Love Contract (The Match Broker) (12 page)

Chapter 18

S
cheduled to meet Justin after work for drinks, Adrian was in a pensive mood as he stepped into HUB 51, a trendy hot spot in Chicago’s River North neighborhood. It didn’t take long for him to spot his friend. He strode over and sat down.

“Hey,” he said.

“What’s up?” Justin replied.

The waitress descended not even a minute later to ask him for his drink order. Adrian ordered a beer.

“Wait,” he said as she turned to leave. “I already know what I want so we’ll just order now.”

They placed their dinner selections and handed the menus over.

“So how did the closing go?” Justin inquired after their server had left.

“Great.”

“If that’s the case, why do you look like you just had another run-in with Tony Ludlow?”

Adrian’s lip curled in distaste. He paused before he answered. “Was it really necessary to bring up that guy’s name?”

“I’m just saying, I usually only see that look when you’ve crossed swords with your arch nemesis.”

“This is not about Ludlow,” Adrian replied. “Granted, I did run into him at a business luncheon a week ago, but this is about Milán. I asked her to sleep with me.”

Justin choked on his beer. “What?”

“You heard me.”

“Dude, start from the beginning.”

Adrian filled Justin in on his conversation with Milán, and their subsequent agreement to a date. While he listened, the smile on his face grew wider by the minute.

“You can’t be serious.”

“Extremely.”

“You know you’re my boy, but I have to admit. As far as the roadblocks you mentioned, I can see where she’s coming from.”

Adrian’s expression darkened. “Thanks for having my back.”

“I’m just saying, considering your lack of lasting relationships, it’s not unrealistic to think she might be wondering what happens after that magic moment.”

“I wish you’d stop watching therapy shows,” Adrian quipped. “Either that or tell Sabrina to keep her opinions to herself.”

Justin smirked. “You have to admit this is outta left field. Why now? I know you two are close, but you haven’t said anything before about getting in to her—”

“Here we are.” Their server reappeared with their food and Adrian’s beer. They watched in silence as the woman set the plates down and told them to enjoy their meal. Conversation was momentarily forgotten as each attacked their dinner with gusto.

“To answer your question,” Adrian said finally, between bites of his pulled chicken nacho appetizers. “I don’t know. I just know I’m attracted to her, and what I’m feeling is a lot more than just friendly toward Milán. I’ll admit I’ve denied it for some time, but it all came to a head at my house after the party.”

Taking a bite of his green chili cheeseburger, Justin asked, “So what’s next?”

“I haven’t a clue. Besides, it’s a bit early to start analyzing it to death.”

“This is Milán we’re talking about,” Justin pointed out. “She’s all about plans.”

“Tell me about it,” he muttered. Slicing his filet mignon, Adrian took a hefty bite. “Still, I want her to admit that she feels it, too.”

“So you hatch some bizarre plot to win her over with one date? You really think that’s going to work?”

Adrian grinned. “I’m very persuasive when I want to be.”

“Don’t we know it,” Justin said wryly.

“Look, all I know is this status quo thing isn’t working for me anymore. I need some time to convince Milán to at least give it...us a try.”

“Maybe that’s the problem. She could be worried it’s business as usual for you.”

Adrian dismissed that notion. “That’s ridiculous. I didn’t just meet her, and this isn’t one of my mother’s blind dates.”

“I don’t know... You’ve had quite a few one-nighters without Norma Jean’s interference.”

“Milán works for me, Justin. Do you really think I would have gratuitous sex with an employee?”

Justin put his burger down and stared at Adrian pointedly.

“Quit being an ass,” Adrian griped, and then took another bite of his food.

Justin’s laughter boomed above the din in the restaurant. “True, but you two work together. What happens if it doesn’t work out? Then it’s just awkward. Speaking of which, how are things with Norma Jean?”

“Quiet—and that scares me.”

“It should,” Justin agreed. “It’s like the calm before a storm. It feels like any second she’s going to do something
usual
.”

“Justin, nothing my mother does could ever be considered
usual
. I was over for dinner the other night and she didn’t grill me on my love life like she usually does—not once.”

