69 Million Things I Hate About You

by Kira Archer

  She’d been afraid that any relationship between them would be an extension of her job. Her taking care of his needs. But he’d spent the weekend pampering her, surprising her, catering to her needs. It had been perfect. While it lasted. She would have to figure out how to keep going without him because he was never going to forgive her for the crap she pulled. She didn’t really blame him.

  She’d screwed up. Royally.

  It was sadly ironic that the one thing she hadn’t purposely messed up was the one thing she’d had the most success with. She’d finally pissed him off enough to deserve termination. Only, he still hadn’t fired her.

  Well, she wasn’t going to sit around and wait for it anymore. It wasn’t like she needed the severance package. In a few days, she’d have more money than she knew what to do with. She could do whatever she wanted, and it didn’t matter who won their little war. Neither of them won. But she had to do what she could to fix her royal fuckup.

  Luckily, things went smoothly at the permit office. Everything was filed and in place. Residents could now check into Piper’s House, and they could throw a gala with all the extras. She logged into the computer the second she got back to the office and pulled up all the relevant info for the party. Cole had it in a file marked Piper. Anything with a woman’s name, she didn’t touch. No wonder she hadn’t seen it before.

  Unfortunately, the first phone call she made didn’t go so well.

  “What do you mean, the venue has been rebooked? The permits have all been filed. We’re only a couple of days late—”

  “Ma’am, the permits need to be filed at least two weeks in advance for a gathering of this size. Now, I do see that a special waiver was granted in this case, but only on the condition that the paperwork was received in our office by Friday, which it was not. The next party on the waiting list was informed first thing this morning, and their paperwork is in order. I’m afraid there’s nothing I can do. Have a good day.”

  The woman hung up the phone, leaving Kiersten to stare off into space in a blind panic. How could she make sure Cole’s party went off without a hitch if she’d lost the venue? There was no party to hitch. She stared at her computer screen, praying a solution would present itself. She had to make this right for him. Where else could they host this thing? It couldn’t be another park…they’d run into the same problem. She could probably book some fancy indoor venue someplace, but Cole had obviously been going for a more casual commune-with-nature type thing.

  She bumped the mouse on her desk, and her screen saver disappeared, revealing the website for Piper’s House that she’d been on earlier. It was such a beautiful place. His sister would be proud.

  Kiersten sat up a little straighter, an idea occurring to her. She clicked open the gallery and found herself looking at picture after picture of gorgeous outdoor beauty. The facility itself looked like a mini castle, not unlike the chateau he’d brought her to, she realized with a pang. And the grounds, with their manicured gardens and exotically beautiful plants, made the whole place look right out of a fairy tale.

  Why not hold it there? It was a little bit of a drive for the guests, but the place was stunning. And Cole would then get to celebrate the opening and show the place off, all at once. And being his own property, he wouldn’t need to go through the hassle of permits or any other red tape.

  She went back to the file folder on Piper’s House and pulled up the guest list, vendor list, and anyone else relevant to the party, conferenced in the party planner, and then went to work begging, borrowing, pleading, and, in many cases, outright bribing until everyone who needed to be there had been informed of the change.

  Hours later, she sat back and took a long, cleansing breath. It was done. The party was salvaged and, she hoped, would be even better than the original. This way, Cole got to show off the amazing thing he’d done. She hoped it would make him happy. She couldn’t un-botch everything, but she’d done everything she could to make it right.

  It would be nice to tell him so in person, but he hadn’t been back to the office. Nor had he called her. A fact she might normally enjoy. The man usually blew her phone up to the point that she wanted to blow the damn thing up for real. But this time…she swallowed past the huge lump in her throat. This time, there was no word from him. Nothing. He wouldn’t answer her calls or texts, either, and he always had that damn phone in his hand, so she knew he was getting them. He’d climbed out of her bed and, it appeared, out of her life.

  Perhaps it was better that way. They’d have only made each other miserable in the end.

  She printed out all the relevant information and left everything in a folder on his desk with a giant hot-pink memo that said read me. Then she looked around the office. Cole had driven her nuts. She’d downright loathed him most days, but these offices had been her home for a long time, even more so, she thought, than her actual home. And not just because she spent more time there. It felt like home because he had been there.

  Well. It wasn’t home anymore.

  Of course, he still hadn’t fired her, but at this point, it was probably safe to assume he didn’t want her around anymore. And she couldn’t entirely blame him for that.

  A quiet knock on the door drew her out of her thoughts. She looked over her shoulder, hoping for half a second that it was him. Of course, it wasn’t. He wouldn’t knock on his own door.

  Cass and Izzy smiled at her from the doorway. “You ready?” Izzy asked. “It’s freedom time. Mr. Meyer is waiting for us in a car downstairs. He came personally. Wanted to make sure everything went off without a hitch at the claiming office.”

  Kiersten took one more look around. “Yeah.” She walked past them and grabbed her purse from her office, shoving any sad emotions back into the little box in the back of her mind. She’d deal with them later. For now…

  She smiled. “Let’s go get filthy rich.”

