My Unexpected Vow: California Billionaires Book 2 by Harlow James (children's ebooks free online TXT) 📗

Shaking my head, I take a minute to respond. “Well, not that it’s any of your business, but the man has no shortage of equipment and he definitely knows what to do with it.” Just thinking about the many things the man has done to me since we’ve become intimate has me clenching my thighs together. “But I don’t know that I can say love yet.”

“But you’re feeling something?” Shayla presses.

“Oh, she’s feeling something alright,” Emma says, nudging me with her shoulder as I try to hide the blush on my cheeks.

“Yes. He is… God, he’s just nothing like I thought he was. And we’re constantly laughing, guys. It’s like… living with my best friend.”

“Um, I take offense to that because you did live with your best friend and we laughed all the time too,” Emma mockingly acts offended.

“I know, and I do miss you, but I get that and sex living with Hayes,” I explain, lifting an eyebrow and shrugging my shoulder.

“Sorry, Emma. I’m gonna side with Waverly on this one.” Chloe nods her head while speaking to my best friend.

Shayla pulls my attention back to her. “So are you guys actually going to try to make this work? Like, stay married?”

And that’s when my smile takes on a mind of its own, and I’m powerless to stop it. “Yeah. We are.”

Squeals erupt from our table as the girls clap and giggle and I cover my face with my hands, embarrassed but excitedly screaming on the inside too.

I’m in a relationship for the first time in my life with a man that feels just as strongly for me as I do for him. Granted we’re already married, but something about voicing that commitment out loud, knowing it’s real now, makes me giddy with excitement and hopeful for our future.

* * *

The next day, I spend some time at The Rescue Mission after putting in a few more job applications and checking my email for the thousandth time, hoping to see something from a potential employee, but ending up disappointed again. I’m trying not to give up hope, but it’s hard to remain optimistic after my last interview was shitty and I’ve yet to hear from another firm.

Midnight Cowboy is opening up in less than a month now though, and the design was finalized on my trip to Vegas last week. Hayes accompanied me this time and was thrilled with the final product. Needless to say, we celebrated in multiple ways that night.

Walking into the living room after arriving home from The Rescue Mission, the sound of someone moving upstairs startles me and instantly has my heart racing. When I left this morning to volunteer, I’m positive that I armed the alarm. But now that I think about it, it never went off when I walked inside from the garage just now. So that means that the only person who could be here is Hayes. But it’s mid-afternoon on a Tuesday… so why is he home?

I race upstairs and into his room, where I see him hunched over on the edge of his bed, gripping his forehead.

“Hayes?”

His head pops up and when I take in his sunken eyes and the red flush of his skin, I know something is wrong. “Wave?”

“Oh my God, what happened?” I rush over to him and feel his forehead, wincing as I take in the heat coming through his skin. “You’re burning up.”

“I feel like shit,” he grumbles, standing slowly, but swaying on his feet.

“You look like shit,” I agree as I start to push his jacket off of him.

“I never get sick, but Clay made me go home.”

“Good man.”

“I’m going to be so behind on work now,” he whines as I lead him into the closet and start to undress him. “What are you doing?”

“You need to break this fever. Get undressed and then I’m going to put you in a bath.” He stares down at me as I help him extract the rest of his clothes. “Is anything else wrong besides your temperature?”

“My entire body aches, my throat hurts, and I started coughing this morning.” He barks out a cough, rushing to cover his mouth and turn his head away from me. “You shouldn’t be near me right now. I’m going to get you sick too.”

“I’ll take my chances. Come on.” I lead a naked Hayes into the bathroom and then motion for him to sit on the edge of the tub as I fill it. Despite the fact that his perfect physique is on display to me right now, the sight of him weak and shivering only pulls on my heartstrings. “When did you start feeling crummy?”

“Last night. My throat just had a tickle, but sometimes my allergies will make me feel like I’m getting sick, so I didn’t think much of it. Then this morning my nose was running, my throat is on fire, and then my body felt like I was walking through flames, so Clay sent me home. The guy’s lucky I don’t have time to find another assistant or I’d fire him for telling me what to do.”

Turning on the water, I test the temperature with my hand, making sure it’s lukewarm and not too cold. A cold bath is actually the last thing you want to take when you’re trying to break a fever. Warm, not scalding hot water, is best.

“You should have said something,” I reprimand, “and Clay was right to send you home. Besides, you can’t survive without him, so don’t act like a big, bad boss right now.” I shoot him a disapproving look as he glares back at me. “Don’t get in yet. I’ll be right back.” I race across the hall to my bathroom and find my echinacea bath gel, returning as quickly as possible to pour some in under the running water. I always use this when I’m under the weather, and I swear, it helps, especially with congestion.

“What is that?” Hayes asks, eyeing