The Spanish Love Deception Elena Armas (free ebook reader for ipad .TXT) 📖

My sister nodded, distracted by the song playing, which happened to be her new favorite tune in the world. I veered for the door, not daring to look back at Aaron. I couldn’t. I just … couldn’t.

I needed to order my thoughts.

Once I made my way through the sea of dancing bodies, I stepped outside. The night was warm and humid, and I welcomed the breeze from the sea hitting my skin.

The relief was instant but short-lived. Now, my legs seemed to weigh about a hundred pounds each.

But I’d take that over everything I had been feeling back inside. I also regretted every drink I had had tonight. Maybe with a clearer mind, I’d be able to understand whatever the hell was going on. Particularly why my heart seemed to be plotting against me.

Letting myself fall onto the side of the road, I sat, so I could rest my legs. This was a pedestrian area, and only resident cars were allowed to drive through. Given the time, almost three in the morning, chances of being run over were low. So, I took my time, trying to appease whatever was still making my skin flush and tingle.

Eyes shut and elbows on my knees, I focused on the muffled music coming out of the bar.

The door behind me opened and closed quickly after.

I knew he was there before he said anything. He didn’t need to. I was attuned to him, it seemed. To this quiet man whose presence always spoke to me far louder than his words. Not turning back, I listened to his heavy footsteps as he walked to where I was, sitting on the lukewarm pavement of the sidewalk. Aaron let his body fall into place right beside me. His long legs stretched ahead, taking possibly two times the space mine did.

A bottle of water fell softly on my lap.

“You’ll probably want to drink that,” Aaron said.

The overwhelming sensation that had pushed me to walk outside had not dissipated yet, hampering my thoughts.

He nudged my leg with his knee, encouraging me.

I regarded the bottle still on my lap. I was so freaking exhausted all of a sudden, and my arms felt too heavy to reach for it and open it. My whole body felt like that. And Aaron was sitting so close, all big and warm, so inviting for me to lean my head on his arm and close my eyes for just a minute. Just one really short nap.

“No sleeping, baby. Please.” Aaron snagged the bottle from where he had placed it, opened it, and shoved it back in my hand. “Drink up,” he said softly.

Another nudge of his leg.

And what a beautiful leg that was. He probably had more muscles on his quadriceps alone than I had on my whole body. Bringing the bottle to my lips, I took a big gulp of water as I continued my perusal.

That is a very good-looking right thigh, I thought as I returned the bottle to my lap.

A little chuckle had me glancing at the man responsible for it. His lips bent in a lopsided smile, distracting me.

“Thank you,” he said, his smile stretching. “Nobody has ever complimented that particular part of my leg.”

I frowned.

Did I say that out loud?

Ah Hell.

Looking at him, still in silence, I opted to drink some more water. My brain was clearly dehydrated if I was going around, voicing whatever crossed my mind.

“Feeling better?” Aaron asked from my side.

“Not yet,” I gave him a wobbly smile. “But thank you.”

His frown made an appearance, wrinkling his forehead. “I’ll take you back to the apartment. Come on.” The legs I had been so busy admiring flexed, ready to push his body upward.

“No, wait.” My hand landed on that very good-looking—and oh, really hard—thigh, stopping him. “Not yet, please. Can we stay here just for a little while?”

Aaron’s blue eyes seemed to assess something, probably my state. But his big body stayed put beside mine.

“Thanks.” My gaze fell back on his stretched legs again. “There’s something I need to tell you. A confession.” I didn’t look back at him, but I sensed him tense. “I Googled you, just once. But I did.”

Aaron seemed to ponder that for a moment. But he didn’t comment on it. Instead, he snatched the bottle of water from my grip, opened it, and indicated to me to drink some more.

I complied and downed the rest of the contents. Then, he retrieved the empty bottle, and I thought I heard him mutter something, but I wasn’t sure.

“I found lots of stuff, you know. That’s why I only allowed myself to Google you one single time,” I admitted with a sheepish smile. “I was scared of finding something that would change what I thought of you.”

“And did you?”

“Yes, and no.” Had what I found changed the image I had of Aaron? I didn’t think I could answer that. “I probably scrolled down photos upon photos of you until Google had nothing else to show me.”

“That’s a lot of scrolling.”

“I guess.” I shrugged my shoulders. “Do you want to hear about what I found?”

He didn’t answer, so I told him anyway, “There was this one image of you in the middle of the field; your back was to the camera, and you had your golden helmet hanging off your hand. I couldn’t see more than your back, but I swear I could tell what your face looked like. I could picture in my head how your eyebrows were wrinkled on your forehead and how your jaw was bunched up—the way you do when you are upset but you don’t want to show you are.”

Aaron had gone quiet, so I stole a glance at him. He was looking at me, and there was something that looked a lot like shock in his expression.

But I was no-filter Lina tonight, and I didn’t seem to care about talking or revealing too much. “Then, there were the articles,” I