  …

  Cole sat at the table, running his fingers over the cards in his hand, not really seeing them at all. He glanced at backup phone Number Three. Number Two had gone the way of most of his phones and taken a nosedive into the sink a few days earlier.

  No missed calls. No texts.

  He’d really thought she’d at least show up to the opening of Piper’s House, since she’d worked so hard to save the event. The gala had been spectacular, according to everyone who attended. Cole had been so busy watching the entrance waiting for Kiersten to show that he hadn’t been able to enjoy it.

  He dropped the phone on the table, right into the condensation ring from his beer. If he wasn’t careful, Number Three would be out of commission before midnight. A record, even for him.

  “Hey,” Brooks said, waving his cards at Cole.

  Cole blinked his eyes back into focus and looked at his friend. “Sorry. My mind’s not on it right now.”

  Brooks shrugged one shoulder. “Well, that stands to reason, I suppose.”

  Cole frowned. “What? Why?”

  “You just walked away from the love of your life, mate. Even you can’t escape from that unscathed.” Harrison tipped his beer at him and took a drink.

  Cole snorted. “She’s not the love of my life. She’s just a disgruntled employee who I let get too close.”

  Brooks’s eyebrow went up. “Maybe if you say that enough times, you’ll convince yourself you mean it.”

  “I do mean it. Unlike you, I do tend to think of something other than women from time to time. I have to meet with that ass Daniels tomorrow and finalize the merger. I’ve already got a headache and he’s not even in the room yet.”

  “A merger that wouldn’t be happening without Kiersten, by the way,” Brooks said.

  Cole grimaced and tossed back another slug of his beer. He slammed the bottle down. “Don’t we have anything stronger in here?”

  He went to the liquor cabinet in the corner and pulled out a bottle of scotch. The boys watched him while he poured a glass and tossed it back. Their eyes on him bored into his skin, making it craw
l. He downed another swallow, savoring the liquid burning its way down his throat.

  “What?” he said, gently putting the glass down. He wanted to slam it down. Or throw it against the wall. But that would betray emotions nobody needed to know he had, especially for the woman who’d weaseled her way into his life to wreak havoc and destruction. Besides, quiet was scarier, tended to make people back down faster.

  He made eye contact with Brooks and sighed. Okay, it made most people back down faster.

  “I know she did a number on you and pulled a few stupid stunts,” Brooks said. “But I don’t think she was trying to hurt you.”

  “That’s exactly what she was trying to do.”

  “I don’t think so,” Harrison said. “She was trying to give you a little taste of your own medicine, and whether you want to admit it or not, you enjoyed the fight. And you said yourself, she never did anything that would cause permanent damage. She just tried to drive you a bit crazy.”

  “Right,” Chris chimed in. “Your projects, the really important stuff, she left alone.”

  “You don’t think she’d leave all that alone and then try to sabotage the one you cared about more than all the others, do you?” Brooks asked.

  Cole turned his back on them and stared out the window at the city skyline. He loved the city at night. Everything seemed muted somehow. Softer. Even the endless lines of traffic were beautiful from up above, the only things visible being the white and red lights streaming in their lines around the city.

  “I don’t know what was going through her head,” he finally said. “All I know is that I’ve been working on this project for years. It’s finally ready. It’s for Piper. My legacy for her, for me. Out of all my projects, this is the one I want to be known for. I want to make a difference, make people’s lives better. Maybe have my name associated with something other than dating models and being an ass of a boss.”

  “You’re already known for more than that, Cole,” Brooks said, serious for once in his life. “Do you really think people will only remember you for being a dickhead and serial model dater?”

  Cole gave him a wry smile. Okay, maybe it sounded a bit lame said out loud like that.

  Brooks wasn’t done yet, though. “Your name is on half the factories in the Midwest. You’ve developed more ideas for apps and products than anyone in town and employ more people than the rest of the moguls in this city put together. You’ve managed to do it better, and at a younger age than any of them. That takes someone who is a bit of a hard-ass. The model thing…well, that’s just a perk of the job.”

  Cole snorted. “Yes, well, I’m tired of that particular perk, especially since most of the women I’ve dated have viewed me as little more than a perk themselves. They wouldn’t care who I was or even what I looked like, as long as they had access to my bank account.”

  “Except for Kiersten.” Chris said.

  Cole’s gaze shot to his friend’s and held. He couldn’t argue that. Kiersten knew him better than he knew himself. He shook his head. “It was her job to know me.”

  “No,” Brooks said. “Like you once told me, it was her job to know your business. How you liked your coffee and whether you were running late to your next meeting. That folder she left on your desk, the one with all the party details? That was done by someone who knows you inside and out.”

  Cole’s eyes widened. “Where did you see that?”

  Brooks just smiled at him. “Don’t ask questions you don’t want the answer to. Oh, and get a briefcase with a better lock.”

  “You picked the lock?”

  “Do you really want me to answer that?”

  Cole’s lips twitched. “No.” He shook his head and then resumed his pacing from one side of the room to the other, stopping in front of the table again. “Okay, so what if she really did love me and wasn’t using me—something I could never really know for sure anyway—what difference does it make now? The accusations I made…and right after…”

  Brooks’s eyebrows lifted, and Cole damn near blushed. He glowered at his friend. “She must hate me.”

