Chapter 21

Halfway through her long weekend in Miami, Emma felt like she was ready to go into retirement. The events Regina took her to there were nothing like the ones she'd gotten used to in New York – if anything, they were more similar to the places she and Elsa went to after work, and although there were moments of genuine fun to be found, mostly the whole experience just felt greasy.

Emma walked through a party on Friday evening, carefully avoiding the crowd of men doing cocaine off the bar, and sought out Regina. She'd lost her an hour ago when Regina had gotten into a heated debate about the pros and cons of hyperrealism with a group of people Emma didn't know, during which Emma had gone wandering off in search of someone she recognised. She had eventually stumbled across Archie and Marco, who looked even more out of place than she did. They had chatted for a while, but the pair decided to excuse themselves when the hard drugs came out, leaving Emma by herself once more.

She eventually spotted Regina on the terrace and hurried out to meet her. She was alone, which was unlike her, but when Emma got closer she saw that she was typing something into her phone. She looked up when Emma approached.

"There you are," she said, placing a hand on Emma's lower back while continuing to type with the other. "Are you having fun?"

"Yes and no," Emma said, twirling her diamond necklace around her finger. "I think I walked in on someone getting a blowjob in the bathroom."

"Excellent. I hope you took a photo to sell to the press."

"What are you doing out here?" Emma asked, turning and leaning back against the railing so she could look at her properly. Regina wore different clothes here, too – her usual shift dresses and button-down shirts wouldn't fit in with this crowd, and so she had filled the closet in their rented villa with sparkly dresses, tight skirts and pants that did very strange things to Emma's insides. Right that second she was wearing skin-tight skinny jeans and a sleeveless black shirt. She had let her hair dry into its natural curls, something Emma hadn't realised she found disgracefully attractive until she'd seen it that morning, and she was wearing large hoop earrings that made her look like she owned a dive bar in Seattle rather than a billion art galleries across the Northern Hemisphere.

"I just had to send an email. It's hard to concentrate with the music in there," Regina said, still looking down at her phone. She was squinting as she tried to read the tiny print. Whenever she did that, Emma always wanted to lean forward and kiss the wrinkle by her nose.

"You need to wear your glasses more."

"I am not wearing glasses to a function," Regina said.

"Why not? They're on trend."

"I look 10 years older in them. It's never happening."

Emma paused before admitting, "I like you in them, you know."

"Yes, I do," Regina smirked. "You're not very subtle about it."

"I am!"

"You drool like an toddler. But it's flattering, so I can't say that I mind."

Emma glared at her. "Your head is way too big."

Regina already knew that was true, so she didn't respond. "And why are you out here?"

"I saw you, and I wanted to get away from all the cocaine."

Finally putting her phone away, Regina looked up at her and laughed. "You do look a little uncomfortable. Are people behaving themselves?"

"They're fine, and I'm not uncomfortable."

"Well, try and act like that's true. If you look like you're out of place then other people will think you are too."

"Fine. Do you know how much longer we're going to stay here?"

"A while. Maybe stick to water for an hour," Regina said, adjusting her necklace before looking towards the sprawling house. "I'm going back inside. Do you want to come with me?"

"You go. I'll make some friends."

Regina smiled proudly. "You do that."

She kissed her on the cheek, then disappeared inside with her head held high. Emma watched her go, sighing wistfully, before following a few minutes later and making her own way through the crowd.

She was wandering around alone for a while before she spotted Natalya, Neal's Russian model friend who she hadn't seen since they'd briefly met at that party in New York. She was surrounded by a group of women who were all over six feet tall and who probably had the collective earnings of a small country. Normally Emma would have backed away with sweaty palms, but she'd had just the right amount of bourbon to force herself to step towards her.

"Natalya, right?"

Natalya looked down at her from her towering shoes, and for a hideous second she didn't recognise her. Then her eyes lit up and she exclaimed, "It's whisky Emma!"

She tugged her forward, introducing her to the circle of girls in her delightfully thick accent. Emma had been expecting a hostile reception, but one of them spotted the Fendi boots she was wearing before she'd even had a chance to say hi. Regina had bought them for her on the day she'd arrived in Miami, and at the time she'd thought they were ridiculous – now that she had a group of beautiful women cooing over them, however, the purchase didn't seem quite so crazy.

"Emma is friends with Neal," Natalya told them all.

"Not really friends," Emma said. "Just acquaintances. Is he here?"

"Da, I saw him stealing liquor. We did not come together," Natalya explained. "But he will be pleased to see you."

"How do you know him?" one of the other girls asked Emma.

"Oh, we just met at an event in New York."

