FAKE DATING WITH BENEFITS MY BILLIONAIRE BOSS (Ophelia Corrigan) novel Chapter 176

CHAPTER 176

– JAMIE

“My love, I remember the first time I saw you perfectly.”

My heart clenched.

“You were shy back then. You spoke softly, got nervous whenever I asked you a question, and you could barely look me in the eye.”

I smiled, remembering how much he used to intimidate me.

“But you didn’t make it easy either.”

“No, I didn’t, counselor,” he agreed, with a small smile. “I know I didn’t.”

He ran his thumb over my engagement ring.

“And it only took a few months for that woman who could barely hold my gaze to become the only person who had the guts to stand up to me. And probably the only one I was afraid to cross.”

I smiled.

“I fell in love with your courage. Your honesty. The way you never accept the convenient answer when you know it’s the wrong one. I even fell in love with the way you look at me when you think I’m being an idiot.”

“That happens a lot.”

“I know, baby.”

He took a deep breath.

“But what made me certain was realizing I didn’t just want the best moments with you. I wanted the routine. The arguments over small things. The rushed mornings. I wanted to be the man you come home to at the end of the day. And I want to keep earning that choice.”

I was already crying without even trying to hide it.

Lily came up to us with the rings, proud like she was running a state ceremony. Simon bent down to thank her and she whispered something that made him laugh.

“She said not to forget the kiss,” he explained, and I smiled.

We exchanged rings. The officiant was still finishing the sentence about declaring us husband and wife when Simon wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me into him.

“Simon!” I protested, laughing.

“I’m following instructions.”

He kissed me in front of everyone. It wasn’t a kiss staged for photographs. It was that impatient, familiar kiss that always made me grab his lapel.

The guests applauded. Lily celebrated louder than anyone.

When we pulled apart, Simon pressed his lips to my ear.

“Now you’re officially stuck with me, Mrs. Hart.”

“I can still get an annulment.”

“Try it. I have excellent lawyers.”

I laughed against his chest.

For a few minutes, there were no reports, no cameras, no headlines. Just the two of us, married, in the middle of a garden full of the people we loved.

I learned that being newly married involved a surprising number of hugs.

I barely got to taste the food. Every time Simon and I got close to the table, someone showed up with a photograph, a toast, or a story that had to be told right then.

William found me near the garden while I was trying to catch my breath.

“Finally got to talk to my daughter-in-law,” he said, offering a smile.

“Your son is being requested by half of New York.”

“He’s always liked telling people what to do. Today they’re returning the favor.”

I laughed.

William watched Simon across the room. He was talking to two friends, but his eyes kept coming back to me every few seconds.

“Simon has a difficult temper,” William said. “Always has. When he was a boy, he argued like he was standing in front of a jury.”

“So he hasn’t changed much.”

“He’s changed more than you think. He used to believe giving in was losing. With you, he’s learning the difference between giving in and trusting.”

I looked at my husband. As if he felt it, he raised his glass toward me.

“He gives me a hard time,” I admitted.

“And you do my son a world of good, Jamie. More than you know. I’ll admit I’d given up hope of ever seeing him married. Simon has always been a hard man to convince, especially when it comes to his own heart. But then you showed up… And today, watching the two of you together, I can say this is one of the happiest days of my life. Just don’t tell him I said that.”

Simon appeared behind me the next second.

“Are you two talking about me?”

“Just facts,” William replied.

“Dangerous to leave you two alone.”

His father squeezed my shoulder and walked off, laughing.

Simon pulled me in by the waist.

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