FAKE DATING WITH BENEFITS MY BILLIONAIRE BOSS (Ophelia Corrigan) novel Chapter 45

CHAPTER 45

AMIE

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“Tomorrow your mother’s probably going to inspect your finger, so I figured I’d get something simple. you know, just so we don’t blow the cover.”

I stared at the ring, my mouth hanging open like an idiot.

“But that’s… Simon, that’s a real diamond. A real, huge diamond that probably costs more than my apartment.”

He didn’t deny it. Just stood there, holding the box like it was a business card, completely unfazed by the fact that my brain was short-circuiting.

“Aren’t you going to put it on?”

I blinked at him. “You want me to… try it on?”

“I want you to wear it tomorrow.” He stepped closer, close enough that I could smell his cologne-that familiar mix of wood and something citrus that I’d gotten addicted to smelling on my own skin after he left. “My girlfriend needs to look very loved. My fake fiancée. Whatever we’re calling this.”

“Fake fiancée,” I repeated, the words sounding foreign in my mouth. “Right. That’s what we’re calling it.”

“That’s what we’re calling it.”

He slid the ring out of the box-a massive diamond solitaire surrounded by smaller stones, all of them catching the light like tiny fireflies. He took my left hand, and I let him hold it, my heart suddenly racing for reasons I didn’t want to examine.

The diamond looked enormous on my finger. It was beautiful, I couldn’t deny that. But as I watched the light reflect off it, I felt a strange knot form in my stomach-a tight, uncomfortable sensation that spread through my chest like ice water.

I’d dreamed since I was a kid about the day I’d get married, but lately, anything wedding-related left a bitter taste in my mouth.

I looked up at Simon, expecting to find that smug, satisfied expression he usually wore when he’d done something clever. Instead, I found him watching me with an unreadable look in those blue eyes.

“You don’t like it?”

“Like what?”

“The ring.” He nodded toward my hand. “You’re not smiling like a normal woman would.”

“I’m not a normal woman,” I said, pulling my hand back. “And normal women don’t wear engagement rings from their fake boyfriends.”

He let out a low laugh, but the sound was distracted, almost distant. Then he sat down on the edge of the bed, close enough that his shoulder brushed mine. His heat seeped through the thin fabric of my dress, and I felt my stomach tighten in a way that had nothing to do with the ring.

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FAKE DATING WITH BENEFITS: MY BILLIONAIRE BOSS

“Jamie.” His voice dropped, all the humor gone. “I want to ask you something.”

ulled my hand away from the light to look at him. “What?”

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He didn’t answer right away. Just sat there, watching me with those serious blue eyes that seemed to see through every wall I’d ever built.

“You know that someday,” he began, his voice deliberate, measured, like a man choosing every word with extreme care, “when we don’t need to fake it for your family anymore… that day’s going to come.”

I nodded slowly, unsure where this was going.

“What we have,” he continued, “the sex, the intimacy… it’s going to end.”

I blinked at him. “Probably.”

His jaw tightened, the muscle under his skin twitching almost imperceptibly. “I’ve been thinking to myself, until that day comes… what if one of us breaks the first rule?” He paused, and something in his expression shifted. “You know… starts feeling something more.”

“I’m not going to fall in love with you if that’s what you’re asking, Hart.” The words came out sharp, maybe too sharp, and I laughed to soften them.

“But what if it’s me who breaks the rule?”

The laugh died in my throat. I stared at him, trying to find the joke, waiting for the punchline.

Nothing came.

“Have you been drinking?” I asked, only half joking.

“What? No. Of course not.” He shook his head, looking almost offended. “I was in jail, remember? They don’t serve whiskey in holding cells.”

“Then you hit your head.”

Simon let out a rough sigh.

“You didn’t answer.”

“Do I need to?” I stood up and headed for the bathroom. “I spent ten years with a man who cheated on me with half the hospital. I’m not trusting another one anytime soon. Least of all someone like you.”

1 “Someone like me?”

I stopped.

“Rich, confident, used to getting whoever you want. You’re the last man I’d picture falling for me.”

Simon went still. His jaw locked, and he looked away.

“Right. Got it.”

“Are you hurt?”

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FAKE DATING WITH BENEFITS: MY BILLIONAIRE BOSS

He finally looked at me.

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onestly? Yeah I’m hurt. Because that’s exactly what everyone thinks of me. I just thought you knew me better than that.” He let out a dry laugh. “But I guess to you, I’m still just a good lay.”

That hit me.

“But wasn’t that our deal? Being a good lay for each other?”

The silence stretched between us.

“It was,” he said, cold. “That was the deal.”

Shit. Then why did he look so wounded?

“Simon-”

“I’m going to take a shower.” He brushed past me, his shoulder grazing mine. “Wash Oliver’s blood off my hands. Then I’ll take you home.”

“Simon, wait-”

But the bathroom door clicked shut, and I heard the lock turn.

I stood there for a long moment, staring at the closed door, trying to process what had just happened.

He was actually hurt.

“Simon.”

I went after him and twisted the knob.

Locked.

“Seriously?”

No answer. Seconds later, the shower turned on.

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