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

so hard for. Just for what? For a few laughs? For pointing a few fingers? For bringing me down, so they’d feel a little better?

History could repeat itself, and this time, I would be the one to blame. It would be me who had tripped over the same stone for a second time. This time, I’d be jeopardizing my career, too, not just the credibility of my work, my reputation as a woman, or my social life. And it would all be on me.

Taking another sip of coffee from my mug, I tried to shove all that aside.

Whatever I thought was going on between Aaron and me would have to … not go. Anywhere.

Because it couldn’t. It wouldn’t. And it was all a lie anyway.

As if the very devil was being summoned by Charo, who kept talking about him, or by me, who kept thinking about him one way or the other, Aaron materialized in the kitchen. His eyes immediately found me, as if I were the only thing between these four walls.

My mug froze midair. My lips parted, and my gaze was hungry to take all of him in. But how could I not? The simple tee that covered his broad chest did nothing to hide a body I now knew had been carefully cultivated to perfection for years. Decades. Those loose pajama pants I had seen hanging low on his hips last night still did. Enticing me. Making me think of how he had pressed those hips into me with painfully delicious softness.

But it was the look on his face that started—no, rekindled—the fluttering sensation in the pit of my stomach. His features were seemingly snug with sleep, relaxed, and his hair was adorably ruffled. But his eyes … well, there wasn’t a trace of sleep there. They told a whole different story. One I had the strong suspicion was extremely similar to the one bubbling in mine.

And that only encouraged the flutter to take flight and spread to the rest of my body.

Averting my gaze before all this gawking and daydreaming damaged my brain, I forced my lungs to take in the oxygen my body seemed to need in that moment.

“Ay!” Charo’s screech made me flinch. “Mira quién está aquí! Good morning, Aaron. We were just talking about you.”

Peeking at Aaron, I saw his eyes widen and then quickly return to its normal size.

“Good morning,” he said into the room, looking still startled. It was cute. No, it was actually shocking that he had not spotted Charo’s bright red hair like a beacon in the distance. “I hope everything you guys were saying was good.” He accompanied that with a teeny-tiny, lopsided smile.

“Of course, of course.” Charo waved a hand in the air. “We have been waiting for you to wake up. I bet Lina was missing you.”

My back stiffened, and Aaron’s head whirled slowly in my direction.

Dammit, Charo. My lips curled in a tight smile that I hid with my mug.

My cousin continued, “There is fresh coffee. Would you like some? Do you take it black? Would you like some milk with it? Perhaps sugar too? Brown or white? Or maybe you don’t like coffee. Lina hasn’t said anything, so I assumed you would have some. Unless you don’t, of course. I won’t force you to drink it.”

Aaron blinked, looking a little lost.

“You should get yourself a cup,” I muttered.

My fake boyfriend cleared his throat and walked in the direction of the coffeepot. “I … I think I’ll serve myself a cup. Thank you, Charo.”

Charo’s answer was a satisfied grin.

Aaron poured himself some coffee, and before the man even finished filling his mug, Charo was at it again.

“So, did you have fun yesterday, parejita?” My cousin sang that last word. Parejita—little couple.

I rolled my eyes.

“I wish I could have made it, but I’m not young and wild anymore. Not like you guys. I hope the bed in your room is still standing after seeing how the other one ended up. Although I guess if that had happened, I would have definitely noticed. The walls are veeeery thin.” She followed that with a wink.

In the periphery of my vision, I watched Aaron wince. Couldn’t blame him. I winced too.

“Anyway,” my cousin continued, “you guys got home really late last night. I heard the front door closing.”

“Yes, we did. I’m sorry about that, Charo.” My gaze followed Aaron as he walked decidedly across the few feet that separated us, finally settling on one of the three high stools placed around the narrow breakfast bar. Right beside where I had sat down myself.

“Ay no, don’t worry about it,” I heard my cousin say as I kept my eyes on my fake boyfriend’s movements. “It did not bother me. I was actually happy to know you had made it back safely.”

Aaron scooted his stool closer to mine, and his scent hit me like a freaking moving truck, plunging me back to last night, when it had completely engulfed me. My eyelashes fluttered, and I had to avert my gaze.

“Oh, okay. Good. That’s good,” I absently told my cousin, feeling my cheeks flush.

“And I wake up a few times during the night anyway. I’m a light sleeper.” Charo’s voice kept fading in the background as the knowledge of having Aaron’s body within reach sank in. “So, if you ever hear weird noises at night, it’s just me walking around the apartment.” She chuckled. “With a little bit of luck, I won’t accidentally walk in on you naked or something.”

Naked. Aaron naked. My mind seemed to short-circuit the moment it ventured into that mental image, pushing me off my stool as if my ass were on fire.

Space. Air. I needed … something. Anything.

Not being able to go very far, considering the dimension of the functional kitchen, I opened a couple of cabinets, making sure my back was to Aaron until all that blood that had somehow risen to my face returned to its original place.

I fanned myself with one of the cabinet