Page 17 of The Billionaire's Rival (Bad Boy Billionaires)

I couldn’t be that confused, could I? Had I been harboring some secret love for men all along?

No. I’d never thought about a man like I did Ford. I had to have some weird obsession with him because he was so fucking perfect. He had everything anyone could want. He was beautiful and smart and—

Shit. That wasn’t helping. This was not the time to challenge everything I knew about myself. I needed to focus on work and on Gran.

But thinking about Gran only made me depressed, and thinking about work only led me to thinking about Ford.

Why the hell did he have to be the one representing Montgomery? And why hadn’t I thought about it before agreeing to take the case, not that I really could have refused. This was another fucking test from the senior partners. Like I hadn’t been through plenty already.

I’d barely managed to drag myself out of bed when my doorbell rang. What the fuck was someone doing here this early? And how had they gotten all the way up to my apartment?

I shucked my dirty boxers and pulled on some sweats and a T-shirt. When I looked through the peephole, I saw Emily.

She must have managed to rebook herself on an earlier flight. I opened the door and ushered her in. After we hugged, she took a step back and gave me a concerned once-over. “You don’t look so good.”

“Thanks.”

“Are you hungover?”

I might as well fess up. “Yes, dammit. I went out with Ford last night.”

“Ford? The guy from the tennis league? The one you like?”

“I don’t like him.”

She raised her brows. “I think you do.”

“What the fuck, Emily? I’m not gay.”

Her eyes went wide. “Oh. So youlikehim, like him.”

“What?” Panic rushed through me. Why had I said that?

“I thought you admired him, but you really like him.”

“No, I don’t. Didn’t you hear what I just said.”

“I heard what your words said, but…” she smiled. “You’re the one who went and brought up being gay.”

“But I’m not. I don’t like men like that.”

“Why not?”

“What do you mean why not?” Had she already thought I was?

“Are you afraid to like men?”

“No, I just don’t. I’m just not wired that way. I never….”

“Until now.”

I dropped onto the couch and put my head in my hands.

Emily sat beside me and ran a hand up and down my back. “So you like him. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“That’s not what Dad would have said, or Gran.”

“Give Gran more credit than that.”

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