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She nods slowly, seemingly already mulling it over.
I take out one last gun from my arsenal. “Oh, but be warned, if you do take the job, they’re definitely going to force Alejandro on you.”
She frowns. “Alejandro?”
Realization dawns on me: I never told her about him. At the time, it was a strategic move. If she knew there were so many eligible, cute men in Spain I was turning down, she would have jumped on the first flight out of Austin.
“Hold on a second,” I say, running to grab my cell phone. “I’ll show you!”
The last time I spoke to Luciana before telling her I wouldn’t be coming back to Spain was over text message. I show the conversation to Ellie.Luciana: GUESS WHAT?! MY BF IS HERE.Ellie reads her text and laughs. “Isn’t she like 12?”
I laugh. “Not even.”
“Who’s her boyfriend?”
I smirk and tell her to keep scrolling.Brooke: BF?! I leave for two weeks and you get yourself a boyfriend? Who?A few minutes later she sent back a photo and to this day, I can’t help but laugh. It’s slightly blurry, but there’s Alejandro standing at the kitchen counter chatting with Diego. He’s wearing his leather jacket, and his jet-black hair is all wavy and sexy. He looks completely unattainable, but what makes me laugh is the fact that Luciana posed the photo as a selfie so both she and Alejandro could be in the photo together without him knowing. Her smiling mug is in the foreground of the photo, taking up 75% of the shot.
“Who is that?!” Ellie demands, pointing at Alejandro.
“That’s Alejandro,” I say with a gloating smile.
“Holy…” She grabs my phone and zooms in until everyone but Alejandro has been pushed off screen. Then, she leans back and releases a heavy sigh right before she lobs me in the shoulder.
“You left THAT behind in Spain?”
“OW.” I snatch my phone back in anger and then lock the screen. No more Alejandro for her.
“No, seriously, Brooke—is he single?”
“I’m not sure. You’ll have to ask Diego when you accept the job.”
Her smile fades and her eyes narrow as she finally catches on to my little trick. “If I take the job, it’s not going to be because of him.”
I laugh. “Of course not. Think of Alejandro as a potential signing bonus.”
Just then a car pulls up into our driveway and a little bolt of excitement spirals through me. I love that sound because it means in a few seconds, James is going to walk through the back door of the house and find Ellie and me in the kitchen. He’ll smile in relief, hang his keys by the door, and loosen his tie as he approaches me to plant a kiss on my lips. He told me the other day that he still gets excited to walk in every night and find me here. I’ve assured him I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be here every night from here on after, but it doesn’t matter. To him, it’s still a novelty to get to come home to someone he loves every night. He told me it’s the best moment of his day, and I agreed.
In the last few months, James has kept a busy work schedule. The BioShield is weeks away from releasing to the public, and that means there’s never been more work for him or his company. Still, he makes a point to be home every night at 6:00 PM and not a minute later. I glance at the clock and smile when I see that it’s 5:59.
The back door opens and James walks in. His keys get hung. His tie is loosened, and with no regard for Ellie’s presence in the kitchen, he heads straight for me.
“Welcome home,” I tease as he grips ahold of my waist and tugs me toward him. My hips meet his as I wrap my hands around his neck and he bends low, planting a passionate kiss on my lips.
“Yeah! Hi! Yoohoo. Could you please stop grabbing my sister’s ass cheeks while I’m standing right here?”
I laugh as James breaks away and finally turns to Ellie. “Oh, hey, didn’t see you there.”
She rolls her eyes and turns back to the refrigerator. “Like hell you didn’t. For that, I’m opening the good wine.”
“Oh yes!” I agree. “You have to. We’re celebrating!”
James glances back and forth between us. “Are we? Why?”
I grin as I announce, “Ellie is going to take my old job and move to Spain!”
“We don’t know that yet,” she points out, opening the cabinet to pull out three wine glasses. From the sound of her voice, I can tell she’s actually going to consider it.
“I think it’s a great idea, Ellie,” James says, maneuvering around the island to uncork the wine. I use the distance as an opportunity to take in the black suit he put on this morning, the suit that does funny things to my insides, even with his tie loosened and his hair a little messy.
