The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas (novels for students .TXT) 📕

and the skin of my face felt like I had just sprinted across Central Park like I was chasing the freaking ice cream truck. But so far, it was worth it because Aaron remained mine.

Not mine. Just … whatever.

I had been so absorbed by this duel we had going on that I had almost forgotten about the man on the stage. I had barely checked on him since the bidding bloodshed started.

Just as I was about to turn my attention to Aaron, my hand rose in the air one more time—as high as the ridiculous amount of money we had reached—and this time, it did alone.

Angela waved in my direction. “Going once for the lady in midnight blue,” she called.

My heart thumped against my chest harder. I caught a glimpse of a gray-haired man beside a tight-lipped Lady in Red, who stood with her arms crossed in front of her chest.

“Going twice,” Angela continued as I watched the man whisper something in Lady in Red’s ear, to which she just sighed and nodded. Reluctantly.

Come on, come on, come on. Aaron is almost mine.

“And sold to the very lovely and very passionate lady in the midnight-blue gown.” Angela closed the bidding with a wink.

I felt the celebratory holler climbing to my throat as my head finally turned in Aaron’s direction. I wanted to do a little victory dance. To throw my hands in the air too. I also felt the urge to shout a couple of inappropriate words, which, in hindsight, I would have realized was extremely stupid and I would have immediately regretted it.

But as Aaron came into view, that whirling emotion that had been too loud a moment ago, fell silent on its own. He wasn’t even smiling. He simply … looked at me.

The disappointment at not finding that grin I had gotten a glimpse of earlier returned, and I wondered if it would be this way from today on. Me searching for Aaron’s smile and him keeping it locked away again.

I swallowed that up, shoving those stupid thoughts out of my head.

My lips tugged up regardless of all that, and I gave a halfhearted cheer. To which Aaron simply nodded, looking like he did when he had something in his mind. Something that bothered him.

Frowning, I watched Aaron’s long legs climb down the stage and walk to my side, all the while ignoring how the way he wasn’t even celebrating with me made me feel. Instead, I focused on keeping what I hoped looked like a genuine smile in place.

The blue-eyed man I had just bought for a date that would never happen stopped in front of me. He dipped his head, his chin almost touching his collarbone. I waited, but he didn’t say anything.

I reached for something to say and came up empty-handed, returning the silence.

That awareness I had been familiarizing myself with far too rapidly for my own good and comfort came rushing back, raising the short hairs on my arms. It hit me then how weird, how strange, and how shocking in many different ways it was that we’d found each other in this situation. How tonight didn’t even seem real.

Shifting on my feet under the weight of Aaron’s gaze, I swallowed. One more time, I wasn’t capable of taking in this heavy silence that settled between us. “I hope you come with a boat, Blackford,” I finally said, my voice sounding a little off. “Otherwise, I might regret not sticking with Patrick.”

Aaron’s eyes didn’t waver. They held mine. And just as they did, I watched how they warmed up for just a heartbeat. The skin around them wrinkling only slightly with the smile I now knew he refused to give me.

I felt something shift in my chest. Something very subtle and small that I almost missed, but it didn’t help the pace of my breath—still all over the place from the auction—to return to normal.

He took one step closer. “Sometimes, I’m convinced you enjoy making me suffer.” His usually deep voice sounded hushed. Giving to his words an afterthought quality.

“Oh.” I frowned. My mouth opened, but I still struggled for a few more moments. “Okay, you have every right to be pissed, but in all fairness, we are even because you should have warned me it would get that intense.” I laughed awkwardly. “If I had known, I would have added a ninja star or two to my outfit. They would have definitely come in handy with Lady in Red.”

Aaron towered over my short height, quiet and still gazing at me in that way that made me shift on my feet again.

Silence settled between us once more, bringing to my attention that we were no longer surrounded by the crowd that had gathered in front of the stage. Instead, the murmur of voices accompanied with a mellow tune came all the way from the other side of the rooftop.

Aaron broke the silence, saying, “Dance with me.”

Chapter Nine

He offered his hand, letting it hang in the small space between our bodies.

Dance?

Gaping at his hand, I hesitated. Not really sure whether I had a reason to doubt his offer or if it was just the way I automatically reacted to Aaron.

“Is this part of the deal?” I heard myself ask.

Aaron frowned.

“Us dancing, I mean. Just for show, right?” I explained.

I wasn’t blind—or stupid—and I was pretty sure that dancing wasn’t something we needed to do. But a big part of me was effectively confused, and I was growing more so by the moment. So, by saying that out loud, I was simply throwing myself a lifeline I could grab on to until I could clear up the mess in my head.

“Right,” Aaron answered, that frown disappearing and his hand still waiting for my decision. “Just for show.”

I accepted his offer, letting his large palm wrap around mine, unsure of how good of an idea it was.

Aaron pulled me gently behind him, and my legs shook with a weird mix of anticipation and unease. His