The-Spanish-Love-Deception-www.indianpdf

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Lina: I have no idea what you mean. Is he waiting for something?Rosie: …Lina: Something like a heart transplant? I heard he doesn’t have one.Rosie: Ha, funny. You should keep the jokes for when you two talk.Lina: We won’t.Rosie: That’s right. You two are too busy staring at each other intently. *fireemoji*An unwanted blush rushed to my cheeks.Lina: What’s that supposed to mean?Rosie: You know what it means.Lina: That I want to light him up in a pyre like a witch? Then, okay.Rosie: He’s probably working late too.Lina: So?Rosie: So … you could always go to his office and glare at him in that wayI’m sure he loves.Whoa. What the heck?I moved uncomfortably in my chair as I stared at my phone screen inhorror.Lina: WTF are you talking about? Did you eat too much chocolate again?You know it makes you trippy. *shocked emoji*
Rosie: Deflect all you want.Lina: Not deflecting, just genuinely concerned about your health right now.Rosie: *eye roll emoji*This was new. My friend had never directly addressed whatever nonsenseshe thought she saw. She still dropped a comment here and there every oncein a while.“Simmering tension,” she had said one time.To which I had snorted so hard that a little bit of water came out my nose.That was how ridiculous I thought her observations were.In my humble opinion, all those soapy shows she watched were startingto mess up her perception of reality. Hell, and I was the Spanish one out ofthe two. I had grown up watching soap operas with my abuela. But I surelywasn’t living in one. There wasn’t simmering tension between AaronBlackford and me. I did not glare at him in a way he loved. Aaron didn’t loveanything—he couldn’t do that without a heart.Lina: All right, I have work to do, so I’ll let you get back to your coffee, butstop raiding the pastry counter. I’m concerned.Rosie: Okay, okay. I’ll stop—for now. *heart emoji* Good luck!Lina: *heart emoji* *fire emoji*Locking my phone and placing it facedown on the table, I took a deep,energizing breath.Time to get this show going.The image of the chocolate brownie popped in my head. Assaulting me.No, Lina.Thinking of brownies—or any food—wasn’t going to help. I needed tomake myself believe that I wasn’t hungry.“I’m not hungry,” I said out loud, putting my chestnut hair in a bun. “Mystomach is full. Packed with all kinds of delicious food. Like tacos. Or pizza.Or brownies. Coffee and—”
Page 3 and 4: Copyright © 2021 by Elena ArmasAll
Page 5 and 6: To those chasing dreams,never give
Page 7 and 8: I had gone straight to her office.M
Page 9 and 10: I widened mine at her, ignoring her
Page 11 and 12: covered in a pressed white button-d
Page 13 and 14: usually fought back until I was the
Page 15 and 16: service. I just need a companion. T
Page 17 and 18: face.“Unexpected,” she countere
Page 19 and 20: had barked stuff like, “Try not t
Page 21 and 22: me before my eyes met his.His arm r
Page 23 and 24: Lots of parallel appointments. He w
Page 25 and 26: could I do?Gerald snorted, making m
Page 27 and 28: frustration, I blinked a few times,
Page 29 and 30: C H A P T E R T H R E EThis wasn’
Page 31: Rosie: Yeah, well, I don’t like J
Page 35 and 36: I swiveled my office chair, fully f
Page 37 and 38: His furtive hand moved again, going
Page 39 and 40: “Well, it’s not.” I reached f
Page 41 and 42: I opened my mouth to tell him that
Page 43 and 44: template?”“Oye.” The Spanish
Page 45 and 46: I opened my mouth to confirm that,
Page 47 and 48: concern I could hear in her voice.
Page 49 and 50: would make things even worse. He ha
Page 51 and 52: I was vaguely aware when my mother
Page 53 and 54: person I wanted to chat with at the
Page 55 and 56: thing sounds a little too much, eve
Page 57 and 58: “Okay, those are the facts. But w
Page 59 and 60: Making an effort to calm myself, I
Page 61 and 62: ugly and prejudiced things about me
Page 63 and 64: “Aren’t you allergic to cats?
