Chapter 173. Not as Your Wife

He extended his hand to her in greeting: "Hi, I am Bernard.

Marissa smiled but then she caught up and looked at him shyly while returning his handshake "Hello. My name is Marissa. Nice to meet you."

Bernard raised her hand to his lips as he gave her a lingering kiss on the back of her hand. Marissa," he repeated, caressing it in his mouth in a way that made Marissa blush. "Miss, may I please have the opportunity to know you more than this? I would like to be your friend—more than a friend, actually," Bernard said with a straight face.

"Oh yeah? What sort of friend would you like to be?" Marissa replied, settling back into the settee as she tried hard not to laugh.

"I want to be your close, close, close friend," Bernard replied in a low voice that made Marissa's skin tingle and her scalp itch.

"Oh well, I don't make close friends easily; I am more of an acquaintance person," Marissa replied, getting more into character.

"I have a feeling that