Page 74 of Emerald

“That’s nice of you,”I say, giving him a smile.

“Are you okay?”he asks, looking at me curiously.

“Because of what happened at that party?”I question him.

“Yeah.”

“It was a little more than I thought it was going to be,”I answer quietly. Manuel looks relieved.“I’m surprised that you still want to see me after um …”

“Oh, sweetness,”he says, reaching over and pulling me into him.“You made me so proud,”he tells me.

“I didn’t want you to think any less of me because I … um …”

He shakes his head.“Never. You were so perfect.”He leans in and presses a kiss to my forehead.“But I do have some news about the gala.”I still beneath him.“You can’t go as my date anymore.”Huh. What? No. Do they suspect that I know Pearl?

“Why?”

Manuel tenses before rolling his eyes.“My wife is coming back from Europe for the event.”

“Your wife?”I gasp.

“Technically, she is. We are separated. She lives in Europe, while I live here. We don’t believe in divorce, so we live separate lives. I know she has lovers in Europe, and she knows I do here. It works.”

“Oh,”I answer.

“Yeah, so I’m sorry that you can’t be by my side at the event, but I was speaking to Nash, and I know he’s going to the event so I thought you could go with him, and we could catch up after the event. There’s an after-party at my boss’s home, and I want you to come be my date for that,”Manuel explains.

“Is Nash invited to the after-party?”

“No.”Manuel bristles.

“Oh. Is it like last night’s party?”

“Did you tell him about last night?”Those dark eyes narrow on me.

“He wasn’t awake when I got home last night. I’ve only just woken up,”I explain to him.

He nods, seemingly pleased with that answer.“Nash is not welcome at the after-party, it is only for certain people. Is that a problem?”His voice turns stern for a second.

“No, not at all, it would be weird.”I tell him.

“Good.”He grins happily as if he's won the lottery.“Do you have any questions?”

“Only what to wear for the event because I want to look good for you. I don’t want to embarrass you in front of your boss.”

Manuel’s face softens.“You truly are perfect. I think I’m going to keep you.”He grins, leaning in and placing a kiss on my cheek. “Here,” he says, opening his wallet.“Go treat yourself to a beautiful dress. Nash will know where the best dress stores are. I want you to buy the most spectacular dress and wear it for me.”He passes me over handfuls of pesos.

“This is too much,”I tell him.

He shakes his head.“Never too much for my woman.”

“I’m your woman now, am I? You remember I am leaving after the gala. That I was just here for a holiday.”

“I remember. But I’m hoping I can convince you to stay a little longer. I was thinking once my wife leaves you could move in with me and stay. You said you didn’t have a job to go back to so there’s nothing stopping you from extending your stay. Maybe I could find you a job working for me. Would you like that?”he asks me.

“That is very generous of you, but I will have to think about it. Maybe I could go home for a week, say hi to my cat and family, and then come back for a month.”

“Maybe,”he answers through gritted teeth, unhappy with my answer.“We will discuss this later. I have to go, I have a meeting. I just wanted to see how you were.”

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