“Why are you smiling like that?” Hector asked as he climbed into his side of the truck.

She turned to him and lifted her empty salad bowl. “They liked my pasta.”

Hector laughed, lifting her hand that was already entwined with his and kissed it. “That’s what has you smiling so big?”

Charlee shrugged, unable to tone down the smile. “Well, that and everything else. I was so nervous about how this would go, and it turned out great. I really like your friends. They’re so down to earth, and your mom is a sweetheart.”

Pulling out of the driveway, he glanced at her pinching his brows. “You were nervous? I didn’t pick up on that at all.”

“I was a wreck, but I think I’m getting pretty good at disguising my lame fears.”

“No,” Hector shook his head adamantly. “Let’s not start that. No disguising anything. Remember no guessing games. I suck at them.”

She leaned her head against his shoulder, amazed at how quickly this felt so perfect. “Okay,” she said, taking in a very gratifying deep breath.

Thoughts of the girl at the fight with him came to her again. But she’d since decided to leave well enough alone. This day had gone too perfectly, and she didn’t want to sour it up with that kind of talk. Besides, it wasn’t as if she were worried about it. Bianca’s comment about Hector not ever inviting any girls to even the fights at the gym had only made her curious as to why he’d invited this girl. Curious—not concerned. But she did make a mental note that if it did begin to bother her she wouldn’t be letting anything stew, not with Hector being so adamant about his no guessing games rule. She actually liked the rule.

Her insides had begun to simmer as they got closer her place. Knowing she had the house to herself for the entire night and as fast as things were moving already, she wasn’t sure what to expect. As his hand caressed her thigh, her heart began that thumping that had started to become less severe the more comfortable she felt with him. But now here it was pounding away at her chest as he drove into the driveway of Drew’s dad’s home. Switching the ignition off, he turned to her and smiled. “My mom likes you.”

“I like her,” she smiled back, already feeling the comfort easing back by just looking into his smiling eyes, “and your brother. He’s a bit more serious than you are, but he seemed sweet enough and very polite when he did talk to me.”

Hector raised an eyebrow, running his fingers through a strand of her hair. “That reminds me. I still have a lot to catch up with. I don’t even know if you have siblings.”

She leaned into him and kissed him softly. “Well, if you’re not in a hurry, you can come in, and I can tell you about myself.”

The smile he already wore brightened even more. “I’m in no hurry at all.”

“Good,” she pulled away from him and grabbed her salad bowl. “Then come on in.”

Talking she was good with. It’s what might happen after that she was nervous about. But it was a good nervous: the kind that had her insides going crazy already.

They barely made it into the front room when they were already locked in each other’s arms and Hector’s tongue infiltrated every inch of her mouth. He pulled away, sucking in a very deep and dramatic breath. “I’ve been dying to do that all day.”

Removing his arms that held her and taking her hand in his instead, he led her to Drew’s dad’s big fluffy recliner. “There’s definitely more of that to come, but first we talk. It dawned on me when my mom started mentioning some of the things you two talked about today that she knows more about you now than I do.” He sat down on the chair and pulled gently on her hand, patting his lap.

Feeling the excitement bubbling in her again, she sat down across his legs, and he promptly pulled her legs up so they’d hang off the side of the recliner. “You know there’s plenty of room to sit in this house,” she said, smiling.

He smiled then leaned in and kissed her neck softly. “I know, but then I couldn’t do this.” Feeling the shivers race down her body, she tried not to tremble, but it was impossible. “Okay,” he said, rubbing his hand up and down the side of her thigh. “Let’s do this. So how many siblings do you have?”

“One,” she said, trying to relax and not have her body go into spasms every time his fingers grazed her neck while he played with her hair. “He’s older than me and probably what I miss the most about not being home.”

Hector stared at her, suddenly looking very serious. “Really? How old is he?”

“Twenty-five.”

Sitting up, suddenly Hector stared at her, looking a little annoyed. “Shit. I don’t even know how old you are. I’m assuming eighteen-nineteen since Walter said this is your first year in school.”

She nodded. “ Eighteen. You too, right?”

“Nineteen,” he said, looking at her now as if he’d just thought of a bunch of other things he didn’t know. “So that’s a pretty big gap between you and your brother.”

Nodding, she ran her finger across his brow. It was now something that made her feel at ease. She did so slowly, feeling the same way she did when she used to rub her mom’s earlobe as a little girl. It was almost lulling. “Ryan is actually my step-brother, and I didn’t even meet him until my mom married my step-dad when I was nine and he was fourteen. I only ever get to see him once in a while. His mother has always had full custody, so I only saw ever him every other week for a couple of days and then a little longer during the summer and the special holiday arrangements.”