“Do you really rattle around here on your own?” she asked, trying to ignore the unsettling knot in her stomach.
He emptied the curry into a pan and set it over a gas ring on the hob.
“Yeah,” he said with a shrug. “Marcus lives a mile down the road in the old Coach House. We wanted to have at least one house that kept us close, so I built this place last year.”
She couldn’t help herself.
“At least one house? You have more than one?” Her tone was a mix of disbelief and mild horror.
Holy hell,how did she underestimate everything?
“You knew I had money when we met.” He held her gaze from across the room. “I own a villa in Italy and a penthouse in New York…and a few other places.”
She gulped, her brow furrowing as her eyes darted from corner to corner, soaking in the high-spec interior. This was a whole new side of him. An unbelievable shitstorm of financial inequality.
“Yeah, I knew you owned The Fitz…but we flew here in a private helicopter. And you have multiple homes?—”
They had always been together in her territory, and now she was standing in his. The gaping difference between their worlds was like stepping into a different dimension.
“How much did it cost to build a house like this?” she asked, watching him grab a wooden spoon and stir.
“Does it matter?” he asked, frowning.
For a man who was usually so confident, his question seemed almost vulnerable, as if he was bracing himself for her response.
“It depends…” she said, her voice a little quieter now.
“On?”
“Will you turn into an asshole at midnight?” she asked, her tone light but with an edge of seriousness. “Or tell me I’m girlfriend number three and introduce me to one and two?”
“Number three?” He raised an eyebrow, his cheek dimpling with that familiar cocky smile. “What about four and five?”
She rolled her eyes, smirking at him. “There we go…there’s the asshole.”
Jamie pushed away from the hob, moving closer.
“You should know you’re my number one, okay?” His voice was lower now, edged with sincerity. “As in, the only one.”
The flutter in her chest detonated, her breath hitching as the weight of his words settled in. Her eyes widened, but she quickly masked her shock with a teasing smile.
“Phew,” she said, her grin playful but still carrying a hint of vulnerability. “For a second, I thought you meant I wasthe one.”
Jamie didn’t correct her or even laugh it off. He just stared at her, his gaze intense, watching the way her smile faltered under the weight of his full attention.
“I guess I underestimated how rich you are,” she added. “I mean, this house is off the scale huge for just one guy.”
A slow, knowing smile spread across his lips, and she could’ve sworn he actually sighed with relief.
“Yeah, it’s a bit too big for just me,” he agreed. “I need a super-hot, black-haired beauty to stay with me. Specifically, one with amazing blue eyes, a great ass, and a really cute laugh.”
Her cheeks flushed, and her stomach flipped in all the right ways. She wasn’t sure how to respond. “I’m sure you’ve had plenty of girls who fit that criteria.”
“Oh, absolutely,” he replied, his voice playful, but that deep undertone of his sent a shiver down her spine. “But none of them made me want to be around them all the time.”
Her breath caught in her throat as she held his gaze, that magnetic pull between them impossible to ignore.
“Still an asshole,” she muttered, though her smile betrayed her.
