Fresh Temptation: Barboza Brothers, Book One (15 page)

Tom put his hand over his
heart, then gave her a reassuring tap on the arm. “I’m so sorry.
Truly sorry. Was it here in Newark?”

“Yep.”

“And you stayed in the
area?”

“Yep. Makes me feel closer
to him. What about you? Where’d you work?”

“Brooklyn.”

“Oh. I bet your wife was
pacing the floor every night until you walked in the
door.”

“Yes.” Tom nodded. “And I
heard about it every single day.”

“And you’re a widower, you
said?”

“Yes. Breast cancer.” He
let out a sad sigh. “Happened quickly, almost three years
ago.”

Patty gave Isaac a quick
glance then rested her hand on Tom’s knee, angling her body to
fully face him. “I’m so sorry.”

“Yeah. It was rough, but
I’ve got a lot to be thankful for.” He gave her a warm grin and
reached into his pocket to turn off his recording device. “So, are
you familiar with Bryson’s Deli a few blocks from here? They make
the best cannoli.”

“Oh, no. You’ve never
tried my cannoli. In fact, I was just thinking I hadn’t made those
in a while. You like Italian food?”

“Do I ever?” Tom put his
newspaper down on the bench. This new assignment of his was
starting to feel a lot less grueling.

* * *

“Great work today.” Victor
squeezed Cara’s hand as they walked into the restaurant.

“Thanks.”

It was seven o’clock in
the evening and instead of being alone in a hotel room, Victor had
whisked her off to a restaurant. She smiled, trying to hide her
disappointment as she watched him speak to the hostess. When he
finished, Cara said, “So, you still haven’t told me who we’re
meeting for dinner. Is it one of the guys from
Lochmere?”

Victor glanced at his
phone again. “No. We’re meeting my brother, Ramon.”

Cara’s eyes widened.
“What?”

Victor laughed. “Don’t be
scared.”

“I’m not scared, I’m
surprised. Why didn’t you tell me this earlier?”

“Because it took me two
days to get up with him, and then I wasn’t sure he could get here.
He runs a ranch about three hours away, near San Antonio. I try to
see him if I happen to be in Texas but he can’t always get away on
short notice.”

“Your brother owns a
ranch?”

“Yes. It’s the same ranch
where we all worked when we left Mexico.”

“So, he moved there and
never left the ranch?”

Victor laughed. “It’s
funny to hear you put it that way. But yes, that’s essentially what
happened. I went off to college, and Armando followed my lead a few
years later. But Ramon always knew that wasn’t for him. He liked
the outdoors, the hard physical labor. But these days he oversees
that ranch and two others.” He shook his head. “I don’t know how he
does it. He’s not outside in the fresh air nearly as much these
days but he puts in more hours than ever.”

Cara examined Victor from
head to toe. He was so polished in his black fitted suit, it was
hard to imagine him working as a ranch hand. Cara asked, “So, what
does Armando do for a living?”

With a light shrug, Victor
said, “Same thing as me, mostly. Asset management, helping venture
capitalists find new investments. But he’s in Los
Angeles.”

“Do you see your brothers
very often?”

He let out a sad sigh.
“Not nearly as often as I’d like.”

Just then, Victor turned
around in the direction of a surprise slap on his shoulder. His
face lit up when he saw Ramon.

Cara watched as they
hugged. Ramon was as handsome as Victor, but his face was obviously
a little more weathered from being outdoors in the hot Texas
sun.

Ramon put his arm around
Victor. “Leave it to you to pick some ritzy restaurant like this.
Make me wear a suit.”

Victor smirked. “It’s good
for you once in a while.”

Ramon peered down at his
dark gray ensemble. “Can you see the dust on this thing?” He sighed
and gave Victor’s back a hearty slap, then extended his hand to
Cara. “Hello there. My name is Ramon Barboza. Please forgive my
rude brother for not introducing us himself.”

