Total pages in book: 32
Estimated words: 31414 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 157(@200wpm)___ 126(@250wpm)___ 105(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 31414 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 157(@200wpm)___ 126(@250wpm)___ 105(@300wpm)
Guy watched her reach for the red marker and make a check mark next to the words Unprecedented Access.
Over half an hour had passed since Jilly had asked him for space, and he had given it to her, along with all the office supplies she had rather sheepishly requested, and with a smile that made his chest do strange things.
"Demonstrable proof that they understand the celebrity better than anyone else, check; becoming indispensable to the celebrity's daily routine, check; being the celebrity's every sexual fantasy come true...effortlessly."
Jilly pressed cool fingers to her cheek. "This is ridiculous," she muttered out loud.
Wrong, sweetheart, Guy thought broodingly. It was not ridiculous at all, with how she was already turning him on in ways that he couldn't fucking explain.
Jilly picked up her phone with a determined expression that immediately had him stiffening in his seat, his jaw clenching as a familiar surge of possessive jealousy coursed through him. Was she going to call Jack? Was she having second thoughts about his proposal and reaching out to the man who—
"I'm so sorry for calling you guys out of the blue," Guy heard Jilly apologize in a rush as she set her phone on a stand, and relief washed over him when he saw two familiar faces appear on her screen in split view.
Of course she was going to call her friends, and of course he hadn't been worried at all earlier. Or jealous.
"What's wrong?" Star asked immediately. "You look like you've seen a ghost."*
"More like a marriage proposal," Jilly said weakly.
"WHAT?"
Jilly did her best to tell her friends everything as succinctly as possible, but the knowing looks on their faces told her they had a pretty good idea of the parts that she had skipped due to, um, time constraints.
"I'm just so happy for you!"
Poppy's heartfelt words had Jilly groaning. "You're supposed to tell me I'm crazy for even thinking of saying yes." Jilly then looked at Star hopefully, asking, "What do you think?"
Guy tensed. Thanks to Valerian, he was fairly confident he could count on Poppy to root for a whirlwind marriage between him and Jilly.
But the other woman, though...
If he recalled correctly, Star had recently married Wynd Sullivan, whom he had done business with from time to time, and while Guy respected Wynd's business acumen, he didn't know Star well enough to predict whether she would support or sabotage his chances with Jilly.
"Marry him, of course, duh," Star said with a laugh.
Guy relaxed. Jillian Kitt had exceptionally good taste in friends. They were all nice and smart, and he would definitely make sure to host a dinner for them once he had Jillian taking on her rightful role as his wife and mistress of his home.
"Don't you think it's too fast?" Jilly asked desperately.
"What I think is that you're hoping to hear something specific from us," Poppy said gently.
"What about God?" Star asked softly. "What did He tell you?"
Guy tensed in his seat. When Jilly had told him about her faith, he had not really taken her seriously, dismissing it as one of those casual spiritual beliefs that people claimed but didn't really live by, but Jilly and her friends obviously took it much more seriously than he'd realized, with how the question was asked with a sense of reverence and quietness that he had trouble defining.
"I keep thinking..."
Guy reached forward, and without fully understanding why, he switched his monitor off.
It just felt as if it was no longer right to listen in, as if some invisible line had been crossed between curiosity and invasion of privacy, even though technically everything she was doing was happening in his house with his equipment.
What the hell was happening to him?
This was not like him at all.
He had never—
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
Jilly opened the door to his office as soon as she knocked, unable to wait any longer for permission to enter, and was confused to see Guy straightening to his feet as if he had somehow fallen out of his chair in shock, though that was obviously impossible because this was Guy, the most sophisticated, graceful, and elegant man on the planet, who would never do something as undignified as falling out of his seat like some clumsy teenager.
Guy rubbed his jaw in a gesture of pensiveness, but it was really to give him time to regain his composure and figure out how the hell he had ended up sprawled on the floor behind his desk like an idiot, with the sound of her knocking startling him so badly that he'd forgotten basic motor functions.
"Um, Guy?"
Ice-blue eyes swung to her with an intensity that made her breath catch in her throat, mesmerizing and irresistible and focused on her with the kind of single-minded attention that made her feel like the only woman in the world. "Have you made up your mind?"