His Paradise Wife Read Free Page B

identity – that the man she had
fallen in love with had been him instead of Armand. In his mind,
she’d forgive him for pretending to be someone else and fall
hopelessly in love with him. That’s how he hoped it would play out,
but now he wasn’t so sure.
     

Chapter 3
     
     
    “ Sherita, you may as well go
home. It’s pretty slow today.”
    “ You sure? I don’t want to
leave you here by yourself.”
    “ It’s fine, Rita...won’t be
the first time I’ve been left alone between these four teal walls
and I’m sure it won’t be the last. I’ll survive.”
    “ All right, Emily. Oh, and
if the roads ice over tonight, I will be a little late
tomorrow.”
    “ That’s fine. I’m sure I
will be too. This April snow is killing me.”
    “ Girl, you and me both.
Anyway, hopefully I’ll see you tomorrow.”
    Once Sherita was down the sidewalk, Emily
took her laptop from the glass countertop and walked quickly to her
back office. She logged into her Grieving Hearts Connect account
and signed into messenger.
    Armand was online as indicative by the
bright green dot next to his name. That brought a smile to her
face. He told her that he stayed online since he spent every day of
his life on a computer, describing himself to her as a serial
workaholic. That’s something he told her he wanted to change about
himself. He wanted to settle down and not work so hard, now that he
didn’t need to.
    The thought of him being online and ready to
talk to her instantly gave her a feeling of elation. That was a
good sign – to feel a level of excitement and a release of
endorphins at the mere notion of talking to a potential boyfriend.
But was he her boyfriend? Were they in an exclusive online
relationship? Those were questions that had never been asked,
although they needed to be answered.
    Emily rubbed her eyes and wondered how long
it would be before Armand noticed she was online today. She didn’t
message him first because she didn’t want to seem desperate and
needy. Besides, workaholics, by definition, usually had work to do.
However, she didn’t want him to think she wasn’t interested and
excited to jump at the chance to talk to him.
    Hmm...what to
do , she pondered, balling a fist and
resting her chin against it. Then she saw a message window pop up
on the screen.
    Armand : Hey, you.
    The smile that came to her face made her
glow more than the bronzer she applied on top of her foundation
this morning. She instantly felt her worries ease away.
    Emily : Hi, Armand.
    Armand : How are you?
    Emily : Okay...a t the store, bored. It’s
been dead in here today
    Armand: Probably due to this crazy weather.
    Emily: I think you’re right. How are you today?
    Armand : I’m well, dear. Thanks for
asking.
    Emily leaned back in her chair. She knew it
was about time that they met face-to-face, talked on the phone or
called it quits. She didn’t want to admit it at the time, but
Melanie was right. There was no sense falling for a computer.
    Armand : You are especially quiet
today.
    Emily : Sorry. Just have a lot of things on
my mind.
    Armand: Like my proposal?
    The proposal! How had she forgotten that?
Emily clicked over to her email so she could reread the flier that
Armand had sent to her. Grieving Hearts Connect was hosting a mass
wedding for online lovers who knew they loved each other and was
ready to make a commitment. It was taking place this weekend in
Pleasure Island, North Carolina at the GHC resort there. After the
ceremonies, the newlyweds were to remain at the resort for two
weeks where they would receive free marriage counseling,
participate in couples grief counseling and group therapy sessions
where they would help each other cope with grief, share their
stories and learn from each other. A week ago, Armand had asked
Emily to take a leap of faith and attend this event with him, in
essence asking her to marry him. Today, he was seeking an
answer.
    Armand : Emily, are you still
there?
    Emily : Yes.
    Armand : The