Love Arranged (Lakefront Billionaires, #3)

by Lauren Asher

You’d understand if you heard the voice in my head. Ana You struggle with that too? I thought I was the only one. Ana Does yours always tell you to treat yourself to a sweet treat or new outfit when you’ve been mildly inconvenienced?

We both know you’d never willingly choose to be trapped with another human being. Laurence True. Or at least it was until I met you.

while I stare, trying to make sense of the fact that my Ana is none other than Liliana Muñoz.

She laughs—a sound that makes me feel closer to heaven than any religious service or gospel.

One kiss to remember her by, I promise myself, embracing the rush of energy coursing through my body as she single-handedly ruins every future kiss for me.

She might as well be my first and my last because no one from my past compares, and there won’t be a single person who ever will.

I hope you never forgive me for hurting you, I think to myself when she returns my kiss with equal enthusiasm. She tastes of passion fruit and sweet temptation, a forbidden combination that I could become addicted to. I hope you find every reason to hate me and hold on to it, I silently add as I slide my hands through her hair and tilt her head back so I can better plunder her mouth. And I hope that one day, I’ll stop hating myself for letting you go.

Ana When you saw me at the animal shelter and acted like you’d never met me before in front of the volunteer team, it felt like you took my heart and smashed it into a thousand pieces to match yours.

If eyes are the window to the soul, Lorenzo Vittori must lack one, because his blank stare gives absolutely nothing away.

Fashion is my favorite form of self-expression, and lately I want to keep that part of myself hidden away. I’m not sure for how long, but at least until I stop worrying that I’m too much.

even if that someone happens to be the woman I pushed away because falling in love with her isn’t an option.

although his struggle with OCD could be downright debilitating—a daily mental battle I’m all too familiar with thanks to my own diagnosis.

So here I am, a witness to everyone else’s love story after spending so long wishing for mine.

I’ve wished for so many different things in my life because to wish is to hope, and that’s the one thing no one can take away from you.”

“No llores,⁠*”

Usually I find people’s touch repulsive, yet whenever Lily lays a hand on me, my body doesn’t shudder with revulsion. It craves more, and that kind of obsession is exactly why I stayed away

My stomach muscles spasm at the idea of hurting her—a weakness that only applies to her—but

Because my closet and the clothes I wear reflect who I am at my core, and I’m not interested in sharing that part of my heart with people who openly judge me or use it against me.

It isn’t fair for me to use her after I rejected her. I’m well aware of that, and honestly I’m ashamed by the idea, but not enough to stop myself.

“What happened?” she asks. “I thought this was all because he wanted to buy a house you liked.” “Houses,” Julian grumbles. “He tried multiple times.”

Lorenzo speaking Spanish was not on tonight’s bingo card—that’s for sure.

“If my actions said anything, it was that I liked you too damn much, Lily. That was my problem. Never you.”

A heart I took for granted, and a heart someone else will show better appreciation for one day.

“I wasn’t looking for anything real when I joined the app, but meeting you made me consider it.”

She was born with lips meant to be kissed, and for one weak moment, I allow myself to remember what it felt like to have them pressing against mine.

as I wait for Lily to wrap up her conversation, where she has spent the last three minutes listing my pros and cons aloud.

If Lily’s the people’s princess, then I’m the petty prince, living in a house I dislike strictly because it pisses the designer off.

Lily Sure, baby. Me I hate the nickname, by the way. Only because my heart does this little jolt every damn time she uses it.

“Is the person a fellow car collector?” “He’s known for it.” My brows rise. “I wasn’t aware that was something one could become famous for.” “Only when their name is Santiago Alatorre.”

I brush my hand down his chest. “But next time don’t hold back. I promise I can take it.” And that right there is how I helped Lorenzo secure the Smut Club readers’ vote.

Now the bouquet in his house makes so much more sense, although I can’t say the same about the twinge in my chest at seeing his sentimental side.

It’s strange to comfort someone who causes me so much sadness, anger, and self-doubt, but when I see Lorenzo like this—lost, lonely, and paralyzed by some invisible adversary I know nothing about—I can’t leave him to drown in his own demons.

I already have enough to worry about when it comes to myself, so becoming obsessed with Lily is the last thing I need. Even if she’s everything I want.

I turn her ponytail into a rope, winding it around my hand until her head tilts in my direction. She tries to pull away, but she can’t go anywhere.

“A little word of advice? Hold off on admitting your mom still helps pick out your clothes.”

“Make another comment about it and I’ll find a better way to keep your mouth busy.”

“I can’t get angry at them for something I’ve been guilty of. So let them look. Let them stare. Let them wish they were going home with the most beautiful woman in this bar—in this town—for all I care. I’ve been there. Many times, in fact, when it comes to you. So if anything, I sympathize with them because they can want you, but they’ll never truly have you.”

I hope his decision to push me away haunts him and that his regret grows with every fake date we have, until he resents every choice he’s made which led us here.

“Lily, as cute as your conversational cliffhangers are, I’m in the middle of a meeting.”

“Lesson number one of dating a billionaire: When they offer their black card, you only ask, What’s the limit?”

It’s such a small gesture, but it’s the littlest ones that always send my heart into a tailspin.

Like Eros, I’ve set sight on my target, and I won’t stop taking shots at Lorenzo’s heart until he has no choice but to face the truth about his feelings.

Dahlia perks up. “He has a nickname for you? Cute.” “Nothing is better than sweetheart,” Julian grumbles.

she has a nice, sultry voice that doesn’t match her bubbly, pink is my favorite neutral personality.

She makes me feel trusted, although she has every reason not to. Protective, because she looks so damn innocent cradled in my arms. And the most toxic feeling of all, so damn possessive that I want to be the only one she ever wakes up beside again.

If that is considered selfish, so be it. My actions will be balanced out by all Lily’s selfless ones, like two weighing scales striving for karmic equilibrium.

“I’m not.” I’m doing this for me, the person whose mental health will benefit from her no longer crying.

Julian looks ready to pass out, so I ask if someone can bring him a chair. “This better be a fucking prank.” He must not trust his legs either because he happily takes a seat. I ignore him and focus on the dazzling rings.

When I open my wallet to grab my credit card, I find all of them missing except for a black one with Lorenzo’s name on it.

Lorenzo Show your gratitude by spending more of my money.