Page 73 of Along Came Amor
Roman:You and me. I’m going with you.
Her nostrils flared. Jasmine had already replied in the other thread, and Ava couldn’t make a big deal about it to her cousins without explaining exactly why she’d turn down a generous gesture like the one Roman had just made. Huffing out a breath, she replied directly to him.
Ava:I can handle it myself.
Roman:I’m sure you can, but it’ll be easier if I’m there.
Ava:And why is that?
Roman:I own Bellísima Resort, where the wedding is being held.
“Of course you do,” Ava grumbled. A second later, Damaris’s glossy purple fingernail tapped on the table in front of her, and Ava jumped.
“Who are you talking to?” Damaris asked. “Because it sure isn’t me.”
Ava sighed and dropped the phone into her purse, where it continued to buzz. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude.”
“It’s not rude if you fill me in. Was itRoman?”She drew out the first syllable of his name teasingly. “By the way, Ididtry to tell you he had starred in a telenovela. But you told me to stop researching him, so I didn’t see that it was with Ashton.”
Ava grabbed her bellini and took a big sip. They were approaching the end of the bottomless drinks hour, and she had some catching up to do. “You’re right. I should have dug a little deeper. And yes, it’s about Roman.”
Damaris propped her elbows on the table and rested her chin on her hands, brown eyes wide in atell me everythingexpression.
“Well,” Ava began, “it looks like Jasmine isn’t going to be able to fly to Puerto Rico to take care of the rest of the wedding planning.”
Damaris raised her eyebrows. “So you volunteered to go in her stead?”
Ava scowled. “How did you know?”
Her friend’s eyelids flicked in a barely suppressed eye-roll. “Ava, youalwaysvolunteer to help.”
Ava fiddled with her necklace, not wanting to examine thewhyof that too closely. “Of course. They’re my family.”
“I know, beba.” Damaris’s voice was sympathetic, but firm. “But at some point, that helpfulness is going to bury you. Anyway, continue.”
Damaris’s words troubled her, but Ava went on. She filled Damaris in on the group text mix-up and Roman’s high-handed offer to charter a plane.
Damaris gasped. “I’ve always wanted to fly in a private plane. You have to tell me what it’s like.”
“You’re missing the point.”
“Which is?”
“That he’s going with me!”
“Good, he can pay for everything.”
Ava let out a frustrated groan. “No, he can’t. I broke things off with him.”
“So don’t fuck him. Although if you want my opinion, which I know you do, it’ll be a missed opportunity. This is the romantic island getaway you deserve. Remind me where you went on your honeymoon?”
“Niagara Falls,” Ava grumbled.
Damaris sipped her bellini. “I rest my case.”
“I just don’t want Roman to think this means anything.”
“He knows you’re only going for the wedding stuff. And besides, this is on you for stepping up to help.”
