I Love You I Hate You

  Copyright © 2021 Elizabeth Davis

  Cover images © Iconic Bestiary/Shutterstock

  Author photo © Elizabeth Davis

  The right of Elizabeth Davis to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  First published in this Ebook edition in 2021

  by HEADLINE ETERNAL

  An imprint of HEADLINE PUBLISHING GROUP

  Apart from any use permitted under UK copyright law, this publication may only be reproduced, stored, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, with prior permission in writing of the publishers or, in the case of reprographic production, in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency.

  All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  Cataloguing in Publication Data is available from the British Library

  eISBN 978 1 4722 8331 3

  HEADLINE PUBLISHING GROUP

  An Hachette UK Company

  Carmelite House

  50 Victoria Embankment

  London EC4Y 0DZ

  www.headlineeternal.com

  www.headline.co.uk

  www.hachette.co.uk

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  About the Author

  Praise for Elizabeth Davis

  About the Book

  Dedication

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgments

  Find out more about Headline Eternal

  About the Author

  Elizabeth Davis is a full-time nerd whose interests include cold weather, rainy days, coffee, Minnesota Public Radio, and rom coms where characters’ homes vastly outstrip the income they would get from their jobs. Born and raised in suburban Milwaukee, she now lives in Minneapolis with her husband and two children.

  Praise for Elizabeth Davis:

  ‘Smart, sexy, and feminist, I Love You, I Hate You is a delightful love letter to internet friends and Nora Ephron. Elizabeth Davis just became an auto-buy author for me’

  Annette Christie, author of The Rehearsals

  ‘Everything you love about romantic comedy – hilarious, sharply observed, smart, and sexy as hell. I adored this book!’

  Rachel Hawkins, New York Times bestselling author

  ‘Complete You’ve Got Mail magic! Davis’s humor made this steamy, feisty rom-com a delight to read . . . a must read for fans of Nora Ephron rom-coms!’

  Denise Williams, author of How to Fail at Flirting

  ‘What a great rom-com debut! Once I started this book I couldn’t put it down and had to finish it asap . . . This has definitely put Elizabeth Davis on my radar!’

  book_scent

  ‘I absolutely adored this book! It’s steamy, has great characters and brilliant . . . I could not put this book down from the moment I started it!’

  laurenelizreads

  ‘This story started out with a bang . . . and kept delivering. The back-and-forth between the main characters was fantastic . . . Overall, a very good read’

  reading.in.brussels

  ‘Great read! . . . Loved the story line and authors writing style . . . had me hooked from the first page . . . Would definitely recommend!’

  BookishSwan

  About the Book

  Victoria and Owen are bitter rivals.

  Nora and Luke are friends online.

  Who would believe these two couples have anything in common?

  Of all the decisions brilliant lawyer Victoria Clemenceaux has made in her life, an unforgettable one-night stand with her opposing counsel Owen Pohl is either the worst . . . or the best.

  One thing is certain: these long-standing rivals aren’t going to let their searing attraction stop them from winning the biggest case of their careers. Thankfully Victoria and Owen have someone to vent to about their nemeses. But they have no idea that their online ‘friends’, Nora and Luke, are the very people they hate in real life.

  As Nora and Luke grow closer online, and Victoria and Owen find their undeniable attraction harder to resist, the lines between love and hate blur. When the truth comes out, will their online chemistry work in the real world, or will their constant rivalry sever their connection?

  For Mom

  Prologue

  Two Years Ago

  Victoria Clemenceaux had never been more ready in her life. She had some pre-court jitters, but those were to be expected for her first appearance. But you didn’t get a job like this at twenty-six by being timid and downplaying your abilities. Plus, the case was easy. Victoria might have been a little uneasy when it came to Smorgasbord’s ridiculously exploitative employment practices, but they didn’t pay her to care about that. They paid her to win, and that was exactly what she was going to do.

  Victoria braced herself and pushed open the heavy courtroom doors. The clerk was already calling her case, so she hurried to the front, eyes snagging on a man about her age with striking blue eyes and red-blonde hair that was just a bit too long to be professional. He grinned at her, friendly and relaxed, and she wanted to smile back. She had spent so long in law school building up her walls, brick by brick, keeping everyone else out. It was easier to not let anyone in, to keep away anyone who could make her feel vulnerable.

  And yet, with a single grin, this guy had her reconsidering. She wasn’t here to ogle, though, so Victoria tore her eyes away and swept past him to step up to the defendant’s table before the judge.

  She had been guessing her opponent would be the square-jawed, grey-haired man three rows back—he looked like roughly three-quarters of her coworkers—but suddenly Courtroom Hottie stood and hustled to the plaintiff’s side. Victoria stiffened, and when he looked over at her again, she kept her eyes firmly on her paperwork. She couldn’t afford to be distracted, not now. His handsomeness and appealing smile were utterly irrelevant to the job at hand and she ignored him until he looked away. She had worked too hard and come too far to let one good-looking guy distract her.

