Hillbilly Girlie Marries a Billionaire – Episode 14
Emily held up the nightgown with two fingers. The fabric was nearly transparent and offered less coverage than the towel incident at Lucas’s mansion. Somewhere outside the room, servants whispered and moved furniture with suspicious slowness. The entire household seemed invested in whether the newlyweds shared more than a surname.
Lucas told her she could wear one of his shirts instead. Emily accepted so quickly that humor warmed his tired face. He turned away while she changed behind the screen, though every rustle of fabric made the air feel charged. Their agreement had made privacy sound simple on paper; sharing a guarded room turned each ordinary movement into an awareness neither could dismiss.
His white shirt fell almost to her knees. When Emily emerged, Lucas forgot the sentence he had been about to say. The simple garment revealed less than the nightgown, yet seeing her wrapped in something that belonged to him felt far more intimate.
She helped him sit against the headboard and checked the edge of his bandage. Lucas caught her wrist before she could fuss further, reminding her that the doctor had declared him alive. Emily said people who threw themselves in front of bottles forfeited the right to complain about attention.
The argument dissolved into quiet laughter. Emily sat beside him, close enough to feel his warmth, and asked why he had given her the family ring. Lucas could have answered that the gesture protected their story. Instead, he said he hated seeing her believe the things Sophie called her.
“But some of them are true,” Emily said. She had needed money, signed a contract, and once believed she had been hired to bear his child. Lucas replied that desperation did not define her. The woman he knew threw corn at thieves, faced his family without lying, and tore up a check she had every right to keep.
Her throat tightened. Kevin had spent years convincing her sacrifice was something he deserved; Lucas treated it as evidence of strength. The contrast made gratitude blur into something softer. Emily leaned toward him before caution could intervene.
Lucas met her halfway, then stopped with barely an inch between them. He told her she did not owe him affection because he had protected her. Emily whispered that she knew. When she closed the remaining distance, the kiss was tentative, warm, and entirely outside their agreement.
Pain tugged at Lucas’s shoulder as he lifted a hand to her face. Emily drew back immediately, apologizing. He assured her the wound was not the reason his pulse had changed. The admission left them staring at each other with the terrifying knowledge that neither was pretending.
Footsteps approached in the corridor. Noah’s voice suggested they check whether Lucas needed medication, while Grandfather Anderson insisted the couple was probably asleep. Emily and Lucas looked from the door to the untouched couch. If the family entered, separate sleeping arrangements would expose them.
Lucas pulled back the blankets and told Emily to lie beside him. She climbed into bed, rigid with nerves. He arranged one arm around her without using the injured shoulder, and she tucked her face near his neck just as the handle turned.
Grandfather Anderson opened the door, ignored Lucas’s murderous glare, and brightened at the sight of them together. Noah stood behind him, less pleased. Emily tried to look sleepy while every muscle remained painfully awake.
The old man apologized with no sincerity and predicted a great-grandchild soon. Lucas ordered them out. Noah’s gaze lingered on Emily’s borrowed shirt and Lucas’s arm around her before the door closed, jealousy replacing his earlier amusement. His discovery had failed to expose the marriage; instead, it convinced the family that intimacy had already begun.
Emily started to move away, but Lucas did not release her. He said the hallway remained quiet enough to hide listeners. They waited, sharing the same pillow. His breath touched her temple, and her heart beat too hard for sleep.
When Lucas finally loosened his hold, Emily asked whether he regretted the kiss. He answered by touching her lower lip with his thumb. Regret was not the problem. The contract was. Every real feeling made its eventual end more dangerous.
He began, “Emily, I want to cancel our contract.” Fear struck before he could continue. To her, canceling meant sending her away now that the family believed them. She sat up and asked whether she had embarrassed him or created too much trouble.
Lucas tried to explain that he no longer wanted a temporary arrangement. A knock interrupted him. Adam entered with urgent company documents and stopped, mortified by the scene. He reported that the canceled partnership with Sophie’s family had triggered a board crisis requiring Lucas at headquarters before dawn.
Duty closed over Lucas’s expression. He promised they would finish the conversation when he returned. Emily nodded, pretending the unfinished words had not hollowed her chest. She watched him dress one-handed and wished she possessed the courage to ask what ending he intended.
Before leaving, Lucas returned the family ring to her neck and told her not to remove it. His fingers lingered at her collarbone. “Whatever you think I meant, don’t make a decision until I come back.” Then he followed Adam into the corridor.
Emily remained alone in the enormous bed. Minutes later, a message appeared on her phone from an unknown number: Lucas canceled the contract because he no longer needs you. Take your payment and leave before his mother arrives to throw you out herself.