One Midnight Kiss: A Billionaire Fake Fiancée Holiday Romance
One Midnight Kiss: Chapter 27

I was instantly on alert. “What’s wrong?” I asked. “Are you okay? Come in. Tell me what you need.”

She waved a hand. “Never mind.”

“No. Natalia, please, come in. You’ve got snow in your hair. Did you walk here?”

“Yes.”

I grabbed her hand and pulled her inside. She looked around without trying to be obvious about looking around my place.

“What’s going on?” I asked again.

She quickly schooled her features. “Jerrod called the office today. He wanted to know if I had seen you. Apparently, he thinks you’re dead or missing.”

I frowned. “What?”

“You apparently didn’t show up for work and you didn’t talk to him. He’s worried.”

“That’s crazy. I just talked to him… Hmm, it actually might have been a few days ago.” I grinned. “Were you worried about me?”

“Of course not,” she shot back, her eyes darting away like she’d been caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

I led her into the kitchen and opened the fridge. I pulled out two bottles of beer and handed one to her. I leaned against the counter and looked at her. She was dressed in her usual business armor—sleek black dress, a blazer that hugged her waist just right, and those little kitten heels that always made me wonder what she’d look like in them and nothing else. Or maybe stilettos. Yes, definitely stilettos and nothing else.

Her usual cool facade was in place, but there was something different tonight. She looked frazzled, maybe even vulnerable. I couldn’t help but feel a flicker of concern. Not that I would ever say it out loud.

“Jerrod’s probably just having a meltdown over Hanna,” I said with a shrug. “It goes live next week, and he’s been in over his head since day one.”

“And you?” she asked quietly.

“What about me?”

“Is that why you blew off work?” she asked. “You wanted to have your meltdown in private.”

It was disturbing to know she could figure that out. I always felt like this around the holidays. Christmas was just not my favorite. But I never expected anyone to figure it out, especially not her.

I wasn’t going to get into all of that. “I had things to do,” I said.

Her eyes met mine. There was a flicker of something there—something beyond her usual controlled facade. “What are you really doing here?” I asked quietly. “Did you miss me?”

“Hardly,” she muttered, but there was a tiny smirk on her lips. She put her purse on the counter and took a long drink from her beer. I watched as she fished her phone out of her purse. “I need your help with something.”

“Let’s sit,” I said and led her to the couch. She sat down first. I sat down a little closer than necessary. “What’s going on?”

“Do you remember when I told you about that dating site I signed up for?”

I nodded. “Yes.”

She held out her phone. “I tried downloading the app, but I’m locked out. It’s saying my email address isn’t valid, and—” She hesitated, clearly uncomfortable.

I raised my eyebrows. I couldn’t help but be a little offended and irritated she was trying to get me to help her get back on a dating app. What the hell was she thinking? “You want me to help you get into the app? You’re planning on using it?”

“No.” She shook her head. “I want to delete my profile. I didn’t realize it was still active.”

I wasn’t sure I believed her. “And now you know that it is?”

“Someone at work knows about it,” she said. “Someone I would prefer didn’t know about it. Basically, it gives them power over me.”

My eyebrows shot up. “Who?” I asked, even though I already had a good guess.

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Aaron,” I guessed, standing up and crossing the room to grab my laptop off the dining-room table. I hadn’t touched the damn thing in weeks. Most of my tech work these days was done by my team, but this felt like something I wanted to handle myself.

She stared at me like I had just read her mind. “How did you know?”

I gave her a dry look. “Because he’s an ass, and I don’t like the way he talks about you. He’s been making snide comments during every meeting. I have a pretty good jackass radar. He set the alarm bells off from the moment I saw him.” I flipped open my laptop and started typing. “So, what exactly did he say?”

Her voice was laced with frustration. “He knows our engagement is a sham. He basically called me a liar and implied that if anyone found out, it would ruin both of us. He said people in your office are talking.”

I smirked. “And you told him what?”

“That if he said anything, I’d ruin his life,” she finished with a huff.

I stopped typing and looked at her, a slow grin spreading across my face. “Have you ever ruined anyone’s life before, Natalia?”

She didn’t miss a beat. “I’m sure you’d say I’ve ruined yours in some way.”

I couldn’t help but laugh, genuinely impressed. “You’re not totally wrong.”

I turned back to my screen, fingers flying over the keyboard. It had been years since I got to do any hacking. Although it wasn’t hacking if I had permission. The familiar rush hit me like a drug. God, I’d forgotten how much I loved this. I loved coding and cracking into things I wasn’t supposed to. I probably should have called one of the MIT educated software engineers that worked for me, but this was too fun. I didn’t get to do this kind of thing anymore.

I barely noticed Natalia watching over my shoulder. “How do you know what all those numbers mean?” she asked.

