Page 79 of Along Came Amor
Her gaze fell to the planner in front of her and she shrugged. “Olympia was on bedrest during her third trimester, and she had a long recovery after Willow was born. I lived with them through the last two years of high school.”
“I bet you still got straight As.”
She nodded, but her smile was sad. “I graduated with morethan a 4.0 GPA, along with regular migraines and what I now recognize as anxiety.”
He dug his fingers into the armrests to stop from reaching for her. “Where’d you go to college?”
“In Westchester, so it wasn’t too far. Dad wanted me to live with them to save money, but I needed to get away, so I took out extra loans and moved into the dorms. The second I was gone, my stepmother packed up my things and put them in the basement, turning my room into the guest room.”
The unspoken message couldn’t have been clearer—Ava had been a guest in her father’s home. He thought about Mikayla, who felt comfortable enough to leave her slippers and hair ties and coffee mugs all over his apartment. He’d bet Ava never even left so much as an earring out of place.
Ava unzipped a pouch that said “Keep Calm and Plan On” in gold script and pulled out a small purple ruler, which she used to draw lines on a blank page.
“Enough about me. How did you get from telenovelas to...” She gestured around the plane. “Here?”
“That is a long and boring story.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
He shifted in his seat, and his back twinged in protest at sitting for so long. “To make it brief, I was bartending and applying for jobs when I got the role onRecuerdos Peligrosos.”
“And that’s how you met Ashton.” She sent him a curious look. “Why didn’t you continue acting?”
He shrugged. “The money was nice, but the hours were grueling and my heart wasn’t in it. But it led to some voiceover work for a few kids’ shows.”
“En español?”
He nodded. “Voice acting was easier and put money in mypocket faster. From there, I did some recording for a language learning app, which took off. Since I was also an early investor, I made more money, along with connections. Those led me into the hospitality business, and then the Dulce Hotel Group was born.”
“And the rum distillery?”
“A recent acquisition.” And mostly a labor of love, he thought wryly.
She opened her mouth like she wanted to ask more, but all she did was nod and return her attention to her planner.
The rest of the flight passed mostly in silence. Roman surreptitiously added the new information he’d learned about her to his spreadsheet, and since they’d been talking about his work history, he jotted down notes for his book. It was hard to focus, though, when he couldn’t stop sneaking glances at Ava.
Three days. He had three full days to devote to winning her over.
Before the plane landed, Roman sent one last text to Camille.
Roman:Landing soon.
Camille:Noted. How’s the schoolteacher?
Roman:Ignoring me and playing with her planner.
Camille:Smart woman.
He’d broken down and told Camille about Ava after the engagement party. Camille had immediately whipped out hiscalendar. After clarifying that all his sudden nights off over the past few months had been spent with Ava, a knowing smile had spread across her face.
Roman had always refused to entertain the notion ofdoing less, but he wondered again if he wasn’t as essential to the day-to-day running of VQZ as he believed himself to be. So while he was in Puerto Rico, he’d decided to run an experiment, and had instructed Camille to reach out only in the event of a true emergency.
Ava was quiet as the plane landed, and she said nothing about the luxury SUV that was waiting for them. But when they drove past the gate and into the driveway of Roman’s house in Ocean Park, she balked.
“I thought we were staying at the resort.”
“Why would we? I have a house, and the resort is in Condado. It’s easy to get to from here.”
