Page 23 of Her Billion Dollar Groom

I yap and yap, but much as I’d like to keep the spotlight off Jason, Bertie and Susie have been hosting this show for a long time and are adept at gently cutting people off when they need to.

“Jason,” says Bertie, and I feel Jason almost jump to attention next to me, like he’s been zoning out and just got told off for it. “Handshake is a pretty unique place on the internet, isn’t it? I’ll confess I’d never heard about it before Eliza told us we should get an account. What made you want to make a space like that?”

Jason nods thoughtfully, and I give him a smile of encouragement. That’s a question he can answer in more than three words, surely. “I’ve been working on Handshake a long time,” he says slowly. “I wanted to marry thoughtful discussion with modern video format. I wanted to promote community, make a space where everyone is welcome but where people acting in bad faith aren’t tolerated. It’s taken me a long time to get this far.”

“And what’s next for the site, do you think?” asks Susie.

Jason stares at her like a rabbit in the headlights. I see that as my cue. “Jason wants everyone in the world to be on Handshake. He wants to make a global community, one where people can share their lives with each other.”

He nods. “Exactly.”

With that, I turn to look out at the audience. “If you haven’t already made an account, please do that for me and my husband. It’s such a great company. You should see how happy all his employees are. He gives them great benefits, great pay, and really takes on their feedback. I’ve never seen a workplace like it. Most CEOs are hands-off, but not Jason. He works so hard for everything. Handshake really is the greatest social media site on earth. You should get on it.”

I smile at the camera again for good measure. If we haven’t seen at least a little boost in sign-ups when we get off air, I’m going to be furious. I haven’t put in all this effort for nothing.

“Looks like you’ve got the best woman in the world for PR,” Susie says with a knowing smile, and I grin back.

Jason nods solemnly. “I couldn’t have done it without her. I’ve seen an amazing growth thanks to Eliza.”

“Personally and professionally,” I say with a wink. “I’m so happy to have found him. We’re happy to have found each other. After the way my year’s been going, I never expected to be this happy again. But Jason’s given me a hope for the future that I thought I’d lost. I want to keep supporting him the best way I can, because he supports me more than I can begin to tell you.”

Susie coos in a way that I think is supposed to be sweet but comes across as patronizing. “Well, thank you so much for joining us this morning, Eliza and Jason. That’s all we have time for before the break, but don’t forget to join us again after, when we get top chef Rosamond Pickles in to show us all how to make pies to die for. See you after the break!”

“And on to break,” calls the director. “Back in five.”

Jason lets out a shaky exhale. “That went badly, didn’t it?”

“No,” I lie, signaling for him to get up. Susie and Bertie don’t even glance at us as we scurry away. We’ve said our piece. That’s all they needed from us.

We head out to his car, but before we get in, he stops me. “Thank you,” he says softly.

“What for?”

“All of that.” He gestures wildly with his hands at me. “You’re so amazing on camera. You just come across so naturally, so brilliantly. I wish I could be half that confident.”

“It’s called acting, babe,” I say, taking his hands and squeezing them. “I didn’t do anything special.”

I go to turn away, but he keeps holding tightly onto my hands. “But you did. No one’s ever talked about Handshake like that before. You didn’t need to promote it like that.”

“You’re my husband,” I whisper. “It doesn’t matter how fake the relationship is. You would have done the same for me.”

“I don’t know that I could have done it,” he says. “I don’t know that I could do any of this without you. I wasn’t lying out there. It just means a lot to me, that’s all.”

With that, he lets go of my hands and heads toward the car.

I stand for another moment, my heart beating in my chest, my hands suddenly cold from where his had been, my mind reeling with his words.

I know he would have done the same for me. He has done. He’s been kind and generous in his own way. I’m just repaying the favor. That’s all. None of this has to mean anything.

Does it?

CHAPTER 15

JASON

Even sitting at the bar away from the main party, the music is far too loud. I’m only here because Eliza begged me to come. She told me that if I didn’t come, it would be the source of gossip forever — that I needed to be shown off to all her pop star friends, colleagues, and enemies.

The fact was, she said, that no one would believe our relationship if we weren’t seen together in public. This was the only way to avoid gossip.

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