Charmed by the Billionaire (Blue Collar Billionaires #2) - Lemmon, Jessica Page 0,1

slug me in the shoulder and call me “sport.” It’s official. I am a nonsexual entity to him. Like a bagger at the grocery store. Or a turnip.

He sets his mug in the sink and slaps his flat middle. “I don’t call you coach for nothing. You keep me in my prime.”

“That’s my job.” I hope sarcasm didn’t creep through. His eyes spark but the glint fades fast. I’m safe for another day. “I’ll see you in a few hours.”

Purse on my shoulder, I grab my travel mug and head out the door. Twenty minutes later I’m walking around Grand Marin, the open-air shopping center Benji’s brother, Nate, recently built and opened here in Clear Ridge, Ohio. It’s an absolutely gorgeous April day with plenty of sun, no rain, and mild temps. The shopping behemoth is a live-work facility housing and employing young entrepreneurs who run businesses and restaurants, and rent the offices atop those businesses and restaurants. Just being here makes me feel more successful.

I palm the door handle leading up to the property manager’s office and then climb the stairs. The office sits at a corner overlooking Grand Marin like a castle in a kingdom. Or should I say queendom? Nate’s fiancée oversees this place like the queen she is. She was a government employee with a secret history when she crashed into Nathaniel Owen’s life. He never saw her coming but shifted his entire world to be with her. A trait that evidently doesn’t run in the family.

Inside the posh office loaded with live and fake greenery, a receptionist greets me. He’s young, twentysomething, and knows me on sight.

“Ms. Cristin Gilbert.” Sandy—a name he inherited from his father and refuses to be embarrassed by—stands and smooths his tie. “Vivian just finished with a conference call. Is she expecting you?”

“She is.”

“Business or pleasure?” His forehead crinkles adorably, but I feel no zings of attraction to him the way I do to my boss and best friend. Sandy is a cute guy. From his high cheekbones to a nice build suggesting he hits the gym at Grand Marin on the regular, there’s plenty to admire. But at five years younger than me, he reminds me too much of my younger brother Manuel for me to find him truly hot. Though Manuel is more like my kid than my kid brother, given I’ve been raising him and my other two brothers since I was eighteen.

Long story.

“Pleasure,” I answer. “I have a date tonight. I’m in need of duds.” I gesture to my basic black dress and flats.

“Say no more. Please.” He makes a face and the two days’ worth of scruff shifts on his jaw. “I’ll listen to you talk business with me all day,” he says, already en route to Viv’s office door, “but I can’t talk about clothes.”

He fakes falling asleep as his knuckles rap on the door, and I chuckle under my breath. Viv looks up from her desk through the glass—there’s virtually no privacy in this office, save for the tinted windows in the conference room—and waves us in.

“Your date is here,” Sandy announces. “She’s cherubic, cute, and too good for the likes of me. I trust you two will be very happy together.”

“Thanks, Sandy,” Viv says with a laugh. He rushes back to his post to pick up the ringing phone. “I really like him.”

“Told you.” I buff my nails on my dress. I was the one who suggested Sandy work for Vivian instead of Owen Construction proper. His resume had hit Benji’s inbox as Vivian was saddling up for her new position and was worried she’d never find good help.

“You ready to do this?” She stands and rubs her hands together. Her slimming plum skirt is fitted, her silk blouse a paler shade of purple bedazzled with winking rhinestone buttons. She’s both professional and beautiful. I glance down at my plain dress and feel a stab of envy. I stepped it up today—I typically wear jeans to work—and I still can’t touch Viv’s fabulous style. Don’t get me wrong, my clothes match, but I’m not winning any awards for costume design. Which is exactly why I called her.

“I’m as ready as I can be,” I tell her as we exit the office. I wave goodbye to Sandy upon my retreat.

“I’ve chosen three boutiques to check out.” We take the stairs, her incredibly tall high-heeled shoes ticking each step. I’d break my neck if I attempted stairs in shoes like hers. “Two of them are