Spotlight: Sleeping with the Frenemy by Natalie Caña

The third book in the riotously funny Vega Family Love Stories finds self-assured firefighter Leo Vega trying to reignite the embers of a love gone cold.

Leo Vega’s love life has been on life support since long before the gunshot wound that put him on leave from the fire department. Now, a year after his injury, he’s hoping to both return to work and fix things with Sofi, the woman he’s had a secret on-again, off-again relationship with for years.

Sofia Santana may be ready to mend fences with her best friend, Leo’s sister, but she has no plans of letting Leo back into her bed or her heart. She’s charting a new path for her future, and past mistakes have no place in it. Then circumstances push Sofi and Leo into a tense roommate situation. It’s almost impossible to move on when Leo is there, reminding her what they had, every day.

With the help of Leo’s mischievous grandfather, Sofi’s equally devious grandmother and an adorably sweet rescue dog, Leo’s determined to get the stubborn woman of his dreams to finally see that they belong together—for good this time. 

Excerpt

PROLOGUE

THE NIGHT OF KAMILAH VEGA AND LIAM KANE’S FIRST ENGAGEMENT PARTY

LEO VEGA ALREADY KNEW WHAT WAS IN STORE FOR HIM WHEN HE knocked on the door in front of him, but he did it anyway. The situation was too important for him to ignore. 

“What?” the grumpy voice said from the other side. 

“It’s me,” he said. 

“I know who it is. I have a camera doorbell.” Leo could practically hear the eye roll. “What do you want?” 

“We need to talk.” 

“I’m not really in the mood to talk.” 

Leo knew that he had two options if he wanted to be let in: be annoying or be cajoling. There was a fifty-fifty chance with either option. It all depended on whether the person on the other side of the door was more pissed or more hurt. His best guess was pissed because of the hurt. He went for cajoling, praying it worked. “Come on. Open the door. I just want to check on you.” 

There was noticeably less anger when the voice responded, “I’m fine.” 

“I need to see you with my own eyes.” 

A snort slash growl. He moved close and put his forehead against the door. “Please, bombón,” he said in a deep murmur. “Let me see you.” 

A hiss of annoyed breath filtered through the door, but it had obviously worked. 

He heard the locks being disengaged and he stepped back when the door swung open. There she stood, still in the body-hugging dress she’d worn to his sister’s disastrous engagement party. She looked almost as perfect as she had when she’d first walked in and nearly caused him to stroke out on the floor, except for one thing. All the immaculate makeup on her face was gone and her eyes were swollen and red rimmed. 

He knew there was a good chance she’d push him away, but he couldn’t stop his response. He stepped into the apartment and palmed her damp cheek. “Come here.” He pulled her into a hug and was mildly surprised when she let him. “Ay, mi Sofi.” 

Sofi didn’t respond, she just buried her face in his neck and squeezed him. 

He tightened his hold on her and firmly told himself to ignore the way her body felt against his, but it was impossible. It always was. It had been since they were teens. Sofia Santana just did something to him on every single level. To attempt to ignore her was like trying to ignore being tased. Even if he managed to shut his thoughts down, his body wasn’t going to let him not react to the inundation of sensation. 

“What happened?” he asked after a few minutes of silence. “All I could understand from a blubbering Kamilah is that you left because you’re mad at her.”

Sofi pulled back. A scowl appeared on her face. “Of course it’s all because of me, right?”

Leo frowned. “I didn’t say that. I’m just trying to understand what happened.” It was hard for him to believe that she hadn’t known about this whole fake engagement stunt either. He’d figured that she had to be in on it too. Kamilah and Sofi did everything together from the moment they met. It was often annoying to him just how close they were. 

“She lied to me,” Sofi said. 

“She lied to all of us,” he pointed out. He was angry about that too, but Sofi wasn’t the type to get so upset about something like this. At the end of the day Kamilah and Liam faking an engagement to keep their grandpas from selling the family businesses they wanted to run didn’t really affect Sofi that much. It wasn’t like she had a stake in either business, not like Leo did. 

Sofi pushed away from him. “Not about that,” she scoffed. “I knew about that stupid shit with Liam. I warned her about that blowing up in her face, but she did it anyway.” Leo suddenly remembered something else that had come up. Something that had affected Sofi. “You didn’t know she’d turned down the scholarship in Paris,” he concluded. Kamilah and Sofi had planned to move to Paris together after high school, but when their abuela got sick, Kamilah lied to everyone and told them she hadn’t gotten the scholarship that would have made the move possible. 

