Page 2 of The Billionaire's Rival (Bad Boy Billionaires)

“Fine. Let’s go.”

I grinned. “What happened to all the work you need to do?”

“I’ll get it done eventually. It will be worth it to annihilate you.”

Why did he say that in a voice that dripped sex? He was playing me, and I was letting him.

As we each walked away from the net, an old-fashioned phone ringtone blared out from his phone. “What the hell is your phone doing at full volume? Are you seventy-five?”

Jay flipped me off as he jogged to the side of the court where he’d left his bag. “I’ve got to take this.”

“Convenient. Also, why that ringtone?”

“Later.” His response was clipped, but he didn’t look annoyed, he looked shaken. I couldn’t tell much about the conversation from his side. It was mostly filled with platitudes and agreeing to whatever was being asked of him, but I got the feeling he wasn’t talking to a client.

When he ended the call, his expression was pinched, his jaw tight. “I’ve got to go.”

I huffed. “You really know how to jerk a guy around.”

“That was my grandmother’s care center. She’s…not doing well.”

Wow. I felt like an ass. “I’m sorry to hear that. We’ll have this rematch another day.”

He gave me a curt nod as he gathered his things and walked off the court.

I watched him go as I puzzled over what I’d just learned. I’d always imagined that whenever he wasn’t gloating over his tennis skills, he was either working or chasing women. I hadn’t really considered that he was a regular person with family and problems and a grandmother whose ringtone was the phone sound she would have grown up with.

I shook my head, trying to force those thoughts away. The last thing I needed to do was humanize Jay. He needed to stay in the realm of untouchable, embarrassing fantasies.

If I was smart, I’d never ask about the rematch. I was smart as hell when it came to most things, but with Jay…I’d be asking him to play me again as soon as I had the chance.

2

JAY

After visiting with her for as long as the nurses would allow, I hugged my grandmother goodbye and prayed it wouldn’t be the last time I saw her. She’d been in an assisted living facility for over a year, but after she’d come down with pneumonia, she’d been moved to the full-time nursing care unit. It was taking far longer for her to fully recover than expected. I couldn’t remember ever seeing her so weak.

At least I knew Gran was getting the best possible care. People like Ford could mock me all they wanted for the long hours I put in, but my job was the reason we’d had our choice of facilities for her to go to rather than scrambling to find the least expensive option.

My grandmother had cared for me and my sister, Emily, while our father had literally worked himself to death trying to make a better life for us. My mother had run off with another man when I was a kid, and I hadn’t had contact with her in years. I’d lost my father just after graduating from undergrad, but even though he hadn’t been around to see me graduate from law school with top honors, I knew he would have been thrilled to see where I was now. My grandmother and my sister were the only real family I had left, and Emily lived in Aspen, so I didn’t get to see her often. She’d moved there with a boyfriend who was long gone now, but she had her own friends, a business she’d built herself, and she loved the town.

By the time I got home, I was exhausted. The last thing I wanted to do was open up a new case file—I hadn’t been lying when I told Ford I had work to do tonight. Sadly, my only option for procrastination was calling my sister and letting her know she should probably book a trip to see Gran as soon as she could, just in case she took a turn for the worse.

I’d managed to hold back tears when I’d listened to Gran’s doctors explain how precarious her situation was, but I wasn’t sure I could keep from crying if Emily broke down, and I was certain she would. I hadn’t cried since Dad died, and I didn’t intend to start now. Gran was doing well enough that I could wait until tomorrow to call Emily. She was a morning person so that would be better for her than hitting her with the news when she was worn out from a day of running her bookstore and café.

I started a pot of coffee. Copious amounts of caffeine would be necessary if I was going to wade through the case file.

While the coffee brewed, I opened my laptop and checked my email. It was a damn good thing I did. I had a message from Laura, one of the senior partners, informing me she was passing along a case, one I’d desperately wanted because the client was suing Miles Montgomery. A win against Montgomery Enterprises would essentially guarantee me a promotion. The case I’d planned on reviewing had been reassigned, and I needed to be ready to meet with my new client on Monday.

It looked like I was going to spend the rest of the weekend working.

I logged into our office portal, opened the file Laura had sent, and started to scan through the information. When I saw the name of the opposing counsel, I froze. I should have known who it would be, but I hadn’t thought about it until I saw his name there in black and white.

Ford Wainwright. Moderately good tennis player, wizard-level lawyer with all the time in the world to focus on this case. A case I could not lose.

Facing him in court would be hell. He was articulate, memorized minutiae like it was nothing, and somehow managed to charm every judge he stood in front of. I was damn good, and I had a chance against him, but while I’d never admit it, the chance was slim.

I was going to have to convince him it was in his client’s best interest to settle out of court. That was not going to be easy, considering his client was also his best friend and a man who got everything he wanted handed to him.

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