Chapter Eighty-Three

Emma’s POV

I was honestly shocked by the statement.

“Except you’re not single, and I just overstepped my boundaries,” he said, laughing in a way that indicated he was embarrassed.

It actually took me a minute to understand why he even had to ask that in the first place, then I realized I had left my wedding ring back at my hotel room. I didn’t want to wear it near the water in the fear of losing it, so I took it off as I changed.

I looked down at my empty ring finger for a few seconds, deciding whether I wanted to tell this fine man in front of me that I was actually married, even though the marriage wasn’t real. Of course, I couldn’t tell him that part and I didn’t want to chase him away either by being vague and simply saying, ‘I’m married,’ so I just decided against telling him in general.

“I’m single,” I smiled. “And I’d love to go out to dinner with you tonight,” I added.

“Amazing,” he grinned. “Where are you staying at? I’m over there,” he pointed to the hotel that was righ