I Quit Being a Stepmother (Cypress Gem) novel Chapter 521

Rhea asked, "Are you thinking of calling off the engagement?"

George frowned. "Of course not."

He was worried that she might be the one to back out. After all, he knew that she didn't have strong romantic feelings for him when they'd first gotten together.

When the drinks arrived, Rhea sprawled out beside George, draping one leg over his as she held her beer glass. She said, "I want you to help me shower every day once we're married. I'm kinda lazy, you know."

He committed that to memory. "Deal."

She shot him a look. "And when we're free, I want us to have dinner together every night."

He nodded. "Done."

She raised an eyebrow. "Is there anything you'd flat-out say no to?"

He downed his beer in one gulp and glanced at her. "Breaking up or calling off the engagement. Those are non-starters."

At that moment, Rhea gave George an odd look. It was as if she were seeing a stranger. He showed a firm, almost stubborn calm she hadn't quite seen before.

"You do realize that you're an important CEO, right? Your schedule's not exactly wide open," she said. "Like my dad—he was often so busy in the past that he couldn't make it home for dinner."

There were too many business dinners and obligations that Liam couldn't get out of, after all.

"Rules are made by people," George said. "Why do you think I worked so hard all those years?"

He'd poured everything into building his reputation in the industry, making himself someone no one could afford to reject. Now, it was at a point where even if he skipped a meeting or a dinner, no one would dare give him an attitude.

"What if you break your promise?" Rhea leaned closer, looking up at him expectantly.

George's gaze dropped as a flicker of unease sparked in him. "What would you do?"

Would she get mad, ignore him, and go back to her parents' place?

She thought about it. "I'll…"

He waited in silence.

He stood by the bed and smiled at her without a trace of impatience. "Anything else, princess?"

She patted the spot next to her. "A bedfellow?"

George's eyes darkened. He turned off the light and climbed into bed, pulling Rhea into his arms. He said huskily, "Even if you only see me as a bedfellow, you've got to have me for life. Deal?"

He didn't dare hope that Rhea would love him as deeply as he loved her. But even if they were just friends with benefits, he would take it because it was her.

Rhea's heart twinged. How could she bear to let someone as wonderful as him feel disappointed?

She hugged him back and kissed his eyes in the darkness. He trembled, his breathing slowing.

She said, "When I die, I want my tombstone to say that I'm only yours."

Her loyalty to love could withstand the test of time, but George still felt insecure. Fortunately, she didn't find it annoying. Instead, she kept reassuring him, letting him know that she wasn't going anywhere.

His arms tightened around her, and he rasped, "Can you tell me you love me?"