Page 61 of Seasoned
“That’s not the point. You know as well as I do that they’ll call you first.”
“This isn’t about the phone, is it?”
“No, it’s not. I thought you and I were getting closer, but then you go and get all dressed up for some young buck. Is all this for him—the hair, the sexy dress, the makeup?”
Adelaide straightened her spine. “All of this is for me. I wanted to feel pretty.”
“Pretty for him, but never me,” Hector said bitterly.
“Not for him, and you’re being ridiculous.” Adelaide marched past him.
“I’m not done talking to you.”
“I’m not going to argue with you in the driveway so the neighbors can hear,” she said over her shoulder.
She let herself into the house and Hector followed close on her heels.
In the bedroom, she swung around and faced him. “Do you mind?”
“We’re not done talking.”
“We can talk when I get finished changing. You can wait in the den or the kitchen.”
“Who is he?”
Adelaide released a long breath and tossed her purse onto the bed. Folding her arms over her chest, she replied, “Joseph. My cousin’s son. The one who lives in Tucson.”
“What?” He looked genuinely perplexed and she had a hard time not laughing.
“I’ve talked about him before. Joseph, and we all call him J.T. He’s here on business and headed back to Tucson tomorrow. He offered to take me out, and I jumped at the chance to get dressed up and…do a mini-makeover with my hair.”
She touched her hair and Hector’s eyes followed the movement.
“Oh.” Hector rubbed the back of his neck. “J.T. I thought…”
“You thought I had a hot date even though we’ve been talking the past few nights,” Adelaide finished for him.
“And you let me think that. Why?”
“I kinda liked that you were jealous,” she admitted with a shrug.
“I almost yanked open his door and beat his ass.”
“You wouldn’t have done that.”
“Don’t be so sure,” Hector muttered, running a hand over his face.
“What would you have done if he really was a date and I brought him inside?”
“I don’t know, broken down the door, thrown a brick through the window.”
Adelaide laughed and then he let out a short laugh.
“You’re as bad as Danny,” Adelaide said.
“Worse. I’m too old to be doing stupid shit like that.” His gaze roamed her face and then lowered to caress her body. He looked at her the way he used to. Long ago. “You’re so beautiful,mi amor. It drove me crazy thinking that you were dressed like this for him.”
“Thank you,” Adelaide said softly. “I just wanted to go out.”
