Page 10 of Yours, For Now

Gabe pushed his chair back with an audible scratch on the floor. "Good evening. Hello, Mr. Martínez. Don Miguel." He shook both their hands.

Both of us ignored their teasing.

"I asked Lucía to bring us all coffee. She'll be here in a minute, then we can start," Tío Miguel said. "What's this meeting about, again?"

"The email saidbusiness meetingonly," my dad added.

They sat next to each other at the table, in front of Gabe and I.

"You'll see." I pointed at the folders in front of them. "Gabe and I have a plan."

Luce came into the boardroom balancing a tray with cups and a carafe. We served drinks and settled into the meeting.

When I checked with Gabe, he was already looking at me. He lifted an eyebrow as if asking,ready?I smiled, nodded, and started our presentation.

"First," I said, "Thank you both for giving us a chance to tell you about a great opportunity for both our companies…"

As planned, Lina started the last slide twenty three minutes after we'd begun. Her eyes glittered as she wrapped up the presentation, engaging with her dad and uncle like they were a concert hall worth of people, and she had them all hypnotized with her charm and smarts.

My share of the slides was over, offering an opportunity to focus on Lina. With her eyes on her family, I studied how her face moved, just like I had wanted to do while preparing for this meeting over the last week. With her focus elsewhere, I gazed at her, uninterrupted, truly settling into it.

Increíble, the seed of awe at the bottom of my stomach, seeing just how fascinating Lina was. Every time I'd seen her at the gala, I'd known she was attractive, and that I wouldn't do anything about it. Over the past couple of weeks, an inkling had started to scratch my brain, etches made in the shape of wanting to uncover who Lina was beneath this drive. Seeing her confidence and light shining through as she delivered a flawless presentation, it became much harder to ignore that I wanted to learn what her body might feel like in my hands, too.

Pity that my chance to pursue that desire was way in the future, after I'd gotten the CEO role, and had completed the transition. My present couldn't involve scratching an itch. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I messed everything up, so I had to wait. I could only hope the gods would see it well to make our futures line up, and that Lina would be single at the time.

Thoughts of all the potential paths I could follow a couple of years down the line stopped, when Lina finished the presentation.

Lina gave me a smile and a glance, before she returned to her dad and uncle. "I hope that what we've shared today illustrates the opportunity in front of us. The Sotomayor Group and I believe we can do great things together, and we can't wait to move ahead toward a brighter future. Any questions?"

I glanced at Miguel and Edgardo, Lina's dad. They both stared at Lina, then at me, then back at Lina, with a smile on their face. The corner of my lips stitched up; this looked promising.

"Well, well," Don Miguel said. "Very interesting proposal."

"What are your first thoughts?" I asked.

He gave me a winning smile. "That I knew you two would come up with great things together."

I stopped a frown from showing on my face. That was a weird way to say it.

"As much as I'd like to share the glory," I said, "this was Lina's idea. She created and planned it and invited us to join this project. I'm grateful, because I truly believe this has great potential for both our companies."

"I'm glad to hear she's already taking care of you!" Don Miguel laughed and wiggled his eyebrows as if that made perfect sense and it was hilarious. "We taught her well, right?"

He continued to chuckle and Lina's dad joined him. "A man is always a bit worried about the day this happens for his daughter, but I'm happy with the look of this. Don't mess it up, kids!"

I glanced at Lina, searching for answers, but the look she gave me held as many questions as I had at the tip of my tongue.

She turned to her dad. "Does that mean you're giving us the green light to start with the project?"

"Oh, bueno, no need to rush. We need to think about that. Check that everything is planned as it should be."

"I'm glad you're bringing Gabriel into the fold." Miguel continued to nod, appearing satisfied. "This project wouldn't work without a man like him. Or the power behind his last name. He can help guide you."

I cringed. I opened my mouth to say something, but Lina beat me to it.

"I didn't choose the Sotomayors based on Gabe's gender, or hoping he'd guide me. I am perfectly capable of running our share of a project like this one."

"Ay, don't get so sensitive." Don Miguel stood and began collecting his things. Edgardo joined him. "You know what I mean."