Page 39 of Faking It with my Billionaire Grump

Honestly, I’m not sure.

Jake was always my first love. He was my only love. I didn’t leave because of anything he did. I left because of me. Of course, I’m not so naïve to believe he is perfect. He has his faults, like we all do. But so far in my life, he’s been the best of them all.

I thought you were done with relationships?

I did say that, didn’t I? I’m being ridiculous. Anyway, Jake probably wouldn’t want me back after what I did. Okay, we’re getting along now, but as friends. Our engagement isn’t real, and nothing that has happened between us has been anything more than two friends helping each other out.

I smile when I think back to Jake throwing his arm over my shoulder earlier. He did that all the time when we were together. It was always those simple things that made me love him. The “she’s mine,” but not in a possessive way, kind of gesture.

Another lifetime, Tilly. Another lifetime.

When I’ve finished dusting all available surfaces, I plug the vacuum cleaner in. But before I start, I need to move those boxes out from beneath the tables, and so, one by one, I tug them toward me, lift them off the floor, and place them on the other side of the room.

I’m lifting the last one when the bottom of the box starts to give way.

“No. No,” I cry, lifting my knee to try and stop it.

But the box has other ideas, and the more I struggle, the more it crumples in my hands. I’m losing the battle at great speed, and a few seconds later, everything that was in it is now out of it and sitting in a pile at my feet.

“Great,” I say, now holding an empty box.

Tossing the now useless cardboard aside, I crouch down and start lifting the rather important-looking documents from the floor.

“I really hope these weren’t in any order.”

I gather several documents at a time, shuffling them together into a neat pile before placing them on the now clean tables. As I move to lift some more, several documents catch my eye, and I pause to scan over them.

One is a letter from a realtor, congratulating Jake on the purchase of a piece of land. My eyes nearly pop out of my head when I see how much he paid for it. Another document is a deed for more property. Again, it’s in the millions.

I’m absorbed in glancing at each piece of paper I lift when suddenly, I hear a voice.

“Hey.”

Automatically, I drop the papers like they’re burning my fingers, and I spin to look at Jake, who’s leaning against the doorframe with a slight smirk on his face.

“Find anything interesting?”

“I… I’m sorry. I… I was cleaning, and the box collapsed. I didn’t mean to pry.”

He shrugs, seemingly not bothered that I’ve been nosing through his personal business.

“Just make sure they’re all together when you’re done, will you?” he says nonchalantly before turning and leaving the room.

It takes another hour to finish cleaning his office, and when I’ve finally placed all the cleaning gear back in the cupboard, I go in search of Jake. I find him leaning against the fence of the pigpen, watching the pigs.

“Oh, look,” I say, spotting the piglet. “There’s my buddy.”

Jake flashes me a grin. “Not what you were saying a few days ago.”

“No. A few days ago, I could have easily imagined you and him hanging on a hook. More you than him. He did nothing wrong.”

We don’t speak for a minute and instead watch the pigs shove past each other, grunting and vying for food.

“Did you know?” he asks.

“Did I know what?”

He nods back at the house, and I realize what he’s talking about.

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