Alice’s alarm went off at five o’clock the next morning as usual, but she reached for it and silenced it, placing it gently back on the hotel nightstand.

Rolling onto her side, she sighed, her lips tilting up into a smile as she gazed at Carlos, naked on his back, a white sheet pulled up to his hips, his beautiful chest bare.

For a moment, just a moment, her breath caught in amazement.

Last night, for a few terrifying seconds, she’d had a glimpse of her life without him in it when he’d warned her to “figure out” what she wanted. It had been crystal clear to her then: he was all that she wanted. Him. Carlos Vega. She loved him…more.

More than her family.

More than her company.

More than her ambition.

More than anything.

After knowing what it was to love and be loved by him, life would be meaningless without him.

“I feel you lookin’ at me, baby.” Caught, she gasped, her smile widening as he cracked open one eye to look at her. He grinned at her, his other eye opening. “Good morning, Miss Story.”

“Good morning, Mr. Vega,” she said, leaning forward to rest her breasts against his chest and press her lips to his for a gentle kiss.

He reached up, cupping her cheeks. “You want to go for a run?”

She shook her head. “No. Not yet. I’m too comfortable.”

“Is there anything I can do to make you more comfortable, mi amor?” he asked, his voice a low purr.

“I can think of a few things,” she said, her clit throbbing for the touch of his tongue, “but first, I’m going to take care of you.”

She leaned down, pressing her lips to his chest, trailing them lower, over the ridges of muscle to his stomach. Wedging her knee between his legs, she repositioned herself, straddling his thigh with her exposed sex and leaning down to lick his cock from base to tip.

“Put it in your mouth,” he told her, his voice gritty with need as he flexed the muscles in his thigh to massage her clit.

Alice wound her tongue around the head of his erection, licking the salty precum from the tip.

“All the way,” he demanded, reaching for her head and gathering her hair in his hands.

She clutched the base of his cock in her hand and lowered her mouth over the hard shaft until he hit the back of her throat. His hands guided her movements tightly, urging her to slide her lips back up the rigid column and then pushing her head back down, and she found that submitting to his will gave her a certain freedom she wouldn’t have expected. With other lovers, she’d overthought everything she was doing, which had made her uptight, living in her own head instead of being in the moment.

With Carlos, because of their established trust and the way he took control, she was able to escape her head, her worries, her expectations…he was giving her the gift of immediacy, and she reveled in the brazenness of it. She could abandon herself to his will, to the sound of his voice, to sensation and feeling. For the first time in her life, she could be uncontrolled and unrestrained. Here, in this sacred place where he loved her and she loved him, pleasuring each other was a bold act of faith without second-guesses, without fear, and without reservation.

“You’re going to swallow what I give you, mi amor,” he said, his grip tightening on her hair. “Understand?”

“Mm-hm,” she murmured, swirling her tongue around his twitching, pulsing cock before deep throating him again, chills sliding down her back from the sound of his deep, satisfied groan.

Remembering the way his teeth on her clit had made her explode yesterday, she looked up at him, at the way his face had started to contort in earnest, his eyes clenched shut. He was holding her hair so tightly it hurt, but in a good way, an intense way. Sliding his cock all the way out of her mouth, she placed her teeth tentatively on the base of his shaft and dragged them up his length, chasing the sharpness with her tongue.

“Fuck, Allie!” he cried as his hips bucked off the bed.

She clamped her lips over the tip of his erection and slid them back down just as he burst, streams of his seed sliding down the back of her throat in hot pulses.

“God,” he hissed, his hand loosening in her hair. “Fuck, that was…intense. Fuck, baby.”

Releasing him inch by inch, she pressed her lips to the tip of his cock in a sweet kiss and then rolled to her side, pressing up against him in bed.

His arm landed loosely on her hip as he slowly opened his eyes and turned his head to the side. “You’re a goddess.”

She chuckled. “I’m good at following directions.”

