The American Roommate Experiment (Spanish Love Deception #2)(25)

“Deal.”

“Oh.” She straightened on her stool. “And you take the bed. I’ll sleep on the couch.”

Not a chance in hell, but it was adorable that she believed I’d ever accept. “Rosie—”

My ringtone blared through the apartment, interrupting us.

“Might be important,” she said. “You should take it.”

With a nod, I sprinted to the phone. My sister’s name flashed on the screen, notifying me of an incoming video call.

I held my phone in front of me. “Hermanita.”

“Lucas!” she screeched, her flaming red hair bouncing with her enthusiasm. “?Cómo está mi persona favorita en todo el mundo mundial?”

Her favorite person in the world? My sister never said stuff like that unless…

“What did you do, Charo?” I asked her in Spanish.

She gasped, pretending to be outraged. “Excuse you. I’m a saint, you know that.”

I snorted. And because she really wasn’t one, I asked, “Is Taco okay?”

My sister rolled her eyes just as a bark sounded in the background. “You are an overbearing pup dad. Do you know that? Taco is perfectly fine under my care.”

There was movement on her side, the image blurring for a couple seconds. Then, a familiar snout appeared on the screen.

“?Hola, chico!” I told my best bud, barely keeping the emotion off my voice. “?Estás siendo un buen chico?”

Taco tilted his head at the sound of my voice, then a whimper came from the phone.

“I miss you, too, buddy.” That earned me an excited woof. “Is Charo taking good care of you?”

Taco turned and licked my sister’s face, then faced the camera and did the same with her phone.

“?Taco, no!” Charo’s voice was muffled by my dog’s tongue, presumably on the microphone. After a couple seconds of wrestling, both of them were back in the frame. “Your dog will lick or eat just about anything, is that normal?”

I chuckled. “Yeah. Like daddy, like son. Right, Taco?” He barked in confirmation. “A few months ago, he sneaked into Mamá’s pantry and slaughtered the jamón. The good one. She was furious.” And therefore, wouldn’t dogsit him while I was away for three months. “But he’s a good boy, aren’t you, Taco? You’re just a little hungry all the time.”

Charo shook her head while Taco sat proudly at her side.

“Hey, buddy, I want you to meet someone.” I turned around, looking for Rosie. I found her right where I had left her, sitting on a stool, only now her eyes were wide.

She pointed at herself. “Me?”

“Yeah, you.” I walked up to her, placed myself behind, and stretched my arm in front of us. “Who else would I be talking about?”

Lowering myself, I scooted closer to Rosie’s back to make sure Charo and Taco could see us both. With the change of position, I brushed the back of her shoulder with my chest, and it was hard to miss how she stiffened.

“Taco,” I said, wondering if I had crossed some line invading her personal space. “This is Rosie, my new friend. And, Rosie.” I glanced at her profile, taking in her flushed cheeks and neck, noticing the freckles under the pink covering her skin. “This is my best and closest friend, Taco. And my sister, Charo.”

Rosie’s lips parted with a breath just as she turned her head to look at me, and the moment our gazes met I realized that this had nothing to do with Rosie being uncomfortable with me standing so close. She was affected, just like she’d been earlier today. When she was checking me out.

I couldn’t stop my lips from twitching.

She shook her head lightly and returned her attention to my phone, the quick motion leaving me with a taste of a sweet and fruity scent. Like—

A happy woof snagged back my attention.

“Hi, Taco,” Rosie finally said. I could see her smile in the little square on the screen. “It’s so good to finally meet you.”

Finally, huh?

Rosie continued, “And, Charo, how are you? It’s good to see you. I had no idea Lucas and you were siblings. Nobody said anything. Not that it matters, of course. Just surprised because you two are so…”

“Different,” Charo offered. “I know, cari?o. It’s the hair, isn’t it? You know, everyone thought Lucas was going to be a redhead, too. It was either that, or early balding. Both things run in the family, you see? Everyone just assumed he was cutting his hair so short to hide a receding hairline. And you know what? No one would have blamed him.”

I sighed. “Charo, you know it was for—”

“Competition, yes,” she finished for me. And I felt the pang of pain that accompanied the reminder. “Because it’s easier and more comfortable with the salt water and the sunlight and all that jazz. But now that you’re on vacation,” she added, and it was hard to keep my face neutral. Not to give her any indication that even if my stay in the US wasn’t permanent, my vacation was. “Now you proved them all wrong, didn’t you, ricitos de oro?”

I huffed.

Rosie asked, “Ricitos de oro?” And while her pronunciation was nowhere close to being right, it sounded so… sweet that the heaviness in my gut receded for a second there.