to propose, I’ll think about saying I do.”
He grinned. “I can do that. Just as soon as you come to Ray’s with me to meet the guys, all proper-like.”
“Oh boy. Is this some kind of rite of passage?”
J.T. must have overhead, because he snickered.
“What?” Lou asked.
“Even with her there, you won’t beat him.”
Joey tugged on his hand. “Explain.”
“You’re my good-luck charm. I need you with me to beat Johnny at darts. I do, princesa.”
“Princess, hmm? So if I’m your princess, what does that make you?”
“Court jester?” J.T. offered.
“Your knight in shining armor,” Lou corrected, sparing a glare for Del’s troublemaking brother. “I’ll be nice to your parents tonight. My best behavior.”
“Done.” She smiled then turned to J.T. “Now, J.T., when you get that date with a certain blond you’ve been hoping for, maybe we can double—hey, where are you going?” They watched him make an excuse and leave. To Lou, she said, “Too much?”
“Not enough. Damn, girl. Where have you been all my life?”
She smiled and kissed his hand. “Waiting for you.”
About the Author
Caffeine addict, boy referee, and romance aficionado, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Marie Harte is a confessed bibliophile and devotee of action movies. Whether hiking in Central Oregon, biking around town, or hanging at the local tea shop, she’s constantly plotting to give everyone a happily ever after. Visit marieharte.com and fall in love.
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