Justin valet-parked his car and walked into the lobby of the Ritz on South Beach. The view from the restaurant here was breathtaking and easily one of the best in this area. He glanced at his watch. He was a few minutes early and as he scanned the lobby he didn’t see Selena.
He walked to the lobby bar and found seating for two in a relatively quiet area. He knew that he had to get to know Selena better for business reasons. He had to know how she thought so he could make sure he made the right offer—one she’d accept so that he could get the market back on track. He hadn’t gotten the Luna Azul Company to where it was today by not knowing how to read people.
But he wasn’t going to deny that he wanted Selena. There had been a moment in the conference room this afternoon when he’d wished they were alone so he could pull her into his arms and see if he could crack her reserve with passion. “Justin?”
He glanced over his shoulder and felt like he’d been sucker punched. The prim, reserved woman he’d flirted with was gone and in her place was a bombshell. Maybe it was just her thick ebony hair hanging in waves around her shoulders, or the red lipstick that drew his eyes to her full mouth. But his gut insisted that it was the curve-hugging black dress she wore that ended midthigh. He skimmed his gaze down to her dainty-looking ankles and those high-heeled strappy sandals that made him almost groan out loud.
“Selena,” he said, but his voice sounded husky and almost choked to him.
She arched one eyebrow and smiled. “Happy to see
me?”
“That is an understatement. Let me get us a drink. What’s your poison?”
“Mojito, I think. I need something to cool me down.”
He signaled the cocktail waitress and placed their drink order before diving right in. “Tell me about yourself, Selena. Why are you living in New York when your family is still here?”
“No small talk?” she asked, turning her attention away from him and skimming the room.
“Why bother with that?” he asked. “We both want to know as much about each other as we can, right?”
“Definitely. I just didn’t plan on going first,” she said with a smile as she turned back to face him again.
Every time she talked he tried to concentrate on her words but he couldn’t take his eyes from her lips. He wanted to know how they would feel under his own. What kind of kisser would she be? Would she taste as good as he imagined?
“I’m a gentleman,” he said. And he didn’t want to show her any weakness.
“So it’s ladies first?” she asked.
“In all things, especially pleasure,” he said.
She blushed as their waitress arrived with the drinks. She started to take a sip but he stopped her.
“A toast to new relationships.”
“And a quick resolution to our business problems,” she said.
He clinked his glass to hers and watched as she took a swallow of her cocktail. When she took the glass from her mouth she licked her lips and he felt his blood begin to flow a little heavier in his veins as his groin stirred.
He wanted her.
That wasn’t news. But sitting here with her in the bar was starting to seem like a really dumb idea. He needed all his wits about him because it was apparent that Selena was playing with her A-game and he needed to as well.
“You were going to tell me all your secrets,” he said.
She laughed. “I was going to tell you the official version of my life.”
“I’ll take whatever you offer,” he said.
“I bet you will. Okay, where to start?”
“The beginning,” he suggested, shifting his legs to make room in his pants for his growing erection.
“Birth?”
“Nah, skip to college. I did a little internet research on you and saw that you graduated from the University of Miami. What made you choose to go to Fordham Law School instead of choosing something closer to home?” he asked.
“I needed a change of scene. I was pretty sure that I wanted to practice corporate law and I had done an internship for one summer with the firm that I work for now. So it made sense to go there.”
“That’s about the same time your grandparents sold the marketplace and switched over to being renters in the space. Did they do that to pay for your education?” he asked.
Her face got very tight and she shook her head. “I had a scholarship.”
“I did a deed search to see who had owned the property before the previous owner and it was your grandfather. I can’t understand why he sold,” Justin continued. He really wanted to know why ten years ago, Tomas had made the decision to sell the marketplace property and become a rental tenant instead. That made no sense to Justin as a businessman. But it also made no sense based on what he knew of Tomas. Tomas liked being his own boss.
“What about you? Harvard law graduates can usually write their own ticket to any law firm but you came back home and worked with your brothers instead, why?”
Justin stretched back and looked at her for a minute. That was complicated. He couldn’t tell her that coming back was the hardest decision he’d ever made because even his brothers didn’t know that.
“They needed me,” he said. It was close to the truth. He didn’t hold with outright lies.
He took another sip of his drink and then leaned forward. “Why are you here now?”
“My grandfather said you were too slick and he couldn’t trust you.”
“That’s hardly true. Tomas is very shrewd. And don’t change the subject. Why did he sell the marketplace if not for your education?”
She flushed and her hand trembled for a minute and then she took a sip of her drink.
He waited for her to answer but she didn’t say anything.
“Selena?”
“That is a private matter and I won’t discuss it with you.”
Selena was surprised that he’d dug back on the deed. But she shouldn’t have been. She may have momentarily distracted Justin with her clothing and changed appearance but he’d adjusted quickly by pulling the rug out from under her with that question.
“Okay. I can respect that. I was just thinking that if they hadn’t sold the property perhaps it wouldn’t be so derelict now,” Justin said.
He was right. Selling that property had been a mistake and that was why she was here. To right the wrong she’d caused when she’d allowed herself to get suckered by a smooth-talking con man ten years ago.
She’d never
