FAKE DATING WITH BENEFITS MY BILLIONAIRE BOSS (Ophelia Corrigan) novel Chapter 212

CHAPTER 212

SIMON

She put her phone away.

“I’m tired, Simon.”

“So am I. But I don’t want us going to bed like this.”

“You should have thought of that before you went behind my back.”

“I thought I was helping”

“I know. That’s the problem.”

She walked past me into the bedroom. I followed without trying to touch her.

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At the mirror, she took off her earrings and set them in the little box she always used. I knew that sequence of movements as well as I knew the smell of her hair after a shower.

“I talked to Mitchell,” I said. “I’ve put all changes on hold until we agree on a structure that makes sense. You’re still in charge of legal.”

She stopped with one earring between her fingers.

“That conversation should have happened before the board meeting.”

“I agree.”

Her expression softened for a second.

“Simon, I don’t want to win a fight with you. I want to know I can trust you to treat me like a professional, even when we disagree.”

“And I don’t want you carrying the weight of this investigation alone.”

“Then stand beside me. Don’t take my place.”

Her words hung between us. I could have given her ten more arguments about the risks to the company. None of them would have answered what she’d just asked of me.

“You’re right about that,” I admitted. “I’m sorry I handled it the way I did.”

She nodded, but she didn’t come any closer.

“Thank you for saying that.”

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18:33 Tue, Oct 20 MOD

FAKE DATING WITH BENEFITS: MY BILLIONAIRE BOSS

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We hadn’t made up. We’d barely taken the first step toward finding our way back to each other.

I went to shower. When I came out in a T-shirt and sweatpants, Jamie was spreading a sheet over the sofa in our bedroom. She’d put a pillow at one end and a blanket at the

other.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m sleeping here tonight.”

“You don’t have to sleep on the couch. The bed’s yours.”

She kept smoothing the sheet, her mind clearly made up.

“I’d rather sleep here. It’s fine.”

I walked over, picked up the pillow and blanket, and tucked them under my arm.

“All right. If sharing a bed is the problem, you take the bedroom. I’ll sleep on the couch downstairs.”

“Simon, I didn’t ask you to…”

“I know you didn’t.” I leaned down and pressed a quick kiss to her forehead, without expecting it to fix anything. “Good night.”

She caught my wrist before I could walk away. For a moment, I let myself hope.

“It’s going to be hot down there,” she murmured.

“I think I’ll survive.”

She let go of my wrist, and for a second, I could see her wanting to ask me to stay. Then she lay down on the bed and turned away from me.

I switched off the light and settled onto the downstairs couch, my knees slightly bent because my legs didn’t quite fit. Our bed was only a short walk away. So was my wife.

I spent more than an hour trying to fall asleep. The couch fabric trapped the heat against my back, the blanket was too heavy, and the air felt stale. I kicked off the blanket, rolled onto my side, then onto my back. Nothing helped.

Around two in the morning, I gave up. I got up slowly, slipped on my slippers, and went to get some water. The hallway was dark except for the small lights along the baseboards.

16:33 Tue, Oct 20 MOD.

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