“Hmm,” I said, not believing her.

“I mean it, Sutton. He’s not a power-hungry asshole even though he could be. He totally could be.”

Most men in his position would be using all that power and influence in every way imaginable, and I found it somewhat endearing, albeit a little unbelievable, that Joseph didn’t.

“How did I even come up in conversation in the first place? Did you start talking about this insane idea and think, Wow, Sutton would be great?” I asked through gritted teeth, and she started giggling.

“It wasn’t like that at all. But once I did think of you, I wondered why I’d never thought of the two of you together before. I mean, the fake hating each other aside,” she said, and I made a sound that stopped her short.

“It’s not fake for me,” I argued before realizing what she’d said. “Wait, why does he hate me?”

“I don’t know. Something about you trying to burn his balls off.”

I scoffed out loud and leaned forward. “Is that what he told you?”

“Apparently, there was a lighter that got a little too close to his nutsack,” she said, and I shook my head.

“He asked for it,” I ground out before clamping my mouth shut. Of course he’d only tell the part that had me looking crazy and not the whole story.

“Anyway”—she sounded annoyed—“you two have a lot in common, and I never realized it before. That’s all. I think you might actually like each other once you get through the rest of your crap. Like, this arrangement might not actually be torturous for either one of you.”

I closed my eyes for only a second, and I had to fight with everything in me to open them again. When I did, Kayla was staring at me.

“Let me sleep on it. I’m too tired to even consider not hating that man right now.”

“But you will consider it? Right?” She sounded desperate, and she knew it.

“If he doesn’t convince his mom he’s in love, then what? She won’t give him the company? She’ll keep all the shares and hold them over his head forever? Give them to a bastard sibling he doesn’t know exists?” I asked, still not truly giving a crap about Joseph or his future.

Kayla rolled her eyes and huffed out a loud breath. “You read way too many romance books back in college. And I already told you. She’s just worried about him. She’s afraid that if he doesn’t at least try, he’ll never find someone to love, and all he’ll have is work and nothing else. No mother wants that for their only son.”

Fighting back a yawn, I said, “That’s actually kind of nice. Of her. Not him. He’s annoying.”

“It is nice. She just wants him to be happy. And that’s all he wants for her too. They both want the same thing for the other. But the only way she’ll go live her life is if she thinks he’s actually having one.”