Page 65 and 66: contrary to my bag, were gorgeous a
Page 67 and 68: Again.That last part he had added v
Page 69 and 70: the interior was in pristine condit
Page 71 and 72: I rolled my eyes. “Don’t let al
Page 73 and 74: silence. I used the time to look ou
Page 75 and 76: eyes were the deep shade of blue th
Page 77 and 78: No, I did not. And the fact that he
Page 79 and 80: “Not even a casual someone you ar
Page 81 and 82: wedding date. Or the fact that he
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it. It was either this or stuffing
Page 85 and 86:
From: ablackford@InTech.comTo: cmar
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had no idea what to do with.Fixing
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yours.” I had refused to save Aar
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hands, which had fallen out of his
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shoulder brushed his chest.His very
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deep voice carried through the bath
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Aaron’s throat worked. “It’ll
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attention to the road.“What?” I
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about you. “I’m game if you are
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“Football? The one with the helme
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heels, I blinked and watched Aaron
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her fifties who was clad in a dress
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I suppressed my smile. “Right. So
Page 111 and 112:
city. Spending some time there, vol
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“Not long enough, if you ask me.
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I looked up at Aaron, finding his e
Page 117 and 118:
Lina? I’m telling you—”Aaron
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My throat dried up, making it impos
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Aggravated by the words Aaron had m
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My gaze shot back to the stage, cla
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But as Aaron came into view, that w
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C H A P T E R N I N EHe offered his
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That was probably why I tripped. Be
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I forced myself to remember that I
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A part of me wanted to say yes. Yes
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home.”He turned around and left m
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Fine by me. I had never wanted to b
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Our boss laughed lightly.Nobody bot
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The screeching of chairs brought me
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I stared at him, finding it hard to
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realizing I had said too much. “I
Page 147 and 148:
C H A P T E R E L E V E NEverything
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Beautiful, flawless, unaffected. I
Page 151 and 152:
There was something funny about tha
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“Stubborn woman,” he muttered u
Page 155 and 156:
whatever was going on with him. “
Page 157 and 158:
of those. I love meat. Roasted lamb
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“So, Aaron,” I started, the wor
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“I told you we would talk about i
Page 163 and 164:
options we are left with.”This ma
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“Okay,” I pushed out. “You ha
Page 167 and 168:
C H A P T E R T W E L V EHours left
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a little rattled already.”My huge
Page 171 and 172:
He tilted his head. “I see.”The
Page 173 and 174:
unfairly, okay, fine—so often in
Page 175 and 176:
as I tried really hard to shove awa
Page 177 and 178:
pressed beneath my cheek a moment a
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know. And I hope you have enough cl
Page 181 and 182:
And as much as I had no clue how we
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I’m a member of the airline’s S
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to the right of my lips. And then,
Page 187 and 188:
which were resting on his lap. “H
Page 189 and 190:
“Or maybe we should go over basic
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don’t know,” I said, kicking th
Page 193 and 194:
My gaze roamed around desperately,
Page 195 and 196:
landed on Aaron, traveling from his
Page 197 and 198:
dirty look Aaron sent me over his s
Page 199 and 200:
I grimaced. Way to put it out there
Page 201 and 202:
“Great. Well, we should really un
Page 203 and 204:
No, no, no. I kicked out of my head
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and symmetrical lines. Gonzalo woul
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Wedding Cup, a little part of me wo
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“He does look like him, doesn’t
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that included more than a fair shar
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Of all sports involving balls, socc
Page 215 and 216:
My gaze roamed around the group, co
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gentle brushes against my skin had
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IF THE CHAOS around me was anything
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followed Gonzalo’s and Daniel’s
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soccer match, as if he hadn’t jus
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C H A P T E R S E V E N T E E NAgai
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My words of encouragement were naiv
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One last bounce, and chaos erupted
Page 231 and 232:
mostly flat. Still.“Boisterous? I
Page 233 and 234:
C H A P T E R E I G H T E E NStoppi
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that ideal world, the man by my sid
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My palms started sweating. My siste
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office. A little after five p.m.”
