Page 7 of Her Innocent CEO

“It’s bad luck,” she scolds me, and I wince, folding up the umbrella and tossing it to one corner of the elevator.

“I’m parked about a half a block away,” she tells me as the doors open.

The basement parking lot is full of cars, but no people. The sounds of the alarm are in full swing and there’s some commotion out on the street.

“Lead the way,” I tell her, and making sure I still have my laptop and my pockets full of cash, I take in another view of her fine heart shaped ass as it moves away from me, drawing me to it like a magnet as I pick up speed just enough to keep up but stay behind her far enough to keep watching her move.

Everyone on the street is heading towards the building, looking up and pointing, filming a whole lot of nothing on their phones.

The best cover in a getaway, I tell myself, is an accident or at least a fake one.

Nobody rushes to help or get involved, but everybody wants to come and take a look.

For now, all eyes are up and away from us as the helicopters start to circle the roof of the building again.

True to her prediction, it’s not far and soon enough we’re both heaving, a little breathless but mostly from excitement as she fidgets for the keys to start her small hatchback which I fill almost completely.

I’m not sure if she’s laughing at me looking so ridiculous doubled over or for the simple fact we got away.

Either way, I’m glad to hear her laughing and can’t help but join in a little myself.

“Let’s so!” I call out to her, pointing straight ahead. Not wanting to spend one more second squashed inside her car, but happy to spend any amount of time in her company.

Chapter Six

Jasmine

The freezing water is more of a shock to the feds in their cheap suits than the sudden sight of two people pushing past them with umbrellas.

It all only takes a few seconds, which I know is all Maddox needs to get us out and past them to his elevator, which looks just like another panel in the wall.

I’ve never even noticed it before.

Everything he does seems to have purpose, like he just knows everything will work.

Setting off a whole floor’s worth of fire sprinklers?

Hey, it’s his building. He made the decision, not me. It’s a hell of a reason to skip off work too.

And I’m glad he did. Apart from being a little soaked, we’re out of the building in no time and hustling it to my car.

I can feel Maddox watching me as I walk briskly the half a block. I’d normally feel self-conscious but his low sounds of satisfaction, and the fact he’s lagging just to watch my ass is a little flattering.

Weird, but flattering.

My car on the other hand…

He’s a huge man. At least six foot five, maybe a tad more plus built like a linebacker.

Without even flinching, he crams himself and his laptop into the front seat before he commands me to drive.

To the hotel I know my boss uses to entertain her clients.

“What did you do?” I ask, I have to ask. “Not the sprinkler thing. What did you do to make all those men want to arrest you, take over the whole building?”

He thinks for a second before answering, because I know he wants to tell me the truth.

“Honestly, Jasmine? I’m not even a hundred percent sure myself, yet. But I’ve been set up and I need a few days to sort it out.”

I know it’s the truth, but I still can’t get my head around why he’s picked me to help him.

I’m staring at him, my mouth gaping open again when the lights change and he casually lifts his finger to signal me it’s time to move along.

“Let’s just get to the hotel,” he says softly. “We can get out of these wet clothes and I can do some thinking.”

I’ve never been to a fancy hotel and I’ve never been on the run before. I’ve never had a man in my car either so my mind’s about to explode when I think about the possibilities.

His looks, his hands on me under the desk.

What would he have done if we weren’t interrupted?

Is he going to do it again?

Helping me with directions once he sees I have no idea where I’m going, we eventually reach the hotel. A huge, five star place right in the middle of downtown traffic.

“Pull into the underground parking,” he tells me, and I feel my heart freeze.

Looking down at the gas, I realize I have barely enough to get us into the parking lot, let alone pay to keep my car there.

Reading my mind, he fishes into his pocket and produces what I think for a second is a stack of crisply minted fifty dollar bills.

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