Hired a Gigolo, Got a Billionaire

Chapter 220 I walked back to the table with steady steps, my irritation boiling. How dare Nate judge me? As if his thing with Alexandra was some shining example of romantic perfection. When I reached the table, Charles was in the middle of some obviously fabricated story about his academic " adventures" for Margaret, who looked politely bored. "Sorry for the delay," I said as I sat down again. "Charles was telling us about the time he discovered a rare manuscript in a library in Oxford," Gwen said, her eyes sparkling with barely hidden amusement. "Yes," Charles confirmed enthusiastically.

"A manuscript from the... uh... sixteenth century. Very rare. About... knights." Sixteenth century? Knights? Even I knew medieval knights came from much earlier. "How interesting," I managed, taking a long sip of my drink. Gwen shot me a look that clearly said, "what crap did you bring here?" and I couldn't blame her. Charles kept talking, adding more details to his imaginary academic career, and somehow he managed to entertain the whole table. The issue was that no one was laughing with him, they were laughing at him.

Every new invention about medieval dragons and "magic swords found in excavations" made James hide a smile behind his wine glass, while Margaret pretended to cough to cover a laugh. The shame hit me physically, like someone had dumped ice water over my head. There I was, the woman who erself on being smart and perceptive, and I had brought a complete fraud to impress a group of cated colleagues. And worse, everyone was having a great time at the expense of my terrible judgment.

Charles," I cut in, unable to listen to another second of his "imaginary archaeological discoveries." "How about we go dance for a bit?" "Great idea!" He stood up right away, clearly relieved to escape the informal interrogation. I led him to the small dance floor where a few people swayed to a soft song. At least away from the table, he couldn't keep embarrassing us both with his ridiculous stories. "You're beautiful, Annabelle," Charles said as soon as we reached the floor, placing his hands on my waist." Even prettier than in your photos." "Thanks," I murmured, trying to smile.

saw you at the entrance, I thought, wow, I'm lucky." "That's kind," I replied automatically, focusing on

hand drifting to my lower back. "More... sophisticated." "Charles," I said gently, trying to guide his hands back to where they

firmly, placing my hands on his chest to put some distance between us. "What's the problem?" he murmured, trying to kiss me. "You brought me to this fancy party, introduced me to your friends... you were clearly trying to impress someone." I turned my face when he tried to kiss

what? To talk about books?" His words hit me like a slap. The mask of the gentleman professor was gone. "Let me go," I demanded, trying to pull away, but he grabbed me even tighter. "Come on, Annabelle. You clearly wanted to show you could land a decent guy. Now you need to play along with the fantasy." ying you're being way too difficult," he growled, trying to force a kiss while his hands moved where even more

sending him stumbling back and releasing me instantly. Charles staggered, grabbed his face, and stared at Nate with a mix of shock and anger. "What the hell...?" Charles started, but Nate stepped forward, his stance making it very clear he was ready for round two. "You heard her," Nate said, his voice low and dangerous. "She said no. Several times." "This isn't your