Seducing His Opposition (2 page)

“Damn. I wanted to have the ground-breaking at the tenth anniversary celebration. I was also hoping we could maybe sign up some new, high-profile tenants, but this could put a damper on things.”

“I will do what I can to make it happen. Don’t get your hopes up, the neighbors and existing tenants in that market don’t like us.”

“Use your charm to convince them otherwise,” Cam said.

“I’m not charming.”

“Hell, I know that. You should send Myra.”

“My assistant?”

“Yes, she’s friendly and everyone likes her.”

She was nice, but she didn’t have the right kind of
experience to talk to the current occupants of the strip mall and make them understand what was needed.

“I’ll head over there after I talk to Selena.”

“Who is Selena?”

“Tomas Gonzalez’s lawyer.”

“Sounds like all the opening you need to get them on our team.”

“Stop trying to manipulate me into doing what you want,” he warned his brother.

“Why? I’m good at it.”

Justin threw a mock punch at Cam who pretended to take the hit.

“Go. I have real work to do,” Justin said.

“I will.”

Cam left and Justin leaned back in his chair. He had plenty of business to keep him occupied but instead he was thinking of Selena Gonzalez—the lawyer and the woman.

His intercom buzzed. “There’s a Ms. Gonzalez on line one.”

Speak of the devil. He clicked over to the correct line. “This is Justin,” he said.

“Hello, there.”

“Hi. I must be remembering our conversation wrong,” he said.

“I know I said I’d let you call but I’ve never been one of those women who waits for a man.” Her voice was just as lovely over the phone as it had been in person. He closed his eyes and let the sound of it wash over him. She was distracting. And he needed to keep her from shaking him from his target.

“I’m glad to hear that. I thought you might be difficult given that you filed an injunction against me.”

“That wasn’t personal, Justin,” she said. And he liked the way his name sounded on her lips.

“Yes, it was, Selena. What can I do for you?”

“I didn’t realize we had mutual interests,” she said. “When we met, I mean.”

“I know what you meant…by mutual interests do you mean we both want to ensure that the Latin market is a vibrant part of the community?

“I want to make sure that some big-deal club owner doesn’t take the community heritage and bastardize it for his own good.”

“I guess you’re not coming in here with any preconceived notions,” he said wryly.

“No, I’m not, I know exactly what kind of man I’m up against. My
abuelito
said you are a silver-tongued devil and I should watch myself around you.”

“Selena, you have nothing to fear from me,” he said. “I’m a very fair businessman. In fact, I think your
abuelito
will be very happy with my latest offer.”

“Send it to me and I will let you know.”

“Come down to my office so we can talk in person. I prefer that to emails and faxes.”

He leaned back in his chair. He knew how to negotiate, and having Selena here on his own turf was the way for him to get what he wanted. No one could turn him down once he started talking. To be honest, he’d never had a deal go south once he got the other party in the same room with him.

“Okay, when?”

“Today if you have time.”

“Can you hold on?”

“Sure,” he said. The line went silent and he turned to look out his plate-glass windows. The skyline of
downtown Miami was gorgeous and he appreciated how lucky he was to live in paradise.

“Okay, we can do it today.”

“We?”

“My
abuelito
and I.”

“Great. I look forward to seeing Tomas again.”

“And what about me?” she asked.

“I’ve thought of little else but seeing you again.”

She laughed. “I’m tempted to believe you, but I know you are a businessman and business must always come first.”

She was right. He wanted her to be different but the truth of the matter was that he was almost thirty-five and set in his ways. There was little doubt that someday he might want to settle down but it wasn’t today.

And it wouldn’t be with Selena.

“Good girl,” he said. “Girl?”

“I didn’t mean that in a condescending way.”

“How did you mean it?” she asked.

He had no idea if he’d offended her or not. “Just teasingly. Maybe I should stick to business. I’m much better at knowing what not to say.”

She laughed again and he realized how much he liked the sound of that. He thought it prudent to get off the phone with her before he said something else that could put the entire outdoor plaza project at risk.