Sofi actually growled in anger. “Can you believe that bullshit?” She stalked down the short hallway into her living room. “Not only did we say we were going to do that since middle school, but we had plans. Firm plans. I had a school lined up! We were looking at apartments!” 

Leo could understand how that would be frustrating at the very least, more likely heartbreaking. “Why didn’t you just go anyway?” 

Sofi let out a bark of unamused laughter. “Have you met my mother? You think she was going to be okay with me going to Europe by myself? She didn’t want me to go even with Kamilah, but once Kamilah wasn’t an option…” 

Leo knew Sofi’s mother pretty well and Alicia Santana was not someone you ignored when she put her foot down. However, she wasn’t an unreasonable person and she trusted her daughter. “I don’t know, bombón. I think she would’ve come around eventually.” 

“You don’t get it, Leo. Once Kamilah said she wasn’t accepted, everything changed for me. I had to—” She cut herself off. “Forget it. That’s not the point. The point is that not only did she lie to me, she kept this a secret for twelve years.” 

Leo wasn’t exactly as upset about the situation as he could be. The truth was that he’d been keeping a secret from his sister for longer than that. So had Sofi. “I understand how learning all this would upset you, but Sofi, come on.” 

She spun on her heel and gave him a look that said, You’d better not be saying what I think you’re saying, while her mouth said, “Come on, what?” 

He gestured between the two of them. 

Sofi arched a brow. 

“Are you really going to make me say it?” 

She crossed her arms and looked him up and down. “I guess you’d better because I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He gave her a look. She couldn’t be serious. 

“Sofi…” She pursed her lips. Leo sucked his teeth. “Sofi, we’ve been together on and off for how long now? Since you were like fifteen?” 

“First of all, we kissed once when I was fifteen and then nothing happened again until much later. Second of all, we have never been together, we have sex when we are both single, bored, and horny, which is not the same thing.” 

Leo didn’t let the hurt that statement caused distract him. “Yet, never once did you mention it to Kamilah and you forbid me from telling anyone about it, because you don’t want it to get back to her.” 

“I don’t want you telling everyone and their momma about it, because who I sleep with is nobody’s fucking business but mine.” 

Leo had to roll his eyes at that. She was so weird about people “knowing her business.” She tended to think that her life was so interesting that it was some sort of gossip fodder. It was ridiculous. She worked at her father’s company, went grocery shopping with her mom every week, and liked to go dancing with her friends on the weekend. Her life was not that different from plenty of women he knew. Shit, their secret relationship (because it was a fucking relationship) was probably the most interesting thing about her life. “You never want her to find out, because you know she’ll be upset about you lying to her. Sort of how you’re mad now.” 

“Are you really throwing this in my face right now?” 

“All I’m saying is that it’s not easy to tell people stuff you know will hurt them, so maybe you should give her a break.” 

Her eyes widened. “Give her a break,” she murmured to herself. When she looked at him, there was anger and shock in her expression. “You really are standing in front of me not only defending her, but trying to guilt me out of feeling my own emotions right now.” 

“I just think given the circumstances we both owe her—” “I. Don’t. Owe. Her. Shit.” She accentuated each word with a clap of her hands then paused, screwed up her face, and shook her head as if disgusted. “I don’t owe you shit either. Why am I even having this conversation with you?” 

“Sof—” “I should’ve known that at the end of the day you were going to pick her side over mine.” 

“How do you figure?” 

“Because, Leo, that’s how your family operates. Y’all are all open and friendly and welcoming until something happens. Then you close rank like a bunch of elephants circling around the weakest members of the herd. It happens every time Big Sam and your tía Iris break up. It happened when Chase left Kamilah. Y’all still barely talk to your tía Alba’s husband after he said Puerto Rico should become a state.” 

“Not true,” Leo argued. “He said that Puerto Ricans on the island wouldn’t be able to run a country without the US, so they needed to be a state which is different than just saying that Puerto Rico should be a state. And we hardly liked his conceited and low-key racist ass before that. Plus, you were just as mad about that as the rest of us were!” 

