Page 19 of Yours, For Now

I gazed back at Gabe. "You came to see me? Should we go into my office?"

"Can we go out for lunch, actually?"

I stole a glance at my father, who was stealing glances right back at us.

Gabe noticed and did the same. He took a step closer to me and leaned even closer, his mouth dropping next to my ear. My heart did a weird thing, where it seemed to stop for a beat and resume at double the pace, like my brain had forgotten what it was doing in the middle of it.

He took a breath; it moved the tiny hairs on my neck like wind on water. Everything in me stopped and waited; even the tremors plaguing my hands stopped to see what he planned to do. Why he stood so close, and why he affected my bodily functions like this.

"I'd like to chat with you about last night." He retreated for a second, barely gaining distance from me beyond what was absolutely necessary to check my reaction.

I nodded, and studied his long eyelashes for the second it took him to read my face.

He returned to the general area of my ear, the tiny hairs now standing at attention, and whatever had gone cold before now turned aflame.

"Is it okay if I touch you?" A second went by. "I'm sorry it's awkward but… for show. I want to put my hand on your lower back."

A chill built at my nape and began its descent down my spine, but even the shiver I did my best to control receded to the background. Gabe's words implied he might have agreed to help me.

He'd seen an opportunity to start the pretense, with my dad watching and people around us to witness the intimacy of his gesture. If I was right, this was him jump-starting the farce, as much a yes as all the words we still had to say.

The impulse that sparked inside of me this time was to hug him and thank him. I stopped myself; he was waiting for my answer. All details would have to be left for later.

Gabe retreated again to watch my reaction and, when I nodded this time, he responded with one of his own. Something vibrated in the air between us, and we stared at each other for a second too long.

"Hey, you two." Dad called from the doorway to his office. "Shoo. Go have lunch. The grown ups will run the shop as usual."

I didn't respond to my father's smile, and breathed through the papercut of his comment. I went into my office and grabbed my bag. As we walked past my dad, I glanced at Gabe and he gave me a nod; his hand rested big and warm on my lower back and, again, I wished he didn't get to see this side of my every day.

My stomach hurt as we made our way out of Lina's office and got in my car, before I gave Josué the green light to start driving. If someone had asked me earlier why I thought that might be the case, I would have said it was because I was nervous about this plan we were about to embark on. The truth was, hearing Edgardo's casual insult to Lina's capabilities had stung.

If my dad had made a comment like that about me, I would have laughed. But I couldn't imagine what it was like to live with that every day. When it reflected a deeper negative idea of who you were, each time.

We arrived at a restaurant I liked and asked to sit on the patio. The host took us to a great table in their private garden, with a water feature surrounded by greenery and flowers, and ornate lamps hanging from the modern-looking pergola.

Food ordered, the sommelier approached us to discuss options. A few minutes later, Cabernet Sauvignon in our glasses, I smiled at Lina, whose eyes were steady on me.

"Thanks for taking me out for lunch." Lina sipped from her wine. "Very… boyfriend of you, I'd say."

The sparkle in her eyes brought a smile to my face, but I camouflaged it by licking my lower lip. "Maybe I'm the kind of person who loves to discuss business over lunch."

She took another sip and left the glass on the table, her sight never straying away from me. It dared me to—something, and it brought a tingle into my chest that I enjoyed.

She squinted at me like she didn't believe me. "But this is only tangentially about business, isn't it? I thought lunch was a sign that you'd decided to help me. Another sign, really— after what happened in front of my dad."

The food arrived and we fell into silence, while the servers set everything up for us.

It hadn't only been the harsh comment from her dad that had caught my attention back at Martínez and Associates; the subtle peek of her bra— light purple, maybe?— had caused a feeling very different from compassion. The way she'd gasped and held her breath when I asked her for permission to touch her had added to it, too. But maybe that wasn't what she was talking about.

I took a bite of my gnocchi. A delicious mixture of herbs and cheese exploded in my mouth. "What signs are those? At the office."

"You didn't correct my dad when he said you're my boyfriend. Then you said you wanted to fake it and put your hand on my back."

That stole a full smile out of me. "This is how you discover I'm not good at lying. Do you still want me to do this with you?"

Lina put two fingers on the table and walked them a few steps towards me. She smiled. "You see, it's not like I have a choice."

I laughed and she chuckled, before cutting into her chicken.