Boss, Your Ex-Wife is Unreachable Now! novel Chapter 146

"But let me defend myself here—I'm not this much of a gentleman to every girl. You might not be my girlfriend, but you're not just any other woman either. You're my best buddy!"

Juliette nearly choked on her drink at Lionel's last sentence.

She pointed at herself, her large, captivating eyes blinking in disbelief. "Did you just call me your buddy?"

What part of her looked remotely like a guy?

Juliette felt like she'd been sucker-punched, her thoughts spinning.

Lionel grinned. "I don't mean the way you look. I mean the way we get along. It feels like we're close—like brothers, you know?"

Brothers, my foot!

She'd been crushing on him all this time, only to find out he just wanted to be best bros.

Honestly, even if he'd compared them to siblings—a brother and sister—it would have been a thousand times better!

Juliette had to resist the urge to roll her eyes.

"Actual siblings still need some boundaries. But best friends—guys, I mean—don't. We can say anything to each other, no secrets, totally open. That's why it feels more like we're brothers, right?" Lionel added, as if he'd read her mind.

"But I'm still a woman!" Juliette shot back, refusing to let him get away with that twisted logic.

Only now did she realize Lionel had never seen her as a woman from the very beginning.

Was it because they'd known each other too long, gotten too comfortable?

That couldn't be it—she'd never looked at him as a gal pal, even if his features were almost too pretty for a man. If he dressed up, he'd outshine most women.

The truth was simple: he just wasn't attracted to her. Not that way.

As Juliette mulled over whether or not to help Lionel with this, Lionel seemed to remember something and continued, "Speaking of Beasley, he's been all over the headlines lately."

Juliette looked puzzled. "Beasley? He's the richest man in the country, hasn't he always been famous?"

Lionel shook his head and chuckled. "You've been overseas for three months, so maybe you missed it, but just this past month, Beasley's name has popped up everywhere—and not for business. It's all tabloid rumors and scandals."

Juliette's eyes flew open in shock. "What did you say?"

Lionel gave her a curious look. "Why are you so surprised? Do you know him?"

"Of course I know him, though he doesn't know me," Juliette replied quickly, realizing her reaction was a bit much and trying to cover it up.

Then she pressed, "You said Beasley's caught up in a scandal—who's the woman involved?"