Page 31 of Yours, For Now

Lina: Right. I should probably

flirt with you some, at

least when we have other

people around

Gabe: exactly. See you tomorrow, then.

Looking forward to it

Morningcameonacold day. I hadn't checked the weather, assuming a warmer Fall day, and now paid for it. Our lawyers' office lived high in a skyscraper, and I stood at the building's feet waiting for Tío Miguel. A car stopped by the sidewalk in front of me, and Gabe appeared from the back seat. He found me by the main doors, wearing the wrong jacket and freezing my butt off.

"Hey." He kissed my cheek; the gesture appeared warm and friendly, and I smiled. The car that had brought him to the meeting went away. "What are you doing out here?"

He wore a wonderful wool coat, in a tight black and white pattern, contrasting beautifully with his navy suit. His wavy hair was slightly tussled; maybe he'd run his fingers through it in the car, or maybe he just wore it that way. A glimmer of mischief shone in his eyes, and I welcomed the flicker of warmth it brought to my insides.

"I'm waiting for Tío Miguel. He insisted I should be here, so he could find me easily." I rolled my eyes and sank my hands in my pockets. "I think he didn't want to go up there by himself, not that he would ever admit it. That, or he doesn't wantmegoing up there by myself, who knows why. What about your lawyer?"

"He's already up there. He's waiting for us."

"So Tío Miguel is the only one missing." I sighed.

Gabe gazed around as if looking for someone, but then zeroed in on me. "Okay. Tell me the truth. How okay are you with me saying a few mean things about your uncle?"

I grinned. "I can likely tolerate some mildly mean things."

"It's just that… I don't know how you do it. The man is pretty bad."

This time, I laughed. "Is that all you can do? I can say worse things."

"But you can because he's your uncle. If I say it, then that's worse."

"True. I don't know how I would react if you said the same things I think about him." My hands were still very cold, and I took them out of my pockets to rub them together. I shifted from foot to foot. "But if you want to complain about him taking too long and making me wait in the cold, then I'm all for it."

Instead of getting a chuckle and a few choice words from him like I expected, he frowned and wrapped my hands in his. Warmth seeped into me through his skin, the sensation building through cells and bones until I got a mild shiver.

I closed my eyes and released a strained sigh. "Oh, that's good."

Gabe rubbed my hands, helping my blood circulate better. When I opened my eyes, he watched me closely, a small smirk on his lips.

"Does it feel good?" he asked. I nodded. "I'm going to kiss your hands now, and I think you will really like it."

"You are? And I will?" My eyes closed in a tiny squint, enthralled by the way he opened my palms in front of his face, but also distracted by my natural suspiciousness.

He kissed the center of my palms, his eyes on mine. "Miguel is walking our way. It might serve us well to make a little bit of a show."

If only my body could process his words correctly. Rather than acknowledging this was for show, when he kissed the fleshy hill of my thumb, and then the inside of my wrists— one at a time— my heart betrayed me with palpitations. At least I had warmed up, now. Wrong jacket, who? I could have made it work with a light sweater.

"Better now?" Gabe asked, a twinkle in his eye.

"That's a Latino man, right there. Romancing his lady." Tío Miguel's voice reached me from somewhere in my vicinity but outside of my view, and barely in my awareness. I still hadn't recovered from Gabe's kisses. "I still bring flowers to my wife every month."

I came back to myself with a small jerk of my head.

"Please don't bring me more flowers, Gabe." I took my hands from my fake-boyfriend and grabbed one of the coffees in the tray Tío Miguel carried. I didn't know why he'd stopped for coffee when we could have gotten some at the lawyers' office, but it explained his delay. I gave a cup to Gabe, then took one for myself. "The ones you brought to dinner the other night were nice, but I'm good for now."

"You don't like flowers?" Gabe took a sip of his coffee.