  She took a second to smooth down the dove-grey suit she was wearing, picking off a tiny thread she’d missed last night. Her eyes had been blurring by the time she finished tailoring it, but it was worth it. Victoria would bet good money no one in the courtroom would be able to tell it only cost $60 off the clearance rack. She straightened, ready.

  “Your client is claiming breach of contract, Mr. Pohl?” the judge began.

  The name stuck out, oddly familiar. For a second she couldn’t figure out why but when she did, Victoria’s eyes widened. She should have recognized him earlier from Cassie’s Facebook photos, but those must be a few years old. His hair was longer now, and he definitely wasn’t wearing a suit in any of those. Of all the people to take a Hail Mary case against one of
the state’s biggest employers, she hadn’t guessed it would be the son of one of the richest families in the Upper Midwest. While a part of her might find that admirable, a bigger part of her was really fucking annoyed. Owen Pohl had grown up in the lap of luxury and gone to an Ivy League law school before starting his own firm, while Victoria had bounced around from crappy apartment to crappy apartment with her mom, barely scraping together enough money and scholarships to attend the University of Minnesota. She had loans the size of a mortgage she’d be paying off until retirement and had to take the highest paying job she could find, conscience be damned, and meanwhile this guy had a trust fund. Of course he was smiling and relaxed going into battle against a major corporation—it didn’t matter to him if he won or lost. His job wasn’t on the line.

  “Yes, your honor.” Owen flashed his grin at the judge and was rewarded with the glimmer of a smile. Victoria narrowed her eyes, knowing exactly what game he was playing and not buying it for a second. Guys like him coasted by without ever putting in the work while people like Victoria had to fight tooth and nail for every little scrap.

  “And Ms. Clemenceaux, I assume Smorgasbord would like to start with mediation?”

  “As is required by their contracts, yes,” Victoria said without looking at him.

  Owen cleared his throat. “Actually, I’m moving that since Smorgasbord was in breach of contract, the mediation clause is void. I’d like to proceed straight to litigation.”

  Victoria blinked. It was a big swing, proposing this right off the bat. While Owen might think the combination of his daddy’s money and his laid-back charm entitled him to skip a few steps, Victoria hadn’t graduated at the top of her class for nothing. She scoffed audibly and rolled her eyes. “If you’d read the statute, you’d see that if the plaintiff wishes to avoid mediation they are required to appeal to the board of directors first,” she said, finally looking at him. He attempted a smile, probably hoping to disarm her, but she shot him a cold look and it withered on the vine. She allowed herself a small moment of pleasure at getting one up on him, and then got back to business. “Have you bothered to tell your clients that?”

  “Right, because the company that wrote the contract gets to decide if it’s in violation of it? That’s garbage and you know it.” He was way out of line, but that was exactly what she wanted. An opponent who was mad was an opponent who was not thinking clearly.

  She made sure she looked affronted. “That’s the law, counselor.”

  “The law your company wrote,” he retorted.

  “It’s still the law,” she said icily. He was glaring at her now, all the merriment gone from his eyes. In its place was pure loathing.

  “It’s still bullshit, is what it is,” he snapped.

  “That’s enough,” the judge interjected. “Ms. Clemenceaux is right, counselor. You can’t skip mediation without first appealing to their board. Would you like to petition them, or go straight to mediation?”

  Before Owen could answer, Victoria dropped the hammer. “If I may, your honor, if you look at the statute’s third subsection and the following appendix, you’ll see that attempting to circumvent mediation at all prior to the petition being filed with the board is grounds for dismissal entirely. Since my opposing counsel didn’t bother to do his homework, I move that the case be dismissed.” She looked at him, stone-faced except for her eyes. She couldn’t keep those from dancing.

  Owen curled his hands into fists. “Your honor—”

  The judge shook her head. “I’m sorry, counselor, she’s right. Case dismissed without prejudice. You may refile once you’ve completed the outlined terms in the correct order.”

  Owen’s face went ashen. She’d won. And even quicker than she thought. She smirked at Owen as she swanned past, floating on the high that came with doing her job well. He gathered his things and hurried after her, anger making him clumsy. “What the hell was that?” he hissed when they hit the hallway.

  She stopped, eyebrows lifted. “You know, the generally accepted way of greeting someone is ‘hello’ followed by introducing yourself,” she said coolly. “I’m Victoria, by the way. And you are?” She was just being a dick now, but she couldn’t help it. It felt good to put a rich kid in his place.

  “Owen,” he said through his teeth. “And I repeat, what the hell was that?” he growled.

  She smirked at him again and turned on her heel. “That was you losing. Get used to it.”