“Yes, you are, baby,” he said, bending his neck to kiss her. “That was…crazy hot.”

Alice grinned, making lazy circles in his chest as her own body, wet and primed, waited for him to tell her he was ready for more.

“Allie?”

“Hmm?”

“You know what I want to do today?” he asked, running his fingers up and down her back.

“What?”

“I want to…” He sighed, knowing that a case could be made for them moving too fast. But it felt right. So right. He started again. “I want to introduce you to my mom and dad.”

She snapped her head up, bracing on her elbow. “You want me to meet your family?”

He blinked at her, his eyes wide. “Yeah. Is that a problem?”

“We’ve only been together for two days!”

“So what?” he said, pushing her hair from her face as he gazed at her. “I love you. I love them. I want you to know each other.” He guided her lips to his and kissed her tenderly. “And, baby, we’ve been together a lot longer than two days. We’ve just gotten around to the good stuff in the last two days, but this—everything between us? It’s been growing for years.”

“Yes, but—”

“Allie,” he said, leaning up on his elbow to mirror her, “be straight with me. When we get home, do you want to be together?”

“Yes! But I don’t—”

“You don’t quite know how it’s going to work yet?”

“Exactly.”

“Do you trust me?”

She nodded. “With everything I am.”

“Can you trust me that this is day two of forever?”

Her eyes filled with tears, and she nodded, unable to speak over the lump in her throat.

“Can you trust me that we’ll figure out everything?”

She nodded again, leaning forward to rest her forehead on his.

“Can you come and meet my parents today?”

“Of course,” she whispered. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For showing me how to do this.”

“This?”

“Love someone. Be loved. Let it happen.”

“I told you the first night, baby,” he said, pressing his lips to hers, “once we were together, I was never walking away, and I would never let you go.”

She sniffled softly. “I know. I just—”

He rolled onto his back, reaching for her waist and pulling her onto his chest. “Have I ever said something to you that wasn’t true?”

Alice straddled his chest with her knees and leaned back a little, feeling his erection, stiff and waiting, press against her. “Never.”

“Trust me, Allie,” he said. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” she murmured, lifting a little to position herself over him.

“Good. Now ride me.”

He reached down and gripped his cock, holding it steady so she could slide down onto it, inch by hot, swollen inch.

He fills me. Dear God, how he fills me.

And not just her body, which sucked him forward, fitting around his thickness like a custom-made glove, but her heart too, which sang with pleasure, knowing real and true love for the first time in her lonely life.

He held her hips as she surged forward, then back. Forward, then back, riding him like he’d asked her too, his gray eyes looking so deeply into hers, she felt her body flush at the same time she felt the tightening of her muscles. And in the end, when they found their sweet release, they found it together, intimately joined by their bodies.

Their eyes.

And their hearts.

***

Carlos had made the drive from Ponce to San Juan many times, as Ponce was the site of the annual Liga Atlética Interuniversitaria de Puerto Rico—essentially a week of sporting events between island universities, and he had played soccer for his own college up near San Juan. And frankly, even if a college student wasn’t on a sports team, most of them still went down to Ponce to cheer on their alma mater and party every night. So most of the drives he’d made from Ponce north found him hung over and exhausted after a week of hard playing and hard partying. But not today. Today was different. Today he was taking the love of his life home to meet his parents.

As they cruised along the roads that snaked through the interior of his island, he glanced over at her. Because she’d only packed business and workout clothes, they’d visited the lobby boutique in their hotel, and Alice had chosen a peach-colored sundress, decorated with white palm fronds, and simple white sandals. She put her hair in a ponytail, and her sunburn from two days ago had turned into a deep tan. Carlos had never seen her so beautiful, though he liked to think that his love for her, and the manifestation of that love in a two-day fuckfest, had something to do with the way she was suddenly blooming.

“What?” she asked.

“Nothin’,” he said, turning back to the road.

“Tell me!”

He grinned at her, glancing over once more. “You just look really…beautiful.”

