Page 173 of Tempting All The Way

“Hey, is everything okay?” I ask her.

“Um, yeah, are you free for lunch?”

“For you, always,” I tell her.

“Great, I’ll send you the address of the café I’m at. See you soon.” She hangs up.

“Okay, why have you dragged me out here?” I question Eloise when she greets me with a hug. I have no idea why she’s picked a café thirty minutes outside the city. I shouldn’t be away fromthe office this long. When she asked to meet for lunch, I expected her to be somewhere close.

“I’ve been seeing someone for the past two months,” she blurts out before letting me go.

I pull away and stare at her. “You what?”

“Sit down.” She waves a hand at the table. “I met someone, and I was going to tell you about him, but I didn’t. And now I feel like I’ve been living this horrible double life and keeping secrets and—oh gosh, I’m an awful friend,” she rambles on.

“Eloise, stop. It’s okay. Start from the beginning. Where did you meet this someone?” I ask her.

“I sold him a property.”

“Oh, okay. So he’s a wealthy someone.”

“Beyond measure.” She shrugs.

“Does he have a name?”

“He does, but if I tell you, you have to promise me you won’t Google him,” she says.

“Why would I Google him? Actually, why shouldn’t I Google him?” I ask.

“I can’t tell you, but his job is… unconventional,” she says cryptically.

“What is he? A hitman?”

“Not exactly…”

“Not exactly? Are you in trouble, El? Do you need me to hide you?” I’m half joking and half serious.

“No, I’m not. It’s just… I really love him, Dani. Like head-over-heels,would take a bullet for himkind of love.”

“Let’s hope it never comes to that. We have plans to be old widows together, remember?”

“We will be the life of the nursing home.” She laughs.

The waitress comes and takes our orders. “So why did you not want to tell me?” I ask Eloise as soon as we’re alone again.

“I didn’t want to see your disappointment or have you try to talk me out of being with him.”

“If he makes you happy, and you approve of whatever it is he does, then that’s all that matters to me.”

“It’s not that I approve of his business. I just accept him for him.”

“El, what exactly does he do?” I push again.

She leans in closer. “He’s a mob boss,” she whispers.

I laugh out loud. “Oh, sure, you’ve gone and gotten yourself involved with the mob. Okay.” My laughter dies off when I look at her face and see her solemn expression. “Shit, you’re serious,” I say.

“I am,” she admits. “Fuck. Pretend you don’t know a thing. I haven’t told you anything, Dani. Promise me,” she whispers while glaring at something over my shoulder.

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