“That’s not the point, Leo!” she yelled at him. “Then what is your point,” he yelled back. “Because you aren’t making any fucking sense.” 

“My point is that I’m done. I have no interest in doing this with you, your sister, or anyone else in your family.” 

Leo froze. His body going cold. “What does that mean?” 

“That means that I’m not making up with Kamilah. I’m not coming around El Coquí anymore.” She paused and looked him right in the eyes. “I don’t want you coming here anymore either.” 

Leo scoffed. “You always say that and then you text to ask me what I’m doing and tell me to come over.” 

She passed by him to open her door. “Yeah well, why don’t you go home and wait for that message?” 

“Sofi,” he began. 

“Bye, Leo. Have a nice life.” Leo growled. He hated when she pulled that dismissive shit with him and she knew it. “You have to be the most stubborn person I’ve ever met,” he called.

“Didn’t I already tell you goodbye?” 

“One of these days, you’re going to push me too far and I’m not going to come back.” 

“Maybe I’ll be lucky and today will be the day.” 

Annoyed that she was being so stubborn and unreasonable, Leo stormed out the door. It closed with a snick behind him and Leo fought the urge to flip it off. Instead he stomped down the stairs to the front door of the building. He hated that Sofi did this to him. She’d push him away just to prove that she could. But she didn’t actually want him to go anywhere, which was why she always called him back. She’d do it again this time too. He knew she would, because—no matter how much they fought—they couldn’t live without each other. 

This was not an ending. It was only an intermission.

Excerpted from SLEEPING WITH THE FRENEMY by Natalie Caña, Copyright © 2024 by Natalie Caña. Published by Mira, an imprint of HarperCollins.

Vega Family Love Stories:

Book 1: A Proposal They Can't Refuse

Book 2: A Dish Best Served Hot

Buy on Amazon Kindle | Audible | Paperback | Bookshop.org

About the Author

Natalie Caña loves to incorporate her you’ll-never-believe-what-just-happened-to-me personal experiences, enthusiasm for telenovela tomfoolery, and love for her Latinx culture into creating funny, heartfelt, and just a little bit over-the-top contemporary romances for characters who look and sound like her.

Connect:

Author Website: https://nataliecana.com/

TikTok: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMRy2wJ2C/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/nataliecana/

Spotlight: A Dish Best Served Hot by Natalie Caña

Publication Date: October 31, 2023

Publisher: MIRA

In this follow-up to A PROPOSAL THEY CAN'T REFUSE, single dad Santiago "Saint" Vega gets a second shot at love when he falls for his daughter's teacher, but when duty to his family forces him to do something she'll never forgive, will everything he's built come crumbling down?

Santiago "Saint" Vega gets a second shot at love with Lola León, but when duty to his family forces him to do something she'll never forgive, will everything he's built come crumbling down?

Years ago, Saint walked away from the girl he loved to fulfill his duty. Now he’s struggling to build bridges between his drifting family, take on more responsibilities at his uncle’s construction company, figure out why his daughter refuses to talk at school and curtail his mischievous abuelo’s escalating pranks. Then she walks back into his life.

Social justice advocate Lola León has returned to Humboldt Park for two reasons: to help care for her dear abuelo and to serve the community center she loved, particularly the shelter for unhoused LGBTQIA+ youths. When she finds out that the Vegas are responsible for endangering both, she is more than ready to go to war—even if the boy she never forgot is standing at the front of the battlefield.

Neither of them expects to become allies in saving the shelter, helping Saint’s daughter or ending the decades-long feud between their grandfathers. They definitely don’t expect all of their old feelings to come rushing back. As Saint and Lola enter combat, they can’t help but wonder where the other’s true allegiance lies, and whether they’ll win these battles only to lose each other.

Excerpt

Santiago Vega II—known to family and friends as Junior much to his annoyance—took his time getting back to the front office after dropping off paperwork for Miss Wallis, the school secretary. He loved it when the halls of his high school were empty and mostly silent. It gave him a sense of calm he never got otherwise. Not when he was the oldest of a five-child family who lived in a tiny apartment directly above the restaurant his family ran. The restaurant where his grandpa’s band loved to play music at all hours of the day, because it was always filled to the gills with people from the neighborhood. Junior was surrounded by people all the time—loud, demanding people—so he enjoyed moments of quiet stillness whenever he could.

