Page 98 of Yours, For Now

I stared at Gabe. His words made my bones rattle. My heart seemed to lose its rhythm, a confused pace for a second, but things became clearer and clearer with each new drumming heartbeat. Little by little, with every new facet he showed me— from sweet to dominant to down to earth to protective boyfriend— he'd found a way into the bruised, closed-off organ in my chest. Whether he knew it or not, he'd claimed my heart.

Tío Miguel spluttered, and I didn't even pay attention.

Enrique patted his dad's shoulder "I don't want to work at the family company, Dad."

The older man glared at my cousin. "You will. I'm sure of it."

Enrique sighed. "I won't. But let's go sit by mom for now. You know she gets shy."

They left, and my eyes quickly returned to Gabe.

He turned me in his arms, his hands on the rounds above my hips. He squeezed. "You okay? I don't get how he can be so crass."

"Thank you. That meant a lot to me."

His face relaxed, his annoyance floating away on a breeze. He smiled. "What kind of boyfriend would I be, if I let him insult you that way?"

And then he kissed me, like he'd forgotten we were supposed to be faking this whole thing, just like I had.

Chapter 27

Afterawonderfulweekendtogether with Gabe, I did something out of the ordinary. On Tuesday, on my way back to work after a meeting with a client, I took a detour and stopped at the Sotomayor offices unannounced. I entered the elevator and pushed the top-floor button, and prepared myself for the long way up.

What had pushed me to visit in the middle of the day was still in question, but I had an idea. It might have had to do with the few hours of sex that interrupted the work we tried to do on Sunday. It had beenfunand I couldn't stop thinking about it. I wouldn't try to repeat the night at his office from the week before— though I wouldn't say no, if Gabe suggested it; a quickie in his office sounded wonderful— but I hadn't seen Gabe since the weekend. Only two days had passed, but since we didn't have much time left, priorities could be shifted for a short while. Coming to his office for a kiss in the middle of the day, one that didn't depend on having people around to excuse it, would be a great addition to the memories we were making.

The doors finally opened at my stop, and I stepped out of the elevator. I waved at Cynthia behind the reception desk and, with a grin on my face, I made my way in the general direction to Gabe's office.

"Hey!" I stopped at Solange's desk. As his assistant, we'd ended up chatting almost every time I visited. I offered her a cookie from the box I carried. "Is Gabe busy? He wasn't expecting me."

She took it but gave me a sad smile. "He is, sorry. He's in a meeting with São Paulo."

"Oh." I straightened and pushed my disappointment down. "Do you know if he'll be done soon?"

"He's scheduled to be done in half an hour, but then he has an internal meeting someone just booked in his calendar." She gave me an apologetic look. "He might come out of the office for a bit between calls, maybe? Or I can just give him a message?"

I stared at the box in my hands. Of course he was busy. Even if he made room for me most of the time, it didn't mean he would drop everything just because I showed up. He'd said no several times, and that wouldn't change just because we'd had a lovely weekend.

I sighed and gave Solange the box. "Just give him this the next time he gets a coffee. I'll text him later."

"For sure."

"Thank you, Solange. Take care."

I walked out of the place, my chest deflated. The whole way down the building, I bit back the self-recriminating voice in my head, telling me I'd messed up. There was nothing wrong with me visiting, just like Gabe couldn't help being busy when I showed up unannounced. This was the reality of our lives, for him to be even busier than I was. I had always known it, and shouldn't forget. I wouldn't let the impasse ruin the week.

Gabe: Solange told me you stopped by?

Lina: Yes. Sorry I didn't text ahead

Gabe: I was in meetings all day.

Did you want to talk about something?

Lina: No, just wanted to see you. I don't

know what I was thinking, of course

you were busy