  Eighteen Months Ago

  Direct Messages: Nora @Noraephronwasagenius

  @Lukethebarnyardcat

  Okay, awkward question: would you want to meet sometime? Or even just exchange numbers? It feels weird to talk to you nearly every day for the last six months but only through DMs

  @Noraephronwasagenius

  Awkward answer: no to both, but not for any of the reasons you’re going to think.

  I just don’t think I can be this honest and open with someone who knows me. It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s that I’m worried if we meet we’ll lose what we have. Anonymity is what makes it work for me, you know? I don’t think I could tell you half this shit if I knew I had to look you in the eye one day. If that’s too weird and you just want to dip out from this entire friendship-through-the-DMs-thing, I completely get that. But if you’re willing to stay anonymous, I swear I will never lie to you.

  @Lukethebarnyardcat

  I see your point. It’s unconventional, but then again so is our whole friendship. If anonymity is what you need, then that’s what you’ll get from me

  Chapter One

  Present Day

  Victoria dropped her head back against the wall and Owen’s lips found her collarbone. Of all the decisions she had made in her life, this one was either the worst or the best. Years of enmity, all undone by one searing kiss. One of his hands spanned her waist and the other laced with hers. He pinned her hand above her head, his knee pressed tightly between her thighs. She kept making soft, needy noises she would find embarrassing if she was capable of coherent thought, but right now she was too far gone to care.

  For the last two years, Victoria had loathed every single thing about Owen Pohl. His stupid red hair, his stupid self-satisfied grin, his stupid habit of leaning back in his chair while she made her arguments, looking for all the world like he was relaxing on a park bench instead of sitting in front of a goddamn judge. He was too casual, too laid-back, too insouciant for their profession, always on the edge of being too disheveled for an attorney, and everything about him said privileged. She hated him, even as tonight threatened to turn everything upside down. He was easily the most obnoxious person in her life, but she also might explode if he didn’t kiss her right fucking now.

  His gaze bored into her and he tugged his tie loose. Victoria swallowed hard, the silence suddenly too heavy for her to process. “You chickening out on me?” she challenged, lifting her chin.

  His eyes darkened and the smirk deepened. Her stomach coiled; he threaded his fingers through her hair and gripped it just hard enough to sting. “Only if you are, Vee,” he growled. She surged forward to kiss him because kissing was easier than seeing him look at her like that. Besides, if they were kissing he couldn’t call her Vee in that tone of voice again, because that was dangerous.

  Because holy shit did she like the way it sounded. Normally, if Owen bothered to address her at all, he called her Your Majesty, or perhaps Queen Victoria if he was feeling like taking his life into his hands. In court it was always opposing counsel or Ms. Clemenceaux, but tonight was the first time he’d called her anything even resembling her first name and Victoria wasn’t about to let herself think about how much she enjoyed it. She sternly reminded herself this was just another way of working out their aggression like they did in the courtroom, just with a martini and a half in her system and two old-fashioneds in his.

  Owen withdrew his hand from her bare skin and she actually whimpered, which only served to make him grin in almost predatory triumph. Apparently, hooki
ng up with Owen was just like fighting him in court; a battle of wills with no surrender. He moved and she matched him beat for beat, both of them unwilling to give a single inch as they stripped each other bare. Before she had a second to catch her breath Owen spun her and jerked her against him, arm secured around her waist to keep her pinned, her back against his chest.

  Four hours ago, if someone had told Victoria she would be nearly incoherent with want, on the verge of begging Owen for more, deeper, more as he delicately traced her folds with his fingertips, she would have laughed in their face, but now she was putty in his unfortunately competent hands. She twisted her head and met him in a messy kiss, more teeth and tongue than anything else, and he urged her onto the mattress, watching her with a soft smile that did something strange to her heart.

  Owen had a nice smile when he wasn’t mocking her. It was bright and almost boyish, the sort of smile that clichéd writers claimed could light up a room. He cupped her face delicately, thumb sweeping back and forth along her cheekbone, and she rolled them over so she could press their lips together.

  Victoria was very rarely ever without words. Being a litigator meant being quick on her feet, and she was quickest with Owen sitting across from her. But now her gift failed her, every snarky retort withering away when she looked into his eyes. She had never seen him like this, sincere and open and hovering on the edge of vulnerable. And then he was inside her, fingers flexing on her thighs as she lowered herself onto him.

  It was good. Too good, actually, for what this was supposed to be, and she forced herself to ignore the way her heart softened as she looked down at him. She snapped her hips, driving them both inexorably towards their peak. His gaze was heavy on her skin as she touched herself, his cock filling her so perfectly it didn’t take long before she was coming, falling apart with a sharp keen that had him groaning. The pleasure rolled through her, each crest sparked by the way he moved inside her, deeper and deeper, and then he was pulsing, coming with a harsh sigh that she felt in her bones.