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“And when I asked her about it, she brushed it off,” I grumbled. “She still does.”

“Look, I know it’s frustrating because you’ve known her for a long time.” Alex sighed. “But maybe she’ll come around and tell you. And if she doesn’t, then just be a good friend to her.”

“I’m trying to do that,” I reminded her a little scathingly. “But in case you forgot, I have a tendency to cross very solid lines.”

“That’s on you, honey.” Alex laughed. “It’s a silly little byproduct of ignoring your very obvious feelings for so long.”

“I wanted to talk to her about that.”

“Wanted?” Alex clarified.

“I don’t know.” I groaned, flopping back on the bed and stretching my other arm out. “The more time we spend in Brazil, the more I see how much she thrives here.”

“That’s her home, Reid.”

“No, it’s more than that,” I hummed, a selfish kind of sadness twisting in my gut. “You should see how happy she is trying to convince me to speak Portuguese again.”

“You haven’t been speaking to her in Portuguese?” Alex demanded, outraged.

“It’s embarrassing, Alex-”

“It’s romantic, Reid!” she interrupted. “What was the point of spending all that time learning if you’re gonna hide it away because you’re a little shy?”

“I hate that you’re right.”

“I always am,” she sang. “Now, go and woo the beautiful woman waiting for you to hang up. Bye!”

She cut the call before I could respond and I dropped my phone on the bed with a rueful chuckle.

As much as Alex found comfort under my skin, she’d always been my source of logic and sanity, a role she shared with Mia, for obvious reasons. And even though I really did hate that she was right, I appreciated her honesty. I walked back out of the room to find Mia humming quietly to herself, swaying from one foot to the other in front of the stove.

“Cheira bem,” I said, wishing my words shared the soft melody hers did when she spoke Portuguese.

She spun around, her eyes bright and her smile wide. “Você acha?” she asked, and my brows knitted.

She giggled, turning around to switch the stove off. “You think so?” she translated.

“Ah, I need to remember that,” I said, my cheeks aflame.

“You can remember by practicing,” she teased. She set about pulling plates out and dishing up. “We can talk in Portuguese, and I can teach you the slang and dialects. You’ll sound just like a local!”

“Am I going to be your new project?” I chuckled, accepting the plate she held out to me.

She shrugged. “If you want to.” She smiled. “With DawnStar’s global expansion, it’d put you in a much better position to negotiate in case I’m not around.”

I nodded in thought, a little put out that her mind went straight to business.

“Besides,” she said, a little shyly. I looked up. “The words sound really good coming from you.”

I blinked, my heart vibrating in my chest, and it was all I could do to manage a breathless, “Obrigado.”

She giggled and walked over to me. “Obrigada,” she corrected, and I tried to repeat it. She shook her head and pointed at her mouth.

Like I wasn’t already staring at it.

“O-bri-ga-da,” she said slowly, but the rounded “o” turned to a sharp “oh” on my lips. “You’re so cute, hold on.”

She dusted her hands off and shifted her seat closer to mine, my lungs wringing every bit of air out when her knee brushed mine.