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“And what happened next?” a fam
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sidrería. Which I wasn’t sure wa
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something simmered and flared in hi
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other, and high-fived over our head
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Another nudge of his leg.And what a
Page 251 and 252:
Aaron didn’t say anything for a l
Page 253 and 254:
that.”More loss. My heart broke f
Page 255 and 256:
into empty space, until Aaron close
Page 257 and 258:
My gaze followed the geometric patt
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bed. Both of us.” I swallowed the
Page 261 and 262:
A humorless chuckle left his lips t
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And wasn’t I doing all those thin
Page 265 and 266:
Aaron’s forehead fell on mine. I
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C H A P T E R T W E N T YThe moment
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from Aaron. Before I did something
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The one I had heard directed at me
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Dammit, Charo. My lips curled in a
Page 275 and 276:
calling him that, like I had done s
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“Y qué intenciones tiene este ch
Page 279 and 280:
C H A P T E R T W E N T Y - O N ESu
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ourselves in. Except that the chair
Page 283 and 284:
My dad kept searching his mind for
Page 285 and 286:
The man beside me didn’t hesitate
Page 287 and 288:
I suddenly felt toward him. He wasn
Page 289 and 290:
more than once. But … whether wha
Page 291 and 292:
know? And he keeps staring at where
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conversation with Daniel. It had be
Page 295 and 296:
care about it. I didn’t until I w
Page 297 and 298:
Gonzalo and Isabel, and they fell d
Page 299 and 300:
shoulders. Nothing like before, but
Page 301 and 302:
C H A P T E R T W E N T Y - T W OWh
Page 303 and 304:
navy pants and his jacket partly op
Page 305 and 306:
every single time the tune announci
Page 307 and 308:
man so confident, so composed—one
Page 309 and 310:
from remaining upright.Aaron took a
Page 311 and 312:
Insanity—that was what this was.
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C H A P T E R T W E N T Y - T H R E
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unsuccessfully tried to untie the c
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give me.” I needed him to inch cl
Page 319 and 320:
came around me. One hand landed on
Page 321 and 322:
my backside, in sync with the plung
Page 323 and 324:
is beating a million miles an hour
Page 325 and 326:
skin all the way to the junction of
Page 327 and 328:
He lifted my weight, placing me aga
Page 329 and 330:
different question popped up in my
Page 331 and 332:
exploring my skin. His mouth causin
Page 333 and 334:
pack our suitcases in five and show
Page 335 and 336:
me. To my chest, to my head.“I lo
Page 337 and 338:
Rosie: Are you back? How bad was it
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It was, and I wasn’t just talking
Page 341 and 342:
I felt his arm come around my shoul
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My eyelids fluttered shut, and I th
Page 345 and 346:
catching on the neckline of my tank
Page 347 and 348:
one fisting my hair. I’d dissolve
Page 349 and 350:
skin feels hot to the touch, yeah.
Page 351 and 352:
Me, cheeks flushed and a dazed expr
Page 353 and 354:
fell on my hair with a fierceness t
Page 355 and 356:
constantly going at it like animals
Page 357 and 358:
braced myself for a few tortuous mi
Page 359 and 360:
staring at us. Eating it all up lik
Page 361 and 362:
“Talk to me.”I kept walking, no
Page 363 and 364:
“How is it possible that it feels
Page 365 and 366:
pushed him to walk away.I pushed hi
Page 367 and 368:
“I’ve called you here in light
Page 369 and 370:
“Did … did Aaron leave? Did som
Page 371 and 372:
life-altering moments. Some had las
Page 373 and 374:
snapped up. As he sat in that rigid
Page 375 and 376:
a list of hospitals where he could
Page 377 and 378:
He had said that. And the realizati
Page 379 and 380:
not only did I understand him in a
Page 381 and 382:
Aaron looked down at me, his eyes s
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ONE YEAR LATER“Catalina.” The d
Page 385 and 386:
my things together. “Coming, comi
Page 387 and 388:
too. Treasure you. Love you. Want y
Page 389 and 390:
A B O U T T H E A U T H O RElena is
Page 391:
Cristina, you have been so good to
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