Irresistible Billionaires by Summer Brooks
Bella
Nosy Nancy, uh, Barbara, was out of her condo in two weeks. That was all the time it took for someone to snatch the place up, paying thirty percent over asking. In fact, the day her condo had been sold, she’d marched right over to me to rub that number in my face.
It was a little ridiculous since I had no plans on moving just yet, but I let her have her fun seeing as I’d never have to see her again once she moved out.
It was only when, later that same day, Logan arrived at my place holding a deed proudly in his hands that I realized why I’d had such a weird feeling when Barbara told me she was moving.
Logan had bought the condo right across the way from me. The one that could see into my living room and kitchen when it was dark, and I hadn’t yet closed the blinds. The one that could hear almost everything I said when its windows were just the slightest bit open. The one that had been the bane of my existence for years, ever since I found out that Nancy was being, well, nosy.
I hadn’t even known what to say. I could tell from the way he was standing that he wanted me to be proud and happy for him since this was the first place that would truly be his, but I couldn’t even conjure up those feelings just yet. I managed to fake a smile and pretend to be excited, but really, all I felt was dread.
Sure, we were best friends, and I loved Logan, but I didn’t want him that close to me. I wanted him to be a comfortable ten-minute drive, so he didn’t always know if I had a guy over for a date, or that I was having a mental breakdown because my period was due the next day. Even between best friends, there were certain boundaries I liked to keep strong and stable.
But that wasn’t an option anymore. That had become clearer to me than anything.
And to top it all off, Logan had continued to buy me expensive, if thoughtful and at times a bit cheesy, gifts.
There was the piece of art that he’d purchased from a local gallery, a painting of some big red lips that looked like Andy Warhol could have photographed them. While Logan claimed the painting was from a promising up and comer, I could tell he’d taken a look at some classic modern decor on Pinterest and chosen it based solely off of what he thought I might like.
The man knew very little about home decor. It was a hit or miss with him.
After that, he’d picked up a box of fine French chocolates, claiming they were handmade in their home country and then shipped all the way to San Francisco. While I had to admit they were completely delicious, it was cheesy. Who even buys a woman chocolates anymore? It was like he’d gotten the idea straight out of a classic movie.
And lastly, there was a new computer. Not that anything had been wrong with my old one, of course, but according to Logan, I needed to have the most updated technology if I wanted to be the successful interior designer I'd always dreamed about.
I couldn’t argue with him, but the thing must have cost a couple of grand. While to Logan, I knew that was little more than chump change, to me, I’d have to get commission from two high class, East Bay homes before I could have bought one for myself. That was at least a month’s worth of work.
It was all just a little strange. It wasn’t like we’d never bought each other gifts before, but those were always reserved for birthdays and Christmas. Special occasion. Not just random days where absolutely nothing was happening.
Still, I'd ignored it all, playing it off like it was completely normal. Which was how I’d ended up here, sweaty and tired, in Logan’s new condo, with moving boxes stacked all around me. I’d been ignoring all of the strange behavior.
“Okay, last one,” Logan groaned, heaving a box through the doorway, and just about collapsing on the floor. “I didn’t think I had so much stuff.”
“Why, exactly, are we moving it instead of hiring people?” I asked breathlessly, collapsing onto the hardwood floor and lying flat on my back. Logan and I had pretty much just moved the entirety of his belongings into this condo by ourselves. Zach had been here to help in the morning, but he’d had to run off, muttering something about a massive work emergency. It was typical for Zach, but we’d all grown used to it.
“Because you know how I feel about other people touching my stuff,” Logan replied.
It was true. He had some strange aversion to it, one that I did not understand. If I was ever that rich, I would hire as many maids and movers as I possibly could, so that I could focus on the fun stuff in life.
“Right,” I sighed.
Logan came over to lay beside me, chest heaving and slightly glimmering with sweat.
I’d been so focused on the move that morning that I’d nearly forgotten just where he was moving to.
The condo.
Right across from me.
“So, what was the point of moving here, again?” I asked casually, hopefully making a stealthy attempt to dig into the matter at hand and see if I could get him to sell the place. Now that he was all moved in, it dawned on me just how weird this all was.
Why would he choose the place right next to me, when there were plenty of other ones in San Francisco? Big, fancy high rises that were probably much more his style than this one ever would be.
“I don’t know,” he shrugged. “I guess I just thought it would be a good idea when you brought it up the other night.”
“When I brought it up?” I repeated. “Hold on. You didn't think I was telling you about this place because I wanted you to move in here, did you? Logan, I didn’t even know you were looking to move when I mentioned it!”
“Well, yeah,” he shrugged. “But the timing just seemed perfect, you know. Nancy was selling, I wanted something smaller, and it’s closer to you.”
“You were only ten miles away before,” I pointed out.
“Ten San Francisco miles,” he reminded me. “That’s, like, thirty miles in any other place.”
“True,” I shrugged, debating whether or not I wanted to say what was on my mind.
Who am I kidding? I thought. I always speak my mind.
“Look, Logan, I’m sorry if I’m totally off base here, but I just want to make sure we’re both on the same page,” I replied, rolling onto my side so I could look him straight in his bright blue eyes. “This whole thing- the gifts, the condo, the way you’ve been… acting… I just want to make it clear that we’re friends, right? That’s it?”
“The way I’ve been acting?” he retorted, raising an eyebrow.
He was good. If he was talking to anyone else, he probably would have fooled them into believing he didn’t have the faintest idea what they were talking about.
But not me. I didn’t back down, and just kept staring at his icy blue eyes, communicating with my own everything I was still a little too freaked out to say aloud.
“You have a crush on me!” I wanted to scream. “That’s breaking possibly the biggest friendship rule to ever exist!”