Over the last few days, he’d gotten more accustomed to her easy smiles, but this one held so much happiness, so much promise, that it was lucky they were on a deserted road because he swerved a little, drinking it in.

“Careful!” she cautioned him.

“Then quit smilin’ like that.”

“I can’t,” she said with a happy sigh. “I can’t help it.”

She reached over and put her hand on his thigh. “Why do you think it took us so long to admit our feelings for each other?”

He took one hand off the steering wheel, took her hand, and raised it to his lips for a quick kiss. “I think it took as long as it needed to. We had to be ready. Things can happen very fast when two people are ready.”

“You’re telling me!” she joked, letting go of his hand to grab her bottle of water from the console between them. She uncapped it and took a long sip before replacing it. “I’ve never been with anyone like you.”

“Tall, dark, and Latino?” he asked. “Once you go Boricua, you’ll never go back, mi amor.”

She giggled. “No worries there. I’m not going anywhere.”

“You’ve had boyfriends, Alice,” he said thoughtfully.

“Yes, but I never trusted any of them.” She paused. “I never loved any of them.”

He glanced over at her slipping smile. “Who do you love?”

He heard her take a deep breath and hold it, like maybe the question hurt a little.

“I’ll say names,” he suggested, “and you can nod if the answer’s yes.”

“Okay.”

“Margaret.”

She nodded quickly.

“Elizabeth.”

She pursed her lips but nodded again.

“Priscilla.”

Another nod.

“Jane.”

“Jane,” she said softly. “Everyone loves Jane. Wait ’til you get to know her. She’s a saint, Carlos.”

“Santa Juana,” he said.

“She finished med school in June. She’s…I mean, she’s a pediatrician. She saves kids. For a living. How amazing do you have to be to choose that for your life’s work?”

“Very,” he said, loving the warmth in her voice as she spoke of her little sister.

“What about Elizabeth? What’s going on with her?”

“She’s up my father’s ass like a colon polyp.”

“Nice,” he said, nodding in appreciation of Alice’s saltier side.

“It’s true. She’s…insufferable lately. When we were girls, she was the rebel, you know? Smoking with boys, stealing liquor from my parent’s cabinet. She was fun! Chunky and irreverent and real…and such a good time. Somewhere along the way, she changed. And now she’s this plastic Barbie doll who follows my father around like a servant.”

“But he promoted her,” Carlos observed carefully.

“Yes,” said Alice bitterly.

“After passing you and Margaret over.”

“Yes,” she said more softly.

“That must be difficult.”

She nodded. “It doesn’t feel great.”

He pulled the car to the side of the road, put it in park, turned to her, and said, “Your father.”

Her jaw tightened, and she sucked in a small breath, staring at her folded hands on her lap. Finally, she shrugged. “I don’t know. He’s my father. I should love him. But…”

“Fuck all the ‘shoulds,’ Alice. You let them rule your life.” He paused, softening his voice. “I know you don’t hate him, but do you love him?”

“I wish I could answer you,” she said. “But I honestly don’t know.”

Carlos winced. “He betrayed you.”

“By not promoting me?”

“By making you feel unloved,” said Carlos, reaching out to cup her cheek as her eyes filled with tears. “His first and most important job was to love his children. If he fails at that, he fails at everything.”

She sniffled, and he used his thumb to wipe away a lone tear.

“Are you saying…it’s him, not me?” she asked, trying for a little levity and missing the mark.

“I’m saying…you’re so easy to love, Allie. I’m sorry that he’s missing his chance.”

A shudder tore through her, and she turned her head, pressing her lips into his palm as he asked, “Carlos?”

She looked up at him, nailing him with her eyes, and nodded.

“Yes,” she said, her face brightening, her smile like watching the sun break through the clouds on a rainy day. “I love him.”

“He loves you too.”

She pulled his hand from her cheeks and braided her hands through him, settling both in her lap as he switched gears and stepped on the gas.