"Emma is dating the scary lady," Natalya said. Emma laughed out loud.

"Regina isn't scary," she said, but one of the girls was already gasping.

"Regina Mills?" she asked. She had enormous brown eyes that went even wider as she spoke. "I'm here with Moe French. He hates her."

Forcing back bile, Emma asked, "The big guy?" She could remember meeting him all too vividly, and the thought of that beefy, shouty guy standing next to this carbon copy of Gal Gadot made her feel slightly sick.

"Yes," the woman said quite happily. "He's ugly but rich, and he brings me to Miami Beach, so..."

"Right," Emma said dubiously. "Well, Regina is nice really. Although I know she and Moe don't exactly see eye to eye."

The girl shrugged. "He doesn't like many people. But in Regina's case I think he's just intimidated by a woman who does his job better than he does."

"Especially a woman who weighs less than his left leg," one of the other women chimed in, and they all laughed together. It was a weird feeling, being part of a group of girls for once in her life. Emma's heart was pounding, but she had to admit that she liked the newness of it.

"Are you guys all dating art dealers?" Emma asked. They all nodded, except for one woman who was dating an artist instead. Emma had to assume it wasn't one of the impoverished ones. "And... I guess you're all models?"

More agreement, and then someone asked, "What do you do, Emma?"

"I work for a book publisher. We mostly print kids books but we're branching out into slightly older age groups at the moment."

"Do you write them?"

"No, I... I'd like to do that one day, but at the moment I'm still in the 'paying my dues' part of it all."

"I know a few independent editors," the woman who looked like Gal Gadot said. "They're always looking for new stuff, especially now the market is drying up a bit. Whenever you're ready to dive into that, maybe I can put you in touch."

Emma just stared at her. "For real?"

"Sure. Let me get your details," she said, whipping out her phone. She had a glittery J plastered on her phone case and Emma remembered in a flash from the earlier introductions that her name was Jasmine.

"That would be really great," Emma said as she frantically typed her number into her phone. "I mean, I know editors at my company too but my boss has a bit of a monopoly on what I do with my time. I don't think she'd appreciate it if I started sending manuscripts around the office."

"I get it, we've all had a bitch boss before."

"My agent only lets me eat apples and almonds on shoot days," Natalya said, not sounding particularly put out by this fact. "But I look great, so it works out okay."

"Emma," one of the other women suddenly said. "Is Regina taking on new clients at the moment?"

Emma blinked. "Artists or collectors?"

"Collectors. My ex-boyfriend gave me some money when he broke up with me and I've been trying to decide what to invest it in, because apparently just buying new clothes isn't a sensible long-term solution," she said, glaring at Jasmine.

"I told her to invest in art," Jasmine explained. "Moe isn't taking on new clients at the moment – not since his wife is divorcing him for sleeping with me – but I thought maybe Regina might be."

Choosing to ignore this admission about Moe's gross private life, Emma gabbled, "I'm sure she is. I can put you in touch."

Honestly, she had no idea what Regina's plans were, other than to tap her way into the Brooklyn art scene. But since that seemed to be happening slower than Emma had thought humanly possible, maybe it would be a good thing for her to help out wherever else she could. "Regina's got an amazing eye for these things. She was telling me the other day that she bought a collection five years ago for $45,000 and now it's up at auction for $2 million."

"Wow," the woman said. "And you think art is a better investment than property?"

"The bottom of the art market is never going to drop out," Emma said, repeating a line she'd heard Regina say a hundred times over the phone. "People are always going to want shiny paintings to show off how tasteful they are. Trust me, you want to invest in art."

"Listen to her," Natalya said, swigging back vodka like it was tap water. "My little Emma is very smart."

By the end of their conversation, Emma had the phone numbers of six models safely plugged into her phone, three of whom were seriously interested in investing with Regina and three who just wanted to party with Emma when they got back to New York. Her hands were shaking when the last girl finally handed her her cell back. She couldn't wait to find Regina and show her what she'd done.

"Emma Swan!" a voice suddenly bellowed from behind her, and she turned to find Neal charging towards her like a bull. His cheeks and neck were bright pink from sunburn, and she burst out laughing as soon as she saw him.

"What the hell happened to you?"

"Miami life," he said cheerfully, gathering her up in a hug. He was just the wrong side of sweaty and Emma could tell just from his gunky shirt how many hours he'd spent drinking that day. "How are you?"

"Great. I have a new group of best friends."

"Ladies," Neal said, nodding at the models. "Natalya. I've missed you."

"You are a sticky little liar," Natalya said coolly.

"I missed you a bit," he said before turning back to Emma. "Not as much as I missed Swan here, though."

