Hate That I Love You
Castille Hotel Series Prequel
Alexis Winter
♥ Copyright 2020 by Alexis Winter - All rights reserved.
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Respective authors own all copyrights not held by the publisher.
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It’s no secret I’ve always had a crush on Damon Strickland.
My best friend’s older brother and the center of every single one of my fantasies.
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He’s a walking, talking temptation.
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That cocky grin and those broad, athletic shoulders.
You know what they say about a man with big hands right?
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Growing up, we always tormented one another.
I was the nagging, annoying little girl he hated
And he was the man-whoring, douchebag I couldn’t seem to get over.
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Now as adults he actually came through and helped me land a job at my dream company.
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How the hell am I supposed to focus when all I can think about is tearing that tight suit from his tempting body!
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What’s even worse?
He forgot to mention, he’s my boss.
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Ten years ago I gave my virginity to an arrogant, man whoring jerk who never called me back.
Ten minutes ago I just found out he’s my new coworker.
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Who knew a failed blind date would land me square in the lap of the gorgeous bastard that cut and run after one passionate night ten years ago.
Falling for Nate Baldwin in college was the biggest mistake of my life.
Nothing like a good old fashioned heartbreak to teach a girl a valuable lesson.
Now? He’s just a cocky, prank playing bastard in an expensive suit.
I can’t decide if I want to punch him in his perfect mouth or kiss it.
Turns out there’s a very fine line between hatred and desire.
A good anger bang on a desk…or stairwell…or car never hurt anyone.
But what happens when he calls a truce and starts playing nice?
Not a chance in hell I’m falling for him again.
That mistake stays in the past.
Contents
Prologue
1. Elise
2. Nate
3. Elise
4. Nate
5. Elise
6. Nate
7. Elise
8. Nate
9. Elise
10. Nate
11. Elise
Epilogue
Business & Pleasure SNEAK PEEK
Chapter 1
READ THE REST OF THE SERIES HERE
Also by Alexis Winter
About the Author
Prologue
Ten years earlier…
“Elise! Come on; we’re going to be late!” I continue fluffing up my hair and straighten my dress in the floor-length mirror of my door room.
“Did you hear me? I said we’re going to be la—wow!” My roommate Tessa’s mouth hangs open as she steps into my room.
“Is it too much?” I look myself over again, a little more nervously this time.
“No! No, not at all; you look smoking! Let me guess…Nate is going to be at the party?” She leans against my door frame with a huge grin on her face.
“Maybe…I tried to subtly ask him, and he said he might stop by. Am I desperate?” I chew on my bottom lip thinking about Nate Baldwin. I’ve been in love with him since the moment I laid eyes on him at the beginning of the year.
“No, sweetie, you’ve been in love with him all year. I say go for it. It’s kind of your last chance since he’s a senior and graduation is only a few short days away. And trust me, in that outfit, he’ll be eating out of the palm of your hand.”
The hot pink dress hugs my curves like a glove, and the color pops against my mocha skin. I usually wasn’t so self-conscious about showing off my curves and my long, shapely legs but knowing Nate might be there to take it all in has me checking over every inch and second-guessing my choice. I slick on a matching pink gloss and add a few more coats of mascara to make my green eyes pop. After I slip on my strappy gold heels and grab my clutch, I run downstairs to join the rest of my friends and head off to one of the end-of-the-year frat parties.
I squeeze my way through the crowds of students bumping and grinding to the loud music that thumps throughout the house, stopping to say hello to a few friends here and there but mostly keeping an eye out for Nate. He’s hard to miss: tall, dirty-blond, athletic build. He’s usually surrounded by a small crowd of women all vying for his attention and that of other popular guys, namely his best friend Vincent Crawford.
Nate and I don’t run in the same circles; we met because he needed to fill a few law credits and opted into the same tax law class as me. As a prelaw major, it was one of my core classes, and because I’d spent the summer between high school and college taking every possible dual credit class I could, I was able to start out with some upperclassman classes. I had found out through small talk that he was a business major with a focus in finance.
I wasn’t exactly outgoing; I was more of a bookworm, but the moment I saw Nate, something came over me. I turned into a freaking chatterbox reminiscent of a sixteen-year-old high schooler. He seemed amused, but maybe it was more annoyed; either way, I’d continued to talk to him throughout the semester and had invited him to, or maybe suggested he should stop by the party tonight as a way to celebrate finals being over. He didn’t seem too interested but gave me a pity smile and a ‘maybe.’ For me, it was enough.
As much as I might have annoyed him with my banal banter over the last few months, we’d kind of grown to become friends, or at least friendly. We’d chat outside of class here and there when we bumped into each other, and he’d tell me about parties around town. I had only gone to one but was too nervous to approach him for more than a minute when I actually saw him. Tonight…tonight will different, though. I am going to tell him how I feel.
