find on her and her family. But then she knocked on my door and stepped into my office and it was like I finally saw the light. She was beautiful as she stood there with her hair dripping wet—nearly naked. I couldn’t see anything you’d consider inappropriate, but it was just the thought of it lingering just out of reach that kept me going.
The moment our lips touched, I was lost. Honestly, the moment she first walked into my office, I was lost. But this is different. I’m no longer lost alone. I’m lost with her in this world we’ve created and I never want to leave it behind. I will make her mine, and this trip is the first step. Deep down, I think she feels like the man I’ve been lately is an act I’m putting on to make our little lie a little more believable. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. The man I am now is a man who’s finally found his soul mate—the only other person on the planet who was created just for him. The man I am now is happy, in love, and desperately clinging to something that’s not supposed to be permanent. I can only hope to change her mind about me—to make her believe that the man I appear to be now is who I am now and will forever be. I’ll never go back to living the life she saw before. And that’s all because of her.
I’ve made plans to fly us to Brazil, where we’ll get on a waiting boat so I can take her away to my grandmother’s private island. The house is right on the beach, and behind it is nothing but a vast expanse of rainforest. We’ll have the best of both worlds.
I’ve got my bags packed and I check the inside pocket of my carry-on, finding the small black box my grandmother passed on to me. It contains her engagement ring from my late grandfather. The ring itself cost nearly a million dollars, and up until she met Poppy, she’d always planned to be buried with it. Only now, she sees the love Poppy and I have for each other. She claims that Poppy’s finger is the perfect spot for her ring. I only hope I can get Poppy to agree.
I’ve got it all planned out in my head: a romantic dinner on the porch with the ocean behind us, sun setting, dusk approaching. A delicious meal with good conversation. The two of us all alone, feeling like we’re the last two people on the planet. But I’m nervous. I’m scared that the woman I’ve fallen in love with is only putting on a show—that she doesn’t love me at all. My biggest fear is that she doesn’t love me, but loathes me more than before. It’s out of this fear that I’ve decided to wait until the last night of our vacation to ask her. I couldn’t bear asking her on the first night and having her say “no,” only to be awkwardly stuck together for the rest of the trip.
If she says “yes” and wants to stay longer, we’ll stay as long as she’d like, but I can’t risk losing her before the fun even starts. The ring is where I left it and I get to work on gathering my passport and other needed items. I’m glad our office requires all employees to have a valid passport, otherwise she wouldn’t have been able to get one in time for this trip.
She makes it home at 3 p.m. on the dot and goes straight to her room to pack her bags with her new wardrobe. A little while later, she steps out and sets her bag on the floor in the living room. “I’m all packed up,” she says with a small smile, handing over my credit card.
I walk over to her, placing my hands on her elbows. “How was tea?”
She shrugs. “It was fine. Weird.”
“What was weird about it?”
“Your grandmother really likes me. She just kept thanking me for turning you into the man you are, who’s nothing like your father, by the way.” She sits on the couch and I move to sit beside her.
I let out a nervous chuckle.
“It was all good though. She seems to have high hopes for us, so this little act we’re putting on must be pretty convincing.”
What she says washes over me like a bucket of ice-cold water. This little act we’re putting