Page 46 of Flirting with My Billionaire Enemy

Kaison comes into the room and meets my gaze. I must have a stormy look on my face because there’s fear in his eyes.

“How’s the programming coming?”

I return to face the laptop screen. “I’m almost finished. Next comes the testing phase.”

The air hangs between us, filled with tension and unspoken explanations.

The truth is, I don’t need him to explain anything. I don’t want to hear whatever bogus excuse he’s likely to give me. I saw the way Blair was flirting with him on her way out. For all I know, he kissed her during their little chat.

The thought boils my blood. I only have myself to blame because I knew better. The best thing to do at this point is to go back to keeping my distance from Kaison emotionally. I still have to work with him, so it’s not like I can take off. Besides, I’ve worked hard to land this job, and I’m not going to let some fling ruin it for me. The feelings I’ve allowed to develop between Kaison and me will have to be compartmentalized into their own little time-out corner. They’ve been naughty, and so that’s where they belong.

“Are you okay?” Kaison asks.

“I’m fine.” I type away at my laptop.

“You don’t look fine. You look like you want to strangle someone.”

I smooth the anger from my face. “Oh, sorry about that.” Taking my anger out on Kaison isn’t professional either. The anger will have to join the other naughty feelings I have in the time-out corner.

He puts a hand on my arm. “Is there something you’d like to talk about?”

“Nope.” I pop theP. Too much? I groan inwardly and try to focus on the work in front of me.

“Okay.” His tone is light, but there’s an undertone of tension in the word. “You don’t want to ask me how it went?”

“It’s really none of my business.” I don’t even bother to look over at him. There’s too much chance of my walls crumbling if I do.

“Nothing happened between us.”

I don’t believe him. Clearly, he hasn’t lost his player ways, having random girls stop by the house to see him. Everything that’s been between us has been a game, and I’m nothing more to him than another one of his conquests. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Why does he have to look so hot right now? It’s the most unfair thing ever.

“Let’s just focus on the project. We only have a week left to get this done, and I still need to work out the bugs.”

“Sure. Whatever you want.” I hear him sorting through some of the files.

I breathe a sigh of relief. It seems like he’s finally going to let it go. Even if he’s telling the truth and nothing happened with him and this girl, it still means that there are girls showing up to see him. That’s not going to stop anytime soon. Do I want to be with a guy who has that going on?

I’m not even sure I’m ready for a relationship. I’ve spent so much time on my career. Do I want to throw all that away? Because that’s what I’d be doing. I’ve already put my job at risk by allowing myself to be caught up in the moment with a nice set of abs and some bulging biceps.

I wipe that image from my mind because now that I’ve pictured them, I want to allow the picture of Kaison shirtless in the hot tub to linger in my mind. But I can’t let myself think that way anymore.

Truthfully, I’ve seen him that way, and it’s much harder to resist him when I know what it’s like to kiss him, to feel his arms around me and his lips on mine. And even more beautiful than his face and his body—if that’s even possible—is his mind. Talking to him about this project or—even better—publishing books is where Kaison has truly pulled me in.

That means I probably shouldn’t talk books with Kaison anymore. Not if it’s making me weak like it has in the past. That weakness is the enemy here.

And I need to be strong. Just like I’ve always been.

22

KAISON

Ariana has completely put me in the “boss zone.” I’m not even good enough for the friend zone at this point. She hardly speaks to me beyond work stuff, and I haven’t figured out how to get her to warm up to me again. While it may be chilly outside these days, I don’t want it chilly in our office space too. And lately, it’s been downright frigid.

Maybe it’s for the best. Seeing Blair again was a reminder that relationships only end in pain for me. It’s why I haven’t settled down yet. With Ariana in my life now, I’ve been contemplating a long term relationship or maybe even something that might result in the grandbabies my mom wants so badly.

Mom seems to be doing better, but she’s still dealing with some pain. It’s worked out better than expected to have a temporary office here at the house. We’ve been able to focus better than at the Atlanta headquarters because of all the hustle and bustle that goes on there.

I’ve been utilizing my assistant, Corey, who’s stayed behind, and he’s flown out to see us and bring us documents from time to time. But most of what we’ve needed to do has been taken care of digitally.

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