Banking the Billionaire (Bad Boy Billionaires Book 2)(74)

“Bye, Thatch.”

I shook my head as I heard the sound of her hanging up on me before I could respond.

Everyone made it so easy.

Except Cassie.

That wild, beautiful woman brought her own game to the table, and as time went on, the truth was becoming more and more apparent—I f*cking loved it. The challenge, the change, the way she didn’t take any kind of shit without giving it right back. And somehow, she managed to maintain a certain amount of softness while she did it.

Whether it was a glance or a smile or a step closer to me in proximity, there was always some sign that she had vulnerability in there somewhere. That she cared about others and wanted them to care for her.

That she wanted all the things out of life that people often misunderstood about a woman like her—family, friendship…love.

I sped up, taking the steps down to the 57th and 6th station two at a time. The train sat on the tracks waiting, and with five huge strides, I slid on just before the doors closed. Kline glanced up from his paper at my Cosmo-Kramer-like entrance.

His lips formed the word “Great” with fantastic faux sarcasm but finished with a smile.

“Are you stalking me?” he asked as I took a seat close to him but left one in between us. Spatially, that was the only way if I wanted to maintain any use of my arms.

“Yes. I’ve actually been watching you from the little window to your office all day. Didn’t you notice me?”

He shook his head and laughed, tucking the newspaper into the handles of his duffle bag between his feet. “I wouldn’t be surprised. It’s not like you’re busy or anything.”

“Exactly,” I agreed, knowing he knew I was busy in the most literal sense of the word. Kline knew pretty much everything about me, so much so that I could barely even surprise him anymore. He actually pointed out tons of investment opportunities to me before I ever mentioned them. Granted, I was usually already looking into them, but he was just a millisecond behind me. And when it came to money moves, that was saying something.

“Ready for practice?” I asked as the train started to move.

“Honestly?”

I shrugged and nodded.

“I’d rather slice my eyeballs open. I just want to go home and be with my wife and our f*cking wildlife refuge.”

I smirked. “You have two animals. Hardly zoo material.”

“It doesn’t feel like two. Stan weighs a million pounds and shits bombs, but he’s actually the easier of the two.”

“Well, that much I believe,” I conceded easily. “Walter is a little prick.”

“But I still enjoy it because Georgie does. What’s that say about me?”

“That you misplaced your balls?” I joked.

“Fuck you.”

I leaned my elbows into my knees. “It means you’re a lucky bastard. Above us right now, thousands of unhappy *s are leaving their miserable jobs and going to the bar instead of home.”

Kline raised his eyebrows.

“By choice. They’d much rather be there than go home, but you, my friend, are one of the wise ones.”

“What about you?”

“What about me?”

“You’re fine with going to the bar instead of home?”

“I rarely go to the bar anymore.”

“Not my point at all, and you know it.”

I shrugged with nonchalance and tried not to let my thoughts run away. “I want what you have.”

He smiled. I pushed.

“You think Georgie would be into me?”

His smile turned into a scowl.

“Kidding,” I said through a laugh. I almost told him I’d just gotten off the phone with his wife, but that would have raised at least one flag.

It wasn’t like I didn’t talk to her, but I didn’t tell him about it every time I did.

“How’s it feel to be a year older, Grandpa?”

He laughed. “You’re older than I am.”

“Yes, but I’ve aged better. Don’t take it personally. I credit most of my looks to a rigid diet of Oreos, Nutella, and Trix. Plus, you know…”

“I know?” he questioned.

“Don’t be embarrassed. You can’t help it.”

He lifted his brows and waited. The man had legendary patience, so of course, I caved.

“It’s not your fault your growth was stunted.”

“Jesus,” Kline breathed out before a laugh. “The only thing embarrassing is you.”

I lifted my shoulders to my ears. “I can live with that.”




“Come on, Thumbelina, shower faster!” I yelled through the closed door of my guest room.

Since Kline didn’t live in the city anymore, he had to use my pad as his locker room post-practice. Now that I was clean and had dropped off Phil with the sitter, I figured he’d had plenty of time.

The door swung open immediately, and I bobbed and weaved as Kline’s fist punched the air an inch in front of my stomach.

“Oh, good,” I stated calmly. “I thought you were going to take forever, and we don’t have time. Places to be and all that.”

He tried to hide his cringe. I did an equally poor job of hiding my laugh.

Since I’d run into Kline, I’d decided to forgo the tattoo shop and just head straight to practice with him. Frankie didn’t mind, but really, it didn’t matter if he did. My shares of ownership outweighed his. But it also did matter because I wasn’t an *. Not most of the time, anyway.