Tempting my Billionaire

Losing My Balance

★Cassandra★

By the time I got home, the city had already swallowed the last of the sunlight. The ocean shimmered in the distance, and the soft waves brushed against the horizon like nothing in the world had gone wrong. I shut the door behind me and leaned against it for a moment as I tried to breathe. Nathan had followed me. Found me. Of all the people to show up at that café, it had to be Nathan. Not just a coincidence or a polite hello, but a deliberate choice. He had come to my condo. Then, when I was not home, he went looking for me.

Who does that?

I kicked off my heels and walked into the open living space, and the sound of the waves faintly reached me through the balcony doors. My reflection stared back from the glass, composed, flawless, perfectly put together, but inside I was anything but calm. I poured myself a glass of wine and sat down on the couch. The events of the evening replayed in cruel detail. The way he had acted, like sitting across from me, was the most natural thing in the world. As if he had been invited. His silent confidence. The quiet challenge in his eyes when he told me we should get to know each other. He had no right. I should have told him to leave the second he sat down. I should have stood up and walked away. But I had not. I had sat there, frozen, trying to control every emotion clawing its way to the surface. I took another sip of wine and closed my eyes, but that only made things worse. His voice echoed in my head, smooth and steady.

“Asshole,” I muttered under my breath. Nathan always went after what he wanted. It was effortless for him. Success. Attention. Admiration. He had always been the center of every room, and I had been the girl foolish enough to orbit him. I set the glass down and stood abruptly, needing to move. The apartment felt too still, too quiet. I stepped out onto the balcony, and for a moment, I enjoyed the cool evening air against my face. The sea breeze smelled of salt and jasmine, a mix that reminded me of St. Albans Conservatory. The boarding school that had shaped every part of who I had become. It was thousands of miles away, but the memories were vivid. Morning classes that started before sunrise. Long lectures in gilded halls lined with portraits of women who had changed history. Afternoons spent in ateliers where we learned the art of design, or on the riding fields with our hair tied back and our posture perfect. Evenings filled with study halls, piano recitals, and endless social events that demanded grace and composure. Ten years of learning how to stand tall, how to hide emotion behind a smile, how to speak softly but with precision. It had polished me, refined me, and made sure I would never again be that naïve girl who confessed her feelings to the wrong man.

Nathan Grant.

I gripped the balcony rail, my chest tightened at the memory. It had been humiliating, so painfully innocent that I still flinched thinking about it. The night before I left for St. Albans, I had cornered Nathan in my brother’s study, heart racing, hands trembling, and told him I liked him. That I wished he would wait for me to grow up. While my confession had been that of a young girl, I had been deadly serious. But Nathan had laughed. Not cruelly, not even mockingly, but with surprise. And that laugh had followed me for years. Maybe that was why I couldn’t bring myself to forgive him. A sharp buzz broke my thoughts, and my phone lit up on the couch inside. I walked back in and picked it up, grateful for the distraction.

✉Eli: Hey, stranger! Sorry, I missed you during the dinner rush. I have a morning shift tomorrow. Come keep me company if you can.

A small smile tugged at my lips. Eli always managed to find the right moment. He was light and easy, a friend who never asked for more than I could give. I typed back a response.

✉Cassandra: I might drop by.

It would be good to see him. It would be a nice distraction from Nathan. I set my phone aside and went back into the kitchen to pour myself another glass of wine. I made myself comfortable on the couch, and once again the evening played out in my mind. Like a bad scene in a movie. The fact that he thought we could be friends. Or that we were even friends to begin with. Why was I on his radar now? Was it because I was all grown up? Did he find me beautiful? Attractive? It that why he was suddenly so interested in me? It angered me, and I huffed out in frustration. When my phone buzzed, I ignored it as I took another long sip of my wine. The cool, sparkling liquid cooled the fire that burned inside me. Nathan was infuriating, and I wasn’t sure why the man couldn’t just leave me be. A moment later, my phone rang, and I glanced over to see that it was Tim. I considered ignoring his call, but then I thought better of it.

“Are you ok?” he asked when I answered the call. I frowned. Had Nathan told him about our unexpected dinner?

“Yes,” I answered, unsure of how to proceed.

“Then why aren’t you answering my texts?”

“I haven’t…sorry, I thought you were someone else,” I said with a soft sigh.

“Oh? Who? A boyfriend?” he asked, and even though I couldn’t see him, I could hear the teasing tone of his voice.

“No. A friend,”

“Oh? A girl or a boy? Should I get my gun out?” I chuckled as I shook my head.

“His name is Eli, and he is just a friend,” I said. Timothy was quiet for a moment.

“Listen…I need a favor,”

“What?”

“Sienna is being a bit of a pain in the ass. It’s almost as if she doesn’t believe that you exist. That I wasn’t at home with you the other day,”

“When?”

“For your welcome home party. She thinks I skipped it to be with someone else,”

“And what can I do?”

“I wanted to know if we could come over for lunch tomorrow?” he asked, and I glanced around. I hadn’t had any visitors yet. Not even my mother had seen my new place. Still, it would be nice to entertain.

“Be here by twelve,” I said, and he breathed out a sigh of relief.

“Thanks, Cassy,”

“Don’t mention it,” I said. We chatted for a few more minutes before we hung up. I took another sip of my wine and relaxed. Nathan wasn’t a problem. He would eventually get the hint that I wasn’t interested. At least, that is what I hoped for.

★★★