The Billionaire's Hired Bride (BWWM Billionaire Romance Book 1) by Sherie Keys Page A

Something I’m missing?”
     
    Things were silent between them for a long moment after that, a too-long moment where Minnie kept nervously glancing between James and the eel tank, just to seem like she wasn’t staring at him and expecting an answer.
     
    Finally, he said, “What I said to Liz…it wasn’t just a ploy to boost my reputation. At the time, that was what I was thinking, but I’ve looked over those words in my head just as many times as I’m sure you have. And I keep coming back to the fact that I’d been planning to say that I thought you were worth waiting for , but what I said was that it was worth waiting to find out if you were the one at all.”
     
    Minnie had almost forgotten that subtle difference over the last few months; that James had chosen to wait and find out, rather than making any declarations then.
     
    “It was more honest than I really planned,” he said, rubbing a thumb along the edge of his pocket nervously – and Minnie noticed because it seemed so rare that he was ever nervous at all. “And so these last few months, I have been waiting, trying to figure it out… and I think that the words I meant to say, that it’s worth waiting for you – those words are true now.”
     
    It wasn’t exactly a declaration of undying love, but it felt close enough. James had decided she was worth waiting for – and so the decision was, ultimately, hers, as to whether or not the paid relationship would turn into something real. It was a responsibility she didn’t know what to do with.
     
    So instead she said, as gracefully as she could manage with her heart banging hammers on her ribs, “Thank you. For being honest.”
     
    He smiled so warmly at her that she couldn’t help herself – it took practically a jump to close the gap of their heights, but she leaned up to kiss him on the lips, chaste as on the beach, but lingering a little longer. Stepping back a bit, she said, “I don’t know if I can return those feelings yet. But I’ll try to not make you wait too long before I decide.” It was all she could promise.
     
    It seemed to be enough. James took her hand and gently squeezed it. “That’s more than enough.”
     
    She squeezed back. “And no matter what, we’re still friends. I’m so glad of that.”
     
    *
    Three days after they returned, she was having lunch with Avery, telling him the story, and before she even got to the part about kissing James, Avery looked at her and bluntly interrupted, “You’re an idiot. You’ve got it bad.”
     
    Minnie sputtered a moment, staring at him. “What do you mean?” she practically shrieked, voice only quiet due to the first few students returning for the next semester sharing the cafeteria with them.
     
    Avery shook his head. “Look, I know you’re not that big into physical things, so it’s not surprising you’re not gushing about his looks. But you keep going back to how he gave you the choice, and how he’s the first guy to do that, even though we did date at one point as you might recall, and how glad you are that he isn’t like you expected him to be… Minnie, quit talking like you have a decision to make. You already decided – “ And here he reached out, flicking his fingers against her forehead the way he had done numerous times in high school. “Your brain just hasn’t caught up with it yet.”
 
    Minnie frowned and didn’t say anything for a while. It wasn’t as though her heart beat any faster than her usual nervous speed when she was around James, and she didn’t spend long minutes dreaming off into space thinking about him.
     
    “Look at it this way,” Avery interrupted her thoughts. “If you had asked and he had said it was all just a ploy, wouldn’t it have hurt?”
     
    It would have. Maybe not to the point of devastation, but it would have hurt. Minnie didn’t say so out loud, though, and so Avery kept pressing his point.
     
    “If the contract ended tomorrow, and he asked you to stay,