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

could. I needed to get out of here. Off Aaron. The position we were in was too distracting. In a very, very, very bad way. “Erm. Yes, crazy. Oh, you bet! This is all super crazy,” I said, squirming in Aaron’s lap as I unsuccessfully tried to make my way out of the man-sized black hole that had sucked me in. “It is crazy because I am super crazy. Crazy about him, that is.” I squirmed some more, realizing I might be stuck somewhere between his large thighs. Keep talking. “Like, so crazily in love, it’s even crazy, you know what I mean? So crazy—”

“I think she got it,” my fake boyfriend whispered in my ear, sending a stupid shiver rushing across my whole body.

I kept shifting further in his lap, ignoring how everything I felt underneath me—or my ass, more specifically—was solid and warm. No, hot. It was hot. Muscles upon muscles upon more muscles. Some of them becoming harder with every useless effort I made.

Oh my gosh. Oh Dios mío. Was that … no. It couldn’t be. Aaron couldn’t be … aroused.

Desperate, I tried to propel myself off him one more time, obtaining a little grunt from Aaron’s lips. It landed on the back of my neck as a puff of air.

“Stop,” he breathed in my ear. “That’s not helping with the situation.”

I immediately obeyed, forcing my body to relax into him. Okay, I have this. Think of it as a chair. A throne. Not Aaron. Just a hard man-sized throne.

I gave my cousin a fake smile. “So, what are you doing here, Charo?”

“Oh, I was going to stay with a friend for the wedding weekend, but the bathroom in his apartment flooded or something, and I have no choice but to sleep here instead,” she explained with a little wave. “I’m sure you thought you had the place to yourselves, huh?” She wiggled her eyebrows again. “I swear I won’t be in the way. You won’t even notice I’m here.”

There was only one way we wouldn’t notice Charo snooping around, and that included hard-core narcotics.

“Great. Well, we should really unpack and let you do the same,” I announced from my position on my Aaron throne. I cleared my throat. “Yeah, all right. Let’s do that,” I added, neither Aaron nor me moving. I cleared my throat very loudly. “Don’t you think we should get going, osito?”

Before I could ask, Aaron’s big hands were on my waist, and I was lifted off his lap and then up in the air. With shaky legs, I landed in front of my cousin.

Whoa, okay. So, it could have been that easy.

Aaron—who had mysteriously regained his usual agility—followed suit, leaving behind him the spring and wood disaster.

“I haven’t introduced myself.” Aaron stretched out one of the hands that had been wrapped around my waist a little more than a second ago. The one hand that had squeezed my thigh. “Soy Aaron. Un placer conocerte.”

My cousin—who I suspected had already requested all of Aaron’s available information from my mother—took his hand and pulled him to her. “Ay y habla Español! El placer es mío, cariño.” She planted one kiss on each of his cheeks.

Yeah, I was sure she hadn’t been lying when she said the pleasure of meeting him was all hers.

After my cousin released Aaron, who looked a little dumbfounded, she engulfed me in a hug too. “Come here, prima. I have kisses for you too.” And she added in a whisper so only I could hear it, “¿Dónde tenías escondido a este hombre?”

Where were you hiding this man?

I chuckled. “Oh, prima, if you only knew.”

Stepping away from my red-haired relative, I was startled by the contact of Aaron’s palm on the small of my back.

I jumped back, right into his front.

Aaron looked down at me, a question in his gaze. “Go ahead to our room and start unpacking. I’ll take care of this mess for your cousin.”

That was … so very thoughtful. I had forgotten about it. Apparently, leaving my cousin to deal with a broken twin bed wasn’t high on my priority list.

“Uy, no, no.” Charo intervened before I could apologize. “I will call Tío Javi,” she said, referring to my dad as Uncle Javi. “You two go and settle in. I’m sure you are exhausted from the trip. Just make sure not to break the other bed too.” She accompanied that with a cackle. “I can take the blame for this one but yours? That would be an awkward conversation with your dad.” Then, she winked.

Without more than a thank-you, we shuffled back to what would be our room.

Our room, which we had to share now.

Dammit.

We’d better unpack and try to get comfortable. If that had been any indication of what was ahead of us during the upcoming days, my fake boyfriend and I were in for a messy ride.

Suitcases almost empty and all wedding attire already hanging in the closet, I sent a sideways glance at the bed in our room. I had been doing that for the last fifteen minutes.

I’ll be waiting here, it seemed to sing, making me wish it would magically crumble down and disappear too.

“Stop worrying. I can sleep on the floor if it makes you that uncomfortable.” Aaron looked at me, eyebrows creased.

“I’m not worried,” I lied.

Sharing a bed with Aaron was something I hadn’t expected. Or planned for. My parents had said only we would be staying in the apartment. Most of the guests were from the region, and the ones who weren’t would be arriving only for the big day.

“We are adults, and we have known each other for almost two years now. We can be civil and share the bed. At least it’s a double. And it’s standing up.”

“I’ll tell your parents that I will take care of the other one. I’ll pay for the damages.” There was something in his voice. He sounded pensive and almost … embarrassed?

“You don’t have to, Aaron.” And I meant it. “It wasn’t your