“I should go clean up,” she whispered into the darkness, and I looked at her.

  “Let me,” I said and watched her nod. I got out of bed and moved to the master bathroom. Flicking the light on, I turned on the hot water and grabbed a hand towel. I ran it under the warm water and wrung it out before looking at myself in the mirror.

  “Don’t fuck this up,” I whispered to myself before returning to the bed only to see my angel fast asleep on her side. I bent down and studied her. Gently moving the hair from her face. She was serene and so damn beautiful it made my chest ache.

  “I hope you fall in love with me, because I’m already there, baby,” I whispered into the darkness knowing she was in dreamland. I stood and carefully cleaned her up, dropping the towel on the floor before getting into bed and spooning into her. Her back flush against my front, my arms wrapped around her, I’d never found sounder sleep before that.

  And I knew I would move heaven and earth to have it every single day for the rest of my life.

  CHAPTER 5

  EDDIE

  I was about to knock on my mom’s apartment door when I turned to Leni. My mom was a nut and a half, and I was slightly worried she would scare my angel away.

  We had woken up tangled up together, and fuck me, I wasn’t a believer of destiny, but Jesus H. Christ, there had to be higher powers that had brought us together. She was incredible. Her eyes. Her smile. The kindness in her eyes. But before I could even kiss her, my phone rang and had changed the plans of the day. Somewhat.

  Carlo needed me to pick some things up from Mom’s. He couldn’t do it because he was already at the bar waiting on a shipment. I could have taken Leni home and picked her up before her shift, or she could have driven herself like she had suggested, but I didn’t want her to go. I wanted to spend every second I could with her, every moment she was willing to give me. So, I did the only thing that came to mind as I tossed my cell back on my nightstand and looked at her lying next to me. Her creamy olive-skinned body on display for me not covered by a shred of clothing had my morning wood going crazy.

  I rolled her onto her back and kissed down her body. Ate her until she was a squirming mess beneath me as I gave her naughty kisses all over her body. I didn’t stop, even as she begged for my cock and he wept for it. She tugged hard on my hair. I finally relented in fear of going bald and rolled onto the bed with her on top of me. The sheets fell away, and I had to clench my jaw from losing my nut in that moment. Her beautiful body over mine taking my dick completely, deeply. So hard and fast her tits bounced perfectly until we were both coming simultaneously. After we came down from our high, her head on my chest, I asked her to run errands with me. With a sleepy smile, she agreed, and I felt like I had won the damn lottery.

  “You sure you’re okay with meeting my mom?” I asked, and she frowned.

  “Why wouldn’t I? I though you and I…” Her voice drifted off, and I shook my head. I didn’t want her to think my hesitation had anything to do with her.

  “My mom’s a nut,” I shared. She pressed her lips together. I quickly realized she was looking over my shoulder.

  “I am not!” I heard my mom’s voice behind me right before a smack hit the back of my head.

  “Fuck!”

  “Watch your mouth, young man! What is she going to think if you have that mouth! Dios mio!” she said sternly, but I didn’t turn from looking at Leni. My angel’s eyes were glittering with humor as she fought from laughing out loud. With what I knew would be the first of many sighs, I turned and smiled at the woman who had just hit me.

  “Ma!” I extended my arms and gave her my best smile.

  “Ma! Pues! Nada de ‘Ma’,” she mimicked my deep voice. “Don’t give me that crap,” she clipped. “I told you not to tell people I’m crazy, yet there you are, telling this beautiful girl I’m a nut,” she scolded, not letting me hug her, but I couldn’t help but chuckle. My mom was a firecracker. She had to be, raising three boys on her own.

  “Ma.”

  “No.” She put her hand up and shook her head. I smiled at her and leaned down to hug the woman who had not only given my brothers and me life but unconditional love. Thankfully, she let me this time.

  “Hi, Ma,” I said against the top of her head. My mom was a shorty.

  “My boy,” she muttered, and I knew the steam that had started to boil over was floundering and I was in the clear. She might have been a nut, but she was a softie when it came to her boys.

