FAKE DATING WITH BENEFITS MY BILLIONAIRE BOSS (Ophelia Corrigan) novel Chapter 65

CHAPTER 65

MIE

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The next morning, I walked into the office with my head full of contracts and a low-grade moral hangover from leaving Simon alone with three kids the night before. I knew he was a CEO used to pressure, but children were a whole different tier of chaos.

When I reached my floor, however, the chaos had already found me.

“Jamie!” Ethan materialized out of nowhere, eyes wide. “You need to see this.”

“See what?”

He just pointed down the hall toward the conference room. And when I turned the corner, I stopped so abruptly I nearly got clipped by a coffee cart.

The conference room was a disaster zone.

Simon sat at the head of the table, hair disheveled, purple shadows under his eyes, and a coffee mug that looked like it was the only thing keeping him alive. Around him, the kids had taken over. Lily was drawing on top of documents, Jack was chasing a paper airplane, and Sam was under the table, surrounded by pillows and file folders.

Simon didn’t even react when a crumpled paper ball landed in his coffee.

He had clearly given up.

“Morning, Counselor.” His voice was rough with exhaustion, but that ironic smile was firmly in place. “Welcome to hell.”

“You brought the kids to the office?” My voice came out somewhere between horrified and incredulous. “Simon, this is-”

“Practical?” he offered. “The only viable option after the nanny I hired at three a.m. quit within the first hour?”

“You hired a nanny? At three in the morning?” I asked, disbelieving.

“Jamie!” Lily hopped off the table and sprinted toward me. “You came back!”

She launched herself at me, and I caught her on instinct, feeling her small, warm weight against my chest. “Yeah, I found you guys.”

“Uncle Simon said you had to work,” she said, her brown eyes huge. “But he also said you’re the best lawyer in the world and that nobody works as hard as you.”

I looked at Simon, one eyebrow raised. “You said that?”

“I may have mentioned something to that effect.” He shrugged. “When she asked why you disappeared last night.”

Sam came running over with his paper airplane. “Jamie! Jamie! Look what I made!”

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FAKE DATING WITH BENEFITS: MY BILLIONAIRE BOSS

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He launched it, and the plane arced elegantly before crash-landing directly into Simon’s coffee mug. Dark liquid spread across the table, and Simon jerked back with a grunt that was more resignation than anger.

“San,” he said, with a calm I knew wasn’t genuine. “What did I tell you about rule number one?”

“No throwing planes near drinks,” Sam recited, with the intonation of someone who’d heard that instruction multiple times over breakfast. “Sorry, Uncle Simon.”

“It’s okay.” He grabbed a napkin and started mopping up. “But now you have to help.”

Sam ran off for more napkins, and Lily leaned in to whisper in my ear. “Uncle Simon is really stressed. He keeps running his hand through his hair.”

I looked at Simon. He was taking a deep breath, running his hand through his hair like he was counting to ten for the hundredth time.

Still, knowing his temperament, this was practically a miracle. I’d never seen him have this much patience with anyone. Which made me think he was handling this situation way better than I’d expected.

I’ll admit, I found it kind of endearing.

“I’m not stressed,” he said, as if he’d heard me. “I’m just… adapting.”

“Adapting,” I repeated, smiling. “Is that what you’re calling it?”

“Exactly.” He tossed the wet napkin in the trash. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a meeting in fifteen minutes and I need to look like I’ve slept in the last eight hours.”

“You didn’t sleep?”

“Lily had a nightmare at two in the morning, so I had to sleep on her floor. By five, I gave up on sleep and started answering emails.”

Something tugged at my chest-not pity, but something closer to admiration. He could be self-centered and completely irresponsible with his personal life, but there, in that conference room with three kids who weren’t his, he was doing what needed to be done.

“You’re doing a good job,” I said, and he looked at me, and for a moment, the mask slipped, the corner of his mouth quirking up.

“You could come over tonight,” he said, that charming smile back in place. “To help me out.”

“I’ll think about it.” I turned and walked toward the legal department.

I spent the rest of the morning trying-and failing-to focus on the contracts piled up on my desk. The image of Simon with purple shadows and a paper airplane in his hair wouldn’t leave my head. Neither would the way Lily had burrowed into me like I was the only safe person in the world.

I was in over my head.

And I hated admitting it.

Because this wasn’t part of the deal. I wasn’t supposed to care about his kids-Abby’s kids, really. I wasn’t supposed to care that Simon was clearly overwhelmed and doing his best. And I definitely wasn’t supposed

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FAKE DATING WITH BENEFITS: MY BILLIONAIRE BOSS

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