Page 20 of Billionaire's Frenemy

“About an hour and a half. I wasn’t sure how soon we’d find food after landing, and I didn’t want you to be hungry. Hell, I don’t even know where we’re staying at this point. I’ve got my assistant on it, but we’ve been flying through a dead area for my phone, so I guess we’ll find out when I can get in touch again.”

I raised an eyebrow. “All this tech,” I said, indicating around the plane, “and you can’t get a line to your office?”

“I’m sure the pilot could raise them, but it didn’t really seem like an emergency.”

Kathy interrupted then, bringing us dinner. After we thanked her and she left, I turned back to Jamie. “I don’t know… Having a place to sleep seems important. I mean when you said neutral ground in Switzerland, I didn’t really think we’d be sleeping on the actual ground.”

He took a bite of his chicken, and from the spark in his eyes, I knew he was thinking something naughty. “That’s okay, devil. You can just lie on me. You seem to like that anyway.”

I threw a forkful of rice at him. “Jerk.”

He calmly wiped it off his shirt then kept eating. “I’m not going to fight with you.”

“Hmm,” I grumbled. “Well, A, that sounds like a challenge. And, B, our entire relationship is based on us fighting.”

“We fight a lot, but I think it’s more like sexual tension driving us. Now, anyway. When we were young, you were just fun to fight with. You’ve always been my best frenemy.”

“And you honestly think we’re going to stop fighting?”

“Nope. Never. But you’re going to stop running away, and I’m going to stop hiding my feelings, and we’re going to have a lot of make-up sex. And maybe, we’ll start acknowledging that we prefer to be with each other over hanging out with anyone else.”

Crap…he was right. And it killed me to admit that. I did prefer Jameson’s company over anyone else’s. The idea of spending a bunch of time with him on this trip actually excited me a lot. That was part of why I’d gone along with his plan when I’d known he was too drunk to realize what he was doing.

“Just so you know, I expect to see the Alps and castles on this trip.”

“What about if we stay at the Gstaad Palace in the Alps?” he ventured, not looking at me as he studied his Mongolian chicken as if it were the most interesting thing in the world.

“Oh my God, you jerk. You know exactly where we’re staying, don’t you?”

“Of course, I do. You didn’t think I’d land in a foreign country with my girl and my unborn child and be unprepared, did you? Taking care of you is my top priority.”

“Are you going to try to wrap me in bubble paper?”

“No,” he answered, drawing out the word in such a way that I knew he was absolutely lying.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “You should be well aware that I just started my dream job, and if you try to interfere with that, Iwillkick your ass, pregnant or not. And I have a girl posse who will help me. You should be afraid. Very, very afraid.”

“My brothers would kick my ass for you. At first, I didn’t want you there, for reasons you’re aware of now, even though you were perfectly qualified. Then I insisted we hire you. If I tried to change things up now, they’d probably bury me in the concrete foundation of our next big project.”

I blinked at him. “Huh, I wasn’t aware I was dating into the mob. Just so we’re clear, I’m going to keep working as a project manager and doing all the tasks involved in that.”

He took a deep breath and put down his fork. “Just so we’re clear, I won’t like you going to job sites when you’re getting closer to term.” He held up a hand when I started to argue. “We have other female project managers on staff. The same accommodations have been made for them. It doesn’t affect the longevity and value of their jobs, nor their credibility. It’s a safety issue, clearly outlined in the company’s standards. Also, personally, I hope you’ll comply with the regs. If anything happened to either of you, I don’t know what I’d do. It was bad enough when I thought you belonged to someone else.”

My heart cracked a little at his vulnerability. I had two choices. I could be a pain in the ass now, because we both knew I’d follow company regulations. Or…I could play nice. Well, nice-ish.

“I suppose…” I smirked at him. “…if you’re going to be a baby about it.”

“Should we go back to the bedroom, and I’ll show what a baby I am…not?”

“Mmm…tempting, but I’m hungry, and we’re landing in a little bit. I’d rather you make love to me in this castle we’re going to. Actually, I’m very much looking forward to that.” I speared a hunk of carrot. “And I think you should tell me all about it. I can tell you’re rather pleased with yourself.”

“When you were little, you always talked about princesses and knights and castles. Booking one seemed like a sure bet to make you happy. So Gstaad Palace is a castle hotel where we have a deluxe suite. It’s right in the Alps, and our room promises to have a spectacular view. I’m told Princess Diana once stayed in the room we’ll have. There are pools, a spa, restaurants and clubs, tennis, golf, skating… Whatever outdoor thing takes your fancy, really. I hear the town is the place to be this time of year, too.”

And darn him for choosing a location that would cater to the outdoorsy girl in me.

“And if I just want to stay in?” I asked, just to be difficult.

Jamie grinned. “Let me tell you about the indoor pool/hot tub that’s perfect for a romantic evening for two…”

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