The Spanish Love Deception novel Chapter 68

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“Of course,” he said with his brows still furrowed. “I always have time for you.”

That stupid lurch in my chest resumed.

Swiftly, Aaron unfolded his body from the chair and walked around the desk and then around me while I kept my gaze where he had been a few seconds ago. Standing there like a total dummy, I heard him shut the door, the noise echoing in the silent room.

“Sorry,” I mumbled as he reappeared in front of me. “I could have done that myself. I just didn’t—” I sighed. “I didn’t think. Thanks.”

This time, he didn’t return to his chair. Instead, he leaned his body on the edge of the wooden surface of his desk. “It’s okay. We can talk now.”

Those blue eyes of his pinned me down, waiting.

“We can talk now, yes,” I repeated, squaring back my shoulders. “I think we should do that.” I watched his head nod, feeling my skin clammy with trepidation. “It would be good to clear the air after … all that’s happened.”

“Yes, you are right,” he admitted. Bracing his arms on the desk, his hands grabbed on to the edge. “I came into work today with the intention to get you after the meeting. Suggest that we could have lunch together and talk.”

Lunch together.

“But we never do that.”

Aaron sighed very softly. “I know,” he said almost bitterly. “But I wanted to take you anyway.”

I stared at him, finding it hard to ignore the effect his words had on me.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to now. My whole day has been sidetracked by the news.”

That … that was just as shocking as him admitting to wanting to have lunch with me.

“You didn’t know Jeff would announce your promotion?”

“Not really. I didn’t think that was going to happen anytime soon. Especially not today,” he confessed, sending about a million questions rushing through my mind. “But that’s not important now. You want to talk about us, I assume. So, let’s do that.”

“But it is,” I countered, feeling outraged on his behalf and ignoring the way that us had made me feel. “I think Jeff ambushing you like that is important. I can’t imagine why he would do something like this. It’s just”—I lowered my voice, realizing it had somewhat risen—“unprofessional.”

The blue in Aaron’s eyes simmered, now looking surprised himself. “It is; you are right. And I’ll talk to him about how much, trust me.”

“Good. You should.”

Something softened in his face, and I averted my eyes, letting them rest somewhere above his shoulder. Not wanting him to know I cared as much as I did. Simply because I shouldn’t. We were still the same Lina and Aaron we had always been—certainly not friends—and about to be divided by a whole step in the hierarchy of the company.

Releasing one of my hands from the death grip I had on my planner, I scratched the side of my neck. My gaze still refused to shift to the left, where it’d probably connect with his. So, instead, it moved down, following the seam of the blue button-down that covered his wide shoulders while a thick silence wrapped around us.

“Listen, about our deal—” I started.

“On Saturday, I—” Aaron said at the same time.