This is Totally a Date

TINA

I was doing the last thing I thought I would ever do. I was having a casual discussion with Alejandro, who sat across the table. The billionaire himself was dressed in a casual white button-up shirt and jeans. The waitstaff hadn’t recognized him as the popular CEO of the number one power-holding company in the country. His relaxed disposition as we chatted only added to his disguise.

The weirder situation was the fact that we were on a date, although it seemed more like a casual get-together.

Oh, who am I kidding? It was a freaking date. Somehow, I had agreed to his proposal, and we’d found ourselves here.

Where was here, one may ask? The most expensive restaurant in town. How I’d managed to let him convince me to come here was a mystery for another day.

Everything in the restaurant screamed gold and money—from the doors we pushed open to the floor we walked on to the chair we sat on. I dreaded how much the food would cost. Even the appearances of other people that came to eat were intimidating. Their dress screamed class.

These were the kind of people that wouldn’t hesitate to put you down if you looked at them the wrong way. However, my consolation was my date, who sat across from me. Ironically, he was the richest man in the room, despite his mode of dressing.

Now back to our argument.

“I still think Hispanic wrestlers are underappreciated in WWE,” Alejandro said.

That’s right, we were arguing about wrestling, of all things. Who would have guessed? It turns out we had one thing in common: we were both fans of wrestling. And how the topic came about, I could not recall. We were just discussing random things, and just like that, we found ourselves entering the entertainment sector—wrestling, to be precise.

“No, they aren’t,” I said. “Rey Mysterio is loved by all fans in this country.”

“Yet, the company never allowed him to get long reigns with every major title he held.” Alejandro raised an eyebrow.

“I dispute that.” I raised a finger in disapproval.

“Indulge me.” Alejandro’s hypnotic jades focused on me.

“His first title reign in 2006—” I began.

“Was given more to him as compensation for the loss of Eddie Guerrero.” Alejandro cut me off. “And we both know it didn’t last up to six months.”

“Well—I,” I spluttered, trying to think of something. I saw the amusement dance in his eyes.

“Aha!” I snapped my fingers. “In 2010, he won the heavyweight title from Jack Swagger—”

“Only to lose it shortly to the Money in the Bank winner, Kane.” I was interrupted again.

I sent him a warning gaze about his interruption, but he ignored it. I saw his lips twitch as he tried to hold in his laughter.

“And don’t get me started on what happened the following year when he won the WWE title.” He folded his arms.

“He lost it an hour later to John Cena.” A defeated sigh left my lips.

“Glad we’re on the same page.” He smirked.

“Okay, fine, you win.” I pouted.

“This was not a contest,” he said. “Just a friendly debate to learn from each other.”

“I never thought I would meet a wrestling fanatic like myself,” I said.

“Small world,” he replied.

I saw a flicker of emotion dance on his face. In an instant, he went from relaxed to serious to intrigued. I wondered what was going on in his mind. Was he scheming? Plotting? Thinking about work? Was he going to try to invite himself over later? What was it? I squirmed in my seat, feeling a bit of unease.

“Is there something bothering you?” he asked.

I looked straight at his face. The usual stoic expression was strangely absent, and it was replaced with concern. I don’t know if I would ever get used to it.

“Why did you invite me here?” I asked.

He was taken aback, and it showed in his raised brows.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“Come on, Alejandro,” I scoffed. “We never started on the right foot after we met in my hospital room. Your dad likes me, but you didn’t. Aside from the fact that you’ve come to my rescue twice—first at that terrible party and the other night at the club—we’re just not the right vibe for each other. At least I don’t think so. We shouldn’t have gotten to the level of…well…”

I gestured with my hands toward the table. “This.”

“You think I have an ulterior motive for inviting you to lunch?” He tilted his head sideways at me.

Damn it, not that sexy head posture again. Doesn’t he know the effect it has on me? I struggled to stay focused. And by focused, I mean I was staring at his lips.

“I’m not implying you had an ulterior motive,” I lied through my teeth.

His sudden unamused demeanor told me he wasn’t buying it.

“Tina.” He reached forward and clasped my hand. “I told you this before. There’s something different about you. Something that sets you aside from other women I’ve come across.”

~Other women you’ve fucked, you mean~, I thought dryly.

“The fact is that I want to know more about you,” he said. “I’ve never developed this kind of interest in anyone before. And we both know the kind of person I am.”

I nodded. I knew what he meant. He was never the kind to be open with people. And yet, we had moments where I felt like we were connecting.

“Something tells me you are looking to find something great in your life.” He squeezed my hand. “You’re pushing yourself forward so you can put behind something terrible that happened in your past.”

My eyes widened a bit as images of Mike flashed in my memory. I pulled my hand away. Was this guy a psychic? But there was still one issue I had to address with him before this went any further.

“I thought you said office romance was not permitted,” I said.

“Well, we aren’t in the office now, are we?” A cheeky smile was on his face.

I chuckled. Well played.

“Tina, I’m not saying we should just become romantically involved right away,” he said. “I’m just saying I want us to take some time to get to know each other better. We can stick to the working relationship at the office, but outside, anything goes. If in the long run we are not compatible, then we accept that fate wills it,” he said.

“Your father didn’t put you up to this.” I eyed him in a skeptical fashion. “Did he?”

“Hell no,” Alejandro scoffed.

I thought about it for a moment. Alejandro ticked me as the kind of person to be a womanizer. He had the looks and then there was that bitch that accompanied him to the charity event. Natasha…Natalie…oh, who cares? I certainly hoped I wouldn’t have to face competition from her. Alejandro said she was nothing to him, but men lied.

~Decisions, decisions~.

I inwardly shrugged. I decided to give it a try. What was the worst that could happen?

“Okay.” I flashed my best smile at him. “Let’s see how it goes.”

I saw his eyes light up a bit.

I hope this decision doesn’t come back to bite me in my ass.