Page 41 of Bitter Rival

Again, why are you asking?

“My whole life is an adventure, Beckett. You should try stepping away from your laptop sometime. There’s a whole world out there and it’s big enough for both of us.”

I’m not so sure that’s true. She takes up a lot of space.

I don’t know if she’s being honest with me, but it doesn’t really matter.

I’m not going to walk away. I’m not going to admit defeat.

I’m going to see this through to the bitter end even if it kills me.

“We’re staying.” Her smile is triumphant but most likely premature. “Let’s just try to get through the next two and a half months alive and in one piece.”

“Wow. We’ve come a long way. Only this morning you were plotting and scheming cunning ways to murder me and hide the body, weren’t you? I bet you even saved it on a spreadsheet.”

“Password protected,” I say with a nod. “Did you save a similar file?”

“Pfft. I’m allergic to technology. I wrote it down in a notebook. I even included drawings and diagrams. I planned to burn it along with your ashes after the deed was done.”

“Clever. Would you keep my ashes on your mantel?”

“Nope. I would carry you with me everywhere I go so your soul would be aware of all the adventures you’re missing out on,” she says as we walk down the hallway.

“You know what that would make us?” She pauses for dramatic effect before delivering the punchline. “Soulmates.” She chortles at her own lame joke, and I just shake my head.

I need to take back control of my life and formulate a plan of action.

As luck would have it, I already have the perfect plan for how to turn this whole thing around and walk away with more than just money.

Daisy stops outside the dining room that she’s turned into a darkroom, her hand on the brass knob. “So, does this mean we’re a team now?” She looks so hopeful it would be a shame to burst her bubble. “Can you finally admit that we’re in this together?”

“Sure,” I say easily, which earns me a bright smile. “We’re in this together, in the sense that I’m now the vineyard manager.” I stroke my jaw. “Second thought. Why am I aiming so low? I’m in charge of the whole damn estate. Which makes me…your new boss.” I bop her on the nose and head for the stairs, ignoring the glare she aims at me.

“I should have thrown you to the wolves when I had the chance,” she calls after me.

“That’ll teach you.”

“And just for the record, I wouldn’t kiss you if you were the last man on earth and my life depended on it.”

Such a pretty little liar.

I pause at the foot of the stairs and give her a lazy grin. “Stop lying to yourself, princess. You wanted me to kiss you. And you would have kissed me back and begged for more.”

I hear laughter from the doorway and turn to look at Caiden. “Called it,” he says under his breath as he brushes past me and strides over to Daisy, reintroducing himself.

“Oh my god. Caiden!” she squeals. “It’s so good to see you again.” She throws her arms around him and hugs him tight like they’re long-lost friends and her life is complete now that he’s back in it.

A little over the top if you ask me.

“Good to see you too,” Caiden says gruffly. “What’ve you been up to for the past…what is it now…shit, must be seventeen years since I last saw you.”

You just saw her yesterday.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Daisy

God. He’s such a control freak.

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