Sherelle Green - A Miami Affair

“Sure, I’m available for lunch.”

“Great, I’m parked right outside. If it’s okay with you, I’ll drive us to the restaurant and drop you back off after.”

“That’s fine.” She briefly waved at Leanna and Stacy as she followed Josh outside. The minute she stepped out onto the sidewalk, she froze.

“Oh my God,” she said, walking toward the gorgeous vehicle parked in front of her office. “Does this breathtaking beauty belong to you?”

“Um, yes,” Josh said with a laugh. “This is one of my vehicles.”

One of? Becca had a few guilty pleasures, and luxury cars had to be in her top five. “May I?” she asked, itching to run her fingers across the smooth steel.

“Sure.” Josh didn’t look phased by her request, which only increased her boldness. She felt like her hand moved in slow motion as she touched the exterior of the car.

“I take it you like luxury vehicles?” Josh asked. “It’s a—”

“French blue Bugatti Chiron. It goes as fast as two hundred and sixty miles per hour and is one of the most powerful luxury vehicles in the world.” Becca hadn’t meant to cut him off, but she was salivating over the car. She walked around the entire Bugatti and admired the detail.

“I wish the vehicle was see-through,” Becca said, more to herself than Josh. “If it was, I imagine I’d see a sixteen-cylinder engine with double-powered turbochargers and a frame so sexy it would make me want to cry happy tears and thank the inventors for creating such a beautiful piece of art.”

After a few more minutes admiring the vehicle, Becca finally looked at Josh. He was standing on the sidewalk with his arms crossed over his chest and a smirk on his face.

“Sorry,” she said. “I guess you can say I have a bit of a car fetish.”

“There’s no need to apologize.” He walked over and opened the door for her. “If I was the type of man to get jealous, I’d have stopped you from admiring my car minutes ago. Instead, you just made me more curious about how you developed your love of cars.”

Becca smiled as she got into the car, and Josh followed. Neither of them spoke for the first couple minutes of the drive.

“So are you going to make me beg?”

Becca turned to Josh. “Make you beg for what?”

“Are you going to tell me how you know so much about cars, or are you going to make me beg for the details?”

Becca’s laughter echoed throughout the car. “Something tells me that a man like you has never had to beg for anything a day in his life.”

As the car stopped at a light, Josh met her eyes. “Something tells me that you’re the type of woman who would make me beg.” His look was intense and one that she hadn’t yet seen. “And something tells me that I wouldn’t mind begging.”

Is he flirting with me? There’s no way Joshua DeLong is flirting with me. Yet the minute his lips curled into a side smile, she disregarded her previous thought. For whatever reason, he was flirting with her, and for an even more insane reason, she was liking it.

* * *

“Is French okay with you?” Josh asked as they were taken to one of the best seats in the upscale restaurant. Even in the daytime, the dim lighting in the restaurant provided an intimate ambiance.

“French is fine, but I wasn’t aware that this was going to be such an extravagant lunch.”

Josh glanced around. “This restaurant has the best French food in Miami. The head chef just won another prestigious award.”

“I’ve heard great things about this place,” Becca said as she opened her menu.

“I meant to tell you,” Josh said, opening his menu, as well. “You look really nice today.”

“Thank you,” she said with a smile. He noticed that her black-rimmed glasses seemed smaller than the ones he’d seen her wear in her online picture. He actually liked these glasses a lot. They fit her.

He couldn’t quite place what was different about her today, but she looked less restricted than he’d seen her look before. He’d meant to comment on it when they were leaving her office, but her enthusiasm over his car had caused him to forget.

If he hadn’t needed to discuss the paperwork, he would have been content with watching her admire his Bugatti all day. The excitement he’d seen on her face was enough to keep him entertained for hours. He still wanted to see just how deep her knowledge of cars went, but she’d grown quiet in the car after he’d asked her, so he would wait to bring it up again.

After they placed their order, he took out the paperwork. “Here’s the agreement with your suggestions incorporated in the document.”

Becca accepted the packet of information and began scrolling through the pages. “Everything looks good.” She took out the single sheet of paper. “What’s this?”

Josh took out the same sheet from the paperwork sitting in front of him. “Since you and I weren’t seeing eye to eye on the gala being widely publicized, I composed a list of celebrities that are not only heavily involved in charity work, but that truly believe in the mission of the organizations they support.”

Josh waited patiently as Becca read through the details. She lifted her head from the sheet when she was finished. “This is pretty impressive.”

“I’m glad you think so.” Josh hadn’t known how much he wanted her approval until he’d received it. “I was also thinking that—with your approval—we could reach out to a couple friends I have in the media to get some good publicity for The Aunt Penny Foundation before the gala. When I researched the foundation, it looked like you haven’t had any media coverage in at least a year. It would be great practice and help spread the word about all the good you and Haley do.”

Josh wasn’t sure if Becca really grasped how much he wanted to help The Aunt Penny Foundation in any way he could, but he hoped she had a better idea today than she had before.

“So what do you think?” he asked since he couldn’t read her expression. This woman probably excels at poker.

“I must say that after our first meeting, I wasn’t quite sure that you even knew the definition of ‘treading lightly’ when it came to the media. But after reading everything you’ve presented in this paperwork, I’m confident that your ideas are what’s best for the foundation right now.”

Josh did a mental fist pump. “I’m happy to hear that. I only see brightness in the future of The Aunt Penny Foundation.”

They put the paperwork aside just as their food arrived. As usual, lunch was fantastic, and judging by the appreciative sounds coming from Becca, she was enjoying the food just as much as he was.

“Are you really going to make me beg?” Josh asked between bites.

“Are we back on my car fetish?”

“Can you blame me for asking again? It’s not every day that someone knows almost as much about my car as I do.”

“That’s because the Bugatti Chiron is not just any car.” Becca took a sip of water. “Any luxury vehicle enthusiast should be able to name one in the top ten just based off a five-second glance.”

“Only five seconds? What about a solid twenty?”

“Nope,” Becca said, shaking her head. “Would your mother have to stare at you for twenty seconds before identifying you as her child?”

Josh contemplated his answer. “My mother wouldn’t need twenty seconds, but some circumstances may be different.”

“People who love luxury vehicles love them as if they were their children. They shouldn’t need twenty seconds to identify their child.”

Josh took another bite of his food before continuing. “It’s not always black-and-white. For example, what if a child was kidnapped at birth, but reunited with their family as a teenager? The parents would need more than twenty seconds to identify that child.”