Matteo raised an eyebrow, unrattled by her words. After all, he had not slept with Alia, regardless of the rumors.
"Ronan would be very scandalized to know you’re thinking of him in such a manner."
Emline snorted.
"And you say you don’t have a sense of humor! But I know better― I know you, Matteo. You’ve always been a serious workaholic. A stick in the mud, even when we were kids. You would never do anything that caused so much trouble if you were not led astray by a bad influence," Emline said darkly, her expression twisting into anger, leaving no doubt who she was referring to.
"If I’m such a stick in the mud, why do you want to marry ? Why are you so obsessed with ?" Matteo asked.
If Emline gave him a laundry list of reasons why she loved him, he would know what to do to make sure she gave up on him.
"You can’t ask a girl that, silly!" Emline exclaid, a demure blush growing on her face. "I just love you a lot. You’re so tall, smart, and handso... Oh, I can’t believe you made say sothing so embarrassing out loud! You’re a terrible man, Matteo!"
Matteo despaired. Did he need to disfigure himself and beco an idiot to be left alone? He shot his door a longing glance while Emline continued to squeal into her hands.
"Alright, you’ve wasted enough ti here," Matteo said with a sigh. "I still need to get back to work."
"Alright, alright, I’ll let you off since I did co unannounced. But you owe a date at the very least! Let’s go out tonight after work!" Emline declared with a haughty pout. "I had to endure so much stress because of your actions."
"I’m busy," Matteo insisted.
"I’ll wait right here then," Emline said cheerfully, oblivious to the horror in Matteo’s eyes. "You don’t need to worry about , I won’t do anything that will jeopardize the company you love so dearly," Emline added sweetly.
Her nimble fingers ca and readjusted his tie, smoothing the lapels of his jacket.
Matteo swatted her hands away and cleared his throat. "I can fix it myself."
"But I want to do it for you," Emline insisted. "Besides, what’s a little intimacy between a married couple? We’ll be doing a lot more than that in the future."
Matteo snorted. The irony was killing him. He had said the sa thing to Alia during their last dinner, only to have it repeated by Emline.
"Then what’s the hurry?" Matteo asked. "We have our entire lives ahead of us."
And he didn’t want to spend one extra mont with her.
anwhile, Emline blushed again, her face redder than a stop light, as though Matteo had said the world’s most romantic line. "You’re such a charr! I knew I didn’t have anything to worry about, no matter what Kelsie said."
That got Matteo’s attention. "Kelsie Friesent?"
"Yep!" Emline bead. "She and her boyfriend Caleb are attending our engagent party!"
"I see," Matteo said. Now he knew who was whispering nonsense into Emline’s ear.
"You can pick a place for us to eat then," Matteo offered, his tone suddenly lighter.
Emline clasped her hands in delight.
"Really? And you will agree to any place I choose?"
Matteo nodded. After all, money was no question, and he highly doubted that Emline would be willing to sit at a dingy pub in her designer suit or get grease stains all over her outfit at a diner.
"I want to go to your house!" Emline declared. "Let’s have dinner there!"
Fuck.
"That’s not a good idea," Matteo refused. "My ho is ssy, and none of us know how to cook."
Emline waved off his objections easily. "I’ll help you clean it up― or I can get Georgie to clean it up. She can cook for us too."
Georgie was one of the maids in Emline’s employ, who did everything to make sure Emline shone brightly like a diamond.
"Or is there sothing― or soone you don’t want to see?" Emline demanded, her hands on her hips.
"What if there is?" Matteo retorted. "You can’t just invite yourself into soone’s ho!"
"If Alia Kentwood is living in your house, then all the more I want to visit," Emline insisted. "I’m the woman who will be your wife in the future. Your ho is my ho!"
***
"Urgh," Ronan complained for the umpteenth ti, staring at Matteo’s closed door. "Why is she still inside?"
"Beats ," Alia said, her eyes focused on the digital clock in front of her. The seconds seem to crawl by, almost mockingly. "They must have a lot to talk about."
With Ronan camped at Alia’s desk, their colleagues gave her a wide berth. Apparently, Ronan’s sharp tongue had its own reputation in the office, second only to his sizable arm muscles.
Ronan shot her a pitying look. "You have nothing to worry about. Matteo is not a man that breaks his promises."
Alia could only nod, as her stomach twisted into knots.
After what seed like an eternity, the office door finally opened to reveal both Emline and Matteo walking out. But that wasn’t what caught Alia’s eyes― her gaze arrowed on their linked arms, and the way Emline eagerly pressed herself to Matteo’s side.
Next to her, Ronan let out a hiss through his teeth.
Emline began to speak, her bubbly voice echoing through the office. "Thanks for escorting out, Matteo! I’ll see you tonight at your ho for our dinner date."
Then she turned and smiled at Alia. "You must be Alia Kentwood! Thank you for taking such good care of Matteo in these past few weeks. But I’ve got it covered from now on. You don’t have to worry."
Alia froze, her heart sinking to her feet. She could only nod dumbly, shocked at what Emline was claiming. She turned her eyes onto Matteo, but his face was a blank slate, and he made no objection to Emline’s words.
He was also refusing to et her eyes, choosing to glance at her forehead instead.
So it was true.
They really were going back to Matteo’s place to eat a al.
Matteo cleared his throat. "You should be going now," he said gruffly.
"Right," Alia said faintly. "I’ll just... pack my things then."
"Yes, you should," Emline said, a vaguely pitying look on her face. "Everything must return to their rightful places, and that goes doubly for people as well."
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