Doc cringed. “I remember going back to your hotel room. I remember I emptied your minibar of the hobbit-sized Maker’s Mark bottles. The next thing I remember is waking up this morning face-first on your floor with one shoe off.”
Cami slid her sunglass back onto her face. “You taking off that shoe is how you ended up on the floor. You slipped right off the end of the bed and passed out cold.”
“Lord have mercy,” Doc groaned. “It’s worse than I thought.”
“Oh, I don’t know.” Cami shrugged. “At least you don’t snore.”
“Damned by faint praise,” Doc muttered.
Five minutes later, Cami’s rolling suitcase was stored in the cargo hold and Romeo watched as she climbed into the back of the plane. When it was Mia’s turn to take the steps, he automatically reached for her hand. The stairs could get slippery on a humid day.
Or at least that’s what he told himself.
She glanced down at their joined hands, at his large fingers curled possessively around her much smaller ones. But she didn’t miss a beat as she climbed the remaining two steps. And he was left wondering if he was the only one who felt like he’d been hit by a lightning bolt the instant they touched.
Flexing his hand to work out the tension that gripped the muscles after she let go, he frowned when Doc shook his head and said, “Damn, man. You got it bad.”
“Me?” he quickly countered. “What about you? I heard you flirting with her, trying to convince her to go back to book one of the Night Angels series.”
“So what?” Doc frowned. “You jealous?”
“Hell, no,” was his knee-jerk response.
Doc called bullshit by turning his question into a statement. “Dude, you’re jealous.”
Romeo hated being obvious. He hated more that Doc was right. So he did something he rarely did. He equivocated. “Pfft. When have you ever known me to be jealous?”
“Never. Which is what makes me stop and take notice now.”
“I just don’t want her hurt,” Romeo declared emphatically. “Something tells me she’s been hurt enough in life.”
Doc cocked his head. “You think I’d hurt her? Why? IlikeMia.”
“So do I! Which is why I’m telling you that you can be a charming sonofabitch even when you’re not trying to be. Just make sure she knows exactly where you’re coming from and where you’re headed, eh?”
“Funny.” Doc snorted. “I told her pretty much the same thing aboutyouthis morning.”
Romeo waved a hand through air that was ripe with the smell of jet fuel and salt water. “Wasted effort. She’s not interested in me like that. We’re friends.”
“Question is,” Doc came back immediately, “areyouinterested inherlike that?”
“Yo.” Romeo extended his hand toward Doc. “My name is Romeo Delgado. Have we met? I’m interested inallwomen like that. But she’s Miss Commitment and you and I both know I’m Mr. Casual. So, like I said,friends.”
Doc slapped his hand away. “I’m just saying that for a guy who says he neither has nor wants any particular claim over her, you sure are acting all proprietary and protective.”
“I’m trying to look out for her like I do all my friends,cabron.”
Romeo couldn’t be sure, but he thought Doc’s eyes narrowed behind his sunglasses. “You realize you only slip into Spanglish when your blood is up, right?”
“So?”
“So I think you should ask yourself why the thought of me flirting with Mia makes you want to snatch me bald-headed.”
“Hit you with a brick,” Romeo corrected before he could stop himself.
Doc’s eyebrows arched over the frames of his sunglasses.
“Can you blame me?” Romeo tossed his hands in the air. “One second you’re oozing your Montana mountain man charm all over Mia. The next you’re trying to talk our lawyer into giving you another chance for a lap dance. Camilla D’ Angelo strikes me as a woman who can smell the one-night stand on you. But Mia? No.” He shook his head forcefully. “She’s different. If you’re not serious about wanting to start something real with her, you should keep your dirty mitts off her and aim your swagger elsewhere. I thought you understood that. I mean, isn’t thatexactlywhat you were givingmeshit for when you stopped by her room and found us together?”