“Hmm. Maybe she’s turning over a new leaf?”

“Well, whatever it is, I kind of like the new and improved Norma Jean.”

“Still, it may not be wise to let your guard down,” his friend warned. “The old one could be lurking around the corner. Have you told her about you and Milán?”

Adrian sat back in his chair. “No, and that’s the way I’m going to keep it. No sense getting her in the middle of something that might not pan out the way I want.”

Justin nodded. “That would just give her a license to jump in there and try to help you out. The Love Broker to the rescue,” he laughed.

“Trust me, the less my mother knows about all this the better. In the meantime, I need to stay focused. Our date is this Friday.”

“Friday? You’re going to drag this out all week?”

“Yes,” Adrian replied. “That’s the plan. Maybe by then she’ll be comfortable with the idea of us adding a physical component to the mix.”

“Uh, good luck with that,” Justin smiled as he signaled their waitress over.

“She wants me, I know it.”

Justin rolled his eyes. “Of course she does. How could she not?”

A devilish expression lit up Adrian’s face.

“Wait a minute,” his friend said. “I know that look. What are you planning?”

Adrian crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m going to prove to Milán that we’d be good together.”

“And just how do you propose to do that?”

A wide grin formed. “Easy. I’m going to turn up the heat.”

Justin stifled a laugh. “Heaven help her.”

* * *

“You did what?
¿Lo está loco!?
”

“Do you have to yell?” Milán complained.

Her sister laughed into the phone. “Yes, I do. You have lost your mind to agree to this madness, Lani.”

“Nyah, it’s just a date. I called you for an unbiased opinion, remember?”

“I’m your sister. Exactly how unbiased do you think I’m going to be? You say it’s just a date, but then you admit that you want him.
Mami
is going to have a lot to say about this,” her sister warned.

“
Sólo si le dices a ella, lo que le es mejor que no
.”

“
Oh, yo voy a decirle, estás jugando con el desastre
. What happens if you decide to date him and things don’t work out?”

Milán ran a hand through her hair in exasperation. “You don’t think I’ve thought of that? We work together. I know it would be all kinds of weird if it went pear-shaped.”

“How long have you been pondering sleeping with him? I thought you said he has commitment issues?”

“He does...did...”

“Which is it?”

“I don’t know... Maybe all the indecisiveness was just for Jeanie’s benefit. He’s always been the perfect gentleman with me. Well, after we got to know each other.
Antes de eso—
”

“
El era detestable
,” her sister supplied.

“Kind of. Besides, Adrian’s only gone out on a few dates since I started working at Anderson, and none of them lasted very long.”

“
Es evidente que una indicación de problemas de compromiso,
” Nyah pointed out.

“
¿No lo hago?
I haven’t exactly had many follow-ups since Eduardo and I broke up.
¿Qué dice eso sobre mí?
”

“It says that you’re being cautious—and rightly so. It also says that you haven’t found the right man yet...
¿a menos que usted piensa que tiene?
”

Milán leaned back on her couch and tucked her legs under her. Her thoughts drifted to Adrian and the first and only kiss they had shared. It was explosive. There was no other way to explain it. Her stomach had felt like she was on a roller coaster when he’d pulled her into his arms and practically branded her with his mouth. Her body tightened further south just imagining what could’ve happened if he hadn’t put a stop to it.
You know what would’ve happened,
her conscience piped in.
You would have melted like a box of chocolates under a heat lamp.
What would have transpired afterward made Milán cross-eyed with desire.
Heaven help me.

“
¿Hola?
Milán?
¿Estás tu escuchando?
” Nyah practically shouted into the phone.

“Hmm?
Lo siento, estoy aquí
.”

“I’m sure I don’t need to ask what you were thinking about.”

“No, you don’t. I can’t help how I’m feeling, Nyah. Granted it’s just a date, but I can’t deny I might want something more.”

“Milán—”

“
Tengo que ir.
I’ve got an early day tomorrow and I really need to get to bed.”

“
¿Si usted lo dice, pero piensa en esto,
Lani? Once you cross that bridge, there’s no turning back,” her sister warned.

“Lo sé. Buenos noches.”

