The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas (the mitten read aloud TXT) 📗

Shaking my head, I snagged my gaze off Aaron. He could have said anything in the last ten minutes, and he had chosen not to. He could remain silent for all I cared.

Gerald’s chair scraped against the floor, allowing him to stand up. “Yes, we are certainly done,” he said flatly, gathering his things. “I don’t have time for this either. She knows what to do anyway.”

And with that little pearl, Gerald walked to the door and left the room.

My heart was still hammering in my chest, pummeling in my temples.

Kabir followed suit, standing up and looking at me apologetically. “I am not taking his side, okay?” His eyes moved in Aaron’s direction quickly, returning to me just as fast. “This whole thing came from Jeff; he wants you to do this. Don’t think too much about it. Take it as a compliment.”

Not bothering to answer, I watched him leave the room.

The man who had almost taken me in and treated me as one more of the Díaz clan looked at me and shook his head. He mouthed, Qué pendejo, which plucked a weak smile out of me because even if that wasn’t something we would ever say in Spain, I knew exactly what he meant.

And Héctor was right. What a total asshat Gerald was.

And then there was Aaron. Who hadn’t even bothered to look at me yet. His long fingers methodically gathered his things, and his even longer legs pushed the chair back, making it possible for him to straighten to his full height.

While I glanced at him, still out of sorts by everything that had just gone down, I watched how his gaze bounced from his hands to me. His eyes, which I could tell had sobered up and returned to that aloof semblance, remained on me for a heartbeat and then dismissed me just as quickly.

Just like he always did.

My gaze followed his oddly large and sturdy figure walk to the door and into the hallway, the hammering in my chest somehow speeding up and settling down, all at once.

“Let’s go, mija,” Héctor said, now standing and looking down on me. “I have a bag of chicharrones in my office. Ximena slipped it into my laptop bag the other day, and I’ve been saving it.” He followed that with a wink.

Standing from my chair, I laughed lightly. Héctor’s little girl was getting a bear hug from me the next time I saw her.

“You need to raise that girl’s weekly allowance.” I followed him out, trying my best to return the smile.

Although I couldn’t help but notice that after only a few steps, the corners of my lips wavered, breaking into something that didn’t quite reach my eyes.

Chapter Three

This wasn’t how I had pictured my evening going.

It was late, InTech’s headquarters had mostly emptied, I had at least four or five hours of work ahead of me, and my stomach was rumbling so loudly that I suspected it was about to start eating itself.

“Estoy jodida,” I said under my breath, realizing how screwed I really was.

One, because the last thing I had eaten was a sad green salad that clearly turned out to be a big mistake as much as it had seemed the most sensible idea, having the wedding a total of four weeks away. Two, I didn’t have any snacks at hand and no change for the vending machine downstairs. And three, the PowerPoint slide on my laptop screen was still blinking at me, half-empty.

My hands fell on my keyboard, hesitating over the keys for a full minute.

A text pinged from my phone, drawing my attention. Rosie’s name flashed on the screen. I unlocked it, and an image immediately popped open.

It was a photo of a luscious flat white, topped by a beautiful milk foam rosette. Beside it, there was a triple-chocolate brownie that shamelessly glinted under the light.

Rosie: You in?

She didn’t need to specify the plan or send me the address. That feast could only belong to Around the Corner, our favorite coffee shop in the city. My mouth started immediately salivating at the thought of being in that caffeinated safe haven on Madison Avenue.

Muffling a groan, I wrote back.

Lina: I’d love to, but I’m stuck at work.

Three dots jumped on the screen.

Rosie: You sure? I saved you a seat.

Before I could type back a reply, another text came through.

Rosie: I got the last brownie, but I’ll share. Only if you get here quickly. I’m not made of steel.

I sighed. Definitely better than the reality of working extra time on a Wednesday evening but …

Lina: I can’t. I’m working on the Open Day stuff I told you about. I’m deleting that photo, BTW. Too tempting.

Rosie: Oh no. You didn’t tell me more than the fact that you were stuck with it. When’s it taking place?

Lina: Right after I’m back from Spain. *bride emoji* *skull emoji*

Rosie: I still don’t get why you have to do it. Aren’t you swamped with work?

Yep. That was exactly what I should have been doing, the job I was paid to do. Not organizing an open-doors day that served as an excuse to show around a bunch of suits that I’d have to feed, babysit, and be extra nice to. Whatever the hell that meant. But complaining wouldn’t get me anywhere.

Lina: *unamused emoji* It is what it is.

Rosie: Yeah, well, I don’t like Jeff all that much right now.

Lina: I thought you said he was a silver fox. *smirking emoji*

Rosie: I said, objectively. And he can look good for a 50-year-old and still be a jerk. You know I seem to find those particularly attractive.

Lina: You kinda do, Rosie. That Ted was a total assface. Happy you two are not a thing anymore.

Rosie: *poo emoji*

The texts stopped coming long enough for me to think our conversation was done. Good. I needed to work on this crappy—

My phone pinged again.

Rosie: Sorry, the owner’s husband just showed up, and I got distracted. #swoon

Rosie: He is so handsome. He brings