Page 97 of Love Off Course

“We’re in public.” I gasp when he brushes his fingers over my pussy through my dress. “You can’t do this.”

“All I want to do is strip you out of this dress and spend the rest of the day making up to you with my mouth.”

I shiver despite the heat. “That sounds lovely, but we’re busy. We’ll consider it later.”

“Consider it?” He snorts. “I’ll have you naked and beneath me within the hour.”

My heart flutters at his words. I know they’re true. There’s no way in hell I’m denying him.

“Sounds like a bet,” I state, pulling away to challenge him with a glare. “What do I win if you lose?”

He smirks. “I don’t lose.”

“Neither do I.”

“Someone has to lose.”

“What if we both win?”

“A tie?”

“¡Mijo!”

Our banter is cut short when Rosita appears in the doorway. She’s smiling. At first, I didn’t think she could smile. And when I suggested we purchase the hotel, she didn’t smile at all. In fact,she yelled. A lot. Thankfully all in Spanish so I didn’t understand a thing. It was Eduardo who calmed her down and made her see that we were doing something good. She just had to let us. We negotiated on a fair number and wrote in that she still manages the hotel since she’s the experienced one. We also negotiated that she’ll take my advice too because I’m experienced when it comes to businesses, especially acquisitions. Estefania is excellent with social media and brings a marketing aspect we’ll eventually need while Damian is the design brain in the bunch. He sees the dirty and knows just how to make it pretty without breaking the bank. We’re a great team.

“Mamá,” Camilo says. “What did you do?”

She hugs him and then hugs me. “What was necessary.”

“But this is your home,” he murmurs. “You built this place.”

“It’s still my home. Sheridan made sure of it.” She grabs his hand and tugs. “Come inside and let us show you what we’re doing to the restaurant.”

When we enter, Linda waves. I learned that she doesn’t speak because her ex-husband punched her in the throat. It was the last straw before she left him for good. Rosita spilled that one late night. Rosita knows everything about everyone. You can guarantee I pulled out every childhood story about Camilo that I could get from her.

Rosita drags Camilo around and shows him different swatches of colors and tiles Damian brought by. I make my way into the kitchen to talk to my newest bestie.

“Dulce niña, ¿tienes hambre?”

I am working on my Spanish, but all I pick out is sweet girl since that’s what he calls me all the time.

“Got anything good for me to eat?” I ask, peeking around him.

“The best for the best.” He winks at me and then starts piling things onto a plate. “I will always have food for you.”

I grin at him as I take the plate and then sit down on a barstool. We have things on order that will make cooking a lot easier for him. I made sure to let him pick it all out since I know nothing about industrial-sized appliances and kitchen cookware. I pick up what looks like a taquito and take a bite. It’s spicy but so good.

“Eduardo,” I groan. “This is heavenly.”

He chuckles and turns back to the stove. At one time I’d been grossed out by how sweaty he gets when he works. But he can’t help it. He’s passionate about cooking and this kitchen isn’t well ventilated. I’m definitely hooking him up with a better air conditioner during the remodel.

“¡Cuervo!” Eduardo booms when Camilo steps into the kitchen. “My boy.”

He pulls Camilo to him for a big hug before releasing him. Then, he starts piling food on a plate. Camilo smirks at me before accepting the plate and sitting beside me. Rosita comes into the kitchen to dance with Eduardo to whatever song is playing on the radio nearby.

Camilo frowns, glancing at me. He’ll soon see that Rosita has removed the stick out of her ass—which I’m pretty sure was stress related—and is a much happier woman. She’s practically giddy at all of the changes this hotel is undergoing.

“You’ve been busy,” Camilo says.

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