Best Friends With the Billionaire (The Rochesters) by Coleen Kwan

want to lead you into temptation.”
    The corners of her eyes crinkled as she grinned at him. “Thanks, buddy.”
    Yes, that was him. A good buddy. A supportive friend. Nothing more. He would ignore how his body had reacted to hers during their one-on-one basketball session. His blood stirred as another kind of one-on-one action sprung into his mind. Quit it , he sternly told himself. Folding his arms, he concentrated on the movie, hoping gore and slime would distract him.
    Ninety minutes later, a soft snore alerted him to the fact that Cassie had fallen asleep next to him. With her head lolling back and her limbs relaxed, she looked so peaceful. And cute. And sweet, too. Did she always look like this when she drifted off in front of the TV?
    A memory of the last time they’d watched a movie together slid into his mind. It had been two years ago, when she’d come round to keep him company after Alison’s funeral. He couldn’t recall the exact details, but he remembered his overwhelming exhaustion and deep gratitude at her presence. He hadn’t been able to sleep for days, despite the pills he’d been prescribed, which he’d taken in a vain hope of getting a few hours respite. But with Cassie there, the pills seemed to work, and he’d slept for ages, his slumber punctuated by bizarre dreams conjured up by his over-stressed brain.
    He rubbed his chest as a weird feeling took hold of him, a feeling he couldn’t label, couldn’t even decide if it was good or bad.
    Cassie snuffled in her sleep, curling up and hugging a cushion like a child. A smile tugged at Kirk’s lips. He picked up a cashmere throw and drew it over her, watching as she snuggled into its soft folds.
    …
    “Are you sure there’s nothing going on between you two?” Audrey asked.
    Ignoring her mom’s prying eyes, Cassie bent to slide her foot into the shoe. They were at Neiman Marcus to buy wedding shoes to go with Cassie’s bridesmaid gown, but Audrey seemed more interested in dissecting Cassie’s friendship with Kirk.
    “It’s a bit too tight,” Cassie told the store clerk assisting her. “Do you have a half-size up?”
    The store clerk said she’d check and disappeared into the stock room.
    “Well?” Audrey tapped Cassie imperatively on the arm.
    “No, Mom. There’s nothing going on between me and Kirk.”
    That near kiss the other night had been an aberration. When she and Kirk had played one-on-one basketball last night, there had been no repeat. It was like being back in college with him, a fact reinforced by their movie night. Everything between them was relaxed, friendly, platonic. Deathly platonic.
    Audrey pursed her lips. “Perhaps he’d take more notice of you if you made more of an effort—put on a dress, have a manicure, do something with your hair.”
    “Have you forgotten that he was once married to Alison Hancock?”
    “Ah, Alison Hancock.” Audrey turned misty-eyed. “Now there was a beautiful girl in every sense of the word.”
    Cassie ignored the sudden pinching in her stomach. Of course Kirk hadn’t noticed her yesterday when she was all hot and sweaty playing basketball. “Precisely. So do you really think Kirk would be interested in me?”
    “I know it’s a long shot, but if you don’t try you’ll never know, will you?”
    “Mom, we’re not having this conversation,” Cassie huffed, at her mental torture threshold.
    She jumped to her feet and made a show of examining the other shoes on display. A pair of shimmering, jade-green stilettos drew her attention. Now these were sexy shoes. The front was sharply tapered, the straps delicate, the toothpick heels three inches high. If she wore these, Kirk was bound to notice. And she did need to buy a suitable outfit for tomorrow’s dinner with Hank Parnell and his daughter. Shawna would expect her to dress up like one of Kirk’s glamorous girlfriends, and these shoes were perfect for that.
    “Cassie!” She started at her mom’s outburst. Audrey pointed at