Hired a Gigolo Got a Billionaire (Zoey and Christian) novel Chapter 264

Chapter 264

My phone buzzed on the coffee table while I was finishing up straightening the apartment, still mentally trying to process everything that had happened the night before. The call with Wanderer had been… intense in a way I wasn’t prepared for. Every time I remembered his voice, the things we’d shared over the phone, I felt a mix of excitement and nerves that completely threw me off balance.

I picked up my phone and saw a message from him. It was the answer to my last question. My heart immediately sped up.

[Maybe the mistake isn’t trying to reconnect… maybe the real mistake is thinking fun and something serious can’t exist together. Isn’t that what makes everything worthwhile? Last night was incredibly fun… and I can’t stop thinking about it. But I also can’t stop imagining what it would be like to have you beside me every day, not just for fun.]

I read the message three times, a smile tugging at my lips before I could stop it. Wanderer had a way of saying things that always caught me off guard, always landing exactly what I needed to hear at exactly the right time.

Just as I was soaking in every word, my laptop started ringing with an incoming video call. Zoey and Gwen had scheduled a check-in today to see how I was holding up with all the drama around my suspension. I accepted, and their worried faces immediately filled the screen.

“Hey, sis,” Zoey said the moment my image popped up. “How are you holding up? Christian told me about the meeting this afternoon.”

“I’m fine,” I answered, still holding my phone. “Actually, I’m better than fine. I just got a message from Wanderer that…” I held the phone up so they could see the screen. “See? He’s perfect!”

Gwen leaned closer to her camera, clearly trying to read the message, while Zoey raised an intrigued eyebrow.

“Hold on,” Zoey said with the mischievous smile I’d known since childhood. “What exactly was so fun about last night?”

My face heated instantly, but I couldn’t stop the smile spreading across it. Zoey and Gwen had always been open about everything, especially when it came to relationships.

“The call got… heated,” I admitted, laughing nervously.

“Woooowww,” Gwen gasped, her eyes going wide. “And did you guys do it on video?”

“No!” I said quickly, shaking my head. “Just a call. But his voice… my God, Gwen, his voice alone was enough to make me lose my mind.”

Gwen laughed, clearly loving every second of my embarrassment, while Zoey shook her head with a big-sister smile.

“So let me get this straight,” Zoey said, shifting into her analytical tone, the one she used whenever she wanted the full truth. “You two have a mental connection, you clearly have sexual chemistry… at least virtually… but what about physical chemistry? When are you actually going to go out?”

“That’s an excellent question,” Gwen jumped in, and the way she said it made it seem like she was amused by something Zoey and I weren’t in on, almost like an inside joke.

“We agreed to finish the ten questions before planning a date,” I explained, remembering the rule we set when we first started talking on the app. “It’s kind of… our thing.”

Gwen sighed dramatically and laughed.

“Zodiac sign, favorite food, favorite color… so many options for the next questions!”

“It’s not that trivial,” I said, laughing at the simplicity she was suggesting. “His questions are always deeper… more revealing.”

I shook my head immediately.

“No, not a chance,” I said with conviction. “London is home now. My work is here, my life is here…” I paused, glancing again at the roses. “My feelings are here.”

But then the doubt that had been hovering at the edges of my mind since last night came crashing back.

“Unless Nate prefers that I don’t stay in London after all this mess.”

The words slipped out before I could filter them, revealing an insecurity I didn’t even realize I’d been carrying. The possibility that Nate might think it would be better for everyone if I just disappeared, if I accepted Marcus’s offer and removed myself from the problem my presence clearly created.

The silence that followed on the video call was weighted. Zoey and Gwen stared at me with worried expressions.

“Annie,” Zoey said finally, her voice gentle but steady, “do you really think Nate would rather have you leave?”

The question hung there, and I found myself replaying every recent moment: the way he’d looked at me during our last meeting, the way he tried to defend me to the Board, the way he’d shown up at my door with those mysterious flowers.

But I also couldn’t ignore the political reality. The rumors Alexandra had spread, how my presence clearly complicated his professional life, the very real possibility that he might genuinely believe things would be easier for everyone if I simply… left.

“I don’t know,” I answered honestly, a tightness forming in my chest.