Page 32 of Chosen By a Billionaire (Rags to Romance #24)

When Jayda saw Harrison come downstairs in his bathrobe, she tried her best to put her game face on.

She was not going to let that man see her sweat ever again.

She revealed her true feelings for him in the hospital when she couldn’t hide her displeasure about him having a date with another woman the very next day after he had what she thought was serious sex with her.

But then, after spending the night with her in the hospital, he ghosted her until she saw him again in Maine.

And then, after wanting her so passionately at the airport, he treated her as if she was a wham, bam, thank you ma’am kind of woman.

That was too much rollercoasting for her. She wanted off.

Harrison could see that his abrupt exit from their bed had affected her when he walked over and sat beside her on the sofa. She couldn’t hide anything within those big, brown eyes and he could tell she was pissed with him. But that only made him more determined to get this right.

“Hey.”

“I know it’s early,” she said, “but I went on and showered down here and got dressed.”

“You look beautiful.”

Jayda didn’t respond to that because her response would not have been kind. Many men had told her she looked beautiful. But she was never beautiful enough or good enough for them to keep. To take to that next level. She wasn’t trying to hear about how good she looked anymore either.

Until Harrison did something strange in her eyes. He got down on one knee and pulled out a small box that looked like a jewelry box. And then he opened it.

At first, when she saw that big fat diamond ring, she wanted to leap with joy.

But then she just as quickly realized what he was doing.

They were a few hours away from meeting up with his father.

If they were going to be “engaged,” she had to have a ring on her finger. This, she decided, was that.

But his words confused her. “I know I have not been kind to you,” he said.

“I know I’ve caused you to feel as if I was all over the place with my emotions, which I was, and for that I am truly sorry.

It’s just that . . .” He stopped as his emotions attempted to overtake him.

Which confused her even more. Instead of looking excited, she looked terrified.

And then he continued. “It’s just that I never bothered to understand what love meant.

Based on what I saw around me, I didn’t think falling in love was something I ever wanted to do.

But then I met you,” he said so heartfelt that Jayda’s own heart began to pound.

Could he be . . . Could this be? But it couldn’t be!

“And now I know, Jayda, that there is such a thing as love. Because I love you. Because I want to be with you and you only. Because I want to marry you.”

Jayda was searching his eyes. This couldn’t be right! What was he doing? “What are you saying?” she asked him. “What kind of cruel human being are you?”

Harrison was puzzled. “Cruel?”

“Yes cruel! Why are you taking it this far, Harrison? We’re just pretending. Why do you have to make me feel like it’s true? Don’t you see I have feelings too?”

He got off of his knee quickly and sat beside her.

“Jayda, no, this isn’t about that. This is true.

I do love you. I do want you to be my wife.

This isn’t about my father at all. Forget that!

This is only about us. This is the first time in my life that I’ve been totally honest about anything. ”

Jayda’s heart began to soar. “Are you saying that you, that you . . . Are you saying that you want to marry me for real?”

He smiled. “Yes, baby, that’s what I’m saying. We came here to pretend to be engaged, and that was what I planned to do. But I realized that I couldn’t pretend with you. Because I want you. I want you, and only you, to become Mrs. Harrison Arthur Bainbridge the Fourth.”

Tears appeared in Jayda’s big, expressive eyes.

She was still unable to fully process it.

She was the throwaway. She was the girl they dated but never wanted to marry.

How could he, the best man she’d ever known, want her when nobody else did?

“I don’t understand,” she said honestly.

“Nobody has ever put me first for anything. Nobody has ever . . .”

Harrison grabbed her into his arms as she began sobbing. “I know, darling,” he said. “Everyone, including me, has treated you like crap. We’ve treated you as if you didn’t matter. But oh how you matter to me. You’re my first. You hear me? You’re my first.”

Then he pulled back, still holding her arms, and looked into her tear-filled eyes. “You’re all I want. No other woman comes anywhere close.” Then he exhaled. “Jayda Robinson, will you marry me?”

Jayda’s face turned into such a mask of anguish that he thought she was going to turn him down cold. And he began to panic.

But it wasn’t anguish. It was abject hurt and pain turning into joy.

Because as quickly as he saw her anguish, he saw her face light up his entire world.

And she smiled that enchanting smile. And she nodded her beautiful head.

“Yes,” she said happily. “It’ll be my honor to marry you.

” But then her look turned serious. “And you better not change your mind either buster,” she warned.

He laughed. “I’ll be insane if I do,” he said. And then they both turned serious as he put that big rock on her finger. She let her finger drop down, as if it was too heavy to carry, and they both laughed.

Then they looked into each other’s eyes. And Jayda said it best. “I just got dressed,” she said. “Am I going to have to undress?”

He removed his bathrobe, revealing his naked body, and lifted her into his arms. “What do you think?” he said, as he carried her back upstairs.

Once they got upstairs and Harrison carefully undressed her and put her back in his bed, they went on another long, passionate, lovemaking journey. Jayda had never gone that long and then that long again in her life.

But Harrison couldn’t get enough of her and she wanted every inch of him too.

And that was what she got. For nearly an hour they made love.

Harrison on top. Then Jayda on top. Then Harrison once again.

It was passionate and rapid and slow and steady and passionate all over again.

They were kissing and massaging as he moved so deep inside of her that they melded into one.

Harrison held Jayda so tightly that even his grip made her sensuality increase.

And their feelings that were already elevated every time they came together, went to yet another level.

Because they weren’t just two people making love.

They were engaged. This time they were now committed to each other.

This time they were shedding their pretense and letting every ounce of their emotions thrive.

This time was different.