I closed my eyes tight then opened them again.
“I’m sorry.” He stared at me silently and I continued. “About just now and about last night. I was horrible, I said horrible…” I stopped and then started again, “I’m working through it, I promise.”
He kept staring at me, a second then two then his fingers slid into the side of my hair and I saw his mood swing again but not fully, he was holding onto some of his anger, I could see it.
“Jesus, you’re a pain in the ass,” he muttered.
“I’m sorry about that too,” I said instantly and I meant it.
His thumb came out of my hair and started sliding along my temple.
“I’ll make up for it,” I told him.
His eyes were watching his thumb but at my words, they came to mine. “Yeah?”
“I’ll buy you a building,” I offered.
His body went tight and his eyes narrowed.
“Or, an island somewhere,” I went on quickly. “I don’t know how much islands cost but there has to be one in my price range.”
It was then I felt him relax, his mouth did that fighting-a-grin thing, I knew he finally let go of his anger and the happy glow settled in.
Since what I was doing appeared to be working, I kept talking. “It might just be a beach and a palm tree but what else do you need on an island?”
He lost the fight with his grin, his head descended and I carried on, even when his lips were against mine.
“We’ll bring a cooler and a picnic basket…” I stopped talking because he started kissing me, open-mouthed and sweet.
His body settled on mine, his arms were sliding around me when his cell rang.
He lifted his head and I saw right away that he’d morphed again, this time looking frustrated.
He pressed into me as he reached to the nightstand to nab his phone.
“This is over, mi cielo,” his eyes came to me as he flipped open his phone, “I’m takin’ you to a f**kin’ island.” Then he put his phone to his ear and clipped, “Yeah?”
My gaze was on Hector’s face, my thoughts were on being on an island with Hector and in the very, very back of my mind, I figured my Mom would like that. I mean, I wasn’t altogether certain my Mom would be thrilled about Hector’s creativity in the sack (or my response to it) but what he did to me was beautiful in its way and he made me feel good so she had to approve of that.
Right?
Then I saw his face grow tight and thoughts of my Mom’s approval of Hector disintegrated.
Oh no.
What now?
“No joke?” Hector said into the phone, his eyes moving to me and I did not like what I saw. Not at all.
“Right,” he went on. “We’re comin’ down.”
Without saying good-bye, he flipped the phone shut, tossed it on the nightstand and then stared at it, face still tight, body now tense.
“Hector?” I called.
His chin dipped and he looked at me.
“Maybe we’ll go to an island today,” he murmured.