Page 53 of Baby for My Enemy Billionaire

“When I said you needed to go out and find someone, I didn’t mean someone technically under your control!”

“It wasn’t intentional, Kenny! Would you stop making it sound like I purposefully went after her?”

“You could have stopped long before it happened, though. Now we’ve got to be careful that she doesn’t sue you for something.”

I feel a coldness creep in.

“Why would she sue me?”

“I don’t know? Maybe for sexual harassment? She could give it a damn good try, and someone might listen.” Kenny shakes his head. “Honestly, I thought I was the idiot here. You’ve just topped anything I could do.”

“Let’s not get too out of the realms of reality here,” I warn as I sit forward. “Yes, I fucked up, but I didn’t mean anything malicious by it.”

“What did you mean, then?”

I hesitate. How am I supposed to say this to Kenny? He’s going to think I’m mad. I bury my face in my hands. God, I’ve turned this into a mess that didn’t need to be.

Why couldn’t I just hate Jade? It would make things so much simpler.

“I know I fucked up, Kenny. I know it was a bad idea, and I still did it.” I lower my hands. “But I couldn’t help it. When I’m around her, I want her. There’s no way around it. I kept away from her for two weeks, thinking I could handle it. And I can’t.”

Kenny sits forward.

“You’re saying you actually like her?”

“I do. I didn’t think I would, especially when she drives me crazy, but I like her. She fires my blood every time I think about her. I remember how she rescued Katie and looked after me when I struggled to cope after seeing my daughter hurt.” I realize I’m starting to smile and feel weird for doing it. “She’s kind and generous and very passionate. You saw that when we had dinner with her. She has dedication and drive and is a sweet woman.”

“Oh, shit,” Kenny breathes.

“What?”

“Sounds like you more than like her. You’re smitten.”

I don’t know what to say to that. Am I smitten with Jade? We’ve only had a handful of interactions, and not all of them have been great. But then I recall the two nights I spent with her and how amazing she felt in my arms.

I haven’t reacted to a woman like that since Marsha. Does that mean something? But why did it have to be with one of my tenants? Why couldn’t she be an ordinary person?

She is ordinary. Just not ordinary to you.

“Well,” Kenny says with a shake of his head, “this is fucked up. What are you going to do now?”

“I don’t know. I doubt I’ll be able to contact her without her screaming at me or hanging up.”

“And approaching her will end up with a similar result, I’m sure.” Kenny rubs a hand over his face. “God, you really know how to mess things up, huh? You’ve barely started as the boss, and you’re already fucked it up?”

I frown at him.

“You don’t need to remind me, Kenny. This is my responsibility, and I know I must fix it. I just don’t know how.”

“Well, you could just hand this off to another company, and then she won’t be your responsibility anymore.”

“I can’t do that. The store is on prime real estate land. Nobody will lower the rent for her.”

“You weren’t lowering it for her, remember?” Kenny reminds him. “You said we shouldn’t do that just because Dad was being kind.”

“That’s different.”

“How? Because you took her to bed, and he didn’t?”

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