FAKE DATING WITH BENEFITS MY BILLIONAIRE BOSS (Ophelia Corrigan) novel Chapter 54

FAKE DATING WITH BENEFITS MY BILLIONAIRE BOSS

CHAPTER 54

SYMON

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Then he turned and walked out alongside her, Jamie’s hand resting on his shoulder.

The kind of touch you give someone you’ve known for years, nut an intern fresh out of college. She leaned her head toward him, laughing at something I couldn’t hear, and the two of them started walking down the hall like old friends.

My fingers curled into a fist.

I watched him tilt his head to hear her better, that stupid smile spreading across the kid’s face like he’d just won the lottery.

The blood rushed to my head.

She never touched me like that. Not in public. With me, it was always… part of the arrangement.

But with him? With the messy-haired intern who still looked like he lived with his parents?

She was laughing.

And I wanted to rip her hand off his shoulder and put it on mine.

I stood there for a long moment, staring at the empty doorway.

I sank into my chair behind the desk and exhaled slowly, trying to slow my heart down. The room still smelled like her-that floral perfume she wore, mixed with the scent of sex. My hands found the armrests, and my gaze drifted around the room.

That’s when I saw it.

Her black lace panties were sitting on the corner of the desk, almost hidden by the edge of the keyboard.

I picked the fabric up between my fingers. The lace was thin, almost translucent, and it still held the warmth of her body. I brought it to my face before I could think, inhaling her scent-the essence of the woman who was slowly driving me out of my mind.

I felt a smile spread across my face. Not a smile of satisfaction. It was bigger than that. More dangerous.

I tucked the panties into my jacket pocket.

Now she’d have to come to me to get them back.

I spent the rest of the afternoon in meetings, signing documents, answering emails. But my mind was somewhere else. The way she moaned my name. The taste of her skin. The way her eyes went wide when I kissed her.

Abby’s birthday party was tomorrow. And Jamie was coming with me.

As my fake girlfriend.

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15:30 Tue Sep 29 T

FAKN DATING WITH BENEFITS MY BILLIONAIRE BOSS

Except lately, “fake” felt more and more like the wrong word.

rabbed my phone and typed before I could overthink it.

Simon: Stay at my place tonight.

Three dots appeared. Disappeared. Appeared again.

Jamie: I’d rather sleep in my own bed. But wow, you’re needy, huh?

I almost laughed. Almost. Instead, I leaned back in my chair and typed with one thumb.

Simon: It’s just practical. The party’s in Brooklyn tomorrow. My place is closer. We can go together.

Simon: I promise I won’t touch you. You can have the guest room. I’ll even sleep with the door locked if that makes you feel better.

Ellipsis. Pause. Ellipsis.

Jamie: Fine.

I stared at the screen. One word. That’s all she gave me.

Simon: I’ll pick you up at eight.

She didn’t respond.

At eight on the dot, I pulled up in front of her building. She slid into the passenger seat in silence.

I pulled into traffic and started driving.

“You’re not going to tell me why you’re avoiding me?” I asked, keeping my voice neutral.

She kept her eyes on the window. “I already told you. It’s all in your head. I’m not avoiding you.”

“Liar.”

Her jaw tightened, but she didn’t turn around.

I let the silence stretch between us, my eyes drifting to her hands. They were clenched in her lap, knuckles white against her blue jeans.

I wanted to push. Wanted to reach across the seat, pry her fingers open, and demand the truth.

Instead, I kept driving.

We ordered Thai food and ate on the terrace, the city sprawling below us like a carpet of light. The air was cool, and Jamie had borrowed one of my hoodies-gray cashmere that swallowed her small frame.

“I’ve never asked you this,” she said, her voice softer now. “Why are you so good at pretending?”

I stopped mid-bite. “What do you mean?”

15:30 Tue Sep 29 ) MT.

FAKA DATING WITH BENEFITS: MY BILLIONAIRE BOSS

She set down her chopsticks.

Tof it. The flirting. The way you look at me. The… whatever this is between us. You make everything feel so special. Like I’m actually your girlfriend. But in the end, it’s just an act, isn’t it?”

I looked at her for a long moment. “You think it’s all an act?”

“Isn’t it?” She turned to face me fully. “That’s what we agreed on, right? A favor for a favor.”

I opened my mouth to answer, but the words didn’t come.

Because what could I say? That every time I touched her, it felt less like an act and more like truth? That I’d started forgetting where the performance ended and I began?

Instead, I pointed at the sky. “Look.”

She followed my gaze. The stars were faint, almost invisible through the city’s haze.

“You know,” I said, “my mom used to tell me stories about the constellations. Before she left.” I paused, letting the weight of the memory settle between us. “She said each one had a story. That the stars were just… memories of people who had loved so hard they burned forever.”

Jamie didn’t speak. She just kept looking at the sky.

“Did you believe her?” she asked finally.

“I wanted to.”

She was quiet for a moment, then leaned back on the outdoor sofa, her head resting against the cushion, still looking up.

“I don’t regret much,” she said softly. “But sometimes I wish I’d… lived more. Done more things that scared me. You know?”

I turned to look at her. Her profile was lit by the glow of the city, and I could see her fingers fidgeting.

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