I had always wanted Rosie. But now I was ready to take everything and anything she’d give me. I was counting the seconds to start a life with her, in New York, while I attended culinary school to build a new future for myself. While she thrived in her career as a romance writer. While we built a future together.
“You’re in the cab, then?” Rosie asked, jolting me back to the conversation. “On your way to the airport?”
“I’m in the cab, yes.” Only I wasn’t on my way to the airport; I was on my way to her. I’d landed in New York an hour ago, as much as Rosie thought I hadn’t boarded my flight yet.
“Ugh, I already feel like the last ten weeks have been the longest of my life. And now, I must wait another full night. It’s not fair.”
I watched Rosie’s building come into view. “I’m almost there, Rosie.”
“I know.” She sighed. “But I want you here now.”
The cab pulled up. “What will you do when you see me, ángel?”
A deep, sultry laugh left her. “What will I not do?”
I pulled out my wallet and paid the driver. “Describe it for me.”
“I’ll jump in your arms,” she said, no hesitation.
I hung my trusted and beat backpack on a shoulder and made my way to her building. I pushed at the entrance door and found it open. I made a note of getting someone to fix it and went in.
She continued, “I’ll cover you in kisses. Your mouth, your neck, your eyelids, your ears, everything I can reach.”
“Everything?” I asked as I climbed the steps to her floor.
“Every single spot I can get my lips on,” she confirmed, and I hummed. “Then, only when I’m done and satisfied with my job, I will very kindly climb off you, tug at the hem of your shirt, and peel it right off you so I can start working on getting you—”
I knocked on the door.
I heard Taco’s excited bark.
And through the line, I heard Rosie suck in a breath.
I asked her, “At getting me what?”
“Naked,” she mumbled. She exhaled shakily. Emotion was clogging her voice when she added, “Lucas?”
“Rosie?”
“Your flight,” she answered, and I could hear everything in those two words: the surprise, the relief, the love, the joy. “You told me it was today. That you would get here tomorrow.”
“I did,” I confirmed. “And I didn’t lie. My flight was tomorrow. But I couldn’t wait, Rosie. So, I got myself an earlier one.”
“You did?”
“I did, preciosa.” I heard her soft steps. Quick. As desperate as I was for her. “I couldn’t wait a single second more to see you, Rosie. To kiss you, to wake up every morning beside you for the rest of my days. To cook for you and remind you to drink water when you’re too lost in your writing. To hear my name off your lips every time I’m inside you. I couldn’t wait a second more to start our new life together, Rosie. I’ve waited enough. I’ve waited a lifetime without me knowing. So why don’t you open this door and let me show you?”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Holy smokes. So that really happened, huh?
To say the past twelve months have been a wild ride would be a complete understatement. And believe me, I don’t say that lightly. If you’re new here, and this is the first time you’ve heard of me, you probably have no idea what I’m talking about, and that’s okay-I’ll just THANK you for trusting me with your book moonies and hope you loved Rosie and Lucas as much as I do. But if you do know what I’m referring to… that means you were there about a year ago. It means that you picked up my debut, The Spanish Love Deception, read it, and felt passionate enough to talk about it. To do your magic. And yes, you probably screamed to everyone and their mother （me included） about our grumpy homemade-granola-bar lover: Aaron Blackford. So it means that thanks to YOU, and your love and your passion, I am here, typing these acknowledgements while I sit in my full-time writer’s office, instead of on some corporate laptop, sneaking hours in-between a job that didn’t make me happy and a life that was missing something. This. So thank you. To every single one of you that made this possible, THANK YOU.
Ella, hi. I know you’re going to roll your eyes, but you started this. You’ve been here since that sucky first manuscript of The Spanish Love Deception, and even when it sucked （I can’t stress that enough how sucky it was） you still encouraged me. Because that’s who you are. That’s why I love you and value our friendship so much. That’s why you will never get rid of me and why you’re stuck in my acknowledgements—FOREVER.