Let Me Tease You: Steamy Older Man Younger Woman Romance (Let Me Love You Book 5)(6)

Do not lose your temper in the middle of this bank, Bianca. This man probably isn’t trying to be a smug little weasel.

“You won’t even consider me for a loan? I’ve had a checking account and a savings account with this bank since the day I turned eighteen. I’ve never even had a bounced check. I have over $10,000 in my savings. And you won’t even consider it?”

I wasn’t entirely sure the part about no bad checks was a hundred percent accurate, but I was for damn sure the man sitting across from me didn’t understand how much I needed this loan. If he would just give me a chance…

“It’s not that you have bad credit, per se, Miss Rios.” He spoke slowly, as if he was explaining the most basic thing to a child. It really made me want to pick up the pair of scissors in the little organizer caddy on his desk and cut off his… tie. “It’s that you don’t have any credit. I’m sure you can see why the bank would be reluctant to hand out loans to people without a record of paying off their debts.”

“That makes sense,” I lied. It didn’t make any sense to me why the bank wouldn’t take a chance on my dance studio. The jackass barely even thumbed through the business plan I’d spent weeks putting together. “But I think, if you’d just look at the numbers again, you’d see that what I’m proposing—”

“I’m sorry, Miss Rios,” he interrupted, not looking or sounding very sorry at all. “We’re not going to be able to give you a loan at this time. Is there anything else I can help you with today?”

He stood up and gestured toward the door, making it perfectly clear that he didn’t intend on helping me with anything else, either.

It was really more than I could take.

“No, thank you,” I smiled as sweetly as I could as I stood up. “You haven’t been able to help me at all. When I have more time, I’ll be closing my accounts here and taking my business elsewhere.”

Without waiting for a reply, I turned on my heel and walked out of his office with my head held high. I was dying inside and frighteningly close to tears, but I wasn’t going to let him think I was discouraged. And I damn sure wasn’t going to let him see me cry.

I would definitely be crying at some point, though, and soon. If I didn’t get a loan to open my studio, there would be no studio. It would take years — decades, maybe — to save the amount of money I needed – about $50,000 - on my own. That wasn’t going to work. I wasn’t going to accept that my dream was over just like that.

But I didn’t know what else to do, either.

To add insult to injury, this bank branch was right across the street from my current studio, so if I followed through with my threat to close my accounts, it would only end up inconveniencing myself. Mr. Ugly Tie sure wasn’t likely to notice. Or care.

I quickly dabbed at the corners of my eyes before the tears could really start. The last thing I needed was my makeup ruined in the middle of the day. Maybe I could at least go to a different bank later.

At least my favorite food truck was in the parking lot. It was always a special treat when they showed up outside the studio. On any other day, I would’ve taken it as a sign that the universe was moving in my favor. Today, it could only be a consolation prize.

Even the best Ropa Vieja this side of Havana wasn’t likely to make me feel better, though. Well, maybe a little better.

The line moved fast enough, and I even managed to spend the next five minutes until my food was ready without crying about my lack of a loan. It was the kind of day to take whatever small measure of success I could get, and for the moment, not crying in public was at the top of the list.

I took my order and made a beeline for the nearest seating—a row of picnic tables a few yards away at the edge of the parking lot, set up to accommodate the patrons of food trucks like this one.

“Bianca?”

I froze as I heard my name, trying to place the voice before I turned around. It sounded familiar, but… who? It definitely wasn’t Luis. Wasn’t Desmond. Nobody from my class…

“Bianca,” the voice called out again, not giving me any more time to go through my mental list of men who might or might not be in the area at that time of day.

I turned and nearly dropped my food, a huge smile spreading across my lips despite the shitty afternoon I’d had.

“Hey Miguel. What are you doing here?”

“I love this place.” He gestured toward the truck behind us. “When I get the craving for something amazing, I find them.”

“They are pretty amazing. I was just heading over to sit and eat, if you want to join me.”

A flash of surprise crossed his face, but he recovered quickly. “Yeah, that would be great. I’ll be right over.”

He walked back over to the line and I continued over to the table. I wasn’t sure what had inspired me to invite him to eat. I definitely hadn’t planned on sharing my misery with anyone, but it had been such a surprise to see him that I’d momentarily forgotten about everything else.

Plus, I wanted to spend a little time with him. Normally, I’d wait for a man to invite me out to lunch, but this was different. First of all, it wasn’t a date. And second… who had time for that bullshit? If I wanted to spend time with Miguel, I didn’t need to sit around waiting for him to ask. I might be having a rough day, but I still had control of some things in my life.