The American Roommate Experiment (Spanish Love Deception #2)(45)

“Yep.” I sighed. “That’s me.”

A grin split his face slowly, his lips stretching in this grand and magnificent way, as if Moses himself was parting the Red Sea.

With all the might I could summon, I ripped my gaze off his face. “Anyway, I hadn’t worked out the details yet, so I didn’t really know if I was going to be outright honest or just, I don’t know, go with the flow and hope for the best.” I frowned at how impractical all of this sounded. How… dishonest. “I wouldn’t want anyone to get hurt if they found out I was using them, though.”

“Enter Lucas,” he quipped.

I looked up, finding his Moses grin staring right back at me. That smile was so… confident. Reassuring. Comforting. Like a safety net, just there, just in case you fell. “Lucas…” I trailed off, questioning my own sanity for actually considering his offer. “You don’t date. You’re not in the market for that. You said so yourself.”

“This is not dating; it’s experimental dating.”

“This is…” This was madness.

It isn’t, a greedy and reckless voice countered in my head. It’s a chance to get closer to him without needing an excuse. Before he leaves for good.

No.

I needed to be reasonable. “You’ll be in New York only for a few weeks,” I pointed out. Six to be exact. “I wouldn’t want you to spend your time doing this instead of whatever you had planned.”

Lucas looked down at his hands for a few seconds, then back at me. “That won’t be an issue, Rosie.”

I tilted my head, watching him closely and catching one of those shadows crossing his expression. “Don’t you want to continue exploring the city?”

“No.” A shake of his head. “I’m going to be honest with you, Rosie,” and the way his voice dropped had me holding my breath so I wouldn’t miss a word. “I’ve been traveling alone for six weeks. By choice, because it was something I thought I needed. But it has… backfired in a way I wasn’t expecting. I wasn’t lying when I told you I was feeling lonely.” He shrugged a shoulder as if it was no big deal, as if it didn’t make me want to reach out and hold his hand. “So, you can say I have more time on my hands than I know what to do with, alone, and I’d welcome the company. And I know you’ve noticed, but”—he patted his right thigh—“I’m not exactly in the best shape for all this walking around.”

My gaze shot to his hand as it rested on his leg. It hadn’t exactly been obvious, but I’d noticed he favored his left side. I remembered that first night, too, when he nearly fell over.

What happened to you, Lucas? I wanted to ask.

But I didn’t, because something told me that him opening up and admitting this out loud was already… big enough. Out of the ordinary. And I wanted to treasure it, but above all, I wanted to show him we could do this at his own pace, on his own terms, and I wouldn’t pry him open just because I was curious. “So, you’re saying that I would be doing something for you, too? If we were to be… experiment partners?”

“You would, Rosie.” He met my gaze. “More than you know.”

I liked that. So much that I felt a tingly, fuzzy sensation filling up my chest.

“These experimental dates need to feel real, though. I’m not talking about… kissing or canoodling or holding hands. But about everything else. About being… romanced. Connecting. Sharing things you would in real dates.”

His chuckle was deep. “What’s canoodling?”

“You know, getting… close, physically.” Some of the amusement left his eyes, but I ignored that. “That could mess up things between us. Our friendship.”

Lucas didn’t hesitate when he said, “Then we’ll be honest with each other if that ever happens.”

Honest with each other.

Honest like one of the parties confessing to having harbored a crush on the other?

Strike one for Rosie.

Lucas leaned forward, a whiff of his soapy, clean scent hitting me straight in the gut. “I’ll tell you what,” he said, and I swallowed. Mostly because he was now much, much closer. Right on the edge of the coffee table, his long legs caging me in. “I promise you that I won’t let this interfere with our friendship.” He moved another inch forward. “You’ll tell me all about those dating phases you need to experience, we’ll go on the dates, be the best experiment partners we can be, and at the end of the day, when we come back home, we’ll be Rosie and Lucas. Roommates. Friends. Soon enough, best friends.”

“Best friends?” I croaked.

“Yeah.” He nodded, then repeated, that deep, musical voice of his enunciating the words, “Best friends.”

Clearly dazzled by his scent, his words, the way his brown eyes seemed to twinkle up close, I didn’t say anything.

That was probably why Lucas felt the need to add, “And if you’re still on the fence, I can promise you something.” A pause. “I promise I will not fall in love with you and make things awkward, Rosalyn Sage.”

I swallowed, giving myself time, because I had no reason whatsoever to feel this… heartbroken over that vow.

In fact, I had no reason whatsoever to feel anything but excited. Lucas was offering to help me. And whether I did this with him or not, at the end of the next five weeks, he was leaving. Either way. To a different continent. And two weeks after that, I needed to hand over my manuscript.