Page 28 of Harbor

He dropped a kiss to her forehead which quieted her. “I said we’re going to get a hotel, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, but hotels cost money. What about when we run out of money, Ren?”

“Guess we’ll figure that out when it happens, Lucia.”

How simple that sounded.

She knew it wouldn’t be simple at all.

Silently, Renzo’s hand tightened on her waist before he turned Lucia so that the two of them were facing one another. Like this, tucked in close to his chest with his hands tight on her body, there was nothing else for Lucia to see or worry about. Just him, and them. They were together, and the rest of the world faded away when she had russet-colored eyes locked on her. The way it should be, she thought. The way she always wanted it to be, no matter what.

“I got us here, right?” he asked.

Lucia nodded.

Renzo smiled sexily. “Exactly. I got us here, and we’re getting what we need. That’s the important bit. The rest, I will handle as it comes up. That’s not the kind of shit I want you to worry about, all right? You are what you need to worry about, baby. That’s all you need to ever think about, Lucia. Being where you want to be, and doing what you want to do.”

“I want to be with you. I want you.”

“Then worry about that. Let me take care of the rest.”

Yeah, she heard what he didn’t say.

Let me take care of you.

And she would take care of him.

That’s just how this love thing worked. Even if he didn’t realize it yet.

SIX

“It’s quiet, though, that probably helped,” Lucia told him.

Renzo gave her a shrug. “The hotel isn’t bad. I’m sure you’ve seen better ones in your lifetime.”

That comment had Lucia quieting beside him on the loveseat. Renzo glanced over to find her pretty face had lost her usual, soft smile. Instead, she just looked like a blank piece of paper.

“What?” he asked.

“Are you ever going to stop throwing that in my face?”

Renzo blinked. “Throwing what—”

“The fact I grew up with money.”

It took Renzo entirely too long to answer, and maybe that was partly because he didn’t know how to answer. Was she right? Did he constantly throw that in her face without realizing or meaning to do it? His memories flashed through their conversations since they had met, and he couldn’t deny the fact that yes, he did bring it up.

Probably one too many times.

“Lucia—”

“You don’t need to throw it in my face. And this place is fine. Stop worrying about what I think when it comes to money, what you have, or what you don’t. That’s never mattered to me. Haven’t you figured that out yet?”

The sharpness of her tone told him it was likely this conversation could turn into a fight. That was not at all what he wanted to be doing with Lucia.

She didn’t give him a chance to respond, though. Instead, she stood from the loveseat, and headed for a sleeping Diego on the pullout couch. Still, he felt like an ass, so he murmured, “I didn’t mean anything. I’m sorry.”

That smile was back in a blink. “It’s okay, Ren.”