What he said baffled me, but I didn’t say anything. I waited for him to explain further. “Nadia and I, we came to an understanding that we will keep our marriage, but we will still see other people. Everything is just a responsibility to our families.” “Oh,” I never actually thought of that because again, I acted on impulse, which landed me in this troubling situation. But the effect of this reality turned my stomach upside down. I want to puke all the alcohol I’ve consumed. I knew this was his way of saying there could be no love between us. What was I expecting, anyway? Needing something to keep me going, I finished the content of my glass, hoping it was enough to help me accept this. Something about what he said made

I knew Xavier was speaking. I can hear every word, but my mind can’t process what he meant. I took another glance from the dimly lit garden back to his face, locking gaze with his dark hues. There was something in my chest that disturbed me. It’s confusing, but the sensation of the tight knots in my belly is not helping me figure out what it is. From the contour of my closed knuckles that’s still holding onto his shirt, I could feel his beating heart. It’s as wild as my own, and his chest is heaving the same way mine does. The only difference between us is the calmness in his face. How he managed to put on a show like that is beyond my understanding. I’m pretty aware of how hot my entire skin is. It’s not because of the humidity… it’s because of this man. The burning splash on my cheeks and core clouded my thoughts. All senses in my body are in an uproar, but

Xavier’s distractions help me make it through that dreadful dinner. But after Luciano’s left, the reality slowly sinks in - the painful truth that the man I love and Ashley finally got what they wanted. They’re together, and there’s a great possibility that in time, Pier and Francine will accept Ashley with open arms… together with her child. Who knows if they’ll permit them to get married too. They will have a family in the arms of one another while here I am, wearing another man’s ring on my finger. A man who gives me confusing feelings. Not even forty-eight hours after my proposal to him, he turned my world upside down. He ignited something in me from the alley to the kiss we shared, a feeling I’ve yet to put a label on. It’s wrong to even think of Xavier this much, as if there will be something more between us than what we have. Twice, he ought to be my b

I gave up on thinking of a good password for my phone. Penny, being a genius, only took about five seconds to crack the code I thought of for an entire day. Seriously, I thought that my new password, ‘supermanpanties,’ wouldn’t be so easy to figure out. My phone bounced on the mattress as I flopped on my stomach, face buried on the crumpled white covers. I stared at the clock on my nightstand. 7:15 a.m. and his flight would leave at 10. I’m honestly lost on whether to tell Xavier that I’m not driving him to the airport or not. What would he think about me now? ‘Hubby?’ I kept reading the message throughout the night, hoping I just saw some kind of hazy nightmare. It looks as if I’m so comfortable calling him like that. It’s so… so flirty like I was trying to be sweet

Never open an email from an unknown source, much less click a link embedded in random emails. I never thought that such a simple thing as email could cause someone a tremendous headache. Well, technically, we won’t know what the effect of my best friend’s ‘fun’ escapade would do to Xavier. When Penny began doing her so-called ‘investigation,’ I heard her curse and grumble like the grouchy child that she is. Remember when I said she’s odd? Well, she’s even weirder when she’s in front of a computer. I heard her mumble something about ‘annoying firewalls,’ ‘fucking smartasses,’ too many times. When she talks to her laptop that way, I knew better than to ask what her problem was. Only a few moments passed, and white-hot steam came out of her ears and fire from her nose and mouth. However, before Penny went home, she