The American Roommate Experiment (Spanish Love Deception #2)(69)

Rosie huffed. “Lina. Would you just stop asking that question? We’re not having sex.”

“No flirting?” my cousin continued. “Intense staring? Sensual touching? Heavy petting? Kissing? French or not, both count in my book.”

“Déjalo ya, Lina,” I told her, even though she might have been onto something. I didn’t have a single issue admitting to her that Rosie and I were going on experimental dates, for her book, but I’d never do that without checking in with Rosie first. Being research partners meant something. We were a team. “Rosie and I are friends.”

And above all else, we were.

My cousin stared into her best friend’s eyes for a long time, and when she finally looked at me, she said, “Ella es mi mejor amiga. Como una hermana para mí.” She’s my best friend. Like a sister to me. “Es demasiado buena.” She’s too good.

For me.

Lina hadn’t said that, but I knew it followed that statement.

And I didn’t disagree.

Rosie was out of my league. Women like her didn’t go around with men that had lost so much, who had nothing left to offer. Men that wouldn’t even stay in the country for more than a few weeks.

Lina locked eyes with me for a long moment, then pointed a finger at Rosie. “A moment.” She waved it in the hallway’s direction. “Alone, please.”

Aaron finally released his wife, but not before kissing her temple, and murmuring, “Be good.”

Rosie sent me a quick look, and I winked at her before watching her follow her best friend out, leaving Aaron and me behind.

“So…” I said with a sigh. “Do you think my nuts are out of the woods yet?”

His eyes jumped to the entrance door, as if he could see right through it, then back at me. “If you play your cards right.”

I cocked a brow. “And by right you mean…”

The man crossed his arms over his chest and considered his answer. “Lina’s more bark than bite.” His gaze darted in the direction of his wife again, then back at me. “She loves you, Lucas. She was so excited to see you that we came here straight from the airport. Unannounced.” That warmed a spot in my chest. I loved Lina, too. Of course, I did. “But I don’t think I’ll be able—or want—to hold her down if you hurt Rosie.”

I could tell he wasn’t bullshitting me. He’d probably help if I ever hurt Rosie. And I liked that, I liked knowing that people like Aaron and Lina had Rosie’s back.

That was why I looked at him straight in the eye when I said, “I’d never hurt her. I could never do that.”

Aaron’s lips tipped up in a surprisingly bright smile. “I know.”





CHAPTER SIXTEEN


Rosie


Lina shook her head.

“What?” I whispered. “What’s that exasperated look for?”

We were in our favorite café in Manhattan, hours after Lina had shown up at her apartment and learned of Lucas and my arrangement, and demanded we meet again in the evening to talk.

Not just talk. But talk. Away from the men.

“Don’t what me,” Lina answered, exhaling forcefully for what had to be the hundredth time. “You know what. I go on my honeymoon for a few weeks and when I come back, I find you all… cozy and homey with my cousin.”

“You’re right,” I told her, because she was. “We should have told you about it from day one. I feel terrible, Lina. Awful for occupying your apartment like this without you knowing.”

Lina groaned. “It’s not that I’m upset about, Rosie.”

The impulse to come in Lucas’s defense resurfaced, but I told myself to push it down. I had officially known the man for close to three weeks, so it wasn’t my place, I guessed. I’d said enough this morning. “What is it, then? What is it about Lucas and I being friends that bothers you so much?”

“I love him, okay?” She held both hands up. “Out of all my cousins, Lucas is the one I’m closest to. So, when I say I love him, I don’t mean it in a ‘I put up with him because he’s blood’ kind of way. He’s like the big brother I never had. And that… I don’t know. Maybe that’s part of the issue. The idea of him getting between us and hurting you makes me want to cut his—”

“Okay.” I stopped her there, before she started throwing threats around again. “First of all, no one’s getting between you and me, okay? I’m serious.”

She nodded.

“Now,” I continued. “Why do you assume he’s going to hurt me? Is that related to whatever Lucas juju you mentioned this morning?”

Lina shrugged. “Maybe.”

“Can you explain it to me? Tell me why?”

Lina’s hands draped around her coffee mug, bringing it to her lips. “Fine.” She took a sip before continuing: “Lucas’s superpower is making people love him, and as annoying as he was when we were kids, he is lovable. Sometimes. And trust me, I know he has a pantie-dropping smile, and that he’s good-looking in this… easy way. And I also know he can be funny, too, okay?”

“Okay,” I murmured. Because he was all those things. On top of the many, many other things that made me like him so much.