  Brooks shrugged. “We all do every now and then. We get over it. So will she.”

  Harrison and Chris nodded in agreement.

  “Fuck you, guys,” Cole said. They just grinned at him like a bunch of idiots. “Even if she’d talk to me, how do I convince her that money isn’t an issue? That I already trusted her before I found out about hers?”

  “You’ll figure it out,” Brooks said.

  Cole shook his head. “Helpful, thanks.”

  Brooks picked up his beer and drained it. “I’ve known you for a lot of years, Cole. I’ve never seen you even remotely as happy as you’ve been in the last few weeks. Even before that. Ever since Kiersten’s been in your life, you’ve been…I don’t know. More focused. Calmer. Less stressed. Now, you know I’m the last one on the planet to advocate monogamy, but shit, you could do a hell of a lot worse. And I seriously doubt you could do any better. If Kiersten wasn’t so obviously taken, I might go for her myself.”

  That earned Brooks another glare, but he just grinned it off. A faint headache took up residence behind Cole’s eyes. He knew what he wanted—he wanted her. He’d always wanted her. But how the hell was that even going to be possible now? She’d never trust that her money didn’t matter. He knew, because he’d spent his entire adult life focusing on nothing but how much it did matter when it came to his relationships. He never believed the women who’d told him it didn’t matter.

  His boys were right. Kiersten knew him better than anyone, which meant she knew his hang-up on the money thing. And he hadn’t told her it didn’t matter anymore until after he knew about the lotto. There was no way he could fix that, make her believe him.

  “Don’t do it, my friend,” Harrison said. “I can see the wheels turning in that thick skull of yours.”

  The others nodded agreement. “You’re actively trying to talk yourself out of fighting for her,” Chris said.

  “Do you blame me?” Cole said, throwing his hands up.

  “No,” Brooks said. “But that doesn’t mean you should let it derail you. This time at least. Kiersten is the most levelheaded woman I know, and the fact that’s she’s spent the last month trying her hardest to drive you insane only proves to me she’s perfect for you. When is the last time anyone even spoke to you out of turn, let alone treated you the way she’s been treating you?”

  Cole opened his mouth to argue but couldn’t. He sat down, his forehead creasing again as he thought of everything that had gone on in the last month. How refreshing it had been to have someone not just be a yes-man but state her true mind. Kiersten had never been much of a yes-man before that. Oh, she did what he asked, but she also had a way of asserting her own opinion without negating his own. And he realized she was one of the few people he trusted to handle stuff without having to micromanage everything she did. In fact, he valued and relied on her opinion on just about everything. The thought of not having her in his life bothered him much more than he’d ever have thought possible. For many reasons.

  He sighed. “I still have the minor problem of her not trusting me. She left after that fight, and I haven’t heard from her since. I wouldn’t blame her if she never wanted to see me again.”

  “So, what are you going to do about it?” Harrison asked.

  Cole glanced around at his friends, his mind churning over one idea after another. He finally just laughed and shook his head. “I have no idea.”

  “But you are going to do something, yes?” Chris asked.

  “Because, like I said,” Brooks said, “I’d be happy to step in and—”

  “You stay the hell away from her,” Cole said, grinning at his friend. “She’s mine.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  She was rich. Loaded. Filthy, stinkin’ rich.

  She sat at the restaurant with Izzy and Cass, champagne glass in her hand, her mind still spinning from the events of the past week. They’d gone with t
heir lawyer and claimed the money. After that had been a whirlwind of photographs and interviews. They’d agreed to keep things as calm as possible. No press conferences or talk-show interviews. They’d gotten their picture taken holding the giant check, but that had been the extent of it. Even that would be bad enough, though.

  There had been news cameras there. Their lawyer and newly appointed financial people were already getting phone calls from organizations and supposed long-lost relatives asking for donations.

  The bright side, though—she could go anywhere, do anything. Travel. Found a charity. Buy her parents a house and pay off all their bills.

  Quit her job.

  She took a sip of her champagne. And then another, larger sip. This shouldn’t even be a question right now. Of course she was going to quit her job. She hated her job. She’d dreamed of this day forever. Her freedom ticket had finally paid off. She should just send Cole a text and tell him she quit. Or better yet, call HR and tell them. Then she wouldn’t have to have any contact with him.

  Not that he seemed to want to see her. She’d avoided the office for the last several days, using a few of the personal days she’d accumulated over the years. He hadn’t tried calling. He hadn’t taken her calls. So maybe she’d just make it easy on both of them. Have Cass or Izzy drop off her keys and company phone so she didn’t even have to go back to the office.

  That was the coward’s way out. But at the moment, she was feeling cowardly. She didn’t know if she could face him and keep her resolve. Despite the ugly things he’d said, she still had feelings for him. Had always had feelings for him, really, despite how much he drove her nuts. She’d always admired him for his success, his focus. And now, with what he was doing with Piper’s House, well, it just made her admire him more. She prayed the gala went off without a hitch. She should probably stop in to make sure. She didn’t even have to see anyone; she could stay in the back. This one last thing she could do for him, before she walked away forever.