Page 97 of Along Came Amor
“I do, but I’m grateful I had the time with them that I did. And that I was able to make their later years more comfortable.”
“I’m sure they were proud of you.”
Her words, uttered softly, hit him square in the chest. He had to swallow a lump in his throat as he remembered his grandparents’ reaction to the house he’d built for them. His grandmother had cried, and his grandfather hadn’t wanted to accept.
You took care of me when I was small, Roman had told him.Please let me take care of you. And then his grandmother had seen the size of the kitchen, and that was it for the objections.
“Yeah,” he said, voice tight. “They were.”
“This place is special.” She ran her fingertips over the wooden staves forming the side of a barrel. “It’s another piece of you.”
“It’s personal,” he admitted. “More than the hotels.”
She nodded, her expression serious. “I can see that.”
“Everything I’ve done... it’s all been for my family.” Ashton had told him to let Ava see him, to open up. It was time to take the risk of revealing more. In doing so, he was letting her in. And then maybe she would lethimin.
So he told her about his mother, about his family in Puerto Rico, about growing up in Brooklyn. He told her about his stepfather, about his sister, Through it all, Ava listened, her hazel eyes solemn.
“That’s why,” he finally said. “That’s why I work so much. My family is my highest priority. I want to know that if I died tomorrow, they’d be taken care of for the rest of their lives.”
“But the distillery,” Ava said. “This is for you.”
He nodded. It was amazing how clearly she saw him, and what this place meant to him. A connection to his family’s home, to his childhood, to his past, but also preserving a piece of history while doing right for the future. Something he could preserveandput his mark on at the same time.
“Some of my associates have told me it’s a waste of resources,” he admitted, looking around. “But I don’t care. It’s valuable tome.”
She took his hand. “Thank you for showing me.”
He lifted her fingers to his lips and kissed them. “There’s one more surprise. Come on.”
Chapter 29
As Roman released her, it was on the tip of Ava’s tongue to suggest they make out among the barrels like a couple of teenagers, but she swallowed the words and followed him outside and down a paved walkway that led to the museum.
The events of the day had her rethinking all her stupid rules, especially theno sexual touchingone. But she had a sneaking suspicion Roman was going to make her talk first, and she still had a lot of thinking to do.
Yes, her body was very clear on what it wanted—him, in all the ways she could have him—but her mind and heart were another matter.
She’d hoped to keep her heart out of the equation altogether, but it hadn’t gotten the memo, and the treacherous little organ hadopinions.
For one, it found his behavior today unbearably romantic. He’d immediately made up for the way he’d acted the day before, and if that wasn’t enough, he’d shown her something that was obviously very personal to him, then followed it up by telling her about his family.
How the hell was she supposed to resist a double punch of vulnerability like that?
Since her body and heart were in cahoots, it was up to her brain to reinforce all the reasons why the two of them could never be.
Starting with the biggest reason: he was best man in her cousin’s wedding, and the two of them being involved would make things awkward for Jasmine.
Ava’s Primas of Power had stood by her, defended her, and helped her put her self back together after Hector left. Being with Roman jeopardized one of the most important relationships in her life, and that should be the only reason Ava needed to stay away from him.
So why didn’t it feel like enough?
Roman held the door to the museum open for her, and they passed through the gift shop, which sold bottles of rum, branded merchandise, and everything needed to make rum cocktails. At the other end, they entered a large space with soft lighting and half a dozen rectangular high top tables. The room smelled delicious, sweet and sugary, with a citrus tang, and looked like what you’d get if a science classroom and a pub had a baby. Each table held all the tools of the bartender’s trade—shakers, stirrers, tongs, and other things Ava couldn’t identify—along with bottles of Casa Donato rum.
At the front of the room, Roman introduced Ava to Estrella Martín, Casa Donato’s master blender.
Estrella was a firecracker—short, bursting with energy, with solid arms that looked like they packed a punch. Her cloud of spiraling curls was a mix of gray and reddish brown, and her smooth brown face creased into a smile when she saw Ava. Dark eyes sparkled behind round red glasses, and she pulled Ava down to kiss her cheek.
