“Anyway,” Jorge continued, “I had her removed from the property as soon as you left. I was actually reaching into my pocket to get my cellphone when you walked in, just to have the cops show up. My lawyers are taking care of the whole Ria situation, and let’s just say that if she comes within a thousand feet of me, she’ll be spending a lot of time in jail. And that’s in addition to the whole embezzling fiasco.”
I looked over at Yuslan, who was smiling at me while holding my hand.
“Jorge is a good man, Ginger, who just got mixed up with a very bad woman.”
Tears started welling up in the corners of my eyes as our gazes met. Jorge looked just as stressed out as I’d been over the past twelve hours. I jumped up off of the couch and wrapped my arms around him.
“Oh, I’m so sorry, Jorge! I should have waited for an explanation! It’s just that with everything going on these past few weeks, I didn’t know what to think. So, Ria’s really gone for good this time?”
He reached into his pocket and showed me some paperwork, which proved that Ria wasn’t allowed anywhere near his business or himself. “Ria’s really gone for good, Ginger. It’s just the two of us now.”
“I don’t know what to say, Jorge.”
He ran a hand through my long, auburn hair while staring deeply into my eyes. “Say that you’ll come with me to Africa, Ginger. I don’t know how long I’ll be down there, but I can’t go without you by my side. I know that I’m asking you to leave the job of your dreams, along with your friends and family, but I promise that it’s not a permanent move. Our home will always be here in Miami.”
Hearing him say “our” home made my knees weak.
I looked at Yuslan, who nodded while smiling at me.
“Go to Africa with Jorge, Ginger. He needs you more than we do at the spa right now. But you’ll have to leave today because the sooner you do, the sooner you’ll be back with your family at the Lavender Dreams Spa.”
I turned to Jorge as my jaw dropped in surprise. “Today, Jorge? We have to leave today?”
He glanced at his watch and nodded. “I’m afraid so. We are in hurricane season now, and the weather is very unpredictable. So there is an opening today for us to shoot on over to Africa, and my pilot is on standby. How quickly do you think you can pack your bags?”
“Well, that depends on how long we’ll be gone. Which, as you pointed out, we have no way of knowing.”
“Whatever you can’t pack within an hour, I can always have shipped there. So, you’re definitely coming with me to Africa?”
I nodded while planting my lips onto his, thankful to have the man of my dreams back in my life where he belonged. I hadn’t planned on kissing him for so long, but our emotions got the better of us.
After several minutes of kissing, Yuslan quietly saw himself out.
I had never packed so quickly before in my life. Since I’d be working for Jorge’s company, I packed every work outfit that would fit in my suitcases along with toiletries. As I grabbed my passport out of the safe, I sent a quick text message to Eva, asking if she’d mind getting my mail while I was gone.
Eva: Of course! Would you mind if I stayed at your place, too?
Me: Go for it!
Eva: Thank you! It’ll be like a mini vacation. Plus, your condo is so much nicer than my apartment!
Going to Africa would benefit both Eva and me because I knew just how lonely she’d been ever since she broke up with her last boyfriend.
In what seemed like only a few minutes, Jorge’s driver showed up ready to take us to the airport, where his private aircraft flew us to Africa. Both of us slept for most of the trip, emotionally exhausted over the past several weeks.
* * *
Jorge had madereservations at a five star hotel with breathtaking views in Kimberly, South Africa. That night, we had made love all night long and had a romantic breakfast the following morning at a local restaurant. And that’s when I saw that something was missing from my left hand.
“Oh, shoot. I left the ring back at my condo. It would have been fun pretending we were engaged here, too, just like we did in Paris.”
“Yeah, that was a lot of fun, wasn’t it? I especially loved how much your face lit up every time someone asked when we were getting married.”
I shrugged nonchalantly, even though I loved where the conversation was headed. “Well, you know me. I’ve always been good at pretending to be a fake bride.”
“Actually, I’m kind of glad that you left it behind.”
I tried containing my excitement while acting aloof, but inside I was a ball of nerves. “Why do you say that, Jorge?”