“Is he here?” Tessa yells in my ear over the music.
“I haven—” I stop mid-sentence as I look over her shoulder to see Nate laughing with a beer in his hand. His head is thrown back and his eyes are squeezed shut in a genuine, gut-wrenching kind of laugh. Tessa looks at me questioningly before turning around to follow my gaze.
“Well? Go talk to him!” She nudges me toward him, but I grab her arm in protest.
“I’m too nervous. I need a drink.” We both scurry over to the makeshift bar in the living room, and I quickly grab a shot of whatever the guy behind the bar hands me and down it.
“Another,” I sputter. After two more shots and a mixed concoction of god knows what, I straighten my back, flip my hair, and make my way straight towards Nate Baldwin.
The rain patters against my bedroom window as I lay in bed well past noon. A soft knock on my door brings my attention back to reality.
“Elise? Sweetie, you gotta get out of bed. It’s been three days.” Tessa runs her hand over my hair. “And not to be rude, but you’re starting to smell.” I smack her hand away as I sit up.
“Well, maybe he still will? I mean, he’s probably super busy with graduation stuff and his family is most likely here. Just give it some time.”
“I sent him a few texts, and he hasn’t responded.”
“How many texts, Elise?” I can see the countenance of her face change to disappointment.
“I don’t know; just a few. Why?” I suddenly wish I hadn’t told her. Before I can stop her, she reaches over and snatches my Blackberry from my bedside table, opening the messages.
“Oh my god, Elise! You sent him fourteen texts? What were you thinking? No wonder he hasn’t called you back; you seem like a freaking psycho!”
I groan and throw my arm over my face, lying back on my pillow. “I know! I don’t know what came over me. I just got…pissed off. He acted so into me, and we slept together, an—”
“Whoa, wait. He slept with you and hasn’t called in three days? Okay, time to get up and shower, Elise. I’m going to give you tough love now; he’s not going to call you back and he’s a piece of shit pig, okay? A dude who sleeps with you and doesn’t call or text the next day is using you and you need to forget about him.”
“Wait, what about all that ‘he’s probably just busy’ stuff you just said?”
“That was before I knew he hit it and quit it, babe. Time for brutal honesty, Elise. I’m sorry.”
She pulls me off my bed as I stumble to catch myself. “Hey!” Before I can help it, I burst into tears, covering my face with my hands. “I—I gave him my virginity,” I say through broken sobs.
“Oh, sweetie.” She pulls me in for a hug and rubs my back. “Trust me, your first time is never good, and in ten years, you won’t even remember it, and you certainly won’t remember Nate fucking Baldwin. I can promise you that.”
Elise
Present Day
“Tessa…” I close my eyes and take a deep breath. “I don’t want to go on another god damn blind date,” I say emphatically as I plop down on our couch.
“I swear, it’s different this time, Elise. This guy isn’t some sad wannabe movie producer that still lives with his mom. This guy is legit. He is the founder of the non-profit I work for. He’s suuuper hot, and rich too, which isn’t exactly a bad combination.”
I let my head fall back against the cushion as I consider the situation. The truth is I hadn’t given dating a second thought in the last few years, not since my relationship with Brandon ended. Now that I am living back in Chicago, I guess it couldn’t hurt to give another random stranger a chance.
“Fine.” Tessa claps wildly with a huge grin on her face. “But let me preface it with saying if he’s a dud, I swear this is it. I am done letting you set me up.”
“I can agree to that,” she says with a nod before hopping up to grab a bottle of wine and some glasses from the kitchen. “Can you believe we’re living together again? Freshman roommates, and here we are…full circle,” she says, raising her glass.
“Well, this is just temporary. Which, thanks a million, by the way. After Brandon and I broke up, I knew I needed a change. Frankly, I hated my job, and I’d been wanting to move home to Chicago. I guess it was the catalyst I needed. I really appreciate you letting me crash here until I find my own place and a job.”
“How’s that going, by the way?”
“Honestly, I haven’t jumped in with both feet yet. I have some savings, so I want to take a little time off to figure out what kind of firm I actually want to end up at. I’ve been thinking a lot about corporate law, actually. I found the classes interesting in law school and dabbled in it a little with my internship. All that to say, come Monday, I will be sending out resumes like a madwoman. In the meantime, tell me more about this mystery guy.”
She tucks her legs underneath her as she turns to face me with a look of excitement on her face. “His name is Vincent. He’s a few years older than us, like mid-thirties-ish? He owns a luxury hotel chain. Castille Hotels.”