  “Mom, I want you to meet Leni. Leni, this is—“

  “Call me Mom!” My mom stepped out of my embrace and right to Leni and hugged her like they had known one another for years. Leni had no choice but to wrap her own arms around my mom and return the embrace.

  “Mom,” I groaned, putting my hands on her shoulders and finding Leni’s smiling eyes staring up and me.

  “It’s okay. Nice to meet you, Mrs. Martinez.”

  “Mrs. Martinez was my mother-in-law, mija,” My mom pulled away still holding Leni’s hand. “You can call me Mom.”

  “Geez, a’ma!” I scolded, but by the look of innocence she was wearing, I knew I wasn’t going to get very far with her.

  “What?” She shrugged like she wasn’t freaking Leni out. I studied my girl for a moment. I couldn’t tell if she was freaked or not. She looked relaxed.

  “How about she calls you Maria for now and work up to Ma.”

  “Like when you two get married?” she quipped. I didn’t miss the way my angel’s eyes widened.

  “Yeah, ma. When Leni and I get married, she’ll call you Mom.” It would be sooner than either one of them could guess. If it were up to me, my angel would be Leonora Martinez by Valentine’s Day. Shit. I froze for a second. Had I really just thought that?

  “Men, right?” my mom scoffed, leading Leni into her apartment. I sighed and closed the door behind me.

  “Come sit down! You guys hungry?”

  “Mom, we just came to pick up—” But I didn’t finish my sentence due to the glare my mom tossed me. Any hopes that this would be an in-and-out visit flew the coop with that one look.

  “Sit down, Leni,” I sighed, pulling out chairs at the dinner table for my mom and her. “Would you guys like anything to drink?” I offered.

  “Oh, I’m okay,” Leni politely declined.

  “No, honey. You need to always take him up on it. Even if it’s just water.” My mom looked at me, and I knew what she was going to say. “Gotta train him right from the start, mjia,”

  “Train him?” Leni laughed, and I rolled my eyes.

  “Mom?”

  “Cafecito, por favor, mijo. Please. Thank you,” she asked for coffee sweetly. I was about to walk into her kitchen when my mom called out to me.

  “Edison, I need you to see about a leaky faucet when you have time.”

  “Edison?” Leni perked up, our eyes meeting, and she grinned. “Wait, you’re not an Eduardo or Edward?” Leni asked. I shook my head, biting away the smile. She had no idea the can of worms she was about to open up.

  “Oh no, mija!”

  “Wait, I thought Carlo said you were named after your dad.”

  “You would think that, right?” I chimed in.

  “He was. Sort of.”

  “Sort of?” Leni asked, looking back and forth between my mom and me. My mom looked at me, and it surprised me that she was silently asking for my permission to tell one of her favorite stories.

  “Go ahead,” I sighed, running my hand through my hair as I stood behind Leni, my hands on her delicate shoulders, not missing the way she relaxed into my touch.

  “There was no way I was going to name my child Eduardo.”

  “What?” Leni’s eyes widened. I groaned knowing full well that my mom was about to share what she considered a very exciting story.

  “I hated the name Eduardo.” Ma laughed, her eyes soft and filled with mischief. “My husband, God rest his soul, was beautiful, Leni. One of the most handsome men that ever walked the earth. You see my boys. All very handsome, but their father… was in a league of his own. His name though...” She made a face of disgust. I moved to sit next to Leni and watched them interact and talk.

  My mom went on to tell how my dad wanted a junior. How she had thought she had already dodged that bullet since she had named my older brother Orlando.

  “It’s not until I am eight months along that we agreed Eddie was okay,” she shared. Her eyes glittered as her mind was caught in a memory. “But he was so stubborn, Leni.” My mom shook her head. “He kept saying our boy needed to have a formal name. He would say, ‘How are we going to have a doctor or lawyer for a son without a formal name?’ Can you imagine Eddie as a doctor?” She laughed. I groaned. Not that she was wrong. Medicine had never called me. “I was thirty-nine weeks pregnant, and my water breaks as I’m sitting right here at this table,” she continues, her hand smoothing over the tabletop. The small dining table was nothing to look at. Something they had probably picked up used at a yard sale so many years ago, but it was priceless in my mother’s eyes. Her dark eyes met mine.

