Page 62 of Yours, For Now

"You should kiss me soon, though. It won't hurt us to add that to the repertoire, right?"

"I'll kiss you soon." He opened his eyes and lifted an eyebrow at me. "I think I'll have to. Otherwise I'll lose my nerve, when my friends and family surround us."

"We'll have to rethink our break up strategy."

"We'll come up with something," he said and, sadly, I knew he was right.

Chapter 19

Nightcaughtmeworkinglate again at the office. I'd taken off my tie, undone the top button, and crafted responses to the numerous emails piling up in my inbox. Once done with that, I had to review documents Jake had sent me earlier, to sign off on different branches' decisions for deals and projects. Only then would I be able to go home, before I did it all over again the next day. So on and so forth for the next couple of years, as planned.

It would be easier if I could concentrate only on work. My mind was adamant that thinking about Lina was much more interesting than writing emails. And, well, I couldn't blame my brain.

I regretted not kissing Lina two nights before. I'd been too busy to see her since then, and the moment when I'd asked her if I could kiss her replayed in my mind over and over again. In my imagination, I pressed my lips against hers in a different way each time. Knowing that I would get to make that a reality soon snatched my attention at the smallest opportunity, and my body buzzed with anticipation at the mere thought of it.

But that meant playing with fire. Many logical reasons existed to stop me, except that circumstances kept pushing us to move our relationship forward. And it tempted me, to let myself play it as if it were real, at least for a while. Until the inevitable break up.

Good thing that she was likely right: besos y abrazos no quitan pedazos. As long as Lina never learned that my feelings were a little more real than I was letting on, I could walk that line. It would be hard returning to my single life, but the more believable it was, the better for everyone.

I could live with that. I had to.

My phone dinged with the notification I had set for Lina. I clicked send on the email I had been working on and checked her text.

Lina: the meeting tomorrow with the

stadium bid project leads. Do you think

it's a good thing that they want to ask

us a few questions?

I stared at her text and rocked my chair from side to side. From so many people in my life, a text like that would have been a normal occurrence. From Lina it seemed like a huge deal, because it carried her doubt. Like she was nervous, and she was okay letting me see it.

The knots making it hard to breathe smoothed into silk at the possibility that Lina trusted me enough for it. Maybe it meant I'd managed to get through some of her walls, despite her guardedness. The idea blew oxygen into the building fire inside of me.

Gabe: I think so. Why bother scheduling

a meeting with a bidder they're not

truly considering?

Lina: I hope you're right. Less than a

week now until we hear the results.

Maybe we're neck-and-neck with

other bidders.

Gabe: could be. We're going to learn

a lot from the meeting itself. Are

you feeling prepared for it?

Lina: of course. Especially since

Tío Miguel and my dad will be