Page 57 of The Runaway Billionaire's Inconvenient Baby
She shakes her head, silent tears slipping down her face, and pushes her way through the crowd. Everyone turns to look at her, but she holds her head high, her chin in the air, her shoulders back, unashamed. She marches up to me, and it almost looks like she’s about to smack me, but instead she comes close and throws her arms around me, hugging me tightly.
“I love you too,” she whispers in my ear.
“I’m so sorry,” I say quietly. “I’m so sorry for trying to take all of this away from you.”
“You’re an idiot.” She sniffles. “A complete idiot, Jacob Ford.”
“I know,” I say, tears pricking my own eyes. “Can you ever forgive me for it?”
“Yes,” she whispers. “Yes, you stupid man. I forgive you. I love you too.”
She squeezes me tightly, then presses her lips against mine. I should be so embarrassed right now to be having this kind of moment with her, but until the people start applauding again, I’ve forgotten they were here. Because Billie is all that matters.
Billie is all that is ever going to matter to me ever again.
CHAPTER 29
BILLIE
The meeting ends pretty soon after our reunion. As soon as reality hits me, I’m embarrassed about the fact that everyone’s watching us, but I also know that everyone’s been secretly rooting for this too. The news of me and Jacob breaking up has not been a quiet thing, and there were a bunch of people who thought that we could be great together.
For weeks, I’ve been trying to disagree with those people in my mind, to insist that it never really meant anything.
But now I have my arms wrapped around his chest, breathing him in all over again; the belief that it was over seems more distant than ever. It seems barely possible to believe that I let him go at all.
We don’t say much as we watch the people file out of the town hall. We just have our arms around each other, holding each other close, breathing each other in. I have so much that I do want to say to him, that I should say to him, but I don’t want to do any of that while anyone’s overhearing us. We’ve already shown way too much public affection for the day.
As soon as everyone’s gone, Jacob turns to me and kisses my forehead. “I’m sorry,” he says again.
I swat at him, brushing my hand over his arm teasingly. “Stop apologizing.”
“Sorry,” he mumbles.
I fix him with a stern look. “I already know that you’re sorry. You’ve just proven to me how much you mean it. You don’t have to keep saying it.”
He nods slowly, his face flushed from embarrassment. The last thing I need is his groveling. I know he means it. He’s just going to have to believe me that I mean it too.
From the corner of the room, Briggs clears his throat. “If you two love birds don’t need me…” he stammers. “I’ll leave you to it.”
I can feel the blush on my cheeks rising again. Jacob chuckles and nods. “We’ll be okay. Thank you. We can leave if you want. Do you need to lock up?”
Briggs shrugs. “I usually do, but who’s going to break in here?”
We all chuckle awkwardly.
Jacob and I stare at Briggs. He stares at us. We’re waiting for him to leave, but not quite knowing how to say it politely. We all stand and stare, time grinding to a halt under the awkward atmosphere.
Finally, Briggs clears his throat and bids us goodbye, awkwardly ambling away and closing the door behind us. As soon as we’re both alone for real, we burst into laughter. “You sure you’ve missed this place?” I ask.
“I’ve never been more certain of anything,” he says.
I can’t help but kiss him again. This wonderful man. This ridiculous man who’s the father of my baby. I need to figure out a way to tell him. At least I have some faith that he’s going to want to stick around now.
“Jacob,” I start.
“Let me show you something,” he says, interrupting me.
“Oh, what?”