“I’ll see you then. How does two o’clock sound?” he said.

“We’ll be there,” she agreed and hung up.

A
s Selena and her grandfather left for their meeting, her other relatives were arriving to start cooking the dinner. Since she hadn’t been home in almost ten years, the entire Gonzalez clan was getting together for a big feast.

To some people coming home might mean revisiting the place they had grown up, for her coming home meant a barbeque in the backyard of her grandparents’ house and enough relatives to maybe require an occupancy permit.

Being a Gonzalez was overwhelming. She had forgotten how much she enjoyed the quiet of her life in Manhattan until this moment. This was part of what she’d run from. In Miami everyone knew her, in Manhattan she was just another person on the street.

She had the top down on her rental Audi convertible and the Florida sunshine warmed her head and the
breeze stirred her hair as they drove to Justin Stern’s office.

Having the top down did something else. It made conversation with her
abuelito
nearly impossible and right now she needed some quiet time to think. Though Justin Stern had flirted with her, she knew he was one sharp attorney and she’d need to have her wits about her when they talked.

“Selena?”

“Si?”

“You missed the turnoff,” her grandfather said.

“I…dang it, I wasn’t paying attention.”

“What’s on your mind?”

“This meeting. I want to make sure you and
abuelita
are treated fairly.”

“You will,
tata
.”

She made a U-turn at the next intersection and soon they were in the parking lot of Luna Azul Company’s corporate headquarters. The building was large and modern but fit the neighborhood, and as she walked closer, Selena noticed that it wasn’t new construction but had been a remodel. She made a mental note to check on this building and to investigate if having the Stern brothers here had enhanced this area.

“You ready,
abuelito?
”

“For what?”

“To take on Justin.”

“Hell, yes. I’ve been doing it the best I can, but…we needed you,” her grandfather said.

They entered the air-conditioned building. The receptionist greeted them and directed them to the fifth floor executive offices.

“Hello, Mr. Gonzalez.”

“Hello, Myra. How are you today?” her grandfather
asked the pretty young woman who greeted them there.

“Not bad. Hear you’ve brought a big-gun lawyer to town,” she said.

“I brought our attorney. Figured it was about time I had someone who could argue on Mr. Stern’s level.”

Myra laughed and even Selena smiled. She could tell that her grandfather had been doing okay negotiating for himself. Why had he called her?

“I’m Selena Gonzalez,” Selena said stepping forward and holding out her hand.

“Myra Temple,” the other woman said. “It’s nice to meet you. You will be meeting in the conference room at the end of the hall. Can I get either of you something to drink?”

“I’ll have a sparkling water,” her grandfather said.

“Me, too,” Selena said and followed her grand father down the hall to the conference room.

The walls were richly paneled and there was a portrait of Justin and two other men who had to be his brothers. There was a strong resemblance in the stubborn jawline of all the men. She recognized Nate Stern, Justin’s younger brother and a former New York Yankees baseball player. Her
abuelito
sat down but she walked around the room, and checked out the view from the fifth floor and then the model for the Calle Ocho market center.

“Have you seen this,
abuelito?
”

He shook his head and came over to stand next to her. The Cuban American market that her grandparents owned was now replaced with a chain grocery store. She was outraged and angry.

“I can’t believe this,” Selena said.

“You can’t believe what?” Justin asked as he entered
the conference room. Myra was right behind him with a tray of Perrier and glasses filled with ice cubes.

“That you think replacing the Cuban American market with a chain grocery store would be acceptable.”

“To be honest we haven’t got an agreement with them yet,” Justin said. “This is just an artist’s concept of how the Market will look.”

“Well the injunction I filed today is going to hamper your agreement with them.”

“It will indeed. That’s why I invited you here to talk.”

She was disgusted that she had fallen for his sexy smile and self-deprecating charm at the zoning office because she saw now that he was a smooth operator. And she’d had her fill of them when she was younger. It made her angry to think that in ten years she hadn’t learned not to fall for that kind of guy.