  “You were ready to say hello to the mundo, and the world was waiting for you.” She winked, returning her attention to Leni. “His dad looks at me with a cocky, smug smile and says, ‘Eduardo will be his name.’ Just like that. Like it was law. Oh mija, I was not going to have it. I hit the table and said no. That’s when I looked down and saw my electric bill. Right there, in front of me, like a sign!” My ma laughed. I pressed my lips together at the ludicrous way my parents decided on my name.

  “What?” Leni asked, leaning closer to my mom, obviously on the edge of her seat.

  “My Southern California Edison bill. It was right there! So, I say. ‘OH NO! His name will be Edison! His name can be Edison.’ Ed hated that but gave me what I wanted when I had a contraction that almost broke his hand.” She laughed, patting Leni’s hand. “That’s how Eddie got his formal name.”

  “Wow. I love that.” She grinned.

  “Thank God it wasn’t the gas bill,” I mumbled playfully, and my mom leaned into me.

  “You could have been Southwest. It would have been very pre-Kardashian.” Mom winked and stood up. “Okay. Who is hungry?” she asked, looking between Leni and me.

  “I could eat,” Leni said, smiling. “But could I use your bathroom first?”

  “Of course, mija,” She pointed towards the hallway. “Second door to the left.”

  “Thank you. I’ll be right back and help.”

  “Take your time. Eddie is good in the kitchen,” she said. I followed my mom to the kitchen after squeezing Leni’s hand.

  “You should be careful,” my ma spoke, still looking into the fridge and pulling out eggs and a loaf of bread. “That one is not like all the otras you hang out with.” She emphasized the word hang. I almost wanted to laugh. I would have too, if it hadn’t been for the fact that I knew this time it wasn’t just talk. She was about to drop some mama wisdom I had a feeling I already knew when it came to Leni.

  “She’s not, huh?” I asked. I knew Leni was different. The need to be around her alone was huge, but I wanted to know what it was that my mom was seeing after less than an hour. I watched her crack eggs into a bowl, and she gave me a look over her shoulder that made me shut up.

  “Mira Eddie,” she sighed, resting her hip on the counter behind her. “You know, tu sabes, I stay quiet. I’m not one of those moms who stick their noses in their son’s love affairs. Saying that, I’m not stupid, mijo. You’re your own man. You entertain women, and that’s fine. As long as you’re being safe, that’s your business. But please be safe. I would hate for your junk to fall off and stop me from being a grandma one day.”

  “Jesus, Ma!” I ran my hands through my hair.

  “I’m serious!”

  “Mom.”

  “Eddie, you’re thirty-five, and the last serious girlfriend you had was so long ago I don’t even remember her name,” she lied. I knew she remembered her name.

  “Jesus,” I mumbled and chuckled, but my mom wasn’t done.

  “That girl.” She lowered her voice as she pointed towards the bathroom. “Mijo, I’m saying this because I love you and I don’t want you to be an idiot. Leni is one of two things.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest wondering where she was going with this. My mom’s soulful dark eyes pinned mine as she hit me with her wisdom.

  “She can either be the best thing you have ever done for yourself since Yvette—"

  “Thought you didn’t remember her name?” My lips twitched, but my mom shrugged and ignored me and kept on talking.

  “Or she will be the one you think about for the rest of your life with regret for letting her go. What do they call that?” She frowned and snapped her fingers. “The one who got away.”

  “Or she could break my heart, you know?” I pointed out, but my mom wasn’t having any of it. She rolled her eyes and shook her head.

  “Bullshit.” My mom, the lady who had given me life and had never missed a Sunday mass in her life, cursed. The shock of it was written on my face. I didn’t know whether to check her glucose levels or laugh. “Don’t give me that crap, Eddie! We both know that girl is head over heels in love with you,” she shared, too observant for her own good, but thankfully, she did it quietly enough I knew there was no way Leni would have heard.