That made it all the more annoying when he heard raised voices down the hallway.

“You better stay away from her!”

“You two aren’t even together anymore.”

“She’s mine!”

Oh great. Two idiots were about to fight over a girl and Junior had to go that way to get back to his work-study.

Junior turned the corner to one of the side hallways and stopped dead in his tracks. It was worse than two idiot guys. It was Jose Mendez, one of the largest offensive linemen on their high school football team, and Lola León, the biggest troublemaker in the school.

Lola was constantly in the office when he was there, but where Junior was there helping out during his free period, she was always there to talk to the principal after getting kicked out of one class or another. Sure, he didn’t know her well, she was a junior to his senior, but it wasn’t hard for Junior to tell why she was constantly pissing everyone off. She had a terrible attitude and a mouth to accompany it. She said what she wanted and did what she wanted without a care for anyone around her.

As if to prove his point she opened her mouth and said, “Aww, is your fragile male ego hurt because she liked my kiss more than yours?”

Junior’s eyebrows rose. He’d heard that Lola liked girls, but he’d assumed those were ignorant rumors based on how she dressed—in baggy clothes that looked like she’d taken them from a large man’s closet. At least, he’d hoped that was the case after seeing her for the first time in the office a few weeks ago. It didn’t matter that he had no intention of actually talking to the pretty girl. A part of him was selfish enough to be hopeful.

Her taunt seemed to be the last straw for Jose. “Bitch. I’ll give you something to do with that smart mouth of yours.” He rushed her and crowded her into a corner before she could dodge. His hand tangled into her long dark hair and pulled it hard.

Junior jumped into action without thinking. There was no way he was going to sit back and let someone be hurt. Especially not a young woman who didn’t even reach Jose’s shoulder. He charged forward, trying to remember everything his abuelo had taught him about taking down someone bigger than you.

He wrapped his forearm around Jose’s neck and locked it into place with the crook of his other arm. He moved his head to one side just in case Jose decided to try to headbutt him. He looked down at Lola, whose head was pulled back exposing her neck and a pair of wide brown eyes.

Junior didn’t think he’d ever seen her look scared. Pissed off and scowling yes, but not afraid. For some reason her fear released a new level of anger in him. Junior was quiet and serious, but not usually angry. Except at that moment he was livid.

“Let. Her. Go.” He growled in a voice he’d only ever let out when someone was messing with one of his younger siblings. When Jose didn’t immediately do as he said, Junior tightened his grip.

Jose let go of Lola’s hair to grab Junior’s arm with both hands and attempt to pull him off. Somehow he couldn’t. Instead he wheezed.

“Get behind me,” Junior barked to Lola, who was rubbing her no-doubt tender head.

It took her a second, but eventually she did.

As soon as she was behind him, Junior started to loosen his grip around Jose’s neck. However, he knew the impulsive hothead would do something in retaliation, so, at the same time he released his neck, he kicked Jose in the back of the knee.

He jumped out of the way as Jose went down coughing and rubbing his throat. Then he spun on his heel, grabbed Lola’s hand, and began running in the opposite direction. He wanted to put as much distance as possible between them and Jose.

His head swiveled back and forth, trying to find a place for them to lie low, before he grabbed the handle to a door and swung it open. He herded Lola through the empty classroom door, pulling it closed behind them, and backed them both away from the narrow glass window. A second later Junior heard uneven pounding footprints rush past the door. He stayed there silent and still until the footsteps faded.

Finally, he turned his attention to the girl next to him. He took a deep breath and told himself to ignore how pretty she was, but wasn’t prepared for the way her eyes would snare him as soon as they met his. Her eyes were a reddish-brown that made him think of lava the moment it hit air and began to cool—dark around the edges and still burning bright in the middle. Junior lost his ability to breathe. He couldn’t do anything but stare.

She was the one to break the silence. “I think he’s gone,” she whispered.

“He’ll double back,” Junior murmured.

“How do you know?”

“Because he’s not one to let things go.”

That caused her to make a face and a sound almost like a snort.

Junior noticed a dusting of freckles across the bridge of her screwed-up nose and pale cheeks. He blinked in confusion. It was just so incongruous for Lola León, whose entire family was known for being dangerous hard-asses, to have something as sweet and innocent as freckles.