“Then let’s get to work,” she said. “I’ve drawn up a list of concerns.”

“I look forward to seeing them,” Justin said. “And Tomas, it’s nice to see you again,” he said, shaking the older man’s hand.

“I’d prefer it if we could stop meeting,” Tomas said.

“To be fair I’d like that, too. I want to move this project forward,” Justin said.

She bet he did, he was probably losing money with each day that they waited to break ground on their new market. But she was here to make sure that he realized that he couldn’t come in and replace traditional markets with a shiny upscale shopping area with no ties to the community.

“What is your largest concern?” he asked. “This was a Publix supermarket strip mall before you first
came to it, Tomas. So you have had chain grocers in the neighborhood before. We can invite another retailer if you’d prefer that.”

Selena realized that Justin didn’t necessarily understand what their objection to his building in the community truly was.

“Justin, this strip mall is part of the Cuban American community. Our family’s store isn’t just a place for people to pick up groceries, it’s where the old men come in the morning for their coffee and then sit around and discuss the business of the day. It’s a place where young mothers bring their kids to play in the back and have great Cuban food.

“This is the heart of the neighborhood. You can’t just rip it out.”

Justin knew this meeting wasn’t going to be easy. He’d figured that out the moment he met Selena. She was the kind of woman that made a man work for it. And he knew that she was looking out for the interests of her community and to be fair he needed that community to want to shop there. Even though they’d do a good crossover business from the club and he had an arrangement with some local tour companies to add the new Luna Azul Market to their tourist stops once it opened, it would be the neighborhood residents that would make or break this endeavor.

“I’m open to your suggestions. So far Tomas has only demanded that we leave the strip mall the way it is and I think that we both know that isn’t a solution.”

“We both don’t know that,” she said.

“Have you been down to the property lately?” he asked her. “The mall is old and run-down. The families that you speak of are dwindling, isn’t that right, Tomas?”

Tomas shrugged but then glanced over at Selena.
“The buildings need repairs and the landlord…you, Justin, should be making them.”

“I want to make more than repairs. I’m not even sure if they meet the new hurricane wind resistance standards.”

Selena pulled out a notebook and started writing on it. “We will check into it. Have you considered forming a committee with the community leaders and your company?”

“We’ve had a few informal discussions.”

“You need to do a lot more than that. Because if you want the neighborhood support you are going to have to open a dialogue with them.”

“Okay,” Justin said. “But only if you serve on the committee.”

She blinked up and then tipped her head to the side. “I don’t think that I need to be on there.”

“I do,” Justin said. “You grew up there, and are also familiar with the legal and zoning issues. You will be able to see the bigger picture.”

“I don’t think—”

“I agree with him,
tata,
you should be on there,” Tomas said.

“Tata?”
Justin asked, smiling.

She glared at her grandfather. “It’s a nickname.”

She blushed, and it was the first crack he’d seen in her all-business, tough-as-nails shell.

The business deal was going to go through whether Tomas and his allies wanted it to or not. Justin had already scheduled a round of golf with the zoning com missioner, Maxwell Strong, at the exclusive club he belonged to to get him to change his mind. And over the next week he’d work on finding a way out of the legal
hole that Selena had dug for him. But he wanted to see more of her.

And this committee thing would be perfect. Plus, he did actually want the community behind the project. “Myra, will you set up a meeting time for us…I think we should use Luna Azul. Tomas and Selena will send you a list of people to invite.”

“I’d like to take a closer look at the plans for the market,” Selena said.

“I’ll leave you two to discuss that,” Tomas said. “I need to call around and see when everyone will be available to meet.”

“Myra will show you to an office you can use,” Justin said.

After Tomas and Myra left the room, Justin studied Selena for a minute. Her head was bent and she was making notes on her legal pad. He noticed that her handwriting was very neat and very feminine.

“Why are you staring at me?”

“I thought I already told you that I like the way you look.”

