Page 22 of Rafael

All the more reason to steer clear of the man. Ifshe had sex with him, she’d be ruined for any other man.

He’s a keeper, Johnny squawked.

Gisele turned to the parrot and sighed. “You’re wrong.”

As convinced as she was that he would be an incredible lover, she knew the man wouldn’t stay.

Her best course of action, where Rafael Romero was concerned, was to stay as far away from him as she could get.

She had no reason to swing by the boarding house where he lived, and he certainly didn’t need to buy souvenirs from her shop.

Avoiding him should be a piece of cake.

CHAPTER 5

Gisele and Lenaspent the morning arranging the new bottles of lotions on the shelf and unpacking the delivery that came not long after Rafael left.

By the time she officially opened the shop to the public, they had everything in place and the excess inventory stored in the back.

Lena flipped the sign in the door from CLOSED to OPEN and stood staring through the window for a long moment. “What’s going on at the yoga studio?” she asked without turning around.

“I don’t know.” Gisele paused from wiping the dust off a display and glanced up. “Why do you ask?”

“There’s a line of women standing in the alley, and there’s a truck with a big mattress in the back. Oh, wait. A couple of big guys arelifting the mattress out of the truck. They’re carrying it to the back of the yoga studio.”

“Did she rent the apartment over the studio?” Gisele crossed to stand beside Lena.

She recognized one of the men carrying the mattress as the man who’d introduced himself to her at the festival the previous night. What had he said his name was?

Oh yeah.

Valentin.

Was he moving into the apartment over the studio?

All she could see of the other guy was pantlegs and shoes; the rest of him was hidden behind the mattress. They carried the king-sized mattress down the alley between the Mamba Wamba and YaYa’s Yoga Studio, passing a gauntlet of middle-aged women in yoga leggings.

After the two men disappeared around the back of the building, the women fanned their faces and laughed.

Lena shook her head. “Crazy. A bunch of married women drooling over a couple of younger guys.”

“They’re married. Not dead,” Gisele said. “The guy on the back of that mattress is friends with the one you met this morning. From what Shelby told me, that entire group of guys are prior military and easy on the eye.”

“Yeah. I guess I get it. Just because the ladies are old doesn’t make them immune. Your Rafael made my heart beat a little faster.”

“He’s not my Rafael,” Gisele protested.

“Whatever. Having one of them in the neighborhood could raise property values.” Lena cocked an eyebrow and looked down at Gisele. “Do you want me to ask YaYa which one moved in?”

Gisele shook her head. “No. I have a package that belongs to YaYa that the delivery guy left with me by accident. I need to take it over.”

“I could do that for you,” Lena offered.

“Thanks, but I have some business I want to discuss with YaYa,” Gisele handed Lena the rag she’d been using. “You can finish dusting the upper shelves I couldn’t reach.”

Lena sighed. “Ask if the new guy is into younger chicks. I’m pretty mature for my age.”

Gisele shook her head. “When are you going back to college?”

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