His Paradise Wife (2 page)

Emily shook her head again and paced the
floor in front of the display windows at her store; her black
six-inch stiletto heels drumming against the old hardwood. The
Champion brothers were handsome men, but they weren’t the only
handsome men in all of Asheville. Since Melvin’s death, she’d been
approached by several men – good-looking, successful men – but she
turned every single one of them down. She had no desire to learn
the mannerisms of someone else – their likes and dislikes. She’d
spent years finding those things out about Melvin, fully immersing
herself in his life by being the ideal wife and now, she was alone
and lonely with no desire to start over from scratch. So to ease
her loneliness, she’d began talking to Armand, a man she met
online.

“
Em, you there?”

“
Yes, I’m here, and just so
you know once and for all time, I’m not about to be one of Dante’s
flavors of the week or no one else’s for that matter.”

“
Yeah. You would just rather
hide behind a computer and chat with strangers instead of being
spontaneous and adventurous. What you need to do is put on some
hiking boots and climb Dante’s peak.”

Emily’s mouth fell open. “First of all, I’m
not climbing Dante’s peak or any other man’s...peak. Second, Armand
is not a stranger. We’ve been talking for three months.”

Melanie smacked her lips. “I really don’t
understand how you can dismiss a man like Dante for some online
guy.”

“
Very easily,” was Emily’s
answer.

“
Yeah, okay...keep on
talking to these guys on the internet and see what
happens...”

“
It’s
one
guy, Mel. One.”

“
That’s all it takes for you
to get catfished.”

Emily’s chuckle echoed off the wall of her
store. “What exactly does that even mean?”

“
It means this man,
Arnold—”

“
Armand,” Emily
corrected.

“
Whatever. It means he could
be someone with a fake identity online. Like for instance,
he
could be a
she
, an old pervert, or a
serial killer. Even worse, he could actually look like a
catfish.”

“
And looking like a catfish
is worse than being a serial killer?” Emily said through
laughter.

Melanie laughed too.

“
Oh, you are too much,
Melanie. And since when is my love life the focus of your life?
You’re single. Go mingle and leave me alone.”

Melanie had been involved with a guy by the
name of Scott Porter for four years. Before him, she was being
dogged out by pretty much every guy she dated and when Scott came
along, she knew he was the man she wanted to spend the rest of her
life with. That’s why, when she caught him red-handed having dinner
with a woman, Cheaters-show-style, it broke her heart.

“
We’re not talking about me.
Now, back to the issue at hand...have you at least spoken with this
guy on the phone yet?”

“
No. He prefers chatting and
emailing.”

“
He prefers?” Melanie asked
suspiciously.

“
Melanie, cut me some slack,
okay. I’m trying. You were the one always on my back, telling me
that it’s time to start dating again and blah, blah, blah...I
finally meet someone and you’re still not satisfied.”

“
It’s not that. I just don’t
trust this online dating stuff. Why set up a profile online and put
yourself out there to the world when there are men...handsome,
scrumptious, bachelors right here in this city looking for wives,
one of whom is practically begging you to go out with
him?”

“
Because I think chatting
behind the safety of my computer is best for me right now. Besides,
there’s nothing for you to worry about. I never told you this, but
the dating site I’m on is a website created specifically for people
who’ve lost a marriage mate in death.”

“
Oh,” was all Melanie could
say. She liked to laugh and joke around with Emily as they always
had done since they met at a customer service job eight years ago,
but she wouldn’t make light of Emily’s feelings surrounding
Melvin’s death. Although the accident that ended his life happened
two years ago, Melanie knew that Emily was still very much a
grieving widow.

Never had Melanie seen a couple more in love
than Emily and Melvin. As the story goes, they’d met in college
when Emily was twenty-three, married at twenty-five, and he passed
when she was thirty. Those were the best five years of her life –
her marriage – and now, at age thirty-two, she was brave enough to
chat with a man online. It was a start, especially after she told
any and everyone who would listen that Melvin was her soulmate and
there would never be another man who she would give her heart to.
Another man who could fill Melvin’s shoes. Never.

“
What website is this?”
Melanie inquired.

“
It’s called Grieving Hearts
Connect. They have hundreds of thousands of members with profiles
and—”

“
Is it free?”

“
No. It costs fifty bucks a
month. Why do you ask?”

“
Because usually people
don’t play games when they have to pay for something, so I’m
relieved to know that there is a charge for it. Have you’ve seen a
picture and the profile for...what’s his name again?”

“
Armand, and yes, I’ve seen
a picture. He’s nice-looking...said his wife died years
ago.”

“
How old is he?”

Emily grinned. “You do realize I told you
all of this like two months ago.”

“
Girl, please. You tell me a
lot of things on our girl nights, but that doesn’t mean I remember
any of it.”

“
Yeah, especially with all
that wine you drink.”

“
If you had to deal with the
guests at this hotel, you’d drink too.”

Emily grinned. “You better stop talking like
that before your boss hears you.”

“
Girl, I
am
the boss around this
joint.”

“
If you say so.” Emily
laughed, then looked up when she heard the bell on her door. Two
ladies came in, probably from a nearby office building on their
lunch breaks.

“
Mel, I got customers...I
have to go, but stop by tonight so we can finish this
discussion.”

“
Will do. Talk to you
later.”

Chapter 2

“
So I trust your meeting
here has been pleasant, Mr. Champion,” Melanie said, putting on her
professional hat. Even though she knew Dante in passing, she still
wanted to maintain a level of professionalism that a man of his
caliber would expect, especially when conducting business.
Therefore she didn’t use his first name when interacting with
him.

“
Yes it was. Thank
you.”

He was looking fly as always, smelling good,
clean shaven and had a voice that demanded attention. Mercy.

