Page 7 of Yours, For Now

"What did Miguel say about this?" Dad asked. "And your dad?"

That seemed to make her satisfied look falter. "They wanted to hear a proposal from me. I thought that it would be stronger if I already had a company in line and willing to get involved with us this way. If you cosigned the documents with me."

I raised my eyebrow at Lina's words and mulled them over. "So this isn't a done deal. If we say yes, we still need to ask your family for approval."

She closed her laptop with a slap, a determined slant to her mouth. "I don't plan to let them say no."

This time, both my eyebrows went up. Brave of her to approach the business this way, and to enlist the Sotomayor Group as bait for the executive team of her family's smaller company.

Good thing my dad was more likely to focus on the opportunity, rather than the optics.

"Well, I certainly appreciate your ambition, Lina." He nodded in her direction.

That was the gentlest comment possible with which to respond, and much better than what I could offer at the moment. Aside from the possibility of turning this into my Board project, all I had was that I found ambition sexy, but I didn't share that with anyone. I barely knew Lina, but she came across like a self-protected person, and flirting with her in a situation like this seemed like a douchey thing to do. My dick might want me to do something about my general attraction to her, but my brain overrode it easily. Having my dad in the room helped. He wouldn't be proud of me if he knew the kind of thoughts I was having. And anything sexy-related with Lina or anyone would be completely out of the agenda.

Better to focus on her proposal and all it could do for my family's business goals.

My dad continued, "if we decided to move forward with this, do we have time to put everything together in time for the stadium negotiations?"

"I understand that deals take time to progress in large corporations. Based on my research, the bid will start in a year, but there's a shortlist deadline approaching in a few weeks. I've prepared a large portion of that application document, so we should be okay timewise. For everything else, I also have everything set up and documented to a tee; I'd be happy to share it all with your legal and development heads. Regarding how long it might take us to sign on the line, I'm sure we can follow your schedule. As long as we can submit the shortlist document and close that deal in two to three months, we should have enough time to build a strong proposal for the stadium bid."

It sounded really, really good, even if it meant adding work to guide the project with the other VPs. With my dad's help, I might just be able to run this deal, and use it to prove to the board that I was CEO material.

My dad and I exchanged a look. He gave me a sign we'd been using for years for business situations like this. He appeared to be thinking along the same lines.

I responded to Dad and turned to Lina. I gazed at her for a second, studying the way her eyes focused on me and enjoying it a bit too much for my own good.

A single nod carried my answer. "You'll hear from us within a week."

The offices for my family's construction company were different from the Sotomayors'. Ours lived in a renovated three story building in a business district near downtown. It wasn't as design-forward or expensive looking, but we owned it, and it served our needs well. The soft gray walls and array of windows illuminated the many people making big projects happen, with reception, a break room, and two boardrooms on the main floor; a big open working space taking up the entire second floor, and the directors' offices on the top-most level, with a smaller meeting room tucked to the side.

My office was one door away from my dad and my uncle's. The door in the middle belonged to Enrique, Tío Miguel's son, who he dreamed would eventually take over the company. It remained empty, but Tío Miguel refused to repurpose it. Its perma-closed door haunted me, because if it were ever used by my cousin in any consistent manner, my dreams might disintegrate. Luckily, I hadn't seen anyone in it for over a year now.

Enrique's sister, Lucía, worked in an admin role on the first floor, and it was her phone line that lit up my phone.

"Hey Luce. What's up?" I asked as I answered the call.

"Gabriel Sotomayor is here to see you. He said he's not on your agenda but would like to talk."

Gabe and I didn't have each other's personal numbers. Chances were, Gabe was here to tell me what he and his dad had decided. He could have called the office, but it seemed he'd chosen a different way to reach me.

A flutter interrupted the normal pattern of my breathing. "Tell him to come up. Thanks!"

I ran my fingers through my hair and fluffed it up, as if how I looked could help convince Gabe to say yes. With a smirk at myself, I got out from behind my desk and went to find him… but Tío Miguel found him first.

"Gabriel Sotomayor! This is a surprise," Tío Miguel said, standing in the middle of the shared space among all of our offices.

Gabe sported a small smile and a sexy as hell suit. No tie, because when you were at his level, the quality of the fabrics clothing his body were enough to tell you he could make all deals happen. He could afford to leave the top button open, even.

"Hello, Don Miguel." Gabe shook my uncle's hand. "Is Lina around?"

"Lina, huh?" His smile turned teasing, like he wanted to say more.

"Hey, Gabe," I interrupted before Tío Miguel could try. "You wanted to see me?"

Gabe nodded. He gazed around our offices, until his eyes landed on me. "Can I take you out for lunch?"

I thanked the heavens that I had felt flirty that morning, and had chosen to wear a belted sweater dress that I loved. Not because I hoped Gabe would notice how it wrapped my body, but because I liked feeling attractive when negotiating my future. It made me feel stronger, somehow.