But I didn’t say any of that. I just kept my mouth shut and let Logan’s brain draw its own conclusions.
“So what?” he muttered, slipping just an inch or so closer to me.
Heat washed over my entire body, but it wasn’t from the vigorous exercise I’d just done, nor was it from the sun that was poking through the window now.
It was from Logan. From his proximity to me. I’d always thought he was hot, but there was something different going on now. Something deep within me was stirred by the nearly possessive way he was staring into my eyes. He hadn’t said it, but I almost felt like there was no backing down and getting away from this.
And then he slid closer.
I could feel his breath on my nose now, so close he could have leaned forward and kissed me if he’d chosen. I didn’t think I’d resist, either.
My breath was catching in my chest, traveling in and out unsteadily, in an annoying sort of way that completely gave away my inner thoughts.
I should pull away.
But my body didn’t move.
“What are you saying?” Logan finally prompted. “That you’ve never thought about this? Never wondered?”
I couldn’t lie to him. The answer wasn’t, "no." I’d thought about him when we’d first met, and maybe a few times since then. The man had all of the qualities that would make a woman swoon. He was hot and muscular, and protective. But he was also charming and thoughtful, and always the first to step up and help whenever I needed it.
So, I’d thought about it. But I also knew how these things went. We’d be hot and heavy for a year or so, and one of us would fall harder than the other.
Then, some big life change would happen. I’d get the job in New York, or Logan would decide he wanted to live in Japan for a year, and we’d both end up heartbroken.
It just wouldn’t work like that. I’d much rather keep my best friend for a lifetime than risk losing him altogether when our relationship ultimately didn’t work out.
“Look, Logan,” I murmured, my words so quiet they were little more than a breath, “this is a bad idea. We’re friends. It works. It’s fantastic, actually. Don’t mess that up.”
“So, you’re saying you’d rather keep this,” he gestured between the two of us, “than see what happens?”
“Don’t you?” I asked. “Who else can you complain to about the Giants one minute, and then talk about the latest Italian suits the next? I doubt Connor likes that kind of conversation.”
I knew I had him cornered, even though he’d never want to say it.
Logan was utterly silent for a moment too long, and I was suddenly terrified I'd just ruined our friendship when all I was trying to do was not destroy it.
“I should probably go,” I said suddenly, and sprang to my feet, leaping over boxes to get out the door.
Logan raced up behind me and blocked the doorframe before I could make my swift exit.
He was huge. It was the first time I’d ever really noticed the muscles that he worked so hard to build or the way he could stare a person down and make them do whatever he wanted with just his eyes.
My own eyes popped wide open, but the silence stayed between us. And, for the first time ever, I felt this strange little tickling in the base of my stomach. It wasn’t even nervous butterflies, like a crush.
This was something more. This was my body responding to the sudden shift in Logan. He had this take charge aura to him right now that was so attractive, I was fairly sure my throat was about to burst from excited nerves.
I opened my mouth to say something, but just as I did, Logan stepped aside, sweeping his arm out and hastening me out the door.
And then he slammed it right in my face.
I walked the fifteen feet and two floors back to my own condo slowly, playing back the last ten minutes in my mind. Everything felt like it had just been flipped upside down and inside out. Down was right, and up was now left, while left was now down, and right was now up. I didn’t know which way to go anymore.
I didn’t have feelings for Logan, right? I felt like I’d spent the last few weeks trying to convince myself I wasn’t even attracted to him, but this felt even more gargantuan. This felt like love.
And not the brotherly kind I was supposed to feel for the guy, either.
He hates me, though,I reminded myself. I couldn’t even blame him. I'd hated me, too, if I was on the receiving end of a very obvious friendzone. Logan had every right to be upset.
But that didn’t mean I had to like it.
I spent the rest of the day wandering around my place, fixing things that didn’t need to be fixed and cleaning things that didn’t need to be cleaned. But I couldn't get Logan off of my mind.
Especially now that I could see clear into his apartment every time I glanced out my living room window. it had been on my list to pick up curtains, but his semi-attempt at turning our friendship into a romance had sort of stood in the way of that.
Even through the annoyance and slight anger, I couldn’t help but glance out my window every few minutes. I could see Logan moving his boxes around, unpacking, and trying to organize them in a way that made some sort of sense.
His sense of space was terrible. I was totally judging him as I watched the man put a coffee table on the right side of his overstuffed couch.
I can’t take this anymore, I thought.
I grabbed my phone and shot off a text.
“Move that table to the center of the room before I march over there and do it myself.”
I saw Logan glance down at his phone, and then grin over at me. We made eye contact through our respective windows, and I couldn’t help but grin back.
“Hey, some guys like their tables like this.”
“Oh, please,” I muttered when I read his text. I looked back at him and shook my head, then pointed at the center of his living room, where that table damn well should have been.
As always, he gave in and dragged the table in front of the couch.
“Satisfied?” Came his next text.
“Mostly,” I replied. “Though you should never drag furniture. It’ll scratch up your fancy hardwood floors.”
Logan just glared at me and rolled his eyes, but I could see he was suppressing a grin.
I sucked in a breath and wrote up another text.
“Are we okay?”
I watched as Logan looked down at his phone. His bare shoulders sagged a little bit, but then he remembered I was watching him and pulled his posture straight once more.
“Of course,” he replied. “I was just having a moment. You’re right. We’ve got a good friendship.”
I wasn’t sure why, but something about his words didn’t ring completely true to me. Still, I decided it was best to leave it alone for now, and instead just grinned at him through the window, blew a kiss, and plodded off to go and make myself dinner.
And tried to force myself to forget that my attractive best friend was now living right across the way.