Quickly blinking and coming to her senses,
she said, “Um, you’re welcome.”

He smiled briefly.

That small act of him
smiling nearly took Melanie’s breath away. She thought he’d be on
his way by now, but he hadn’t moved. He remained standing at the
desk as if he needed something else?
Did
he need something else? Had she
forgotten to give him something? A receipt perhaps?

Dante recalled the last conference they had
here two months ago, he’d caught his brother, Dimitrius, ogling
Melanie, staring her up and down but he noticed that Dimitrius
hadn’t said anything to her. Just from interacting with her on a
business level, Dante knew Melanie wasn’t one of those easy-to-get
women. She didn’t seem like the type to let a man use her and toss
her aside. She had morals and was looking for something deeper,
same as her friend Emily. And Melanie was professional,
well-dressed and courteous. He wondered what her career background
was. She would be a good fit at his corporation.

“
Um...” Melanie swallowed
hard. “Is there anything else I can help you with Mr.
Champion?”

Dante wanted to ask her about Emily, but
resisted the urge. Besides, if his plan worked, he’d have Emily
Mitchell in his life soon enough. “No, I’m good. Again, thank you
for your assistance. It was greatly appreciated.”

“
You’re welcome.”

Gripping the handle of his briefcase, Dante
walked away from the desk and out of the gold-trimmed revolving
glass doors.

Melanie watched him get into the backseat of
a black Escalade and closed the door.

Dante was a successful entrepreneur of
various internet companies, but his corporation’s most profitable
venture was, Grieving Hearts Connect, an online community dedicated
to helping and supporting men and women who’d lost their marital
spouses in death. As a part of it, he formed a five-star, resort on
Pleasure Island, North Carolina, where widows and widowers could
meet and talk with therapists, deal with their issues by comforting
each other and using their time in paradise as a springboard to
return to their real life in their home towns with a new
perspective and outlook on life.

He formed the company after relocating to
Asheville, North Carolina from San Francisco seven years ago. He
made the move the same year his wife had passed, convinced his
brothers, Dimitrius and Desmond, to come on board with his idea for
starting a group of web companies and now, they’re all
millionaires.

Helping other people who were suffering
helped Dante to deal with the loss of Anita – the only woman who
had every physical attribute as well as inner qualities that made
him want to settle down. He was twenty-eight when they married, but
five years later, Anita passed from breast cancer, a disease that
her mother had also died from.

After her death, Dante couldn’t bring
himself to stay in California because everything there reminded him
of her – the landmarks, their friends, their house...everything. So
he quit his executive position at a top marketing firm there, sold
his home and moved away in search of a new beginning.

Once he was settled in Asheville, he and his
brothers were the talk of the town. They basically took over the
social scene and partygoers knew that if the Champion men weren’t
at an event, then it wasn’t the place to be.

After that partying phase of his life, which
he also understood as being the denial stage that Anita was truly
gone, Dante began to clean up his image. He missed what he had with
Anita and it wasn’t until he got his head back on straight that he
knew he desired what he’d lost. Unlike his brothers, he wanted
love, marriage, a woman to grow old with. Someone to share his life
with. The problem was, after all the women he’d met and casually
dated, he hadn’t run across a woman who could make him want to
pursue her – someone who could take his breath away.

Then he saw her, Emily Mitchell, showcasing
items from her boutique at a community festival. She was one of the
vendors there, laughing it up with a customer when her eyes locked
with his as he stood a few feet away, admiring her. He was there
alone, checking out all the vendors and their products, but when he
saw Emily, he stopped and stared, particularly at her full, red
lips as she smiled and interacted with customers.

When he noticed her customers were gone, he
stopped by her booth and bought a turquoise stone necklace. He told
her it was for his niece but he had no such niece. It was just a
ploy by him to get her name and number. She handed him a business
card that had the name of her shop, Emily’s Boutique, as well as
her business number, but he wasn’t able to get her personal number.
He had also been unsuccessful at getting her to go out with
him.

Then something amazing happened, almost as
if by divine intervention. His brother Dimitrius, head of the
accounts department, informed Dante of a new account that had been
set up on Grieving Hearts Connect, a woman by the name of Emily
Mitchell.

Right away Dante logged into the site,
looked her up and sure enough, it was the same Emily he’d bought
the necklace from, the woman who declined his request for a date.
Had he communicated with her online as himself, she probably would
not talk to him, and would easily dismiss him the same way she did
when he asked her out. That’s when he decided to take on a new
persona, to create a profile under the name ‘Armand Hill’. He
uploaded a fake picture – some man’s picture he found off of an
image search – created a profile and began chatting with Emily.

Over the course of three
months, he’d learned pretty much everything about Emily – things
that made him even more enamored by her. But he’d grown tired of
late night chats and shorthand typing with her. That had gotten old
real quick. He needed to
see
her laughing out loud. He wanted to personally
tell her,
goodnight
, seal it with a hug and kiss and not by typing ‘XO’ and
logging out of a chat window. He wanted his tongue buried in her
mouth while his arms encircled her body. He needed his lady by his
side.

So, using his lethal power of persuasion, he
devised a scheme to get a ring on her finger by coming up with a
first ever, GHC mass wedding at their resort on Pleasure Island.
All along, his plan had been to make her fall in love with his
online persona, Armand Hill, and he thought he was doing a pretty
good job of doing just that – persuading her that he was the man
for her, the one who could heal her broken heart. If she accepted
his proposal, she would meet him at Pleasure Island. Then and only
then would she learn his true identity – that the man she had
fallen in love with had been him instead of Armand. In his mind,
she’d forgive him for pretending to be someone else and fall
hopelessly in love with him. That’s how he hoped it would play out,
but now he wasn’t so sure.