Victor elbowed him. “You
didn’t give me time.” He motioned to Cara. “Cara, my brother,
Ramon.” He looked at Ramon and gestured to Cara. “Ramon, Cara
Green.”

Cara felt the rough skin
on Ramon’s hand as she shook it. “Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you as
well.” Ramon smiled and gave her hand a quick shake then turned to
his brother. “So, co-worker? Girlfriend?”

Victor’s eyes narrowed at
him as he considered his response.

Cara spoke up. “We just
started working together last week.”

Ramon nodded and shot
Victor a sly glance. “And yet, he brought you with him to meet his
brother. That sounds pretty serious.”

Victor knew his youngest
brother too well. Ramon wanted to embarrass him. It wasn’t
malicious. It was just Ramon’s way. “It’s none of your business.”
He smiled. “Now that you’re here I’ll tell the hostess we’re ready
for our table.”

As they trailed behind the
hostess and Ramon to their table, Victor took Cara’s arm and
whispered in her ear, “Just so you know, I was going to say you
were my girlfriend.”

Cara blushed and tucked
her head down to hide her smile.

Soon they were seated
around a small round table in the bustling restaurant.

Victor quietly nudged Cara
as Ramon placed his drink order. “Order something that’ll make you
crazy for me later. But pace yourself. I definitely need you
awake.”

Cara giggled. “I’ll see
what I can do.” When the waitress came to her, Cara ordered a rum
and coke.

Victor thought about
telling Cara how nice it was to see her so relaxed, even without
the assistance of alcohol. But he was afraid it would appeal to her
stubbornness, causing her to rebel and put her guard up. The wiser
choice was to stay quiet.

After the waitress left,
Victor said, “So how’s business? You turning a good profit this
quarter?”

Ramon nodded. “Looks that
way. Best quarter since 2007. Seems like business is finally
turning around.”

“Great,” Victor said. “I
was starting to get worried.”

Ramon cocked an eyebrow.
“There’s no reason to worry about me. You know I always have a
handle on things. You still planning to come down and visit before
the end of the year?”

“Yes.” Victor
nodded.

Ramon smiled. “You gonna
bring Cara when you come? I’m sure she’d love it.”

Determined not to let
Ramon embarrass him again, Victor offered a casual shrug and said,
“Maybe. Cara actually has a little boy who’d probably love to make
a mess of himself there.”

Cara nodded. “He loves
animals. He rode a pony at a birthday party a few months ago and it
was all he talked about for days.”

Ramon chuckled. “How old
is he?”

“Three, almost three and a
half,” Cara said.

Victor said, “He’s really
cute. And really smart.”

“Thanks.” Cara
grinned.

“So, are you divorced?”
Ramon asked.

Cara quickly shook her
head. “No. Never married.”

Ramon nodded. “Does the
father live around you? Joint custody?”

Victor let out a loud sigh
of displeasure, although he secretly wanted to know how she would
answer. “Cara, please forgive my nosy brother.”

Cara gulped. “It’s okay.
Isaac’s dad isn’t around, at all.”

Ramon said, “I’m sorry.
Didn’t mean to pry. Always curious about that. Did Victor tell you
we grew up without a dad?”

Cara nodded. “Yes. He
mentioned that.”

“There was Mr. Platt,”
Victor said. “Henry Platt. He’s the benefactor who moved us to
Texas when we were kids. He was like a father.”

Cara noticed Ramon’s face
darken at the mention of Henry Platt. Hesitantly, she asked a
question. “It’s really nice that you had such a generous
benefactor. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anything like that
before.”

Victor and Ramon both
nodded.

“Yes,” Victor said. “It
was like winning the lottery. I don’t know where we would be
without him.” He sighed. “I tried to call him to say I was in the
area but I got a message saying he’s out of town. It was kind of
weird. You know what that’s about?”

Ramon shrugged. “He’s the
same old asshole he always was. That’s what it’s about.”

