Page 53 of Sleeping with the Frenemy

“We now have a dog that neither one of us planned for!” Leo pointed out.

“And you love it,” Abuelo said. “Also who watches the dog when you both work?” Abuelo asked.

Leo wanted to point out that Abuelo should’ve thought about that before he foisted Tostón onto them, but he knew it would be a waste of time. “The number of people who’ve volunteered their babysitting services means that I never have to worry about that. But when I have to go anywhere, I leave him with Liam since Liam has moved his office into his place, we don’t have to worry about him wandering around the distillery all day.”

Abuelo nodded as if he’d figured as much. “You need to make this work for Sofi otherwise she’ll get frustrated and blame you for tricking her into keeping him.”

“Ididn’t trick her into anything,” Leo pointed out. “That was you two.”

Abuelo ignored that. “Just try to make sure you’re both there waiting for Sofi when she gets home.” Abuelo sat forward as he began to get excited with the ideas he was spitballing. “Cook dinner, clean, take care of stuff.”

“You want me to be her housewife while working two jobs?” Sure his position at the distillery hadn’t officially started yet—it was mostly just planning at the moment—and once he got back on platoon duty he would have more daylight hours available, but still, he had a lot going on.

“I want you to prove to her that you will be a good partner. That you want to make her life easier not harder.”

“No woman with common sense wants a man who requires her to do more work to be with him.” Doña Fina took a sip from her cup. “What purpose does he serve, then? Good sex? We can get that without a relationship. Most of us can get it without even needing the man.”

“She’s right,” Abuelo said, patting Tostón’s head as the dog leaned against his leg. “The time for all that ‘women need men’ nonsense is over. It’s time for us men to prove that we are worthy of them, not the other way around.”

Leo blinked. He didn’t know what to say to that. On one hand, eww old people talking about sex. On the other, they were right. He didn’t want to be a burden for Sofi. He didn’t want to tie her down or hold her back, like an invasive species of ivy coiling around a flower’s stem and preventing it from reaching the sunlight. He wanted them to be like two fruit trees planted in the same yard because they cross-pollinate and therefore help each other bear fruit. He wanted...to flourish together.

“I get it,” he told them.

Leo was feeling pretty good about the next steps until Doña Fina threw out her next idea. “I also think she should go on that dating app her friends want her to join.”

That was not going to happen. Not on Leo’s watch. “Why would sending her out with other guys be a good idea?”

“Because what better way to show her that what she thinks she wants is not actually what she wants?”

“You want to purposely send her on dates with dudes just to make me look good?” Leo wasn’t sure if he was more offended for these other guys or himself. Did she really think that he needed all of that to look good? And, sure, most men were trash humans who only wanted relationships as long as they didn’t require any type of work or personal growth, but there were good dudes out there and Leo wasn’t going to risk one of them crossing her path.

“That could work,” Abuelo Papo said.

“No.” Leo shook his head. “That could easily blow up in my face. She could make a real connection with someone and it would push me way back.”

“That’s true,” Doña Fina agreed.

“Besides,” Leo continued, really needing to drive home the point. “If she’s spending her free time going on dates, it cuts into the little bit of time I’ll have to spend with her.”

Doña Fina tapped her finger on her chin, her gaze focused into the distance. “Okay, fine. We won’t do that part, but I’ll keep thinking about what else we can do.”

Leo really didn’t want them doing anything more. It was enough to get their advice. He didn’t need Abuelo to start pulling more shenanigans. He knew all too well his abuelo had the tendency to go way too hard. “Listen. Let’s not plan anything else until we give this a chance. I know Sofi better than anyone and she needs to be guided gently into things. You can’t try to force her to do anything or she will shut you out completely.” He reached for Tostón’s leash before standing. “I have to get going, but I’ll do what you said in terms of dinner, chores, and such. I do want her to know I can be a good partner.”

It wasn’t until he’d said goodbye and got in his car that Leo realized they’d never agreed not to come up with more schemes.Shit.

13

The last thing Sofi expected when she came home from work late on Monday evening was to be swiftly corralled into the distillery for an impromptu taste testing. According to Kamilah, the wedding party was getting together to choose a signature drink for the reception which was news to Sofi—the planner of said reception.

Freshly changed into a casual blue romper and some flat sandals, Sofi breezed through the open garage doors of Kane Distillery where the rest of the wedding party was hanging around laughing and listening to ’90s R&B. She was immediately set upon by her baby boy.

Tostón ran over to her, his tail wagging and tongue hanging out of his mouth. He started doing what Sofi had begun calling “tap dancing.” When he got so excited that he’d do this prance-like dance. It reminded her of those videos of the charros making their horses dance. Tostón did it whenever he was really happy about something and it was the cutest thing ever.

“Hola, bebé,” Sofi told him as she crouched down and gave him tons of snuggles and rubs. “Mami missed you too.”

“I’m obsessed with your dog. Don’t be surprised if I just slip him into my car when we leave.”

Sofi looked up to see Ben, Liam’s best friend, standing over her and Tostón. He was a good-looking man with dark eyes and killer cheekbones, but despite his charm he never did it for Sofi. Not that he seemed interested in her that way. He just liked to flirt and Sofi was usually more than happy to accommodate him even if it was only to piss off Leo. “You’d better not try to steal my dog. I’d have to get his dad on you.” She motioned over to Leo, who was standing behind the bar giving her a dirty look. She decided to put him at ease. “You’re going to have to keep a close eye on Tostón,” she said, raising her voice so it carried through the open space. “This guy wants to kidnap him.”

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