Page 32 of Billionaire Daddies Next Door

“We’re not a cult.” Smith shrugged. “I just figured I’d clear the air on that one. We can’t even agree on the thermostat, much less anything else.”

“I wasn’t horrified by you, Joanie. I—” Bear growled as I cut him off again.

“Not listening! Goodbye!” I hurried out of the room before one of them decided to follow me and proved I was weak when it came to them.

CHAPTER 24

Joanie

Billie looked up from the table she shared with her three bosses and gave me a look that demanded muffins. When I brought more over to their table, one of her bosses looked up at me. From that close, I could make out that one of his eyes was blue and the other was brown. Looking over at Billie, I wondered how the hell she wasn’t crushing on at least one of her bosses already. The guy with the different eyes, though? He was hot.

“Thanks.” He hesitated. “We got approached by the Mayor to participate in some battle… What’s the deal?”

Billie sat up. “It’s nothing. The Mayor is just being weird. Ignore him.”

The man sitting next to Billie in their booth quirked an eyebrow as he looked down at Billie. “Doesn’t sound like nothing.”

I cleared my throat. “It’s definitely nothing.”

Chase manifested behind me. “It’s not nothing. It’s a battle of the sexes and it seems like these two ladies are trying to cheat you three out of playing.”

I shifted to get his hand off my back but he just followed my movements. “Why do you care so much about the stupid battle now?”

“I care because one of yours shot one of mine. You ladies are going down.” Chase wagged his brows at me and leaned in. “Want to get an early start in the office?”

Billie laughed awkwardly. “You guys are way too busy to play games. Forget you ever heard about it.”

The third boss sat forward. “I think we’ll be able to make time to play a few games.”

Chase nodded. “Good men. Now, if you’ll excuse us, my business partner and I have a meeting to get to.”

I let Chase lead me to my office and told myself that if we did have sex, no one would have to know. We could be fast and quiet. It’d been a few days since I’d had sex with Smith and being around them so often was making me needy all the time. A quickie with Chase was exactly what I needed.

“We need to have a serious talk about expanding, Joanie.” Chase leaned against my desk and shoved his hands into his pockets. “Bear and Smith have already bought in. As soon as you give me the green light, we can start making real plans. Seeing how crazy this place can get showed me that we need to expand faster. You need more than just this one place.”

My mind reeled from the shift in directions. I thought we were going to have sex and instead, he was talking about things I’d already said no to. I shook my head and buried my face in my hands. “I hate you.”

Chase went still. “What the fuck?”

“How many times do I have to tell you that I don’t want to expand, Chase? I’m never going to change my mind.” I turned away from him. “I’m happy with the way things are.”

“If something happens, you’re fucked, Joanie. Don’t you give a shit?” He grabbed my arm and pulled me back around to face him. “Why are you so against this?”

“Why are you so for it?” I was angry we’d gone back to our same song and dance. Of course, sleeping together wasn’t going to make him stop pushing. “I could buy you out. I have a small nest-egg now.”

“I’ll never sell. I’m in this for the long haul. You need help. You need a plan.” He ran his hands through his hair. “I know you know life can turn upside down overnight, Joanie. You have no backup plan.”

“I didn’t have one the first time around, either. Yet, I made it.” I saw him start to speak and held up my finger. “No. Listen to me. I don’t want more than this. If it’s not big enough for you, walk away.”

“You made it this time. What about next time? What if I hadn’t planned for shit going wrong? Imagine where I’d be now, sweetheart. I’m just trying to help.”

“What shit went wrong with you?” I studied his expression and leaned closer. “What happened?”

“You fucking know, Joanie.” He looked away and sighed. “Everyone fucking knows.”

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to know. What is it?” Reading his suspicious vibe, I held up my hands. “I cut myself off from the rest of the world when I came here, Chase. I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.”

“You don’t watch the news?”

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