Page 45 of Fool Me Twice

Her eyes filled with tears, and my breath caught in my chest. Had I said something wrong?

“That’s really nice of you.” She wiped away what I realized were tears of appreciation. “You’re really something, you know.”

“How so?”

She hesitated. “Never mind.”

“No. Please.”

“O-kay. It’s just…” She studied her hand for a long moment before looking up at me. “You’ve really matured since our time dating. You’ve become quite the, well, grownup.”

“I should hope so,” I said with a grin.

Her own smile was halfhearted, so I sobered and met her where she was at.

“Thank you,” I said. “That means a lot coming from you. So will you take the job?”

She laughed and shook her head. “A life off camera?”

“The camera does love you. It will be a shame to see you go.”

I should know. I’d watched hours of footage of her presenting the news.

For research purposes, of course.

“I feel like a talking mannequin up there,” she said. “I can’t say that I’ll miss it.”

“You are talking like you’re taking the job.”

“Sure.” A smile bloomed across her face. “Thank you for the offer, Rodrigo. I would love to accept the job.”

I clapped my hands together. “Excellent! I will get everything in order when I return to Rio tomorrow, and you can meet me there in a few weeks.”

“Next week?”

“Unless that’s too soon.”

“No.” She stabbed an empanada with her fork, her mood brightening. “It’s not too soon at all.”

CHAPTER13

GEORGIA

“Georgia!”

I turned around and searched the crowd outside the airport.

“Georgia!” Juliana, dressed in a big sun hat and bright dress, waved at me.

I waved back, grabbed my suitcase, and rolled it her way. She met me halfway with a hug.

“Look at you!” She released me, her gaze sweeping up and down my length. “Your cast is off!”

“And it feels amazing,” I confirmed, doing a turn just because I could.

“And your hair.” She touched the fresh highlights and cut.

I shrugged. “I felt like arriving on my best foot. Pun intended.”

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