Page 4 of Billionaire's Frenemy

I would not be that woman.

Jaw set, I clicked away at my computer keyboard. Quickly, I filed the paperwork and tugged all the right strings to set in motion the process to get the Cassel’s permits pulled on theirlatest project in Tarrytown, just outside NYC. My stomach roiled as I did it, and it had nothing to do with the bean growing inside me. But it had everything to do with that bean’s daddy.

I knew the Cassel brothers would get the situation worked out. This would only delay them a bit. But Jameson would come find me. He’d have words to say. And as usual, the fire between us would be stoked, and the next thing we knew…

No, no, no! I wasnotgetting naked with him again.

The way I saw it, I didn’t have much choice here. It was time to get the hell out of Dodge. The longer I worked forS&S, the more frequent the chances I’d end up in Jameson’s orbit would become. And like dominoes falling, we’d gravitate, we’d clash, we’d end up in bed together.

Which meant, I needed an escape route. Intent on devising my future, I opened my internet browser and started a search for project management positions, in any field, anywhere in the country but here.

* * * *

“What the fuck, Willow!”

“Well, that was quick,” I muttered as I forked a piece of lettuce. I was on the patio of one of my favorite restaurants and until a moment ago, had been enjoying lunch in the mild weather. Without answering Jameson, I pushed the bite into my mouth and chewed slowly while I raised an eyebrow at him as he towered over me.

“Were you that desperate for my attention?” he growled. “You had to go fuck with our business? Do you know how many guys we had to pay to just stand around a jobsite today?”

“You really think that? That it’s about you? You’re more of a self-centered, conceited asshole than I realized.”

“I’m just saying, it’s been four months. Maybe, you were looking for an excuse.”

“Maybe, I was doing my damn job,” I bristled. This damn man. I could just…kick him in his overachieving balls.

He crossed his arms, narrowing his eyes at me. “Your boss told you to shut down our site?”

I lifted a shoulder in a negligent half-shrug. “If you don’t like it, you only have yourself to blame. You wouldn’t let Bennett hire me when he wanted to offer me a position, so I’m stuck over atSchultz and Schultzworking as a glorified clerk.”

He leaned forward, resting his hands on the table. His dark gaze pierced into me, his gorgeous face inches from mine. “You want to know why I blocked it? Because the position you would have found yourself in most often was bent over a desk with me deep inside you.”

I shifted in my seat—because it was hot in here, butnotbecause he made me hot. “Whatever,” I snapped. “Because you couldn’t—or wouldn’t—control yourself and keep it in your pants, now we all pay the consequences.”

In more ways than you even know…

“You know what? I’ve had enough of this.” He stood and walked a few paces away, his hands in his hair, a gesture I noticed wascommon in all the brothers. I admired his tight ass and wide shoulders. Then, when he turned back to me, my gaze dropped to the bulge in the front of his khaki pants. Holy crap, was he hard now?

He cleared his throat, and I redirected my focus as he took the couple steps back to me. I met his eyes, unashamed that I’d been caught staring at his generous package. It was a gift that should be mine. After all, we’d lost our freaking virginities together. AndIhadn’t ever been with anyone else. Just him, pretty randomly over the years.

But no, I couldn’t have him, not a man who didn’t love me—or even like me a whole lot. Tolerance and lust weren’t enough. Jameson didn’t love anyone but himself…and maybe, his business.

“Okay, here’s the deal,” he said, rapping his knuckles twice on the surface of the table where I sat. “Tomorrow morning, you come toCassel Brothers. You work for us now.”

I stared at him. “What?”

“You’re one of us, and you damn well know it. Get your ass into our office tomorrow morning by eight, or so help me God, I will come and get you and haul you there myself. After I give you the spanking you’ve been begging for, for years.”

“I have not,” I exclaimed, too gobsmacked to even reply to the rest.

“Keep thinking that. But you’re wrong.” He grinned. “Be there by eight. You’ve been warned. See you tomorrow, babe.”

Two

Jameson

Argh! That woman!

Arguing with her should not give me such a hard on. Like…literally. And she’d noticed, which was both embarrassing and encouraging. If she was looking, she wasn’t as over me as she liked to believe.

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