Page 18 of Sleeping with the Frenemy

Victoria

The second Chase’s footsteps faded, I went to the chair and sat, then rested my elbows on the table and put my face in my hands.

What have I done?

I slept with Chase Valenti. How could I have been so stupid? They said men thought with their dicks instead of their brains. Well, now I knew how that felt.

Really amazing, actually. God, I was still aching from him. The scary thing was, for a minute there, lust had flared in his gaze, and I could have sworn he was thinking about hustling me over to the table again.

Even scarier, I wasn’t sure I would have stopped him.

I lifted my head. As I did, the stack of bills on the table shifted and slid to the floor, envelopes scattering.

My temper flared. He couldn’t expect me to buy his story about his father stopping him from contacting me. Maybe in the beginning, but for all seven years? His so-called “volatile” relationship with his father was clearly just code for “daddy threatened to cut off my bank account.” His excuse for skipping town was about as believable as his assertion that he lacked the authority to forgive the lodge’s debts. Hell, the suit he wore would probably put a sizable dent in it. What kind of idiot did he think I was?

One who fucks him after not seeing him for seven years.

I groaned and buried my face in my hands again.

Chase spent the past seven years collecting fancy degrees and traipsing around England. I spent it pinching every cent so I could get through school and stay current on the lodge’s bills. I was always, always treading water.

Now he’d come along and dangled a life preserver in my face, only to snatch it away.

Worse, I needed that housekeeping job at the Valenti Hotel. My salary barely covered my living expenses and the lodge’s bills. And my boss was pushing me to sit for the CPA exam, which was just more money out the window. The only solution was a second job. But I couldn’t work at the hotel with Chase running it.

Could I?

I sat up.

Why couldn’t I?

If he wanted his damn money so bad, I could make sure he got it. There was nowhere else to work. He’d backed me into a corner, even if he didn’t know it yet.

The thing was, animals were at their most dangerous when they were cornered. Every small-town country girl knew that.

Chase wanted me. He made that clear. “I’ll be back,” he’d said. “And you’ll be waiting.”

Such breathtaking arrogance. He said it because he believed I was stuck at the lodge—right where he left me seven years ago. He could come and go as he pleased, dropping in and out of my life when it suited him. The most infuriating part of it was he was right. I was broke and trapped and beholden to my family. No wonder he assumed I’d be waiting for him.

And now he thought he could whisper a couple hot words in my ear and get sex on demand. “We’ll work something out.”

Fuck. Him.

I stood and shoved my skirt down, wincing a little at the twinge between my legs.

Another reason to despise him. He’d looked cool and unruffled after our…reunion. Meanwhile, I felt like I’d wandered into a tornado. My shirt was buttoned up wrong, and my skirt was creased where he hiked it above my waist.

And the bastard had my panties.

I stepped over the scattered envelopes and headed to the bathroom, a plan forming in my head. I was going to scrub every inch of Chase Valenti off my skin. Then I was going to start my new job. If I happened to cross paths with the owner, well, he could just fire me. I might lose the lodge, but I’d also make sure every newspaper in the state ran a story about the heir to the Valenti Hotel empire kicking Nana out of her home.

As I slammed into the bathroom, I caught my reflection in the mirror. My cheeks were flushed, and my hair lay in tousled waves over my shoulders. I looked like I’d been doing…exactly what I’d been doing.

It wouldn’t happen again. From now on, the only use I had for Chase Valenti was cashing the paychecks he signed.

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