“That wasn’t just you trying to…I don’t know what you were up to. Did you know who I was in that lobby of the zoning office?”

He shook his head. “No. I wish I had known.”

“Why?”

“Maybe I could have talked you out of filing that injunction,” he said with a laugh.

She chuckled at that. “Wow, that’s putting a lot of pressure on your supposed charm.”

He grabbed his side pretending she’d wounded him. “Good thing I’m tough-skinned.”

“You’d have to be in order to work in the neighborhood you do. How did you and your brothers manage to make
Luna Azul a success without getting the community behind you?” she asked him.

“Some locals do frequent the club but we rely on the celebs for business. They bring in their own crowd of followers. We book first-rate bands and we have salsa lessons in the rooftop club…so we do okay. Have you ever been there?”

She shook her head. “I left Miami before you opened your doors.”

“Why did you leave?” he asked.

“None of your business,” she replied with a tight look that told him he’d somehow gone too far.

“My apologies. I expected you to say you needed some freedom…would you have dinner with me tonight?”

“Why?”

“I believe in keeping my enemies close.”

“Me, too,” she said.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

“It is a yes. But I’ll pick the place.” She wrote an address at the bottom of her legal pad and then tore the paper off and handed it to him. “Be there at seven. Dress casual.”

“Do I need to bring anything?”

“Just your appetite.”

She gathered her things and then stood up and walked out of the conference room. He watched her leave.

Inviting Justin to her family get-together was inspired. He wanted to do business in this community but he didn’t understand it. This would be his lesson.

On her way home, she’d driven down to the strip mall to see her grandfather’s store, and it had been run-down more than she expected.

Something was needed, but an outlet mall or a high
end shopping plaza wasn’t it. The Calle Ocho neighborhood leaders wouldn’t stand for. Plus, she wanted to ensure that her grandparents got the best deal possible.

They had always been at the center of things in Little Havana and she wasn’t about to let Justin Stern take that away from them.

She also stopped by her house. When she entered, she was swamped with memories but managed to brush them aside as she freshened up and got ready to walk back over to her grandparents’. The last thing she wanted was to be here, she realized. She packed a bag with some clothes she found in the closet, locked the house and pointed her rented convertible toward the beach.

Her New York law practice had made her a wealthy woman. And considering this was the first real break she’d taken from work in the last eight years she thought she deserved a treat. All she did was work and save her money. Well that wasn’t completely true—she did have an addiction to La Perla lingerie that wouldn’t stop. But for the most part all she did was work.

So as she pulled up at the Ritz and asked for a suite for the next month, Selena knew she was doing the right thing. She was in luck and was soon ensconced in memory-free luxury. Just what she needed.

As she was settling in, her cell phone rang and she glanced at the number. It was a local number but not one she recognized. She answered it anyway. “This is Selena.”

“This is Justin. How about if we have drinks at Luna Azul first so you can see the club?”

“No.”

“Just a flat-out no, you aren’t going to even pretend to think it over,” he said.

“That’s right. I am not staying near there, anyway. I’m at the Ritz,” she said. She was kicked back on the love seat in her living room reading up on Justin on her laptop.

“How about a drink in the lobby bar?” he suggested. His voice was deep over the phone—very sexy.

“Why?” she asked. She wasn’t sure spending any time alone with him was the right thing. She wanted to keep it all business between them. That was the only way she was going to keep herself from acting on the attraction she felt for him.

“I want a chance to talk to you alone. No business—just personal stuff.”

“No business? Justin, all we have between us is business.” She hoped that making that statement out loud would somehow make it true. She didn’t want to admit to herself or Justin that there was a spark.

“But we could have so much more.”

“Ha! You don’t even know me,” she said.

“That’s exactly what I’m hoping to change. What harm could one drink do?”

“One drink,” she repeated. Hell, who was she kidding? She was going to meet him. She’d invited him to her welcome-home party so he could get to know her family and not only because of business. She wanted to see how he was with them to get the measure of the man he was.