Let Me Tease You: Steamy Older Man Younger Woman Romance (Let Me Love You Book 5)(8)

“What’s up, big brother? Make it quick, I’m almost at Mom’s house now.”

“That’s what I was calling about, actually. Can you tell Mama I might be a little late for dinner this week?”

Maria sighed, and I braced for what I knew was coming.

“You were late last week, Miguel. You know how she gets when family dinner gets pushed back.”

I did know. And it’s why Maria and I were both unhappy about the prospect of it happening a second week in a row. Our mother liked to have us over once a week, to spend at least a couple of hours together as a family. It was a tradition that we all enjoyed, but our mother’s rigid, military-like scheduling could sometimes be problematic.

Like now, for instance.

“Something came up and I’ve got some calls to make. I might be able to get there on time, but I’m just giving you a heads-up.”

“You know what would make Mama feel better about you being late?”

“What? Flowers? Candy? Should I bring dessert?”

“You should bring a date, Miguel. Rona told me how you couldn’t take your eyes off Bianca the other night. Maybe you should call her. I could probably get her number if—”

“She is the reason I’m running late, as a matter of fact.”

I frowned. I hadn’t meant to say anything about my deal with Bianca to anyone, especially not my sister. I’d just wanted to get her off my back about the dating thing. Unfortunately, it was probably going to be counter-productive, since now she’d want even more details.

“Oh? Are you bringing her? What’s going on? You should bring her over, Miguel.” The excitement in her voice was all too palpable.

“Calm down. It’s not like that. Just business. But I’m making some calls on her behalf, and it’s probably going to take me a while.”

Maria sighed again, and again, I knew what she was thinking, even before she said it.

“Oh, Miguel. You should be careful with your heart, you know.”

I rolled my eyes. This wasn’t the conversation I’d planned on having. It wasn’t the conversation I was going to have. My day had been going really, really well up until that point, and I wasn’t going to ruin it by discussing my love life. Or my lack of a love life.

“Yeah,” I said, not so much agreeing with her as just looking for an excuse to get off the phone. “Look, I’ve gotta go. I’ll call you when I’m on my way.”

I hung up the phone as quickly as I could, not ready to spend any more time or energy debating what I should or shouldn’t do with Bianca.

Not that I would mind going out with her, of course. She was beautiful, athletic, intelligent, and sensual. And it was sort of comforting to know that Maria apparently thought we’d be a good match. She’d never hesitated to be critical of the few women I’d dated in the past, so for her to actively try and set me up with Bianca spoke volumes. Her friend Rona must have spoken very highly of Bianca.

But it all came back to the fact that we had a business relationship now, and that’s what complicated things. Even if that wasn’t the case, though, what would she even see in me? I might not be the fat kid who would have fallen all over himself to do her homework in school anymore, but that fat kid was still very much alive inside of me. He’s still who I saw when I looked into the mirror, and even though maybe, just maybe other people saw the older, wiser, marginally-more-in-shape version, I wasn’t totally convinced.

I had to admit though, that for the few brief moments it happened, Bianca’s body had felt really good pressed up against mine. It was something I would definitely be able to get used to really easily, if given half a chance. And she was definitely nice and sweet, with a good head on her shoulders — someone I’d be proud to take home to my mom.

I could fantasize about it all day, though. That didn’t mean it was really like that between us. She and I had a business relationship, and that was all.

That was all it was ever going to be, no matter how much I might wish it could be different.





Bianca





It had been a week since I had seen Rona and Miguel backstage at my show, and it had taken every bit of my patience and self-control not to call her and pump her for information about Miguel. Especially after our impromptu meeting by the food truck.

But I didn’t want to seem desperate, or weird, so I waited — and waited — until our next yoga class together.

The day had finally come, and then I had to wait some more, while we went through the entire class. Every time we made eye contact, I wondered if she could tell what I was thinking. I wondered if she could see just how much I needed to know more about that man. And I wondered if she felt the same way about him.

For all I knew, the two of them might already have something going on. But… the way he had looked at me was definitely at odds with that idea. Although that didn’t mean that she wasn’t looking for something more.

So many questions, and if I was being honest, I wasn’t sure if I was ready to know all the answers.

When the class was finally over and everyone started filing out the door, I was half-tempted to just let it go, to keep my questions and my feelings in check, to not even bother asking Rona for anything.

But no. Fuck that. I’d drive myself crazy thinking about it and wondering what might have been.