“She looked hot,” Eric added.

Romero turned and glared at Eric. “You were checking her out?”

“Kind of hard not to notice, Romero,” Alex smirked.

Romero turned back to Alex. “You too?”

Alex laughed. “I’m not the one who said she was hot. I said different.” He threw a towel at Romero. “I just remember her being so damn conservative. That’s all. Don’t get your panties all in a bunch.”

“Well, I didn’t do anything to her, and I don’t remember her looking any different.” Romero scowled at him then at Eric. “I didn’t realize you two were paying so much attention.”

Alex laughed. “Shut up. So,what else did I miss?”

“Valerie’s new man’s a high roller.” Romero seemed to dig that one in. “At least, he was acting like it last night.”

Just like that, Alex jolted out of his laughing mood. He pretended not to be bothered but squeezed the bar on the bench. “Yeah, how?”

“He was buying rounds all night,” Romero continued. “He must think we’re real tight with Val, ‘cause it seemed like he was trying to impress us, even invited us to his place some time. Probably has some big pad he wants to show off. But he’s too…” Romero tried to find the word.

“Too what?” Alex asked. Romero had spiked his interest.

“He tries too hard.” Eric said.

“There you go.” Romero nodded. “Even his jokes felt forced.”

“He had jokes?” Alex rolled his eyes.

“A couple.” Romero said. “He got some pity laughs and even Valerie seemed put off by them. I don’t know if she’s just not that into him or if she was still worked up about that guy you knocked out, but she didn’t really seem to have a good time last night.”

“So,what was up with that?” Eric asked. “Valerie didn’t say much especially after lover boy showed up. He seemed interested when he heard you’d knocked someone out because of her, but she cut the conversation short.”

Alex shrugged, trying to act as indifferent about the use of lover boy to describe her boyfriend as any. “She dumped his ass a while back and the ass**le is still harassing her.” Even as he snarled the words out, the reality of Valerie having really moved on dug into him like a razor sharp blade.

“I wonder if he’s the reason she put a pepper spray bottle on her keychain.”

Alex stared at him. “Last night?”

“No, Friday. We stopped by the apartment to pick something up and Valerie was there trying to get the pepper spray on her keychain. She didn’t really wanna say why but admitted to being spooked.”

That didn’t sit well with Alex. He’d thought maybe she’d just run into Bruce at the bar. The idea of that ass**le stalking her was a whole other story.

“Has Isabel said anything about it?”

“She seemed worried about it, but then Izzy worries about everything.”

It surprised Alex that Romero already had a pet name for Isabel but he didn’t comment. Instead, his mind went back to Valerie and her possible stalker.

Romero didn’t say much more. After working out for about an hour, Alex went back to his house and showered.

The thought of heading to Valerie’s place crossed his mind as he got in his car. He remembered her warning about him showing up unannounced. Enraged, he gripped the steering wheel and took a deep breath. This was only going to get worse with every passing day. He skidded out of his parking spot and headed back out to the restaurant.

CHAPTER 7

Sal sat at the bar in the restaurant talking to Julie, one of the waitresses, when Alex walked in, adding guilt to Alex’s growing list of unwelcome emotions. Julie had been one of the ones he snapped at the night before.

“Hey, man.” Alex clapped Sal on the shoulder.

“Heard you finally took a night off…and then didn’t,” Sal smirked.

Alex frowned. “I’ll tell you about it later.”

Julie gave him a timid smile and turned to walk away, but Alex stopped her.

“C’mere.” He put his arms around her and hugged her hard rubbing her back, then pulled away. “I’m sorry about yesterday. I shouldn’t have said what I said.”

She smiled, then giggled. “That’s okay. I should’ve known better than to ask why you were back.”

Damn, he felt like a jerk. She walked away with a smile. Alex felt a little bit better until he turned his attention back to Sal who looked disgusted. “What the hell was that about?”

“I snapped at her yesterday. I felt bad.”

Sal stared at him with that hardened expression Alex rarely saw on him.

“Well, you know, she’s so sof-spoken and sweet, and I raised my voice at her just ‘cause I was in a hell of a mood.”

Sal glanced in Julie’s direction then back at Alex. “Yeah, well, I hope you don’t make it a habit of hugging your employees like that. Ever heard of sexual harassment?”

Alex lifted a shoulder and walked behind the bar. “Why you here, anyway? I thought you’d be with Mom and Pop.”

“I hadn’t been here in a while. Pop said you’ve made some changes. I just wanted to check it out.”

Alex brought out a glass and made himself a drink. Sal already had one in front of him. Alex peered at him. “Weren’t you just here not too long ago?”