FAKE DATING WITH BENEFITS MY BILLIONAIRE BOSS (Ophelia Corrigan) novel Chapter 15

CHAPTER 15

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– SIMON

There I was, grinding against a blonde on a yacht in Ibiza. The bass from the shitty phone speakers thumped through the room. I watched my own hand grab her ass, watched her throw her head back, watched the whole scene like I was attending my own funeral.

“Jesus Christ,” Jamie murmured beside me.

The video cut to another scene. Same trip. Different woman. This time I was gripping a redhead in a pool while someone off-screen yelled, “That’s it!”

And then–because apparently this was my life now-I appeared on screen, saying: “I don’t get why people need to be attached to someone twenty-four-seven. I’m perfectly happy alone. Actually, most things I enjoy, I prefer doing solo. My limit is two months. After that, I’m bored. There’s a whole world of women out there waiting to be discovered. And I’m never giving up this life for anyone. Ever.”

The room went dead silent.

Oliver was grinning like he’d just won the lottery. “You know what the best part is? This was less than six months ago, Jamie. Your perfect boyfriend never mentioned his little… European excursions?”

I opened my mouth, but before I could get a word out, a small voice cut through the tension.

“Simon?”

The sound hit me like a punch to the gut.

I turned slowly.

Jamie’s grandmother stood in the doorway, one hand pressed against her chest like she was trying to keep her heart in place. She stared at the frozen image on the screen, and something in her face shifted.

Disappointment.

Pure, raw disappointment.

“Grandma,” Jamie started, stepping toward her. “It’s not-”

“Is that you?” Mrs. Collins asked, looking directly at me.

I couldn’t lie to her.

“Yes, ma’am. That’s me.”

She stared at the screen another long moment. Then she turned to me, and in that moment, I realized I cared

a hell of a lot more about what that woman thought of me than I’d ever expected.

“I thought you were different,” she said softly. “I thought… my granddaughter had finally found a good man.”

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FAKE DATING WITH BENEFITS: MY BILLIONAIRE BOSS

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“Grandma,” Jamie said again, positioning herself beside her grandmother. “That’s not what it looks like. We weren’t together back then.”

Oliver laughed behind us.

I ran a hand through my hair, my heart slamming against my ribs. This wasn’t how this was supposed to go. The plan was simple-show up, play the perfect boyfriend role, leave. I wasn’t supposed to care what an eighty-seven-year-old woman thought of me. Wasn’t supposed to give a damn about a backstabbing doctor’s opinion. But I’d promised Jamie I’d handle today. And now everything was falling apart.

“Baby,” I said, my voice rough. “Look at me.”

Jamie lifted her chin, and there it was-that defensive wall, telling me she was already pulling back, already building barriers because that’s what she did. It’s what Oliver had taught her to do.

“Grandma,” I said, turning back to Mrs. Collins. “I know what you must be thinking of me right now. And I’m not going to lie to you-I was an idiot in Ibiza. I’ve been an idiot for most of my adult life, honestly. I partied too much, slept with too many women, made too many mistakes.”

She pressed her lips together. “And Jamie? Is she just another mistake?”

“No. Jamie is the first thing I haven’t screwed up. The only thing. And I know I don’t deserve her. Hell, I know I’m not good enough for her-I’ve always known that. Which is why I spent three years watching her from a distance instead of saying anything. She wasn’t just my best employee-she’s my best person.”

I paused, looking at Jamie. She stared at me like I’d just sprouted a second head.

“I waited,” I continued, my voice dropping. “Waited until she was single. And when she finally was… I couldn’t keep my distance anymore. Didn’t want to.”

“Simon,” Jamie breathed.

But I wasn’t done.

“You want to know why I asked her to come this weekend?” I looked at Oliver, letting the disgust bleed into my voice. “Because-” I swallowed hard. “–because I was already planning to do something tonight. But I couldn’t do it before I met her whole family.”

“Do something?” Jamie’s grandmother asked. “What do you mean?”

I turned to face Jamie fully. She looked confused, wary, and beautiful-even when she was pissed at me, even when I’d just ruined everything.

Jamie blinked. “Simon, what are you-”

“I was going to wait,” I said, cutting her off. “Had a whole speech planned. Dinner on the terrace, candles, the whole thing. I even bought the ring.”

Her jaw dropped.

“Tonight,” I said, gripping her hands. “I was going to propose. Had everything arranged-the reservation, the

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flowers, all of it. Wanted to do it right. Wanted to give you the proposal you deserved, not some rushed mess in your grandmother’s living room because I can’t shut my mouth.”

Jamie stared at me in panic.

“But I can’t wait anymore.” I dropped to one knee on the worn wooden floor, and I saw Vanessa’s eyes go wide, saw Oliver’s face lose its color.

“Jamie Collins,” I said, my voice steady despite the chaos in my chest. “You are the most serious, smartest, kindest woman I’ve ever met. You drive me absolutely insane. And I can’t imagine my life without you.”

Her mouth opened and closed like she was about to collapse from me going too far. But screw it. I wasn’t leaving here with her humiliated.

I squeezed her hands.

“Jamie… baby… will you marry me?”

The room was completely silent.

Jamie looked down at me, her chest rising and falling with short breaths.

And then-

“I think…”

She said it softly, shyly.

“Yes. I mean, I will.”

I stood and wrapped my arms around her, and she whispered in my ear: “Have you lost your mind, Hart?”

“Your grandmother’s watching,” I murmured against her ear. “This was the best way I could think of to hold up my end of the deal.”

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