My Unexpected Vow: California Billionaires Book 2 by Harlow James (top 10 inspirational books txt) 📕

“Oh, please.” Chloe rolls her eyes. “The first time I saw the two of you together, I predicted the future. The way you two bicker? That has to translate to hot hate sex at some point.”

“Well, sorry to disappoint you, but there will be no hate sex. We actually don’t even bicker that much anymore.”

“Seriously?” Shayla pipes up.

“Yeah. I mean, we still tease each other, but nothing like it was before.”

“Damn. I would have thought by now there would at least have been some spontaneous kiss or something.” Chloe looks defeated, but her remark has my entire body tensing.

I glance away, keeping my lips shut, but that was probably a mistake because Chloe circles around me as I stand still and then gets right up in my face. “What? No instantaneous denial for that, Waverly?” Her brow lifts.

“What do you mean?” I ask, still avoiding her gaze.

“I insinuated that you must have kissed Hayes, and you’re not denying it.” And in the next beat, her face lights up. “Oh, my God! You guys kissed?”

“What?” Shayla spins around, dragging the seamstress with her.

“Jesus! Will you two lower your voices?” I cringe and then hang my head in my hands. Taking a deep breath, I just decide to own what happened. I mean, it’s Shayla and Chloe. They’re not going to judge me. Hell, they’re actually in favor of this happening.

Straightening my spine, I take a deep breath, and then let it all out. “Fine. Yes, I kissed Hayes. It was almost a month ago, and I tried to pass it off as a mistake, but since then, things have shifted. And a few nights ago after I had a shitty job interview, he helped me feel better and then we passed out on the couch in each other’s arms.”

If Shayla and Chloe had food in their mouths right now, it would be tumbling onto the floor. Shayla clears her throat, placing a hand on her chest. “Oh, my God.”

“Ditto,” Chloe adds.

I sigh and then start pacing across the floor. “This is bad, right? Like, really bad? I’m finding myself wanting him, more than I ever thought was possible, but I’m not sure if he feels the same way.”

“Well, who initiated the kiss?” Shayla asks.

“I did. He was playing the piano after we had dinner with his parents, and guys… he looked so troubled, so lost. I couldn’t help myself. It was the most vulnerable I’ve ever seen him.”

Chloe holds a hand up. “Hold on. Hayes plays the piano?”

While nodding slowly, a smile builds on my lips. “Yes. And it is so fucking sexy.”

She starts to fan herself. “That it is, indeed.”

“And how did you end up sleeping on the couch together?” Shayla prods some more.

I explain how the events of that day and night transpired, and his little comment about missing me when I was in Vegas.

Shayla taps her finger to her chin and then her lips split into a grin that’s almost blinding. “Well, I don’t think your feelings are one-sided, Wave.”

“Why?”

“Because a man that doesn’t care about a woman wouldn’t have done that. He also wouldn’t miss you when you’re out of town. I hate to break it to you, but I think you and your husband are falling for each other.”

I drop my head in my hands again, shaking it back and forth. “How did this happen? I mean, it’s Hayes.”

Chloe snorts. “I still don’t get how you didn’t see the attraction between you two that I did.”

“I kind of always thought that too when I first saw you two together,” Shayla says on a shrug. “But I think the most important thing you need to ask yourself, Waverly, is if this is what you want?”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you want to explore what’s going on? Because if you’re not sure, then don’t. Don’t muddle an already unsteady relationship. But if you’re going to cross that line, dive in headfirst.”

Nodding, I glance away from them for just a second. “You’re right. But how do I know that he wants me too?”

“You’re a woman, so use what the good Lord gave you. Entice him, tease him. And if you do decide to bang him, can you do it by the fifteenth so I can win the bet?” Chloe slides behind me, peering over my shoulder at me in the full-length mirror.

I shove her off. “You have no shame, do you, Chloe?”

She fluffs her hair once more. “If it were me, I’d have mounted him one week in.”

“But you don’t want Hayes, Chloe. Now, if it were Silas, I think that’s exactly what you’d do,” Shayla teases as Chloe narrows her eyes at her.

“Oh, is there something going on with you and Silas?” Desperate to take the focus off of me, I dive in fully to shifting the attention to Chloe’s love life.

Chloe huffs and then steps off the pedestal. “Damn right I would, but I don’t think he’s worth the energy.”

I give her a quizzical brow. “What? Why’s that?”

“Because when we were in Vegas, Silas kind of shot her down,” Shayla blurts out.

“Seriously, Shayla? I thought you were my friend?” Chloe tosses her hands in the air.

“Wait… what happened in Vegas?” I push for more information because I’m completely lost now.

“Do you remember when Chloe and Silas disappeared for a while the night we were all there back in November?”

“Uh, huh.”

“Well, Chloe was trying to drag him back to her hotel room, but he politely declined.”

“Yup. We’re officially not friends anymore,” Chloe interjects.

“Why?” I turn my gaze onto Chloe, whose face is tight with anger.

“Because, he shot me down, and I’m not…” she pauses, taking a deep breath before letting it out harshly, “I’m not used to that happening, alright? And I don’t need everyone knowing it about either.”

My face falls as I realize that Chloe was rejected, and it definitely stung for her to have this reaction to it. And a part of me sympathizes with her because that’s