"Is that what happened here?" Emma asked, prodding his sunburnt neck and grinning when he flinched away. "You were lying out in the sun moping about how much you wanted me here?"

The girls all laughed, and so did Neal, because he was the type of person who would go along with anything.

"Absolutely. But now you're here, and everything is great," he said, looking around and spotting a free group of sofas. "Shall we all sit? It will do wonders for my reputation if people see me surrounded by seven gorgeous women."

They all collectively rolled their eyes before following him anyway. Emma managed to snag herself an armchair, leaving everyone else to squish into the couches and loveseats together.

She was sitting there for the next hour, drink in hand and easy laughter flitting between each of them. She realised then that she was having actual, genuine fun for the first time since this crazy arrangement had started, and that thought made her spirits lift even higher.

Then she looked up and saw Regina walking through the door. She paused on the threshold, looking around with her hands clasped in front of her until she spotted Emma sitting towards the back of the room. Emma waved her over and she slowly approached, her eyes on the gaggle of leggy girls, none of whom she knew.

"Everyone, this is Regina," Emma cut over the top of the chatter, reaching out for Regina's hand and pulling her to her side. She listed off everyone else's names while Regina blinked down at them.

"Hello," Regina said, and her voice sounded slightly rusty. When Emma looked up, she saw a trapped expression on her face that had never been there before. She was looking around the circle, wondering where she could sit, and she swallowed hard when she realised there was no space left for her.

Emma leapt up at once. "I'll get some more drinks. Regina, sit."

She pushed her into the armchair and hurried off to the bar, grabbing a tray full of shots and a vodka tonic for Regina because she already knew that she was never going to persuade her to have some tequila. When she returned, Regina was sitting stiff-backed in her chair, but there was interest on her face as she listened to the conversation Natalya was having with one of the other women.

Emma handed out the drinks and then perched herself on the arm of Regina's chair. An arm slipped around her waist at once.

"So, Regina," Jasmine said, and Regina actually flinched beside her. "Emma tells us you bought her those gorgeous Fendi boots."

Regina swallowed. "Yes, I did. They look great on her." There was a pause before she added, "Right?"

It took all of Emma's willpower not to throw herself at her, because she sounded completely unsure of herself and it was the most fucking endearing thing she'd ever witnessed. Reaching down to squeeze Regina's knee, Emma listened to the chorus of "Oh, God yes" and "You have amazing taste, I wish I could get my boyfriend to buy me stuff like that" from around her.

More chatter broke out. It was loud and nonsensical and fuelled by alcohol, and Regina held onto Emma's side like she was careering around a racetrack. After a few minutes Emma felt a finger tapping against her hip, and she bent down to put her ear closer to Regina's mouth.

"No one is listening to one another," Regina muttered.

"I know. That's how it works," Emma said quietly. "You just jump into the parts of conversation you can hear. If you get lost, just wait until something else comes up 10 seconds later."

"But it's all nonsense," Regina hissed, and Emma squeezed her knee again.

"Yeah, and you should enjoy it. Besides, you should get on their good side. They're interested in you."

Regina immediately tilted her head to look up at her. "Are they?"

"Maybe," Emma said loftily. She wanted to save the revelation that she'd managed to drum up some business on her behalf until they were alone. "Just be nice. Be friendly. Don't talk about modernism."

Regina scoffed. "That's not all I talk about."

"Since I've known you, I've heard you mention it at least 14 times."

"What are you two whispering about over there?" Jasmine asked, making Emma look up. She accidentally caught sight of Neal on the way, and before he could avert his gaze, she saw that his eyes were fixed on the way her hand was resting on Regina's leg.

"Regina's complaining about the vodka they're serving here," Emma said, even though Regina had said no such thing. "I told her to stop being such a snob."

"She is right," Natalya bellowed, just like Emma knew she would. "It is total piss."

Thankfully, Regina did have some unnecessarily strong opinions about spirits that she was able to bring to the table. Emma had learned this the hard way several weeks ago when they'd had a 40-minute argument over the pros and cons of scotch whisky over bourbon.

"People think they can skimp on things like this," Regina said, gesturing with her full drink. "But they're wrong. When I host a party, there won't be any Grey Goose in sight."

"Grey Goose," Natalya practically spat, making some of the other girls flinch away from her. "French garbage. These Westerners think they can outdo us and it is embarrassing."

And they were off. Emma sat back as far as she could on her uncomfortable perch, watching the conversation unfurl before her. Whenever Regina trailed off, Emma would jump in to help her, kicking the discussion along like a crumpled can. It was a change, and a nice one, from how things normally were between them, where Emma stumbled along hoping she wasn't about to trip up and Regina quietly watched her, steering her away whenever she was close to falling completely.

