Hired a Gigolo, Got a Billionaire

Chapter 524 Gwen's POV Everything was dark, warm, and comfortable. Then, slowly, the darkness began to thin at the edges, like ink dissolving in water. I opened one eye-just one-testing whether the world still existed beyond my eyelids. The light was soft, yellowed, nothing harsh. Encouraged, I opened the other. The white ceiling drifted slightly, or maybe I was the one drifting. I couldn't tell. I blinked a few times, trying to force the world to stay still. To make sense. That's when I realized it. I was moving. No-being moved.

Strong arms were holding me-one beneath my knees, the other supporting my back. Very strong arms. Without thinking, my gaze slid downward to those exposed forearms where the sleeves of a flannel shirt had been rolled up to the elbows. The skin was lightly tanned, that golden tone that comes from hours in the sun, not artificial tanning beds. Fine, dark hair dusted the surface, and I could see veins standing out subtly beneath the skin-evidence of real strength, of physical work. My hands-which apparently had been looped around his neck, slid down slightly, as if they had a will of their own.

My fingers brushed his arms and found solid, defined muscle beneath warm skin. A sigh slipped past my lips before I could stop it. I bit my lower lip as heat rushed to my face, and it had nothing to do with a fever. Finally, I gathered the courage to look up. My eyes traveled over a broad chest wrapped in plaid flannel, up the strong line of his jaw shadowed with two or three days' worth of stubble, and finally met his eyes. Green. Green like the Castoria hills in spring. And they were watching me with an amused little smirk tugging at the corner of his ridiculously well-shaped mouth.

He knew. He absolutely knew I'd been mentally rating his arms like I was picking produce at a market. I snapped my eyes shut again, like a child who believes that if she can't see, she can't be seen. A low, warm laugh rumbled through his chest, and I could feel the vibration where my body rested against his. It was a pleasant sound. Deep. Slightly rough. "You can open your eyes, miss," he said in Valentian, the words flowing like honey. "I know you're awake." I felt my body being lowered carefully, set down on something firm but padded.

When I finally dared to open my eyes again, I saw that he'd placed me on a medical exam table-one of those with white paper 1/4 stretched over green vinyl. He stepped back, and for the first time I could see him properly. Tall-well over six feet. Broad shoulders filling out a red-and-black flannel shirt. Faded jeans that had clearly seen better days, but somehow fit him perfectly over long legs. Work boots. Dark hair slightly messy, like he'd run his hands through it more than once. And those green eyes, still gleaming with quiet amusement.

"I'm... I'm..." I lifted a hand instinctively to the back of my neck and winced when my fingers found a tender swelling. A dull, throbbing pain pulsed there, like a second heartbeat at the base of my skull. "I think... I think so. What happened?" The door to what appeared to be a small medical office creaked open, and a middle-aged man walked in. He wore a white lab coat

the memory, to find the moment-but there was only... fog. Like trying to see through a

was my mind completely blank? I focused, digging through the mental haze, searching. Then, like someone turning on a dim light

Nicholas murmured, more to himself than to anyone else. "She might've suffered a mild trauma, or-" "I'm not confused," I cut in, my voice firmer than I expected. 2/4 And suddenly, as if

relieved. "And how old are you, Gwen?" I opened my mouth to answer.

said gently, turning back to me. "We need to contact your family. Were you here with someone? Is there anyone we can call?" "No!" The word came out too fast. Too sharp. Too desperate. No one could know

medication? Did I have allergies? Some answers came easily. Others vanished into the fog. With every question I couldn't answer, the frustration in my chest grew hotter, tighter. "Honestly," I snapped at last, crossing my