When he realized how long he’d been staring at her face, and no doubt making her feel uncomfortable, he cleared his throat. “So what’d you do to piss off Jose?” he asked.

Lola looked like she contemplated lying, but must’ve decided against it because she replied. “I kissed his ex-girlfriend.” She looked away from him and the air around her seemed to still. It was like she was waiting for him to say something messed up.

“Why?” he asked. He knew Jose’s ex, Yesenia. Part of the dance squad and daughter of everyone’s favorite gym teacher, she was one of the most popular girls in the school. Sure, she was beautiful, but she was also dumb as a bag of rocks and selfish to boot.

“‘Why’ what?” Lola asked.

“Why’d you kiss her? I’ve known Yesenia since we were kids and she’s awful.”

Lola just stared at him.

Junior rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m just saying. I don’t think there’s a whole lot going on in that girl’s head. You could do better. Not to mention, she’s a very traditional girl from a very traditional family. So just, you know, be careful…”

Lola’s voice was full of incredulity when she asked, “Are you trying to protect my feelings?”

He blushed. “It’s just that.” He paused. “I mean. It can’t be easy for you to be, you know.” He paused, unsure if it would be okay for him to say the word. He didn’t want to offend her.

“Bisexual?”

So she did like guys. The warmth on his cheeks deepened for some reason. “I just wouldn’t want you to fall for someone who would just make things harder. That’s all. You can love whoever you want, but I just think it should be someone who loves you back.” He shrugged awkwardly.

She tilted her head and looked at him like he was a brand-new species of animal. “You know, I think you might be one of the first people in this school to tell me that.”

“Tell you what?”

“That I can love anyone I want. Most people I know tell me it’s just a phase or that I like being difficult.”

Junior didn’t know how to respond, so he stayed quiet.

“What’s your name?” she asked.

“Junior,” he replied. Then he shook his head as if to clear the cobwebs. “I mean, no. That’s not right.”

Her smile was wry. “Do you not know your own name?”

He gave her a look. “My name is Santiago Vega. Like my dad, so everyone calls me Junior which really makes no sense because no one even calls my dad Santiago.”

“Santiago, huh? Like the city in Chile?”

“Right, but the city is actually named for Saint James.”

“I’m sure whatever he did to get that title was something super cool and not at all colonialist.”

Junior was so nervous that he totally missed her ironic tone. He just started talking.

“He was one of Jesus’s first disciples. He eventually traveled to Spain while spreading the word and ended up becoming Spain’s patron saint. You can actually follow his path from France through Spain if you want. It takes like a month to walk and leads to a huge church,” He shut his mouth abruptly, highly aware that he was babbling. The daughter of Humboldt Park’s most notorious gang leader didn’t give a shit about the religious origins of his name.

“You’re a bit of a nerd, huh?” Lola asked with a curl to her lips. “Makes sense you’d be named after a saint.”

He didn’t hear any derision in her tone, but he felt defensive anyway. “Why do you say that?”

“Because look at you.” She gestured to him. “You jump into the middle of fights to save the underdog. You dish out words of wisdom to protect people. Don’t you volunteer in the office for fun? Shit. I bet you have straight As and help little old ladies cross the street. You basically are a saint.”

His brow creased. “I don’t think that’s how it works.” Besides, it wasn’t like he was perfect. He had plenty of flaws. Junior was no doubt about to embarrass himself more by enumerating said flaws, but he was quite literally saved by the bell, which blared through the room and caused them both to startle.

Lola recovered first. “Well, to answer your earlier question, I kissed Yesenia because she asked me to. I’m not in love with her or anything.” She slipped around him and made her way to the door. At the last moment she turned back to him. “Thanks for saving me… Saint.” Then she closed the door behind her and rushed to her next class.

The next morning when they saw each other down the hallway she shouted, “What up, Saint?” in her loudest voice, making sure everyone heard her, and that was it. The nickname spread around the school and then the neighborhood like a forest fire. He was no longer Junior or even Santiago. He was Saint. And Lola was no longer the troublemaker from the office. She was everything he wanted and everything he eventually lost.

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About the Author

Natalie Caña writes contemporary romances that allow her to incorporate her witty sense of humor and her love for her culture (Puertominican whoop whoop!) for heroines and heroes like her.

Connect:

Author Website: http://nataliecana.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nataliecanawrites/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/NatCanaWrites 

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@nataliecwrites