Dumped My Cheating Ex. Now I'm Sleeping Next to a Billionaire CEO novel Chapter 940

Emmy’s heart skipped a beat. For a long moment, she just stared at the man behind her, her mind blank. His eyes were soft, full of endless patience and understanding. This man—so steady, mature, successful, handsome, and, on top of it all, gentle and thoughtful—he even had that kind of build that made you feel genuinely safe.

Any woman would probably fall for a guy like him, right?

Emmy could feel her heart racing, each thump louder than the last. It was totally out of her control. Still, she couldn’t say anything back. Even though her head kept telling her James was trustworthy, even though he was her husband in every sense, something inside her held back. She needed something to anchor herself, to find a little piece of her real self again. Only then would she be able to love him without holding anything back.

She took a long, steady breath, climbed off the rock, and decided to change the subject.

“It’s getting late. How about we head back?”

James stood up too, picking up on her cue. “Sounds good. We’ll take the same path. If we’re lucky, maybe we’ll catch the sunset on the beach.”

Emmy had watched plenty of sunsets by the ocean before. But for some reason, hearing James mention it made her look forward to it in a whole new way.

“Okay, let’s go find Snowhoof.”

They quickly found the horse tied to a stone pillar. The scenery on the way back was even more beautiful than before. Neither of them felt like riding, so they just walked, leading the horse along at a slow pace. James took the reins from her, holding both horses in one hand so she could have her hands free.

Emmy wandered along, stopping every few steps to pick up colorful shells scattered along the ground.

“This one’s so pretty. Oh, and that one too!” Before long, her pockets were stuffed.

Not even hesitating, Emmy started putting the extra shells into James’s pockets. “Let’s take them all home. The big ones can be drilled to make wind chimes, the small ones could be bracelets, or I could use them for illustrations.”

James let her fill his pockets with sandy shells, not minding at all. He even held his pocket open for her.

Emmy brushed the sand off her hands and started chatting, her voice casual. “When I first ran away, I used to make wind chimes in an alley behind the main street on Boro Island.”

“Maybe someone stole them, I don’t know. They’re gone now.”

She bent down to pick up a pink and white spiral shell, holding it up to the sun. “Wow, look at this one. Doesn’t it look like a unicorn horn?”

James had to look away when she wasn’t watching. His eyes were filled with sadness for her, for everything she’d been through. That was Dean’s debt to her. And his own guilt, for not protecting her when she needed it.

Emmy didn’t notice. She just tucked the “unicorn” shell into his already bulging pocket and wandered ahead.

After a while, James managed to steady himself and asked, his tone light, “Is Boro Island one of Dean’s places?”

Emmy was walking along the edge of the waves. She nodded, “Yeah, it’s one of his private islands. Part of it’s open for tourists, though. It’s pretty big.”

James raised his eyebrows, testing the waters. “Do you know which other islands Dean owns?”