Page 35 of Her Billion Dollar Groom

Obviously, he doesn’t exist to entertain me, but I am his wife, sort of, and a bit of entertainment would be nice every now and again. I haven’t let myself wallow for too long on thoughts like that. I can’t. It makes me want to break down and cry.

I’ve got a fake husband and a fake life.

Not only that, but I’ve got a fake husband who cares about me more than any boyfriend I’ve had in the last 10 years. Every day I wake up and wonder when the prank cameras are going to show up and tell me this was all some elaborate joke. To tell me I have to go back to my normal life.

But every day they don’t, and Jason gets just a bit more caring.

Every day, life feels more like a fantasy.

But today, I’m bored. I don’t care how much it irritates him when I bother him. I want to do something fun. He never wants to have any fun with me. Not outside the bedroom, anyway.

I march up to his office and slam my fist against the door six times before entering anyway. “What is it?” he asks, pretending to be mad at me. But I can see it in his eyes that he’s amused.

“Come to the zoo with me,” I say with a pout.

“You know that pout doesn’t work on me,” he says, his brow furrowing.

“Yes, it does,” I say, fluttering my eyelashes.

“No, it doesn’t,” he insists, but I can already see him cracking.

I can see it in the tension of his shoulders, the way he’s trying so hard to stand up firm and tall, the way he’s clenching his fists. He wants nothing more than to give in and come and do something fun with me, but he thinks his precious work is more important. I mean, technically, it is the workday, and that is what he should be doing.

But he’s also a billionaire CEO. He can afford to take the afternoon off every now and again.

“Come with me,” I whine again, reaching out to take his hand. He withdraws from me, and I make my eyes wide, giving him the most pitiful look I can muster.

“We’ll have fun. Just take one afternoon off. You haven’t taken an afternoon off in ages.”

“Eliza, we had a whole weekend off just a few days ago.”

“That wasn’t a weekendoff. We literally made so many business deals. That’s why we deserve a fun time together. Just oneafternoon. You’ve been working so hard all week, and I’ve barely seen you. Please, Jason. Please.”

“All right! If I come, will you stop complaining?”

“Yeah, of course!” I beam.

“Fine. Let me get changed, and then we can go.”

“What’s wrong with what you’re wearing now?”

“It’s not zoo appropriate,” he says cryptically, then dashes off to his room and re-emerges in a light green shirt with tropical-looking leaves on it.

“This is your idea of a zoo outfit?” I ask, grimacing.

“What’s wrong with it?”

“Nothing.” I sigh, shaking my head fondly. Then I take his hand. “Come on. Let’s call Oskar.”

The first thing we do when we get to the zoo is head for the big cat enclosure. I love big cats. There is basically nothing in the world as exciting to me as lions and tigers.

When I say this to Jason, he makes some dumb film reference that I don’t understand and then laughs at me for it.

I roll my eyes and drag him off to have some fun. At first, he’s resistant, but then we hit the insect house and his face lights up. “Eliza, please can we go in?”

“You want to see the insects?” I grimace.

“Yes. Why not? Insects are fascinating.”

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