The Billionaire's Student: A BBW, Alpha Billionaire Romance (14 page)

24.

As the world slowly came back to me, I heard someone singing.

Was I dead? For a moment, sheer panic ran through me, and my heartrate accelerated.

Then I realized I couldn’t be dead. I could actually hear a beeping in tune with my heart, which meant I was still alive.

I lay there for a moment with my eyes closed, listening to the voice singing and tried to make sense of it.

“And if that mocking bird won’t sing, daddy’s going to buy you a diamond ring.”

Oh my god. I
knew
that voice. Jace!

Forcing my eyes to open, I saw him a few steps away, holding a wrapped bundle and bouncing it as he swayed and sang. I tried to call for him, but my first attempt was nothing but air.

“And if that diamond ring turns to brass, daddy’s going to buy you a looking glass.”

I tried again. This time I managed to croak a sound that resembled his name.

“Jace.”

He turned, his face etched with hard lines of concern. Rushing over to the bed, he sat down on the side of it, and ran his fingers down my cheek.

“Oh, Katie.”

I was shocked to see tears welling up in his eyes.

“Thank god you’re awake. Oh, thank god.”

He did something then that I never thought I’d see Jace Weatherton do. He covered his face with his unused hand and started sobbing.

Ruby seemed to appear from out of nowhere and gently took the baby from Jace’s arms. She smiled down at me.

“You’ve got a beautiful daughter.”

“Is she okay?” I whispered.

“She’s perfect,” Ruby responded before moving out of sight and leaving me and Jace as alone as we could get.

“Jace.”

He looked at me then, and now that we were up close, I could see what months of strain and loss had done to him. Worry lines were etched in his handsome face, and he’d lost at least twenty pounds. The muscles that used to define him with athletic grace were gone.

Pain radiated from him as he spoke.

“Oh Katie, why on earth did you run away instead of telling me?”

I fought to keep my eyes open. There was no way I was slipping away again before we hashed this out.

“How could I tell you I was pregnant with your baby when I knew you hated children?”

Shock spread across his face, and his eyes grew wide.

“I what? Katie, I don’t hate children. What gave you that idea?”

I licked my lips. My mouth and throat were so dry.

Jace noticed and reached over to pick up a small cup from the rolling tray beside my bed.

“Here, small sips.”

When I’d wet my throat a little, I answered him.

“When we were at the ball. You saw a pregnant lady and made a really horrible comment about her having a baby. The tone of your voice was so venomous.”

Jace shook his head and took my hand in his and squeezed it.

“Oh Katie, I’m so sorry. That’s not what that meant at all. I didn’t mean I hate children. I meant that particular woman had no business bringing another child into the world. She already has three she foists off on nannies. The poor kids probably don’t even recognize their mother when they see her since she spends so little time with them.”

“You mean; you don’t hate kids?”

“Of course not.”

I felt like the stupidest woman on the planet. I’d run away for no reason whatsoever. It had been a simple misunderstanding. I could have avoided the entire heart-wrenching past several months if I had just stayed and told Jace the truth.

“Oh my god. Oh Jace. I’m so sorry. I ran away because I thought you’d throw me out once you found out I was pregnant.”

Tears leaked from my eyes and rolled down my face.

“Never. I could never throw out the woman that I love, and especially not if she’s carrying my baby.”

The enormity of what I’d done threatened to swallow me whole. How could he ever forgive me?

As if sensing my inner torment, he reached out and held my face in his hands. The warmth of his skin radiated through me.

“I love you, Katie Darling. When you left, I died inside. I couldn’t understand why you’d just up and leave. For months, I just moped around the house. I put all of my business decisions off on my underlings. I stopped going out.

“Then I get a call from this hospital telling me that the mother of and my unborn baby were in distress, and I needed to get to the hospital right away. I thought at first it was someone playing a prank on me, but then they told me your name. I jumped in the car and raced here as fast as I could. When I got here, they told me the baby was fine, but there’d been further complications in the operating room, and that they’d almost lost you twice. The doctor said he didn’t know if you’d ever wake up.”

His last sentence came out with a choked sob.

“I decided right then and there that if you survived, no matter why you ran away I’d forgive you. For the first time in my life, I fell on my knees and prayed. I prayed that God wouldn’t take you away from me now that I’d found you again.

“I’ve already forgiven you, Katie. I just want you back with me. You and the baby.”

He leaned forward and kissed my forehead.

“Now get some sleep. I can tell you’ve been fighting it hard the past few minutes.”

I drifted off with my hand held firmly inside his.

25.

