Page 51 of Rogue Romeo

He’d run his palms reverently across the silver bonnet of his Bugatti before climbing into the driver's side.

The ride had been silent, each of us clearly lost in our own thoughts, though I felt his questioning eyes upon me more than a handful of times. When he pulls into the parking lot at Sunrise Harbor almost two hours after my voyeurism, the air between us is heavy.

My cheeks heat at the thought, and I reach for the door handle, only for Alex to stop me with a hand on my knee.

“Wait, Rey. I just wanted to say—”

But I cut him off before he can get any further.

“I’m sorry, Alex. I didn’t mean to let things go as far as they did this morning. I should have made my presence known.” I raise my eyes to his. “I’msorry.”

He squeezes my knee before patting it softly. “I just wanted to say, if you ever find yourself in a situation like that again…” He winks with a cheeky as fuck grin. “Feel free to give me a hand.”

And just like that, the tension dissipates. I shake my head with a smile. “I’d call you incorrigible, but it doesn’t seem to make any difference at this point.”

I slip from my door, and he does the same, finding my eyes over the roof of the car. “I did warn you that I was a serial screw-up…”

Rounding the car, his hand finds mine as he presses a kiss to my forehead. I can feel him lending me his strength in this moment, and my heart is filled with silent thanks for the soulmate I discovered entirely by accident.

Or perhaps it was fate.

We cross the relatively empty parking lot, and I press the familiar buzzer as a mixture of apprehension and excitement dances in the pit of my stomach.

We’re buzzed in by Joaquin, one of the orderlies, who smiles broadly at both Alex and me.

As I move down the corridor toward Lita’s room, Alex halts abruptly, fixing me with an intense stare. “I’ll wait out here. You should get this special time alone with—”

I tug his hand, forcing him to step closer. “I would really like for her to meet theothermost special person in my life.”

His jaw tics and he swallows roughly before nodding, his feet falling into step with mine once more.

I slowly push the door of her room open, poking my head around the corner to find Lita sitting up in a high-backed chair at her small table. Penelope and Vanessa, one of the higher-ups, are sitting with her, all three chatting animatedly.

“Lita?”

The woman in question turns toward me, her big brown eyes—the ones identical to my own—lighting up with unadulterated love and affection. “Ah,mi conchita linda! There you are. Come, come.”

She gestures for me to come closer, patting the arm of her chair. “Sit by me, and tell me all about your day.”

I move farther into the room, Alex’s hand still clasped in mine, and when her eyes land on the sight, her entire face beams as she exclaims with a high-pitched voice that utterly doesn’t sound like her own, “Pen! Nessa!! Look,mijabrought a friend to visit today.”

She turns to her carers, openly winking at them with a wry grin on her face. “And what a sight he is for these sore eyes, hmm, ladies?”

Alex chuckles behind me, and his lips graze the shell of my ear, sending shivers running the length and breadth of my spine. “If only they knew the sights you’ve seen this morning.”

Incorrigible!

CHAPTER14

ALEX

“Didyou know my Reyna was the lead in the Pearson School of the Arts Christmas Gala last year?”

Rey’s smile is a little tight, and I have a feeling this is a memory her abuela has spoken of before.

“She played the Sugar Plum Fairy, and she was spectacular. You’ve always been so special. Do you remember when you were ten,mija? That recital where you let little Ariana Cramer take the solo because…because—”

Reyna cuts her grandmother off gently when she appears to lose her train of thought. “Because she needed the distraction. I remember, Lita.”