Page 46 of Matched By Mistake
“Yes. So what am I missing? I mean the Del Rio family has been our business rival and more for decades.”
Jericho saw the tension in his brother but also the worry. Trey was the heir apparent, the one who had been groomed by their father since birth to take over Winters Industries. But the truth was he’d also been indoctrinated as they all had in the legend of the feud with the Del Rio family.
Jericho got up and went to the sideboard in his office. “Want a beer?”
“Sure,” Trey said.
Jericho took two out of the mini fridge, popped the tops and handed one to his brother before gesturing for him to sit down in one of the large leather guest chairs. Jericho sat next to his brother and took a long sip of his beer before he said anything else.
“I’m beginning to believe that our families have more in common than anyone wants to believe. I’ve had dinner with Fernando and Gayle and they were like Mom and Dad would be to anyone you or I were dating. And Fernando wants to make changes to the environment and we’ve been—”
“Oh, for Christ’s sake. Are you working with them?”
Jericho sat up a bit straighter. “I am. I mean we don’t have a project, we’re just trying to find something that could be one.”
“Tell me about the project,” Trey said.
Jericho knew his brother was just as interested in the environment and had been hoping to bring his savvy investors on board once they had something to take to market. So he explained what they were working on. When he was done, Trey drained his beer in one swallow.
“I hate that I’m saying this, but I want in. That idea is good.”
“We don’t have a working model yet,” Jericho reminded his brother. But he felt love for his brother and the fact that he was willing to put aside his own feelings toward the Del Rio family to move forward. This was why he’d thought Maggie’s suggestion of getting their families together was a good one.
“It’s you. You’ll figure it out and have a working model in no time. How did this come about?”
“Honestly, Fernando. I was as surprised as you seem,” Jericho said.
Trey nodded. “So you’re serious about Maggie?”
“I am. I know you were grateful that I publicly dated her to help drive sales and applications of the k!smet app, but even if you’d asked me not to see her, I would have,” Jericho said.
Trey didn’t say anything to that; just got up and got them both another beer. He handed one to Jericho and smiled at him. “Glad to hear that you aren’t just doing this for my profits.”
“Yeah, me, too. Took me by surprise,” Jericho admitted.
“Reminder I’m not Dr. Phil.”
Jericho laughed and shook his head. “Yeah, you’d suck at it.”
“But seriously, I’m happy for you. I hope that Maggie and the Del Rio family are exactly what you think they are,” Trey said before changing the conversation to another Winters Expo Center he wanted Jericho to design for a new property in North Dallas.
They talked business and after his brother left, Jericho couldn’t help but remember what Trey had said.
That Maggie and her familywerewhat he thought they were.
It hadn’t occurred to Jericho that they wouldn’t be. He’d never been a man to see people as he wanted them to be. He prided himself on his ability to cut through the bullshit and see the real meaning behind anyone he met or did business with.
But he’d never experienced this kind of emotion with anyone else before.
His family he loved, he knew that. He’d been starting to think that what he felt for Maggie was well leaning that way. He liked her. He wanted her more than he’d ever wanted another sexual partner. They had another of their designated dates—boating on the lake which was a lot of fun. In fact, everything with Maggie was better because she was by his side.
And he’d been going with it. That was sort of his nature but Trey had raised something he had to consider. He had that big empty mansion in the gated community. His business was solid and successful. The only element that had been missing from his life was a genuine personal relationship. And Maggie fit that bill. She was giving him everything he wanted and had never realized he needed.
But was it real or was he just seeing what he wanted to see?
Jericho surprised Maggie with how involved he was with getting everything set up for their parents to come over to dinner at her place. Probably because her father would have sat in his home office working until her mom told him to come out to grill and play bartender.
But Jericho woke up early and started working on the meats. He was grilling a brisket, ribs and sausages. While he put rubs and marinades on things, he’d also made them breakfast. Maggie knew she was trying to be sensible, especially since their parents hadn’t met yet and there was a good chance that they might not get along, but Jericho was making those dreams she’d thought were shattered forever by Randall seem possible again.