“Oh, wow, I stayed at one of those in Mexico before. Very nice! Okay, okay, tell me more.” I have to admit, I’m more than a little intrigued. The other guys Tessa has set me up with in the past have been a little subpar, to say the least.
“He’s so hot…like SO HOT! If I were into dudes, I would be on him like white on rice, let me tell you.” I can’t help but laugh; I almost snort my wine out of my nose. “Anyway, he’s just a really good guy. As the director of his non-profit, I get to see all the amazing things he does for underprivileged youth and battered women. Trust me, you’re going to owe me for this one,” she says with a wink.
It’s Saturday night, and I’m a little nervous to be going on a date with a random stranger. I had pulled out my phone to Google this guy, but Tessa had made me promise not to. She said that the way the media painted him wasn’t always in the best light, and she wanted me to go into this with no preconceived notions.
I opt for a sensible but elegant knee-length emerald green dress that stands out against my rich skin tone and makes my eye color pop. I let my hair fall down my back in long loose curls, with winged eyeliner and a sheer gloss on my lips.
“So? How do I look?” I ask Tessa, spinning around to let her take in my entire outfit.
“Umm…you look sensible.” The intonation in her voice tells me she is not impressed.
“Why’d your voice go up like that? And why’d you hesitate?”
“Well, you look like a lawyer, babe,” she says with a half grimace on her face.
“Yeah, and? I am a lawyer!” I step in front of the mirror in her bedroom to take another look at my outfit.
“Yeah, I know, and you look like you’re going to an interview. Why don’t you wear something a little more date-like?”
“You mean slutty? Like my tits hanging out, or my ass, or both? You know that’s not my style. I prefer to charm them with my wicked sense of humor and intelligence.”
“You mean intimidate them…not charm them.” I toss her a glare. “Okay, fine, you win. You do look beautiful. Just have fun and try not to ask the guy a million questions like an interrogation or cross-examination, okay?”
I know she means well, but it kind of gets under my skin when she tells me not to be myself. I know I come on strong and I’ve been told I’m intimidating more than once. In college, I used to let guys walk all over me; that’s one thing law school taught me: stand up for what you believe in because nobody else is going to speak up on your behalf.
“Why don’t YOU go out with him?” I say, straightening my dress once more before heading out of the room to meet my Uber.
“I will when he grows a vagina!” she shouts after me, and I can’t help but laugh.
The ride to the restaurant is relatively quick. I actually love the place he chose; it’s a very high-end French bistro that I’ve only been to when I was in town on client visits…a little outside my budget. I’m not even sure what he looks like, but I was told to mention his name to the host and he’d show me to the table. As I approach the host stand, it suddenly hits me: I don’t even know his last name, shit!
“Hello, ma’am, and welcome to Everest; will you be dining with us this evening?”
“Hello, yes, I am supposed to be meeting someone here, but I only know his first name. It’s Vincent?” I can feel a slight blush creep up my neck. I feel like a silly teenager out on her first date.
“Ah, yes, ma’am, right this way please.” He doesn’t miss a beat as he motions with his gloved hand for me to follow him.
As we make our way through the restaurant, I can’t help but feel Vincent chose this place to impress me. Since I have dined here before, I know it’s high end, but it’s a hell of a choice for a first date, especially a blind date.
We approach a small, secluded table in the back and a tall, striking man with dark hair rises from the table. Wow, Tessa certa
inly came through this time!
“Elise Taylor, I presume?” he says, standing and extending a hand towards me.
“Trevor will be waiting on you this evening and will be over shortly.” The host nods at us politely before turning and walking away.
“Pleasure to meet you,” I say, taking his hand and noticing his firm grip. He pulls the chair out for me, and I take a seat. I glance at him again; he looks familiar, but I can’t place it. He’s certainly gorgeous: tall, athletic, dark hair, and striking eyes. The kind of looks that women throw their morals out the window for.
He sits back in his chair and reaches for the wine that’s already been poured for us. “So, Elise, tell me about yourself. Tessa wouldn’t divulge any secrets. She only said that you were beautiful and smart. She was certainly correct on the beauty; guess we’ll have to see about the smart part.” A cocky grin spreads across his face.
Ah, okay, so this is how it’s going to be. I should have known. A man that looks like this with billions in the bank, of course he’s an arrogant son of a bitch.
I take a long sip of my wine before answering. “Well, I’m from Chicago, born and raised. I went away to Dartmouth for undergrad, studied pre-law. That’s where I met Tessa; we were roommates freshman year. Anyway, I went on to law school at Georgetown in DC, and I’ve been at a firm there ever since. Recently had some changes in my life and decided to come back to Chicago.”
Hate That I Love You (Castille Hotel Series Book 0) Page 1
