Page 43 of One Life to Loathe

Leo worked his jaw. It was obvious he wanted to snap at her, or maybe say something snarky. He didn’t, though. He simply shook his head and headed for the lobby. “Have a nice day,” he grunted out as he departed.

Daisy watched him go, amused, and then turned back to me. “I thought you guys were trying to get along.”

“Apparently, this is us getting along,” I replied. I let the weariness sweep over me as I lowered my head to the table. “He makes me tired.”

“I think what’s making you tired is fighting the attraction you feel for him.”

Suddenly, I was no longer tired and jerked up my head. “What?”

“What?” she asked, innocence and light practically pouring out of her.

“I heard what you said.”

“Then why did you say ‘what’ that way?”

“Because … that is the most ludicrous thing I’ve ever heard.” Seriously, had she even met us? We hated each other. We couldn’t even be in the same room together without wanting to hurt one another. That wasn’t attraction. That was … hatred.

I was almost positive that was true.

“Oh, don’t even.” Daisy was a no-nonsense type of woman, and that was on full display today. “You can deny that you’re attracted to him all you want to yourself—and that seems to be your current plan—but anybody watching from the outside sees things differently.”

“And how is that?” I demanded.

“You want to jump him.” She just laid it out there. No buildup. Just bam.

“I do not want to jump him. I don’t even like him.”

“You don’t have to like someone to jump them,” she replied. “Heck, I wanted to punch Jax in the face the first time I met him.”

“You did?” That was alien to me. They were so in sync with one another it was disgusting. It also made me wistful when he brushed her hair out of her face. It made me grin when he patted her behind when he thought nobody was looking. It made me roll my eyes—and maybe ache a little bit—when they pretended they were going upstairs to their penthouse for lunch when I really knew they were going for a different reason. Apparently, they thought the elevator doors shut out all the action about two seconds before it actually did. Hearing they had disliked each other was shocking to me.

“Oh, we didn’t like each other at all,” Daisy said. “He thought I was overpaid. I thought he was coming in to ruin his grandfather’s legacy … and I hated him for it.”

“But … you’re so happy.”

“Yes, because once we got out of our own way, we realized that all those feelings we were feeling—the snark, the glares, the whispers behind each other’s backs—were really ways for us to cover for the fact that we were attracted to one another.”

I couldn’t wrap my head around it. “I don’t have feelings for Leo.” She was crazy if she thought that.

“I didn’t say feelings. I said you were attracted to him.”

“It’s the same thing.”

“Not even remotely.” Daisy shook her head. “Attraction is chemical. You can’t really ignore it. If you do, things will combust.”

“Is that what happened between you and Jax?” I was honestly curious.

“It is. We combusted all over each other. Then we did it again … and again. And then we started talking and realized we hada lot more in common than we realized. It was the combustion that allowed the walls to come down, though.”

I stared at the door Leo had disappeared through minutes before. “I think you’re crazy,” I said finally. “He irritates me.”

“And you irritate him. He’s irritated because he doesn’t want to be attracted to you. I see it all over his face whenever he looks at you. You’re irritated because he’s not being nicer to you. You’re used to people thinking you’re cute as a button and wanting to be your friend.”

“I don’t need him to be my friend.” I meant it. “I just need him not to be an ass.”

“I don’t think he realizes he’s being an ass.”

“Since when are you Leo’s biggest fan?” I snapped. “You acted as if you didn’t even like him on that tour.”

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