I sat in the cracked vinyl booth and stared at the gorgeous man across from me as he held our daughter, whom we’d named Hannah, after my late mother. I was still a bit weak, but after a two-week hospital stay, I’d been more than ready to get out of there. It had been Jace’s idea to stop at the diner before we started on the three-hour journey home.

Upon our arrival, we’d been immediately crowded by all the regulars, who’d been told ahead of time by Ruby to be there. Apparently, she and Jace had set it all up before we’d left the hospital. The regulars warmly greeted Jace, and I knew that Ruby must’ve filled them in on what had transpired and let them all know that Jace wasn’t the monster deadbeat everyone had assumed him to be. After they’d all cooed over Hannah and given us their well wishes, they’d faded back to their booths and left us alone to eat breakfast.

Jace looked up from adoring our daughter and caught me staring. A smile creased his face, which was no longer marred with worry lines. Hannah started to cry right then, and he laughed.

“I think our little girl wants her mama.”

He got up and brought her around to my side of the booth and put her in my arms. I could only hold her for short periods of time because of being so weak, but I did it as much as I possibly could. However, instead of going back to the other side of the booth, he got down on one knee beside me.

I almost laughed at the incongruity of the billionaire in his expensive tailored suit kneeling on the greasy floor of the diner, but then the reality of the position he held struck me.

Surely he wasn’t?

He pulled a black, velvet box from the pocket of his suit jacket.

Oh my god, he was! He was freaking proposing!

The entire diner fell into a hushed silence.

“Katie, I love you and our daughter more than life itself, and I can’t live a moment without you. Will you marry me?”

In that moment, my wildest dream had come true. Out of all the beautiful, skinny women he could have chosen, Jace Weatherton chose me instead. He chose curvy, chubby,
me
.

With tears streaming down my face, I cried, “Yes! Yes, I’ll marry you!”

The entire diner erupted into cheers.

Jace, mindful of Hannah, leaned down and crushed his lips against mine. When we finally surfaced from the kiss, my lips felt bruised, and I could barely breathe. He grinned and slipped the ring on my finger before sitting back down on the other side of the booth.

Smiling wickedly, I whispered, “Am I going to be punished for running away?”

Jace’s eyes sparkled and he burst into laughter.

“No—well, not unless you want to.”

He waggled his eyebrows at me, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“The baby and my love for you changes things somewhat. I had a hard time admitting it to myself, but the first night we made love, I actually felt more satisfied and connected to you than I have to anyone in a long time.”

A cloud passed over his handsome face.

“Is that what drew you into that type of sex? A woman did you wrong in some way?”

“Honestly, Katie, until I met you, I had no idea what love truly is. My parents weren’t demonstrative emotionally, and the first woman I developed a serious relationship with was only using me for my money. After her, I closed myself off and sought other ways to find satisfaction. Sex to me was simply a game for pleasure. Now I understand what it feels like to be in love.”

“So no more fun and games in the rec room?”

“I think we can keep it for now, don’t you? I seem to recall you enjoying my rec room as I much as I did.”

I could feel my face turning red.

“However, since I find enjoyment in just being with you normally, I think we can find a balance between the two. I will probably still bend you over my lap now and then.”

Despite my weakened state, I felt a thrill run through me.

His face darkened for a moment.

“Of course, we will have to wait until you’ve recovered completely.”

“So what about the contract I signed?”

Jace smiled.

“Honey, I don’t think we need a contract anymore. However, I do think we both need to figure out what our needs are. We can do that together.”

Together. I liked the sound of that.

Jace stood up and held out his hand to me.

“Are you ready to take our daughter home?”

I nodded. Home. I liked the sound of that even better.

Join Sana’s newsletter! No Spam!
http://madmimi.com/signups/98422/join

ABOUT Sana Chase

Subscribe to Sana’s newsletter by visiting:
http://mad.ly/signups/98422/join
!

Sana Chase is an award winning author and also an Epic Finalist. She writes about billionaire bad boys and the women who lust after them. 

When not writing romance, Sana works full time and takes care of her family. For fun, she enjoys reading, scrapbooking, and spending entirely too much time on the internet. She also enjoys going bowling because it's the one sport where she can trounce her husband.

She loves hearing from her readers. You can reach Sana at
[email protected]
or on twitter @sana_chase. More contact options will be coming soon!

The Billionaire’s Student © March 2015 by Sana Chase

All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental. All sexually active characters in this work are 18 years of age or older.

This book is for sale to ADULT AUDIENCES ONLY. It contains substantial sexually explicit scenes and graphic language which may be considered offensive by some readers. Please store your files where they cannot be access by minors.

Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.