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“You were amazing,” I murmur.

I feel her cheek press against my chest. “Really? I didn’t do much. And no one could understand me except your sisters.”

“Did you have a good time?” I ask, suddenly nervous.

She sits up. “Oh, yes,” she says. “Your family is …” She swallows hard, and I see a flash of strong emotion in her eyes. “They’re wonderful.” Then she leans back into me. “But wow, the Minions are a lot.”

I laugh. “What would you like to do now?”

“Can we go back to the park with the dogs?” she asks, hopefully.

I kiss her temple. “Of course we can.”

I tell Enrique to take us to Parque México.

41Eloise

Rachel: So … have you done it yet?

Me: I don’t know what you’re talking about.

Rachel:

Me: How old are you???

“Are you two texting each other?” Agustín asks.

My head whips up as I hide my phone under the table.

“No,” I say at the same moment Rachel says, “Yes.”

I glare at her and she laughs.

“Sorry, we’ll stop now,” she says, putting her phone down next to her plate. She leans back in her chair and takes a final sip of her wine. “This place is incredible, Agustín. Thanks for taking us here.”

I agree. It’s a seafood restaurant in a quiet, less touristy neighborhood of the city, called San Miguel Chapultepec. Rachel and I are the only Americans in this place. And I just had possibly the most delicious branzino of my entire life. The food has been one of the best parts of this trip so far.

Second only to the kissing.

Over the past few days, the kissing has kind of gotten out of control. I can’t seem to stop wanting it. All the time. At very inappropriate moments, like when we’re buying snacks at Oxxo (the chain of convenience stores all over the city) or visiting Caro at the boutique she works at in Colonia Roma. And the more I kiss Agustín, the more I want … well, more. I shiver with nerves at the thought.

Of course, I trust Agustín implicitly. But there’s trust and then there’s being literally, physically naked in front of someone. Am I ready for that?

But if I’m not ready now, with him, then it feels like I may as well throw in the towel on sex forever.

“… and tomorrow night is the rehearsal dinner,” Rachel is saying. Agustín’s hand rests lightly on my knee, and I thread my fingers through his as Rachel prattles on. “Apparently rehearsal dinners are not a ‘thing’ in Mexico but—”

“They aren’t,” Diego and Agustín say in unison, then laugh with each other.

“But,” Rachel says again, firmly this time, “this wedding is a blend of two cultures and they are most definitely a thing in the US, and I am not about to miss out, thank you very much.”

“Luckily, my mother loves throwing events almost as much as you do, amor,” Diego says warmly.

She pecks his cheek. “Exactly.” She glances at the time. “We should probably get going.”

Diego pays the check, and we walk out of the restaurant where his black SUV and driver wait. Rachel gives me a huge hug, and I realize this is the last time I’ll see her before the wedding. Tears spring to my eyes, and I hold her tight.

“He adores you,” she whispers in my ear. “I’ve never seen someone so clearly head over heels. I couldn’t have asked for a better man for you, my dearest darling friend.”