Page 12 of Flirting with My Billionaire Enemy

“What about the project?” A look of panic flashes across Ariana’s face.

“I thought you could just come along.”

7

ARIANA

“Me? Go to Blue Mountain?” I ask. “We still have a huge amount of work to do.”

“And it will all get done. But my family is close knit, and when one of us is in trouble, that comes before work. But that doesn’t mean we neglect our jobs either. There’s a reason Keith Enterprises got to where it is today. We put in a lot of long hours and hard work. But the good news is that our work can be done from anywhere.”

“When would we leave?” I ask.

“My mom’s going into surgery today, so if all goes well and she can go home, we’d probably leave tomorrow morning. We’ll meet here at the start of our regular work day. That will give you some time to go home and pack tonight. I’d like to be there for my mom when she wakes up. We could have her recover at our place in Atlanta, but she’s insisted that she wants to recover in Blue Mountain.”

“And where would we be staying?”

“There’s a hotel in town. I’m sure we can get a room for you.”

If I stay behind, I can get a lot more work done than if I’m sitting in a hospital waiting room. But this clearly means a lot to Kaison and to his dad. If I come with him and show support to his family when they’re going through a hard time, I’ll be that much more likely to keep my job after this project is done.

It won’t hurt to get to know Kaison’s family, anyway. They’re all the leaders of this company. I could learn a lot from brushing shoulders with this family.

“I hope your mom is going to be okay. I can’t imagine what you’re going through right now.”

“I hope so too,” he says. “So what do you say? Would you like to come along?”

“Yes. How long do you think we’ll be gone?”

“At least a week. Maybe longer.”

“Longer than a week?” I clear my throat. “I mean, that’s fine, of course,” I amend. I don’t want to come off sounding like a jerk. “Just unexpected.”

“I want to make sure my mom’s okay and on her way to healing before leaving her.”

The concern on his face is endearing. How sweet is it that he cares so much about his mom? I’d never met such a devoted son. Most guys would send their mom a text or maybe bring her flowers in the hospital. But make plans to stay for longer than a week? Not many would do that.

I wouldn’t have expected that from Kaison. He seemed very focused on himself when I first met him. But now it seems there’s more to him than I first realized. “You seem to be really concerned about her.”

“What’s that look for?” he asks.

“What look?” I pat my face like that’s going to somehow tell me what expression I’m making.

“You’re staring at me like…” A devilish grin flits across his features. “Never mind.”

“No. What do you mean, never mind?”

“It wouldn’t be appropriate for the workplace. I wouldn’t want to be unprofessional.” But he still has a huge grin on his face that I want to smack right off him.

“If you’re trying to say I’m interested in you or something, you’d be terribly wrong.”

“Hey, I wasn’t going to go there, but since you’re opening that can of worms, I’ll address the issue.” He sits up straighter with his chest puffed out in a macho way. “Yeah. I was thinking that.”

“Well, you’d be wrong. Any expression I had on my face was purely concern for your mom. Nothing else.” Now I’m mad. How dare he think I have a thing for him? While there may be some truth to that, I’m not going to admit it to him. Even if I did mention it at the club. It doesn’t mean I’m going to do anything to act on those feelings. I’m not in the mood to lose my job. I worked hard for this gig, and I plan on keeping it and going far with this company. The last thing I need is to get involved with the pompous, spoiled owner’s son. Even if he wasn’t the owner’s son, I wouldn’t go for him because he’s a player. The last thing I want is to get played.

“I just call it like I see it.” He smiles at me like he’s won.

The self-absorbed jerk! I’ll wipe that smug grin right off his face. “I think you need to get your eyes checked because you’re—” I was going to say “you’re delusional” but telling your boss he had mental problems wasn’t exactly the best way to move up in the company. I clear my throat.

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