Chapter 72 - The "Bomb" Miguel Drops (1/2)
Miguel's hand is surprisingly rough, like it has gone through some bit of hard work. And to Claire, it feels so warm it's almost as if it's burning. ”Sorry,” she mutters, as she politely withdraws her hand. She's not a total prude or anything, but she's thoroughly confused right now. She doesn't even know what to say or feel. Everything's so overwhelming.
”I really like you, Claire,” Miguel repeats, gazing at her so intently that Claire's compelled to look away. ”I would even say I love you, but you won't believe that. We've practically just met a few days ago. Of course, love should only arise after you've been with a person for a fair amount of time, after you've gone through experiences, created memories you'll cherish for a lifetime. We don't yet have that, but I promise you, we will.”
Is this real, Claire thinks. Am I right here, right now, and is this truly happening? ”Miguel, I can't…But what about Karen?”
”What about her?”
”Aren't you two together?”
”Oh no,” Miguel laughs. ”I befriended her only because I wanted to know more about you.”
”Do you mean you've learned about my job arrangement with Gabriel through her?”
”No, I got it from other…reliable sources. Also, it's not hard to connect the dots. Seriously, I couldn't believe that Gabriel would quickly bounce back from his break-up with Michelle. So when I was told that you're supposedly engaged with him, I thought that you were either just some rebound girl, or it was all a sham.”
Claire mulls it over for a moment. Now it appears that it's only Gabriel in the entire world who thinks he could fool everyone else with this little charade. And she's in on it.
”So what do you think?” Miguel says.
”What do I think about what?”
”About me,” he smiles. It's a handsome smile, as though he's trying to win her over. Claire tries to resist swooning over that smile by focusing her stare on her glass of water.
”I don't know, Miguel. My head”—and heart—”is full of things right now. And besides, I can't entertain anyone or date anyone while I'm still under contract. At least I have to hold my end of the bargain with Gabriel.”
”Well, you can go out on a date with me as Bella Xavier.”
”What?” Claire's besides herself in shock. ”You know about that, too?”
”I told you I know everything.” He grins.
Jesus, Claire thinks. So this is all useless. Imagine how they'd gone through great lengths in order to create this complex drama, only to be unraveled by someone like Miguel not a few days of his arrival.
”Let me talk to Gabriel,” he says. ”Just to keep things clean and simple. After all, you're not really engaged with each other. I'm sure he won't mind. But I'll ask his blessing as a formality.”
Yeah, Gabriel will say, sure, go ahead, take this girl, Claire thinks, not without a pang of bitterness.
”Listen, Miguel, I'm not sure if this is a good idea.”
”Why not? It's just a date. A totally harmless date. Maybe we'll just have dinner. Talk. I'd like to get to know more about you.”
Claire gazes at him. The truth is, Miguel's an incredible catch. Any girl would go crazy about him. What's not to like? He's rich, he's incredibly handsome, he's oozing with sėx appeal. In fact, Claire's not sure if she's truly awake; she feels as if she's dreaming. Maybe she's delirious with fever after walking in the rain earlier, and Dale would barge into her suite any moment now to slap her across the face and shake her out of the dream.
”Please slap me,” she suddenly says.
”What?” Miguel's face is half-amused, half-curious.
”Please slap me, and slap me hard.”
Miguel grins. ”Are you even serious?”
She grabs him by the collar and screams, ”PLEASE SLAP ME MIGUEL TAN BECAUSE I THINK I'M DREAMING!”