Victor glared at Ramon.
“Come on, now. Whatever differences you’ve had, he doesn’t deserve
that.”

The drinks came right then
and Ramon immediately brought his to his lips, ignoring Victor’s
rebuke.

An hour later, they were
almost finished with their entrees. Ramon plied Cara with stories
of their upbringing, most of them making Victor laugh. Some made
his cheeks turn pink.

After Cara’s third rum and
coke she excused herself to go to the ladies’ room.

“So.” Ramon put his elbows
on the table, leaning forward. “You’re dating a girl who has a
kid?”

“What’s wrong with that?”
Victor asked.

“Nothing. Just never knew
you to do that before. Sounds like you just met her and you’re
already pretty serious.”

Victor wiped his mouth
with his napkin then placed it on the table. “It seems to be
heading in that direction. At least, I hope it is.”

“Be careful. You date a
girl like that, you’re dating the kid, too.”

“I’ve considered that very
carefully and I’ve decided I like the idea.” Victor picked up his
water. “I’m not sure if Cara’s too keen on the idea but she seems
to be warming up to it.”

“She looked a little weird
when I asked about the father, don’t you think?”

Victor shrugged. “Could’ve
just been because a stranger asked her a question that was pretty
damn intrusive.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Ramon said.
“You ever think about our father?”

“What’s there to think
about? We never knew him.”

“Hmm. You still believe
that?”

“Ah, Ramon.” Victor
frowned. “You and your conspiracy theories.” He looked up as he saw
Cara reenter the room. “Here she comes.”

Ramon smiled as he watched
his brother’s face light up, and his eyes follow his new love
interest through the room. Ramon had long ago forgotten how it felt
to be jealous of his brother, until tonight.

“
So, your brother’s
single?” Cara asked as she snuggled up to Victor on the elevator.
They were in their hotel, on the way to their rooms.

“Why? You’re not
interested, are you?”

“No.”

“Good.” He kissed her
forehead. “Why do you ask?”

“My best friend Marcy’s
single.”

Victor produced a
sarcastic laugh. “Unless she’s willing to move to a five thousand
acre ranch in Texas, there’s no reason to try. Ramon may be younger
than me but he’s pretty set in his ways. Any woman who’ll take him
on will have to accommodate him, trust me.”

It’s a good thing Marcy
loves a challenge,
Cara thought, grinning.
“So, do you miss the ranch? You spoke of it so fondly.”

“I have good memories
there and it will always be a very special place to me. But I
wouldn’t say I miss it. I like living in the city.”

“Were you serious about
taking me and Isaac there to visit?”

“Maybe.” He smiled. “We’ll
see what happens, I guess.”

The elevator stopped at
their floor. Victor took Cara’s hand and led her into the hallway,
then to the rooms they reserved for the night.

They stood hand in hand,
staring at the two doors.

“So.” Cara gulped. “Is
this where we part ways?”

Victor looked at her like
she was crazy. “Are you kidding me? How many times today have I
told you what I wanna do to you when I get you alone in the
hotel?”

“Then why’d we get two
rooms? I don’t understand.”

“Oh, silly girl. It’s all
for show. The ladies in accounting would have a field day if they
saw the expense reports for this trip and there’s only one hotel
room.”

Cara let out the breath
she didn’t realize she had been holding. “Okay. I probably
should’ve realized that. I feel so stupid now.”

“You’re not stupid,
Cara.”

“I think maybe I was just
afraid to get my hopes up. I didn’t know if our night together was
a sure thing or not.”

Victor threw his head back
with a gentle laugh, then put his hands on her face.
“
Mi querida
,
tonight is definitely a sure thing.”

With that, he overtook her
mouth with a hard kiss. One that he had fantasized about giving her
for hours. Several times today he had taken a private moment to
kiss her, but not like this. It was almost time to take her to bed
where he could have her and be completely unrestrained. Give in to
his urges.