Milán hung up the phone and placed it on the coffee table. She lay there pondering what to do about the sudden predicament she found herself in. How did it get to this point so fast? One minute all was well, and they were enjoying each other as the best of friends. The next, everything gets blown sky-high with one kiss. Now she couldn’t stop thinking about it—
or him
. Milán’s gaze returned to her phone. She toyed with the idea of calling her baby sister, Elena. No. She wouldn’t disturb her at this hour. Out of the three of them, she and Nyah were the more cautious. Elena flew by the seat of her pants in everything she did. If Milán asked for her advice, she would tell Milán to stop being a nun and drop the panties. She smiled because she could almost hear Elena’s voice saying that exact thing.

“I’ve beat this horse dead for one night,” she said aloud. Getting up, Milán went to take a shower. Unfortunately, the whole time she was in there, her thoughts centered on nothing else but the date she’d made with Adrian. Why in the world had she told him she just wanted to be friends?

“
Porque eres un cobarde
,” she murmured. Milán closed her eyes and tried to concentrate on anything and everything other than how she had felt in Adrian’s arms. That good intention left the moment she rubbed the soap against her wet arm. From that moment on, lust took over. A lucid image of Adrian’s hand moving down her wet skin manifested in her mind. It was enough for her body to react as though the image was real.

“How am I going to survive the next few days like this?” she choked out. Her body was pulled as taut as a violin string. With a loud sigh, Milán got out of the shower, grabbed a towel and began to dry off.
This is getting you nowhere. You work with him, remember? He’s one of your best friends. You will not allow the possibility of sex to come between you and ruin this. Granted, it could be mind-blowing sex, but it doesn’t matter.
“It’s better this way,” she said with conviction. Milán folded the towel and draped it back on the towel rack. She flicked the light off and padded into her bedroom.

She retrieved a pair of yellow boy shorts with a matching camisole from her pajama drawer, slipped them on and crawled into bed. Friday night loomed overhead like a blaring neon banner placed alongside an interstate. If she didn’t get herself together, Milán feared she’d hop out of her clothes and beg him to take her the moment he walked through the door.

“
No puedo lo evitarlo
.” The words drifted out of her mouth like the soft flutter of a sigh. She rolled onto her back and admitted what she could no longer deny. “
Yo lo quiero
.”

Chapter 19

W
hen Adrian walked through the door of his office Monday morning, he had one thing in mind: to drive Milán crazy. Unfortunately, his goal didn’t go according to plan. He suffered one interruption after another, and by the time he got a chance to take a breather, it was after lunch and Milán had gone to see a client.
Great,
he griped to himself. How was he supposed to make her hot and bothered when she was nowhere to be found?

Since he had nothing scheduled that afternoon, Adrian decided to work the rest of the day from home. On the way out, he updated the board in the reception area listing everyone’s schedule and left.

* * *

Milán moved a coffee table out of the way with a slight push. After she’d moved its counterpart, she took a step back and surveyed her handiwork. Staging rooms was one of the aspects of her job that she adored. Turning clients’ personal spaces from pandemonium into crisp clean lines that made sense and fit their lifestyles, made her greet each day as one full of infinite possibilities. It also took her mind off her pending date with Adrian.

Her day was booked solid so she had yet to see him. If she were honest with herself, she’d admit to being torn about that fact. Part of her was trying to avoid him—and temptation. The other part truly missed seeing him.

“
¿Qué voy a hacer?
”

“Pardon me?”

Startled, Milán realized she’d spoken aloud and her client looked worried.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I was just talking to myself. I’ve so many fantastic ideas for this space I don’t know where to start first.” She smiled reassuringly.

The woman openly sighed with relief. After that last goof, all thoughts of Adrian were placed on hold and Milán got her head back in the game.

* * *

It was ten o’clock that evening by the time she finally made it home. Flinging off her shoes, Milán made a beeline for the bathroom. The next stop was the kitchen to grab the first thing she saw, a container of key lime pie yogurt. She got a spoon and bowl out of nearby cabinets and emptied the contents into the bowl. Next she pulled out a box of Cheerios. She dumped a mound of them on top of her yogurt and turned. “Dinner is served,” she said before eating a spoonful.