It was sweet, almost, to see Regina like this. Her earrings moved excitedly as she talked. Emma smiled down at her, grateful to witness this side to her for once. Then she looked up to find Neal watching her, not talking to the others. When she caught him staring, he didn't look away.

Emma was exhausted when they finally returned to their home for the week. The villa was an outrageous six-bedroomed mansion that Tamara had definitely not found on Airbnb, with its own pool and a stunning view out over Biscayne Bay. They walked into the foyer and Emma eased off her boots with a groan.

"Well," Regina said, dropping her purse on the console and fishing out her cell phones. "That was definitely an unusual evening."

"I've never heard you get so passionate about the best kind of sushi before," Emma said. Regina chuckled back at her.

"It's an important topic." She pulled out her earrings before reaching up to tousle her hair. "Did you enjoy yourself?"

"You know, I actually did," Emma said as they walked into the kitchen. "It made a change from standing around talking about market forces."

"I did miss that," Regina admitted. "But they were interesting people. How did you meet them?"

"Natalya was with Neal last time I saw him. Hey, I saw you and him talking at one point – do you think you're warming to one another?"

"Maybe," Regina said. "It's hard to say. He seemed distracted. But I'm still interested in him, if you think he's still interested in me."

"He definitely is, he was just playing it cool," Emma said, grabbing two bottles of water from the fridge and handing one to Regina. "You know, if you actually wanted to get him onside, you should consider doing something like this of your own."

"What, having a coke-fuelled blowjob party?"

"No," Emma rolled her eyes. "But a party, yes. In Manhattan. Not one of your stiff gallery things, but an actual party with drinks and dancing and more conversation like tonight. Neal looked way more relaxed today than he's ever been before."

"Do you think so?" Regina asked thoughtfully.

"Your normal events aren't really his vibe," Emma said, leaning back against the counter. "If you threw something like this, he would definitely show. And you'd have a better chance to talk and get a feel for him and his work."

"I've never thrown a party like that before, though."

"Well. I could help."

"You'd do that?"

"Of course," Emma shrugged. "If there's anything I'm good at, it's drinking too much and waking up wishing I'd never been born. I'm sure I can help achieve that on a large scale."

Regina laughed, stepping forward to kiss her cheek. "Your skills never cease to amaze me."

She took a sip of her water, then raised one finger.

"What did you mean when you said those women were interested in me?"

"Oh," Emma said, her face immediately going hot. "Well. I'm not sure if you're going to be happy about this or not. I'm hoping you'll think it's a good thing."

Regina's eyebrows lifted expectantly. She waited as Emma fished her phone out of her pocket and drew up the new numbers she'd acquired.

"Some of the girls were talking about investing," Emma said, handing the phone over and watching as Regina frowned down at the screen. "They know you're good at what you do. I said that if they're interested in investing in art, I'd try and get you to take them on as clients."

"The models?" Regina clarified.

"Yeah."

"The extremely wealthy supermodels with more money than sense?"

"They're not stupid," Emma snapped. "But yeah. They have loose cash. They're willing to give it to you."

Regina just stared down at the phone, flicking through the different names. Then she looked up, her mouth half open.

"I don't know what to say."

"Is that a bad kind of speechless?" Emma asked slowly.

"Emma," Regina stammered, not answering her question. "You just got me six potential new clients in one evening. Do you know how difficult that is?"

"They weren't all interested," Emma clarified. "But I said we should swap numbers anyway, just in case they changed their minds or if—"

Regina interrupted her by stepping across the room and kissing her hard. When she pulled away, her hand still resting on Emma's cheek, Emma was blinking wildly, trying to see through stars.

"This is great," Regina said, her voice firm and sincere. "You are great. And if they invest with me, I really will buy you a car."

Emma laughed. "I don't want a car. I was just trying to help. It was kind of an accident, to be honest."

"And what a beautiful accident it was," Regina said, kissing her again. "I'll call them the second we're back in New York. Make sure you invite them to this party we're having."

Emma grinned. "You think you'll actually do it?"

"I think I should listen to your advice more often," Regina said. "So yes. I probably will. But only if you help me, because I have no idea where to start on something like this."

"Deal," Emma said, leaning into her touch.

For a moment they just stood there, Emma enjoying the feeling of Regina's cool fingers against her hot cheek. Then Regina pulled away, seeking out Emma's hand and tugging her away from the counter.

"Where are we going?" Emma asked, stumbling along behind her.

"Upstairs," Regina said. "I think I should show you just how appreciative I am of your marvellous little brain."