Page 26 of Forget Me

“Aren’t you?” he said softly. “Or is something else the matter?”

That soft tone in his voice, so inviting, so unassuming, made me want to tell him all my problems. About how exhausted I was from balancing a full-time job with volunteer work. How hard I tried to please Larissa while getting so little in return. Why did he have to be so…sonice?

“What’s this?” I hadn’t noticed Larissa come up behind Mateo.

Crap. Now Larissa would have to meet Mateo and see how awkward he was. She’d probably ban him from all future foundation events, especially the gala. I had to get him out of there. I laid a hand on his chest and pushed. But I was like a mosquito trying to move a mammoth.

“Lover’s quarrel.” Natalie crossed her arms over her chest as she leaned against the conference room doorway.

“What?” I whipped my head around to look at her. What had she heard?

“Hi, Mimi’s hunky boyfriend.” She smirked.

“He’s not—”

“I’m Natalie Jones.” Ignoring my protest, she stuck out her hand.

Mateo set down one of the bags and clasped her hand. “Mateo Rivera.” He turned to Larissa and shook her hand. “And you must be the Larissa I’ve heard so much about.”

Larissa’s cheeks turned pink, and she seemed to wilt. And then she made a sound I’d never heard come out of her perfectly lined mouth. She tittered, her hand lingering in his. “Larissa Lane.”

What. The. Hell. I had to get this situation back under control. And that meant getting rid of Mateo. “Mateo was just leaving. I’ll see you later, Mateo.”

“What are you talking about?” Natalie put a hand on Mateo’s forearm, and for some reason, that made my back teeth crunch together. “He brought us dinner. I’m not letting anything that delicious walk out.”

Mateo tugged his hand out of Larissa’s grasp and turned back to Natalie, one corner of his mouth quirking up and an honest-to-God dimple denting his cheek.

“This deliciousness isn’t going anywhere,” he said.

Whoa. Even the second-hand sparkle was a lot.

Larissa squeezed around him into the conference room, and when she took the position of authority at the back of the room, her cool mask was back. Cocking a hip, she rested her hands on her hips in a power pose. She arched an eyebrow. “You’re with Miriam?”

I heard the disbelief in her tone, and for a second, I wanted to claim him, to show her that just because I preferred to fit into the background and do good work and be recognized for it, it didn’t mean I couldn’t attract a man. Though who was I kidding? Mateo was all kinds of wrong for me. I didn’t believe we’d work together. Larissa, who was both insightful and successful, would never buy it.

Just as I opened my mouth to sayno,Mateo said, “I am. We’re going to the gala together.”

Larissa cocked her head as if she didn’t quite buy it. But she said, “Good. I’m glad you were able to find someone, Miriam.”

Before I could getwe’re just friendsout of my mouth, Natalie spoke.

“And he brought food. What did you bring us, Mateo?”

“Empanadas from a great Colombian restaurant near here. I brought beef, chicken, potato, and cheese. No pork.” He shot a swift glance at me.

My stomach gave a hopeful gurgle. I’d have eaten treif if it smelled that good.

“What are we waiting for?” Natalie asked. “Let’s eat while we meet.”

This situation had gotten out of hand. And that made my teeth itch. I ground them together. We were supposed to be meeting about the gala budget. I had three pristine copies of it. A dinner meeting with Larissa and Mateo was eighty-five percent sure to be a disaster. But there was nothing to be done as Mateo set the bags on the credenza and started pulling out cartons of food.

Natalie oohed and aahed at each selection. Even Larissa peered into the aluminum trays. Mateo made them each a plate of food to their specifications. The delicious aroma filled the conference room, and I swallowed.

Natalie and Larissa sat down with their food, and before I figured out how to wrangle the meeting back under control, Mateo presented me a plate. “Sit down,” he said. “Eat. And then talk.”

I sat in my customary spot on Larissa’s left. Mateo placed bottles of water in front of each of us, then ensured we had a packet of cutlery and a napkin.

“I’ll leave you ladies to it,” he said.

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