Page 3 of Billionaire's Frenemy

“Where the hell else are you gonna go?” I grumbled against her shoulder. “Good night, Willow.”

“Good night, Jamie.”

* * * *

“Damn it,” Willow muttered from somewhere nearby, her whisper-hiss cutting into my sleep to bring me awake.

I blinked open my eyes to see her breaking the heel off one of her shoes—the one that had been unbroken, apparently.

“Do you want me to have some clothes delivered for you?” I asked, sitting up and adjusting the blanket over my lap.

“No, don’t trouble yourself,” she said.

Great. So, we were starting the morning like this. Again. Whenever we ended up sleeping together, Willow got an attitude about the whole thing.

“Jesus, what’s your problem?” I scrubbed my hand over my face and stared at her, praying that for once in her life she’d just be straight with me.

“I’m not your booty call, Jameson Cassel.”

“No,” I agreed, wrapping the blanket around my waist as I came to my feet. “But apparently, I’m yours. Let’s not forget who called who last night. Or who asked to come back here. I’m so sick of this, Willow. You know, we could have something really special if you’d just let me the fuck in.”

“Let it go, Jameson,” she insisted, sliding her feet into her broken shoes. “Look, we’re not good for each other. And whatever this is…it has to stop.”

“So, I should stop answering when you call me?” I snapped, my hand slashing through the air beside me in frustration.

“Don’t worry about it,” she said with a sigh. “It won’t happen again.”

“Can I at least take you home?” I asked, suppressing a growl.

“There’s a car coming for me,” she said, shaking her head. She walked over and pulled my head down, kissing me softly on the lips. “I’m sorry. This is just never going to work.”

I wanted to argue with her. I wanted to beg her to stay. To ask why she was fighting me so hard. But I knew better. We’d been down this road too many time. Before I could form a plea, she’d grabbed her bag and dashed from the living room. The private elevator in my foyer dinged as the doors opened for her.

Damn it. Why the hell did I have to fall in love with the most complicated woman in all of New York?

One

Willow I’m-an-Idiot Tate

I closed my eyes, wishing I could make the email from my boss disappear. When I wearily blinked them back open, it was still there.

Get the Cassel permits pulled for the South Pavillion Rd. property.

He’d attached the necessary reference numbers, and the instruction tomake it happen this morningalong with who I should contact. Someone who owed him a favor, probably.

It made no sense to me. The Cassels weren’t even direct competitors to the firm I worked for. Not really.Schultz and Schultzspecialized in retail properties, like malls and shopping centers.Cassel Brothersspecialized in commercial rentals, apartments and condos, and hotels.

There could only be one reason.S&Shad decided they wanted the land. Apparently, they planned to play dirty to get it and possibly get the Cassels fined along the way.

I sighed, rubbing two fingers up and down the center of my forehead. I released a long, slow breath through my nose. This wouldn’t go well. I’d known the Cassels my entire life. One of them was married to my best friend, and another was my mortalfrenemy. The latter would take this as a personal affront and come after me.

True to my word, I’d stayed away from him since that night almost four months ago. It was killing me. As much as we fought, as much as we played at hating each other, I had deep down forever feelings for the asshole. They were the kind that should lead to happily ever after. But it wasn’t meant to be.

Jameson Cassel felt nothing for me, nothing beyond enjoying that I was an easy fuck buddy. Well, those days were long over. My hand pressed over my almost flat belly that looked as if I’d had a little too much pasta for lunch. Over the coming months, it would get harder and harder to hide. I had to figure out what to do soon. New York might be a big place, but the construction industry sure wasn’t. Pretty soon, Jamie would know he’d left a little something behind our last time together. Knowing him, he’d insist ondoing the right thing.

Screw that.

After the way I’d grown up, I wasn’t having some man settle for me. I wouldn’t have some man be with me when he didn’t love me. I’d seen that for sixteen years, my mom loving my father and my father being a self-absorbed island unto himself. He’d provided for us physically, but emotionally, he might as well have been a rock. My mom had faded more and more until finally her devastated heart had just given up on him…and me…and life altogether.

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