“It’s just like learning a new language. Like French. Eventually you start thinking in numbers like this and it’s like you’ve known how to do it your whole life.”

“Do you know French?”

“No, not really. I’ve only been to France once.”

“Me too.”

I looked over at her, feeling that same, heavy jolt of recognition and familiarity that had been plaguing me since I met her. I almost asked when she was in France, wondering if there was even the slightest chance we were at the same party that fateful night, but I changed my mind. There was no way. I turned back to my computer.

“What are you doing?” she asked, leaning over to peek at my screen.

“Hacking into Aaron’s phone,” I said casually.

Her gasp was immediate. “No!” She lunged for the laptop, but I easily shifted it out of her reach. “Why would you do that?”

“Because he’s as stupid as he looks,” I said. “I can see the app on his phone. I’m just going to wipe his history before I erase yours from the database.”

“Can you get in trouble for this?” she asked, horrified.

“Probably,” I admitted, grinning up at her. “But billionaires never go to prison. And I’d have to get caught first.”

She looked like she wanted to argue, but instead, she sank back into the couch, crossing her arms. “You didn’t need to go this far.”

“Not one for revenge, are you?”

“I just feel like you could have helped me get back into the app first, instead of all this.”

“Well, this is a lot more fun.”

Natalia rolled her eyes but didn’t protest further. She leaned back, exhaling sharply. “Fine. But what are we going to do if Aaron exposes us? He’s right, you know. It would be a PR nightmare if people found out our engagement was just a marketing strategy.”

“Aaron’s bark is worse than his bite,” I assured her. “He doesn’t have concrete proof. It would be his word against ours, and we have the upper hand. If he tries to expose us, we expose him right back. He’s a jealous employee who harassed you because he can’t stand the idea of working under a woman.”

She stared at me, her expression unreadable. “You’re not what I thought you’d be,” she said softly.

I raised an eyebrow. “What did you think I’d be?”

“A billionaire,” she said, almost teasingly.

I couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m also that.”

“No, I mean…” She trailed off, glancing around my apartment. “You drive a used truck.”

I shrugged. “That’s what sets billionaires apart from millionaires?”

“Do all billionaires drive twenty-year-old Toyota Tacomas?”

“The few I’ve met,” I replied dryly. The screen in front of me started flashing, indicating that the hack was complete. I leaned back, satisfied. Aaron wouldn’t suspect a thing. “I also don’t have multiple properties and contribute to climate pollution with my private jet.”

She bit her lip, trying not to smile. “What do you do with your money, then?”

I hesitated, then decided to be honest. “I try to help people when I can. Like ensuring our friends can have the baby they desperately want.”

Her face softened, and she looked away, clearly caught off guard by my admission. “I didn’t mean to imply⁠—”

I cut her off. “I didn’t get into this for the money. It’s a nice perk, sure, but I don’t need it. I struggle to find ways to spend it, honestly. I own, like, three Pizza Huts.”

“You could buy a mansion,” she pointed out.

“I don’t need a mansion.”

“I’m the director of a major advertising firm, and even I can’t afford a house yet,” she said bitterly. “I rent. You should consider yourself lucky.”

“That’s because you have over a hundred thousand dollars in student loans,” I said without thinking.

Her face went white. “How did you—” She paused, realization dawning. “Wilder told you.”

I shrugged, turning back to my laptop. “You should let me pay them off.”

“What?” She sounded genuinely appalled. “No way.”

“Would you rather have one of my Pizza Huts?”

“No, don’t be crazy.”

“Think of it as payment for my services tonight,” I said, smirking.

“If anything, I’d owe you after this, not the other way around,” she shot back.

I studied her for a long moment. “Why are you so against it?”

“Because it’s not your responsibility,” she said, her voice fierce. “I don’t need you swooping in and fixing my problems.”

I leaned closer, lowering my voice. “Do you not feel this too?”

She blinked, caught off guard. “Feel what?”

“This,” I said, gesturing between us. “It’s like we’re magnets. I can’t get you out of my head, and it’s not just physical. I’ve never felt so suited to someone before.”

She opened her mouth to argue, but no words came out. Instead, she closed the gap between us, her lips pressing against mine.

It was like a spark igniting dry kindling. The kiss was hot, desperate, like we’d both been holding back for too long. I cupped the back of her neck, pulling her closer as her fingers dug into my shirt. I didn’t care that she was my fake fiancée. Nothing about this heat was fake.

She pulled back first, her breath ragged. “This is a terrible idea,” she whispered.

“Probably,” I agreed, my voice low. “But when have we ever done the smart thing?”

She frowned. “Literally all the time.”

“Exactly,” I said. “Stop overthinking this and fucking kiss me.”

She didn’t hesitate. I kissed her back, pouring every bit of frustration and longing into it. Whatever this was between us, it was real.

And for the first time in a long time, I didn’t feel lost. I felt found.