  She walked over to me and patted me on my back as I dropped my arms and wrapped one around her shoulder. My mom was a strong, independent woman. She had to be after my dad died and she had to raise three boys on her own. She had done it gracefully and had been the glue that held our family together. My brothers and I were as night and day because she encouraged us to be ourselves and go after what we wanted. But she had also taught us that at the end of the day, we should always have one another’s back because she had taught us the importance of family.

  “I just wish you weren’t so terco, pig-headed, to realize you love her too.” I looked down at her, and even though she was right, I wasn’t going to admit it.

  “I’m pig-headed?” I questioned because denying it would be too on the nose. I wasn’t a great liar, and she would be the first to tell me so.

  “I’m sorry, mijo, I gave you a lot of my good qualities. Your heart, sense of humor… that dimple, but the terco? That you got from your dad.” She crossed herself. “God rest his soul.”

  “Dad?” I repeated, trying to laugh. “Really, Ma? Dad is where I get my stubbornness?”

  “It almost sounds like you’re trying to insinuate something, Edison Martinez!” She pointed at me with a dramatic flare before leaning up and kissing me on the cheek. “I love you, Eddie. I just want you to be smart.”

  I had plans to do just that. Talking to my mom and seeing the two most important women in my life interact that morning had put the nail in the coffin.

  There was no warming up to love when in came to Leonora Holden. I’d gone and dived into the deep end when it came to her.

  “You called?” Orlando’s deep voice sounded on the other side of the phone. I sat back while looking at my closed office door. After brunch with my mom and picking up the things Carlo needed, we headed to the bar and got to work.

  New Year’s Eve was right around the corner, and there were things I needed to handle at the bar.

  “You remember Johnny?”

  “Ortega?” he guessed, and I grunted. “What about him?”

  “You got his number?” I asked my older brother. Orlando was quiet and kept to himself for the most part, but he was my best friend.

  “Why?”

  “He’s a jeweler,” I said. The other end of the line stayed quiet.

  “Okay, again. Why the hell do you need Johnny Ortega, our jeweler buddy’s number? Ma’s birthday isn’t till March.”

  “What I need to buy from him isn’t for Ma.” I was talking in circles, and I knew he was going to call me out on it.

  “Okay, you’re talking in fucking code, Eddie. I don’t have time for this shit.”

  “I met her,” I announced.

  “Her?”

  “Leni.”

  “Leni… Carlo’s neighbor?” I frowned, hating that he’d met her first.

  “Okay…” he said slowly. “Carlo mentioned he was going to try to get her a job. What about her.”

  “I’m going to ask her to marry me.”

  “Wait… what? Hold on. Soria, hold all my calls!” he called out to his assistant. “What the fuck did you do?”

  “What do you—"

  “Did you knock her up?”

  “Jesus, man, will you relax! Why do you and Carlo think I’m some kind of manwhore?”

  “Oh, I don’t know, because you kind of are.” The sarcasm dripped from my big bro’s voice. I rolled my eyes.

  “Was,” I gave because I hadn’t been in a serious relationship since high school. “And no, she’s not pregnant.” Though, if I thought about it, we hadn’t talked about birth control, and I had come inside of her each and every time. “Yet,” I added because I liked the idea of my seed growing inside of her. Watching her grow round with my child. It was a caveman thought, but it made me want to puff my chest out like a proud peacock.

  “Yet?” Orlando said, and I heard him breath in deep. “Eddie, you having some kind of mental breakdown?” he asked gently, and I laughed.

  “No.” I chuckled.

  “Midlife crisis?” he guessed again.

  “No.” I laughed again but got serious for a moment and cleared my throat. “You remember that fishing trip Dad took us on?” I asked. The line stayed quiet for a moment, so I started to remind him. “Carlo had the chicken pox, and Dad only took the two of us. Before he died.”

  “Yeah,” he said, finally breaking the silence. “You remember how he told us about meeting the one? How you just know. And we laughed thinking he was crazy?”

  “We were little.”

  “Yeah.” I’d probably been ten at the time, and Orlando had been thirteen, almost fourteen.