Once she’d eaten, Milán put her dirty dish into the dishwasher. Dropping her discarded shoes off in the closet, she stripped and went to take a much-needed shower.

Later on the return trip to her bedroom, Milán heard her cell phone ringing. She ran into the bedroom to answer it. “Hello?” she said breathlessly.

“I’m not there, so what other reasons could you have to sound so breathless?”

Milán couldn’t help the start of a huge grin. “You are so full of yourself.”

“I’d much rather be full of you. In my arms, hands, my—”

Milán blushed instantly. Her breath momentarily suspended. “
Para eso
,” she finally managed to croak.

“
¿Detener lo que?
”

“You know you shouldn’t say things like that.”

“
¿Por qué, te gusta?
”

Heck, yes, I like them.
She sat down on her bed. “To be honest, I don’t know how to take them, Adrian.”

“
Que haces
,” he said confidently.

“Is there another reason—other than you’re trying to torture me—that you called?”

“That depends. Is it working?”

“
¿Qué pasa si me dijo que no?
” she shot back.

“I wouldn’t believe you.”

She was glad he couldn’t see her smiling.

“So how was your day?” he inquired.

“Exhausting and completely satisfying at the same time.” She sighed.

“I’ll bet. Mine did not go according to plan, but I’m making up for it now.”

Adrian filled Milán in on his day and bizarre run-in with a lady at the dry cleaners.

“You do seem to be a woman magnet, don’t you?”

“There’s only one I’m interested in attracting.”

“For now,” Milán scoffed. “You’ll get bored of the chase soon and move on to another conquest.”

“Is that what you think this is? Me filling the time between conquests?”

“¿Se puede culparme? Tu no tienen exactamente el mejor récord de la pista, sabes.
”

To Milán’s surprise, Adrian laughed. “That may be true, but I always know what I want. You should know that better than anyone.”

Something in the tone of his voice gave her goose bumps. “Adrian, you expect me to believe that I know you better than anyone?”

“
Sí, que haces
.”

Those three words spoken with so much conviction warmed her heart.

“Milán, you should know by now that there is nothing commonplace about what we have. My track record may not be stellar by way of relationships, but that’s because I’ve preferred it that way—up until I discovered that you weren’t another setup and that I actually liked you.”

There had been a question burning a hole in the pit of her stomach. Since they were baring souls, now seemed the perfect time to ask it. “When did you realize you wanted us to be...more than friends?”

“That’s easy. The night you rearranged my kitchen because you were jealous.”

Milán opened her mouth to protest, but she couldn’t. He was dead right and there was no denying the motive behind his kitchen makeover. She
was
jealous.

“Nobody has ever done that for me before. I knew then that you cared—a lot.”

Before Milán could reply her call-waiting beeped. She glanced down at the number. “
Es mi hermana
.”

“
Siguir adelante. Nos vemos en la oficina mañana
.”

“Okay.” Milán hung up and switched over to her sister. “Hey, sis, how are you?”

“I’ll be just fine when you tell me what’s going on with your new friend with benefits, Adrian.”

Nyah.
Milán groaned inwardly. Nyah had filled Elena in on everything.

“What’s this I hear about you deciding to sleep with him on Friday? I hope you plan on buying new lingerie.”

“No,
no estoy comprando ropa interior nueva.
Es a...la cena, no el sexo
.
Estamos a sólo platónica amigas,
Elena.
Nada más
.”

“Uh-huh. That’s the answer you’d give
Mami
if she were on the phone, but she’s not, and I know better than that.
He visto una foto del
Señor
Deliciouso.
El está muy caliente,
Lani. If you aren’t giving up the cookies to him, you damn well should be.”

Milán couldn’t contain the grin that ricocheted across her face. She wasn’t going to inquire where her sister got a picture of Adrian, but Elena was right. It was getting harder to keep him at arm’s length. Her granite facade was cracking, and soon it would snap completely in two. “
Tienes razón,
Elena,” she finally admitted aloud. “I am tempting fate by going, but I don’t care. It’s high time I played with a little fire and see if it burns.”