Hired a Gigolo Got a Billionaire (Zoey and Christian) novel Chapter 738

Chapter 738 Extra 7

Zoey’s POV

I walked into the bedroom with my body begging for bed and my mind still full of the bakery-Mia’s voice treating my birthday like a global event, Madeline eating for two with a confidence I admired and envied.

I took a quick shower, washed my hair, and came back in wearing a robe, looking like the domestic version of myself-the version I actually like.

I went straight to the vanity, because skincare is my daily therapy: cleanse, hydrate, pretend it organizes my thoughts too.

I tied my hair up and started massaging my face. The mirror gave me my bare skin-and Christian already lying down, far too comfortable for a man who carries an empire on his shoulders. He glanced up just enough to see me… then went back to his phone.

“Today was funny,” I said, watching my reflection. “Mia started that whole ‘thirtieth birthday party that shuts down Verdania and the world’ thing. Then Madeline laughed and said ‘intimate’ and ‘Kensington’ don’t belong in the same sentence. And Mia said we have like three hundred close people.”

Christian let out a low laugh behind me.

“She’s not wrong,” he said.

“She’s not,” I agreed, applying toner and feeling the coolness settle into my skin. “And Madeline… well, Madeline is officially eating for two. She ordered more samples like she was on a cooking show.”

“Pregnant Madeline is an event,” Christian said, and there was that familiar warmth in his voice-the one that shows up when family sneaks past his schedule.

I smiled without realizing it. I picked up the grape seed serum, dropped a few drops into my palm, and rubbed my fingers together before bringing it to my face. Light texture, subtle scent. It always made me feel more… grounded.

“And you?” I asked, because I always did-and because I liked the way he talked about his day, even when I didn’t understand half of it. “How was your day?”

Christian shrugged, looking up at the ceiling.

“Nothing much.”

The words hit me wrong immediately.

So wrong that I stopped mid-motion, hands still against my cheek.

“Nothing much?” I repeated slowly.

He turned his head toward me, a small, almost lazy smile on his lips.

“Nothing much.”

I let out a soft, disbelieving laugh.

“Christian, your day is never ‘nothing much.’ You tell me numbers I don’t even understand. Some days I think you throw percentages at me just to test me.”

He actually laughed and it caught me off guard, because that sound gets rare when he’s tired.

“I don’t want to bother you,” he said. “You had a good day. I’m not going to ruin it with… spreadsheets.”

“You don’t bother me,” I said automatically, going back to massaging the serum in, slower now, like I could keep the conversation steady through the motion. “I like when you tell me.”

1/4

+25 Bonus

He didn’t answer right away.

In the mirror, I saw him reach for his phone on the nightstand. The screen lit up, casting a faint glow across his face.

And his body reacted.

It was subtle but I saw it.

A shift in his shoulder. His attention snapping into place like something had hooked him.

He swiped. Typed quickly-too quickly.

And that speed gave me this strange, childish discomfort. The kind that doesn’t come with logic. Just instinct.

I kept doing my skincare, but my eyes drifted back to the mirror without permission, tracking him.

He finished typing.

Then placed the phone face down on the nightstand.

Face down.

He never did that.

I froze for half a second, hands still against my skin, and felt my brow tighten on its own.

“Everything okay?” I asked, trying to sound casual.

Christian was already getting up.

“Yeah,” he said. “Just tired.”

He walked over, rested a hand on my shoulder, and kissed the top of my head-like the kiss was meant to quiet me without meaning to.

“Come to bed,” he murmured.

And went.

I stayed there for a few more seconds, staring at my reflection like I could somehow see the difference between paranoia and intuition written on my face.

I finished the mist, pressing the spray and feeling the cool cloud settle on my skin. The grape water touched my face, and for a second I almost laughed at how ridiculous it was-me getting worked up over a phone turned face down.

But I couldn’t laugh.

I finished my moisturizer slowly, turned off the vanity light, and went to bed. His side of the mattress was already dipped under his weight, and that had always been one of my favorite things-knowing exactly where he was, like my life always knew how to find its way back to him.

I lay down beside him and pulled the covers up. The TV was already on, playing something mindless. Christian picked up the remote and turned the volume up slightly, like he wanted the noise to fill the space where conversation should’ve been.

I rested my head on the pillow and looked at him. The flickering light painted his face in soft shadows. He was still annoyingly beautiful-but there was something… closed off.

I took a breath and decided not to turn it into an interrogation.

I decided to be the mature version of Zoey I pretend to be.

But my body had other plans.

+25 Bonus

I moved closer, brushed my leg against his, let my fingers trace his arm like I was starting a story I already knew the ending to. He turned toward me, and I kissed him.

First soft.

Then longer.

My hand slid over his chest, feeling his heartbeat-steady, solid. I kissed his neck, right where I knew he always gave in faster, and I smiled faintly when he let out a breath.

“Zoey…” he murmured, that tone halfway between warning and affection.

I shifted on top of him slowly, like it was playful, and for a few seconds, he let me. His hand settled on my waist, familiar, grounding, and my body warmed with that certainty:

He’s mine.

And then-

Christian stopped me.

Firm.

“My love,” he said, voice low, “I’m really tired.”

I froze, still over him, feeling the words land like a door closing.

“I have to be at the office in Serene Port early tomorrow,” he added, like he was offering a reason to soften it. “I’ll make it up to you later.”

I smiled.

Or tried to.

“Of course,” I said, easing off him like it hadn’t hit me. “Sorry. I didn’t know you were… like that.”

“Hey.” His hand came up to my face, and for a second, it was the same touch as always. “You don’t have to apologize. Just… not tonight.”

I nodded, lay back down beside him, and pretended everything was fine.

It wasn’t like this never happened. Sometimes one of us wasn’t in the mood. Life got in the way. I wasn’t a teenager-I knew sex

wasn’t the measure of love.

But something small and stubborn settled in my chest anyway.

“Can I go with you tomorrow?” I asked, like it was nothing. “I wanted to do some shopping and… we could have lunch together.”

Christian turned toward me too fast.

“Why don’t you wait a bit?” he said.

I blinked.

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