Page 15 of Lavish Love: A Second Chance Romance

“That’s your decision. You’re accepting his proposal…” Hunter says.

"…and the mentorship," Ryann says.

"But, you're keeping your legs closed.” Charlee sings. “How do you plan to do that? You’ll be on his turf. Mistletoe and snow. Wining and dining. Girl, you better get ready.”

Get ready? How? Someone, please tell me how I can resist the man who has me lip-locking within seconds. Perfectly disproportioned lips. The man with a quiet strength I wish I could climb inside and hide, even if for only a moment.

I felt him watching me while I cooked. His eyes assessing me. My body trembling under his overt scrutiny.

I doubt I'll marry. Watching my mother marry her father's older best friend knowing she still loved my father sucked every possible romantic gene from my body. And somewhere down the road, her unhappiness became a direct target on my back, once again leaving me to fend for myself.

My love for Mateo never turned ugly or demanding. Our love lives on in my mind, and it's pretty close to perfect. My greatest fear is that this fake engagement will trade my happiest memories for ones that resemble the men I've known in my life.

Men like my father, who left and never returned. Like my grandfather, who uses his money and power to throw his weight around.

I’d rather die than to lump Mateo with the likes of them, so a part of me would rather hold on to the fantasy than risk it. That’s why I can’t give him my body. I won’t deprive myself of his kisses. But making love to him will muddy our obviously complicated situation.

I roll my shoulders back, suppressing my groan. How did I get myself into this situation? My guys.

They work together to straighten the tables. I'll risk entangling myself with Mateo to take our business dreams to the next level and because I want us to succeed. For every million I make on my own, I show my grandfather and my mother that I don't need them or their money.

After an emotional evening, we decide to head out to the courtyard and order more than fries from one of the food trucks. I follow the gang pulling out my phone.

I send Mateo a quick text, I accept.

Chapter 6

“I’m impressed.” Alexandria cuddles beneath a quilt.

I wag my head, rubbing my eyes. The soothing hum of the engine has me fighting to stay awake. Her late-night text set the wheels of this Christmas celebration in motion. The moment I mentioned the engagement and Alexandria's name, my mother magically forgot about her fear of flying. Now, Alexandria and I are flying to New York, and my family is flying in tomorrow. And Susan is demanding a raise for coordinating it all.

"Would you like a drink, something to eat, a kiss?" My head drops to the seat, and I glance over at Alexandria.

“No, but I’d like to know what I’m walking into.”

I shrug. “We have an engagement party slash Christmas party to attend this evening for Jerrick and his fiancé, Susan, who is also my executive assistant.”

“Jerrick lives in New York too?”

“Yep, he moved with me and stayed. He’s president of a software development company. I’m trying to woo him back to my team, but he refuses.”

“Keep business business and personal personal.” She does an excellent impression of Jerrick’s motto.

"Exactly." My eyelids flutter under the weight of exhaustion. "Tomorrow, we'll have a large family dinner and a traditional installing of a Nacimiento."

“Nacimiento? What’s that?”

“You would consider it the nativity scene. It’s the center of our Christmas celebration.” I cover a yawn. “Since I only got them to agree to visit for one week, we’ll adhere to the regular Christmas dates. The kids open their gifts on Christmas Eve, and we’ll have a huge Dominican party all night. The adults will wear ugly sweaters and exchange white elephant gifts. You’ll have a blast.”

“How many people are you expecting?”

“Close to fifty, maybe a few more.”

“Fifty! I thought you said it’s a family party.”

"It is, but family includes everyone. Did you pack an ugly sweater?"

“No, I brought party clothes. You didn’t tell me.”

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