Hired a Gigolo, Got a Billionaire

Chapter 208 Nathaniel's POV I tossed enough cash on the table to cover the bill and went after her. I couldn't let things end like that, not when I finally understood why she'd spent the whole evening acting like some corporate robot. I found her on the sidewalk outside the restaurant, staring at her phone with a frustrated look. "Uber says fifteen minutes," she muttered, not even glancing at me. "Annabelle..." "Please don't." She shook her head, still avoiding my eyes. "I already said everything I needed to say." "But I didn't." She exhaled slowly and finally looked at me.

Tears clung to the corners of her eyes, and she was clearly fighting to hold them back. "What else do you want from me, Nathaniel? I told you I need distance. This is for my career." "I want you to understand one thing." I stepped closer, but kept a respectful space between us. "Just because we slept together on that plane doesn't mean I don't take you seriously." She gave me a doubtful look. "Nathaniel..." "Let me finish." I lifted a hand.

"It's actually the opposite." "What does that mean?" "Annabelle, I take a woman very seriously when she refuses to let society dictate who she's allowed to be. A woman who takes what she wants because she wants it. Someone honest enough to own her desires." She blinked a few times, clearly thrown by that. "You were on a plane, convinced you were about to die, and you still stayed true to yourself. You didn't pretend to be someone else. You didn't hide behind fake morals. You were real." I ran a hand through my hair. "That didn't make me respect you less.

Annabelle went quiet, studying me with an expression I couldn't fully read. "Listen," I continued, "I would love to get to know you better. Not as an employee. Not as Christian's sister-in- law. As... Annabelle. The woman I met on that

robotic version of yourself because of me." I gave a faint smile. "Because honestly, that performance tonight was

seemed less tense, "you don't have to act like that with me. We can be... I don't know. Normal colleagues. Friends, maybe?" "Friends?" she echoed, as if trying the word on. "Friends. Two people who work together, who respect each other, who can have a normal conversation without one of them sounding like artificial intelligence." Annabelle let out a soft laugh, the first real sound I'd heard from her all night. "And more important than

that plane." She watched me closely. "You're here because you're good at what you do. Because you're smart, dedicated, and you bring insights that impress Franconian investors. Because you can make those same Franconian investors laugh and still take you completely seriously."

you have more than enough ability to crush any argument thrown at you." Annabelle stayed quiet for several moments, absorbing every word. "You really believe that?" she asked finally. "I do. And more than anything, I take you seriously because of that. Because of the professional you are, and because of the woman you are." She nodded slowly, as if letting it settle in. "Friends, then?" I asked again. Annabelle studied me for a few quiet seconds, then extended her right hand. 2/3