Tempting my Billionaire

Old Feelings Stirred

★Cassandra★

The smell of sautéed onions and warm tortillas filled my kitchen. I stood barefoot on the cool tiles and stirred the skillet while the evening breeze drifted through the open balcony doors. The city outside was alive with soft lights, distant chatter, and a few car horns, but inside, it felt calm. Eli had texted an hour earlier saying he would bring the wine, which meant he would arrive on time. He always did. He was reliable in that way, steady, organized, and kind. I had decided on tacos for tonight. Simple, quick, and messy enough to make us laugh. After the week I had, laughter sounded like a luxury. A moment later there was a knock at the door, and I smiled.

“Come in!” I called out as I wiped my hands on a towel. Eli stepped inside with two bottles of red wine in one hand and a bag of chips in the other.

“Emergency snacks,” he said as he held the bag up like a prize. “In case your tacos are a disaster,” I grinned.

“My tacos will not be a disaster,” I shot back. He laughed and placed the bottles on the counter.

“You look like you have had a long day,” he remarked as he opened the one bottle of wine.

“I think long is an understatement,” I said while I turned down the heat on the stove. “It feels like I have been at the office for weeks without leaving,”

“Then tonight we forget work,” Eli said as he rolled up his sleeves. He poured us each a glass of wine before he jumped right in and helped me get everything ready. We worked in comfortable silence for a few minutes, and when the tacos were ready, we carried everything to the kitchen table. We sat down and he raised his glass. “To the end of another exhausting week,” he said, and I clinked my glass against his.

“To survival,” I added, and we both laughed before we took a sip. The wine was smooth and rich, the kind that lingered.

“So,” Eli said after he took a bite of his taco. “I heard Nathan stopped by your office again this week,” I froze for half a second before I forced a small smile.

“Of course, he did. We are working together,” I reminded him.

“Interesting,” he remarked, and I frowned.

“What?”

“No, it’s just…I think there is more to you and Nathan than just working together,” he said. I stared at him in surprise. Eli raised a curious brow and I sighed.

“Fine,” I said with a big sigh. “You want the truth? The truth is, I used to have a crush on Nathan,” Eli immediately smiled.

“Used to?”

“Let me finish,” I said. “When I was twelve, he and Timothy were already in high school. They were older, cooler, and I thought they were both incredible. But mostly Nathan. He was quiet, smart, and confident. Everything about him fascinated me,”

“Sounds serious,” Eli teased.

“It was childish,” I said as I shook my head. “I followed them around constantly. Every time they were at the house, I would find an excuse to be nearby. Timothy hated it. He used to chase me away,” Eli laughed, clearly amused.

“Poor little Cassandra,”

“Oh, it gets worse,” I said. “Once, they were watching some horror movie…and I begged them to let me join. They laughed, of course. Nathan told me I wouldn’t last five minutes,”

“Let me guess,” Eli said. “You tried anyway,”

“I did,” I said with a small smile. “And I got through maybe two minutes before I ran out screaming,” Eli laughed so hard he nearly dropped his taco. I smiled, remembering it now. “He teased me for weeks after that. And I kept coming back for more. It was pathetic, really. I just wanted him to notice me,” Eli’s laughter softened.

“Did he?” he asked, and I looked down at my glass.

“Eventually. But not in the way I wanted,” I whispered. Eli tilted his head as he watched me.

“What happened?”

“When I was fourteen, I asked him if he would wait for me,” I said quietly. “He laughed. Not cruelly…just like he thought it was a joke. But to me, it wasn’t,” Eli’s smile faded.

“Ouch,”

“Exactly,” I said. “It was humiliating. I cried that night, though I would never admit it back then. And a few months later, I told my mother I wanted to go to boarding school,”

“Because of him?”

“Partly,” I said. “My best friend was going, and I thought a change of scenery might help. But yes, I wanted to leave everything that reminded me of him behind,” Eli nodded slowly.

“Makes sense,”

“It didn’t feel like it at the time,” I said. “But once I got there, I realized it was the best thing that could have happened to me. I stopped being the girl who followed people around and started figuring out who I was,”

“You grew up,” he said.

“I did,” I said softly. “But I never forgot him,” there was a brief silence, and we continued to eat for a moment. The music from the stereo filled the background, something soft and slow.

“So now,” Eli said carefully. “Be honest. Do you still have feelings for him?” I looked over at him and met his gaze.

“What kind of feelings?” I asked, playing dumb. Eli grinned.

“The kind that makes you blush when he walks into a room,” he teased, and I laughed, but there was no denying it.

“Maybe,” I said. “But it doesn’t matter. He doesn’t see me that way,”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes,” I said quickly. “He sees me as his colleague, his partner on this project. After all, I’m still just his best friend’s little sister,” Eli smirked as he built another taco.

“Nah, I don’t believe you,”

“Then you are delusional,”

“Maybe,” he laughed. “But I have a feeling he sees you, Cassandra,”

“I highly doubt that,”

“Hmm,” he hummed around a mouthful of food. I turned my attention to my own plate and taco. We ate in silence for a bit, and then I refilled our glasses.

“Even if you are right,” I said as I finally broke the silence. “Nothing will happen. We have a business to run, and I have worked too hard to lose focus now,”

“You can tell yourself that as many times as you want,”

“Are you finished teasing me?”

“For now,” he said as he raised his glass again. “But for what it is worth, I think it is cute,”

“Cute?” I said and rolled my eyes. “I was twelve,”

“Sure,” he said with a grin. “But you aren’t twelve anymore,” I threw a napkin at him and laughed.

“You are impossible,” I said, and then I promptly changed the topic of conversation. The last thing I wanted to do was talk about Nathan all night. We finished eating, and then we moved to the living room. We drank more wine and watched a few old movies. The wine disappeared faster than expected, and by the time Eli left, the city outside had gone quiet. After I locked the door, I stood for a moment in the stillness of my apartment. The faint scent of tacos and wine lingered in the air. I walked to the window and looked out at the skyline. Somewhere out there, Nathan was probably still awake, working, focused on everything except me. And yet, he was all I could think about.

★★★