Page 12 of The Secret Heir Next Door

“Gorgeous man, dark hair, blue eyes. Doesn’t miss a day at the gym, but an absolute asshole.”

“Was it him?” she asks as she texts me a picture.

Those eyes. Those lips. “Yup, that’s the douchebag.”

"Serena, you’ve pissed off Logan Pierce."

"Who’s Logan Pierce?"

"How do you not know who he is? He’s only the most eligible bachelor in town. He's in the building next door to your shop. He’s a Fortune 500 CEO of a tech company. Built it from the ground up. Most people are terrified of him because he's kind of a tyrant. He gets shit done, and his words can make or break you."

I feel a chill run down my spine. "You mean to tell me I’ve annoyed the one person who has the power to ruin me? Mind you, I’ve done nothing wrong."

"Pretty much," Emily says with a sigh. "Serena, this is bad. Really bad. We need to figure out a way to fix this. It looks like he’s made numerous complaints about the store, too. Citing several matters. I’ll send you screenshots of the claims."

I rub my forehead, feeling the beginnings of a headache. "What do I do, Em? How do we fight someone like him?"

She is silent for a moment. "We’ll need to be smart about this. Maybe there’s a way to appeal to his business side. Or we find a loophole. But we can't just roll over. Not without a fight."

“This is ridiculous. I could seriously lose my livelihood because some guy is a douchebag?”

“He’s a very important douchebag,” she laughs. “What happened with him?”

“I was walking into the store the other day and ran into him. Spilled my coffee all over him.”

“And that’s why he’s mad?”

“Then he came into the store and was extremely rude to me.”

“And you got rude right back?”

“Yes, of course I did. He was a complete dick.”

“We don’t matchthat energy, remember? You get more flies with honey.”

“Something about him…”

“Is hot as hell,” she sighs before she starts giggling. “Most women fall at his feet. I bet he didn’t know how to handle you at all.”

“Seemed that way.”

Until he kissed me, and then I was putty in his hands.

“You have got to make nice with him, sis. Bring him some of your special treats or something.”

“I think it’s too late for that. He came back in today waving a peace offering, and I spilled coffee on him again. And I slapped him across the face.”

“Oh! You’re the only woman in the world who would smack that man across the face,” she laughs. “Seriously, Serena, what is wrong with you?”

“This store is my baby. It’s like he told me my child was ugly. All of this business is me, my personality, my heart, and my soul. It’s…he didn’t even ask questions. He just walked in here acting like he was better than me.”

“Well, he’s a millionaire a few times over at like twenty-six, soooooo,” she adds.

“It doesn’t make him better than me because he’s in a different tax bracket. Good for him, but none of that matters if he treats people like crap.”

“I’m not arguing that. Let me do a little digging and see if I can figure out a way to win him over.”

“Thanks, Em, I appreciate you.”