His only college girlfriend had been a competitive swimmer—she’d been focused on winning. Sometimes, Ramón had almost felt used by her, which was ridiculous. He’d wanted sex as much as she did. But he wanted her to want more from him than his body. Just like his parents, his ex-girlfriend had never shown up to his open mic nights or his music shows.
And here Julieta was, begging him to play more music, even inviting him to play at her restaurant. Should he?
No, no. That would be ridiculous. He was a businessman, not a rock star. He had better things to do with his time than play guitar for Taco Tuesday.
But he wanted her to look at him again the way she had looked at him on Day of the Dead... when he’d been playing the guitarrón.
Ramón climbed back into bed and wrapped his arms around Julieta. How lucky was he to spend the night with this glorious woman?
The next morning, Ramón woke early and ordered breakfast for them in bed. He had the staff set it up on the patio of their beach villa.
Julieta finally woke up and stretched. A big smile widened across her face. “I slept better than ever. I wish I could stay here longer.”
His eyes glinted. “Well, I could rent it for a while. It could be our secret getaway.”
Her mouth twisted. “That’s ridiculous and completely wasteful. In case you have forgotten, you own an oceanfront mansion. In La Jolla, no less.”
“True. But my brothers live there with me. I have no privacy.”
“I hear that. I live with my mother.”
Ramón’s eyes bulged. “You do? You have a successful restaurant.”
“Had a successful restaurant.” She glared at him. “It won’t be mine much longer.”
Ouch. Ramón chose not to comment.
“I did live in an apartment by myself. But after my dad passed away, my mom didn’t want to be alone. So, I moved in.”
Yeah, that definitely wasn’t going to work. Her mom had warmed to him, but she’d also read him the riot act about staying away from Julieta.
Not that he had listened.
He sat next to her. “Let’s just make this our hideaway. I will be spending a lot of time in Barrio Logan anyway with the business. It’s more convenient for me to be in Coronado. In fact, I even called my real estate agent about purchasing a new place last week.”
Her jaw dropped. “You would just buy another place because you don’t want to drive thirty minutes to work? That’s crazy. I mean, dowhat you like, but it’s ridiculous to stay in a hotel. And honestly, if I visit you, I won’t feel comfortable being waited on by maids.”
Well, he guessed his place in La Jolla was out, too. “Why?”
“I don’t know. I just don’t like people doing for me what I can do myself.”
“I understand that, but it’s not worth an hour of my time to clean my house when I could be putting together another acquisition. But I see your point about living in a hotel. I’ll just buy.”
She threw up her hands. “You’re insane, do you know that?”
“It would be an investment.”
“Whatever you’ve got to tell yourself, Ramón. My idea of an investment is a lottery ticket.”
He considered mentioning the probability of winning the lottery, but then decided against it.
They got dressed and dined on fresh berries, pastries, and a Maine lobster and chorizo scramble.
Ramón took a bite. “This is great, but the eggs you make are a thousand times better.”
“Thanks.”
Ramón didn’t want this date to end. “Do you want to hang out today? Rent some bikes?”