***

“Ready to meet my family?” Carlos asked, turning into a parking space in a lot beside Casa Vega, his family’s restaurant.

“Run through the names with me again?” asked Alice, eyeing the colorful restaurant nervously. She wanted them to like her, but she couldn’t remember the last time she’d been taken home to meet someone’s family. And certainly no time before had ever counted as much as this one.

“You’re just stalling now.”

“Please,” she said. “One more time.”

He nodded. “My parents are Pablo and Elena.”

“And they speak English?”

“It’s not their first language, but yes.” He smiled at her. “My younger brother, Francisco, will be there working, and his wife, Luisa, sometimes comes in for a few hours with their son, Carlitos.”

“Named after you.”

“Sí,” he said, grinning at her. “My youngest brother, Pablo, named after my father, is called Paco. It’s a nickname. He’s not engaged or married, so no one else to remember with him.”

“And your sister is Carmela.”

“Exactamente. And she’s engaged to…?”

“Umm…” hummed Alice, tapping her chin. “Mike.”

“Sí, Mike. From Miami.”

“Why isn’t Mike called Miguel?”

Carlos shrugged. “’Cause he’s not Puertorriqueño, querida. He’s a gringo, like you.”

“Gringo?”

“Not Latino. He’s Irish, I think. Freckles and red hair,” said Carlos. “You’ll know him when you see him.”

“Anyone else I should know about?”

“Baby, I got about a hundred cousins, aunts, and uncles…my abuelos—that’s grandparents—won’t be there because they live in San Juan…but I think knowing my immediate family is enough, huh?”

Alice gulped nervously, but she nodded, offering him a small smile.

“I’ll be right next to you the whole time, mi amor. Trust me?”

He leaned over the bolster of the rental car, cupped her cheek, and kissed her soundly, only stopping at the sharp knock on the window.

“Hey, Carlos! Eres tú? Quien es ella?” Hey, Carlos! Is that you? Who’s she?

Carlos laughed softly against Alice’s lips, looking up at her. “Paco.” Then he turned and opened his door, stepping out of the car only to be enveloped in a bear hug by a young man almost twice his size.

Smiling at their exuberance, Alice opened her own door and rounded the car to stand to the side.

When the brothers leaned away from each other, Carlos grabbed Alice’s hand.

“Alice, this is my little brother, Paco. Paco, meet Alice.”

“Ha! Little? I was taller than you two years ago!”

Carlos turned to Alice. “He’s the forward of his high school basketball team.”

Alice held out her hand. “It’s so nice to meet you.”

“You too,” said Paco. “What are you doing with this pendejo? You’re too pretty for him!”

“I know,” she said, “but he looked so lonely, I took pity on him.”

Paco laughed, nodding with appreciation. “Oh, shoot! I like her! She’s got some spirit, yeah?”

Carlos chuckled. “She’s gonna be around for a while, so I’m glad you approve. Is Mami here?”

“Come on, Carlitos Uno,” he said, throwing a bag of garbage in a dumpster before herding them into the back door of the restaurant. “Where else would she be?”

Three hours later, Alice had been offered more food than she’d ever seen in her entire life, drunk her weight in cold beer, and been thoroughly embraced by the entire Vega clan, right down to Carlitos Dos, Carlos’ two-year-old namesake, who was, at present, taking a nap in Carlos’ lap. Pablo and Elena were back in the kitchen prepping for dinner, Francisco and Carmela were waiting tables, and Paco was bussing. Luisa, who’d run across the street to the CVS to grab something for her son, would be back any minute.

“He’s beautiful,” said Alice, staring at his lips, slack with sleep.

“Sí,” agreed Carlos, running a gentle hand through his nephew’s down-like hair. “And he’s a good baby too.”

“I…” Alice bit her bottom lip. “I don’t suppose you’re anywhere near ready to—”

“To have my own? Are you kidding, querida? I can’t wait!”

“But you’re so young,” she said. “It’ll be years before you’re ready.”

