Shine Bright Like A Diamond: A BWWM Billionaire Love Story Read Online Free Page B

thoughts were safe in there.
    Dinner that night was a quiet and peaceful affair. Although there was still a heap of wedding preparations to be made, it was decided that the couple should spend some time alone over their meals to get to know each other better (or, as the servants were told severely by Mrs. Nettle, to give them some privacy). Almasi marveled at the many courses and rich desserts, while to Jacob this was just a modest, every day supper.
    Jacob was less boisterous than he had been earlier, because his mind was still fixed on the feelings he’d had in the foyer. Almasi, on the other hand, was finally starting to become a little more comfortable in her environment, and soon she was chatting to him as he slowly ate his minestrone soup.
    “Do you really eat like this every day?” she asked. “I mean, this is just… wow. It’s delicious. Do you think your cook could give me the recipe? I would love to make it myself sometime.” She smiled up at him.
    “Oh. Almasi… I mean, uh, my dear,” he began, remembering to practice using the affectionate language that was expected of a nearly married couple, “you don’t have to cook. Cooking and cleaning—that’s servant work, not for those of us who are… above such things.”
    This seemed absolutely ridiculous to Almasi, but she had no intention of upsetting her new… well, her new, almost-husband. “I like cooking, though,” she insisted. “And as the lady of the house, should I not be allowed to do what I would like in my spare time? It’s not as if I have my internship to look after anymore, right?”
    She looked so earnest that he finally smiled back. “I suppose you’re right. It wouldn’t hurt to let you try your hand at it.” He paused. “Please remember, though, that you have no obligation to work here. Your only job is to be a beautiful, charming wife and to help me seal this deal. And the beautiful part will be easy, as I must say you look absolutely wonderful tonight.”
    Almasi smiled widely, a true grin, and she looked even more beautiful. Jacob blushed a little and returned to eating his soup. Almasi did the same, and they spent the rest of their meal in a comfortable silence. Maybe this would work out well, after all.
    ***
    Almasi spent that night completely restless. She knew that Jacob was a good man, and even if there was no love between them,  he cared for her and that he would be a good husband. Even so, the idea of getting married made her nervous. She paced back and forth in her pretty, pink fairy guest room, anxious about the entire situation, even though she knew she didn’t need to worry.
    Finally, she returned to bed and got out the diary she bought earlier. She began to write and write and write, pages and pages of her thoughts and feelings and worries. She was glad the diary had a lock on it; she would never want anyone to find it and read it.
    ***
    Meanwhile, Jacob laid silently on the king-sized bed in the master bedroom down the hall. He normally had no difficulty falling and staying asleep.
    He had even slept that morning, he remembered wistfully, —but for some reason, he couldn’t get any rest. He thought about the conversation he  had with Almasi at the dinner table that evening. Why did she want to cook? What use was something so mundane, so boring, when you could just as easily get someone else to do that kind of work for you? He shook his head. Poor people were so very strange.
    He didn’t think he would ever understand the minds of the middle class. Being rich came with a lot of power and privilege, and it was something he had been taking for granted before he could so much as crawl across the floor or lift his hand to shake a rattle. Nannies, tutors, and governesses had raised him.
    True, he had never spent much time with his parents, both of whom had been rather distant. His father had always been too busy with his work to pay much attention to little Jakey, and his mother had been going on exotic