Hired a Gigolo Got a Billionaire (Zoey and Christian) novel Chapter 547

Chapter 547

Gwen’s POV

The family TV room was small and cozy, completely different from the common area where the guests gathered. It had a big, sagging couch covered in wool blankets, an old but working TV mounted on the wall, and shelves filled with Bella’s DVDs and toys. It was clearly a private, intimate space. A place the Valemont family retreated to when they wanted privacy.

Bella was already wrapped up in a blanket on the couch when I arrived, remote in hand, scrolling through episodes of Miraculous with the skill of someone who had watched the series a thousand times.

“Gwen!” she called excitedly. “Come, come! I’m putting on my favorite episode. It’s the one where Ladybug and Cat Noir get stuck together and they almost find out who they really are, but then they don’t because… well, I won’t tell you or it’ll ruin the surprise!”

I laughed and settled beside her, feeling the soft cushions sink under my weight. Bella immediately tossed half the blanket over my legs and snuggled against my side, warm and small.

“Ready?” she asked, already hitting play without waiting for an answer.

The episode started with that upbeat theme song that would probably be stuck in my head all day. Bella hummed along, gently swaying to the rhythm.

I tried to follow the plot. Something about a villain who turned people into wax statues and the heroes had to save them. But I found myself paying more attention to Bella.

To the way her eyes lit up whenever something exciting happened on screen. To how she grabbed my hand without realizing it when a scene got tense. To how she laughed with total abandon whenever Cat Noir made a silly joke.

It was impossible not to fall in love with that child.

We were in the middle of a particularly intense action scene when I heard footsteps in the hallway. I turned and saw Nick standing in the doorway, watching us with an expression I couldn’t quite read. Maybe surprise. Or something softer.

Something more tender.

“Hey,” I said, smiling at him. “I thought you went to take the guests on the tour.”

Nick stepped inside, running a hand through his damp hair.

“It started snowing hard,” he explained. “We had to cancel today’s tour. It’s not safe to drive that truck with the road like that.”

“Oh,” I said, genuinely disappointed. I’d enjoyed yesterday’s tour. “That’s too bad.”

“I already put wood in the fireplaces in the main hall and the dining room,” he went on, leaning against the doorframe. “Everyone’s settled in. And now… I came to check if everything was okay here.”

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Chapter 547

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Bella immediately paused the episode and turned to her father with those big, pleading eyes that probably worked ninety percent of the time.

“Daddy, can you stay?” she asked in that sweet, syrupy tone kids use when they really want something.” Please? It’s way more fun when you watch with us too!”

I saw Nick glance at his watch, clearly calculating how many things he still had left to do.

“Maybe for a little while,” he agreed at last.

Bella squealed with joy.

Nick walked over and sat down on a smaller couch near the window. He crossed his arms and leaned

back, clearly prepared to watch from a distance.

“Daddy!” Bella protested immediately. “Come sit here with us. It’s cold and you’re way too far!”

“I’m fine right here, sweetheart.”

“But it’s cold!” she insisted, already standing up and grabbing the edge of the blanket. “And there’s plenty of room. Come on!”

Nick sighed, but there was a playful smile on his lips. He stood up and came over, sitting on our couch on Bella’s other side, exactly as she had planned.

“Happy now?” he asked, ruffling his daughter’s curls affectionately.

“Almost,” Bella replied. Then she grabbed the big blanket and tossed it over her dad’s legs too, covering

all three of us. “Now I am!”

The blanket wasn’t big enough for three people, so we had to squeeze in. My thigh pressed against Bella’s, which pressed against Nick’s.

“Let me help,” I said, leaning forward to pull the blanket up and spread it out more evenly.

My hands brushed against Nick’s as he tried to do the same thing from the other side. Our fingers touched, and that familiar spark shot through my skin.

Our eyes met over Bella’s head.

He didn’t look away right away like he usually did.

He held my gaze for one… two… three seconds before turning his attention back to fixing the blanket.

“Okay,” he said, his voice a little rough. “I think everyone’s covered now.”

“Press play, Bella,” I said, trying to pull my focus away from the heat of Nick’s body so close to mine.

She obeyed immediately, and the episode picked up where it had left off.

But now it was different.

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Now Nick was there, and I was hyperaware of every little movement he made.

Of how his arm rested along the back of the couch behind Bella, almost touching my shoulder. Of how he shifted occasionally. Of how he glanced at me now and then, quick looks he probably thought I didn’t

notice.

Bella, completely oblivious to the tension between us, was in heaven. She had her two favorite adults right there, warm and cozy, watching her favorite show. She commented on every scene, explained plot details we already knew, laughed loudly at the funny parts.

At one point, she turned to tell me something about Ladybug and leaned more into me, her little head resting on my shoulder. Without thinking, I wrapped an arm around her and pulled her closer.

And that’s when I realized something.

Nick’s arm was still stretched along the back of the couch.

And now, with Bella leaning toward me, his arm was touching my shoulder directly.

He noticed too.

I felt his body tense slightly.

But he didn’t move it.

So we stayed like that.

The three of us squeezed together under one blanket, watching cartoons while snow fell outside and the afternoon slowly darkened.

It felt familiar, like we’d done this a hundred times before. Like we were really a family.

Bella laughed at something on screen. Nick laughed with her. And I found myself laughing too, without even knowing why. Just because they were laughing. Because there was something contagious about that pure joy.

Nick’s arm shifted slightly, and I felt his fingers brush my shoulder.

It wasn’t accidental.

It was deliberate.

A soft caress that lasted only a second before stopping.

I turned my head a little and met his eyes again.

He looked straight at me, and there was warmth in those green eyes.

Not just physical desire, though that was definitely there.

But something more.

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Something deeper and scarier.

I smiled.

A small, private smile. Just for him.

He smiled back, and my heart did that stupid little flip in my chest.

“Are you guys even paying attention?” Bella asked suddenly, making both of us jump slightly.

“Of course we are,” Nick replied quickly, focusing on the TV with exaggerated dedication.

“Mm-hmm,” I agreed, staring at the screen even though I wasn’t processing a single thing.

Bella gave us that sharp, suspicious look kids sometimes get, like she knew exactly that we were lying. But she didn’t say anything. She just turned back to the show.

The episode went on.

The snow kept falling outside.

Nick’s fingers brushed my shoulder again.

This time, they stayed there. A light but constant touch that made my skin tingle.

I let my head tilt slightly toward him, resting closer, giving him silent permission to keep going.

And he did.

His fingers traced tiny circles over the fabric of my sweater, so subtle I probably shouldn’t even have

noticed.

But I did.

God, I did.

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