Page 19 of Best Laid Plans

In any case, Nova working with us was not a bug but a feature. I wanted that bitch here.

I approached Bailey and kissed her softly on the mouth. She didn't pull away, but it was close. I realized she was jealous. After all these years, she was still envious of Nova. She'd been devastated when we broke up, and I started dating Nova. She had begged me to take her back. I hadn't, not until recently.

We'd remained friends with benefits, even after Nova, when I had fucked plenty of women with impunity.

Getting engaged to her seemed like a not unpleasant idea.

I didn't love Bailey. I was fond of her for the most part. I knew I'd never love her, not the way I had Nova. But I didn't want to feel like that ever again. Love made you helpless—broke you, destroyed you. Once was enough.

I led Bailey to a chair at the conference table in my office. The beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains sprawled out behind her framed by a wall of windows.

She looked at me expectantly, her perfectly manicured hands folded neatly on the table. She had long nails painted fire engine red. She wore a slim black skirt, with a red blouse in the same hue as her nails. Her blonde hair curled around her shoulders. She was slim with decent tits and an ass that she worked hard for in the gym with a personal trainer. She wore black heels that made her look like her legs went all the way up. She looked like she always did. Well put together, elegant, graceful, beautiful, and, I had to admit, boring. She looked like every vapid society wife my peers were married to.

I couldn't help but think about Nova in her dress that cupped her curves. Her ass was round; something you could hold on to. Her tits were luscious. There was something provocatively sensual about her. She looked like a sex goddess without even trying. She'd always had that pin-up girl feel, even when she wore those ugly diner uniforms or shorts and T-shirts that she bought at Salvation Army. But now, there was a polish to her. The way she talked, walked, and carried herself.

Regardless of what I thought of her, my body wanted her.

"Well?" Bailey coaxed.

I took a deep breath, steadying myself, before laying out the plan that had been consuming my thoughts ever since I asked Nina to have Nova project manage Sentinel Heights.

"Darlin', first things first. You don't need to be insecure about Nova King."

She scoffed. "I'm not insecure. I'm livid. She's a slut and a thief, and I don't trust her to run one of our largest projects."

Our? Hell, she was thinking she was a Larue, and she wasn't. Not until we were married.

"I trust Nina Davenport," I remarked lightly. I didn't like her insinuation that I wouldn't do right by Larue Homes. She worked for me, yes, but she didn't have the right to question me.

I'd just had a conversation with the head of construction on my team to let him know that Bailey would be running the Sentinel Heights project. I had run my mouth off to Nova when I said she'd have to work with Bailey—I'd done it because I knew that would sting. Alma and Bailey, I knew, had made Nova's life miserable in high school. Then, I'd been disappointed with their mean girl behavior; now, I was going to use it to my advantage.

I knew that none of the people on my team would raise an eyebrow at my giving my inexperienced fiancée such a big project. They trusted me and knew that I wouldn't give Bailey this responsibility if I didn't believe she could do it.

The truth was that I knew this was too big a project for her. But I had no intention of letting her run this on her own. I'd be there with her every step of the way, well, until I exposed the real Nova to her new friends and colleagues.

Bailey's eyes narrowed slightly, a flicker of suspicion crossing her face. "I don't understand why she has to run this from their end?"

"I asked for her to be the project manager for Sentinel Heights," I said, watching her reaction closely.

Her eyes widened in surprise. "Why would you do that? After everything that happened?"

"Exactly because of everything that happened," I replied, leaning back. "This is my chance to finally expose her for who she is."

Bailey shook her head. "Anson, why not just let her go? I mean—"

"No," I gritted out. "She's working for Nina, and there's no fuckin' way I'm goin' to leave that snake there."

There was more to it than that. I wanted my revenge.

"I just…." Bailey sighed. "I just don't want her around you."

"I can handle her," I assured Bailey.

She closed her eyes. "You…were so upset after all that happened with her, Anson. You joined the military, for the love of everythin' holy. I don't want to—"

"That was a long time ago. Then, I'd been heartbroken. Trust me, I just want to protect Nina, and maybe I want some payback for myself."

Bailey looked perturbed.

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