“Francisco is my younger brother!” exclaimed Carlos. “I always wanted to be a young dad, and my brother’s already got one! No, Allie. I have no interest in waiting. I’m ready whenever you are, mami.”

“Are you serious?”

Luisa walked over to their table. “I’m gonna take him home now, Carlos. Thanks for keeping an eye on him.”

Carlos lifted the sleeping child gently, transferring him to his mother’s arms. “It was good to see you, Luisa.”

“You too, hermano,” she said, leaning down to kiss his cheek. “And it was good to meet you, Allie. Keep an eye on this one for me, huh?”

Alice nodded. “Won’t let him out of my sight. I promise.”

Luisa winked at them, then hurried over to say good-bye to her husband.

Turning back to Alice, Carlos took her hand across the table. “Come with me.”

He led her outside to a little garden adjacent to the restaurant that had hot-pink flowers and a small pond with koi fish.

 “Yes, baby. I’m serious,” he said, pulling her into his arms under the stars. “I know what I want. This isn’t new, or hurried, or some loco idea that needs time to develop. I’ve lived and breathed with you for three years. I know you. And you know me. You are the love of my life, Alice Story. And whatever happens next, happens with you by my side, and me by yours.”

“Forever?” she asked, the word slipping from her lips as she stared into his stunning gray eyes.

He nodded. “Forever, baby. I’ll make it official as soon as we get home.”

She stood on tiptoes, kissing him with abandon. She’d worried about their age differences, their background differences, and whether or not they both wanted children. But he’d quelled all her fears, one by one, the only one remaining now, the biggest: how could they be together romantically if they worked together too?

“Um…” she hummed, drawing back to look up at him. “There’s still the matter of—”

“Our working together.”

“Yes,” she said. “How do you do that? Finish my sentences?”

He kissed the tip of her nose and held her tightly against him.

“Remember those back-to-back desks?” he asked. “In our first office?”

“Of course.”

“I figure we sat at those desks for ten hours a day, five days a week, for thirteen months before Priscilla’s investment. You know how many hours that is?”

“How many?”

“Two thousand six hundred hours. That’s how long we sat back to back. And, baby, I was fallin’ in love with you every minute of every hour of every day.”

“Carlos”—she said his name tenderly, reverently—“how does this work?”

“I resign,” he said firmly.

“No! Absolutely not!” Everything inside of her rebelled against him giving up his job for her, especially when he’d done that once in his life already. “You can’t quit. My company is yours too. It’s ours. It always has been.”

He nodded. “Fair enough. But if I want to be your partner, I need a better education.”

“No! You’re perfect. You don’t need to change a thing—”

“Alice, querida,” he said, cupping her cheeks and forcing her to look at him. “I applied to Wharton.”

She heard the sound of screeching brakes in her head.“What?”

He nodded, a grin tipping up the corners of his mouth. “Shane wrote me a rec. I filled out the forms…and I—I applied to Wharton.”

Her eyes were sparking with tears as she searched his face. “Are you serious?”

“My company offers tuition reimbursement,” he said, shrugging nonchalantly, his grin growing wider.

“Are you serious?”

He nodded. “I am, baby. I’m gonna go back to school, and then you can hire me back…as your partner.”

“Carlos! I’m so proud of you!” she cried, throwing her arms around his neck.

“Yeah?”

“Oh, my God, yes!”

“Think I’ll get in?”

“If I have anything to say about it.”

“No, baby. I do this on my own or not at all.”

“Sí, Carlos,” she said, smoothing his shirt like a dutiful fiancée but clearly with an agenda of her own.

“Mujer, you’re going to be a load of trouble, aren’t you?”

“Probably,” she said. She cocked her head to the side. “Sure you want me?”

“I’m sure,” he said, releasing her waist to cup her face, nuzzling her nose before kissing her. “Corazon de mi corazon. Heart of my heart. I want what I’ve wanted from the very beginning…us.”