Page 103 of Enchanting the CEO

I drew in a deep breath. I didn't usually raise my voice; not even during our breakup fight. He was the one shouting, whereas I was too busy trying to process what was happening.

“I've always had one. The only problem was, I was looking at you through rose-colored glasses. Now I just see you for the asshole you are. Have a nice life, Chuck. I never want to see you again. You've ceased to mean anything to me. You don't have the power to hurt me anymore."

"Really?" He smirked, then stepped closer. "You don’t have any feelings left for me? You have to miss me, at least in bed."

I burst out laughing. "I really, really don't. You're by far not as good as you think."

He set his mouth in a straight line and help up the laptop. "If this isn't working, you're paying for it."

I snorted and pointed at the gate. "Get the fuck out."

Damn it, why did I meet him here? I should have suggested someplace downtown.

"Fine," he sneered.

As I stood here, I realized he meant absolutely nothing to me. There was a time when I didn't even think I could look at him and not crumble. Now the only thing I really felt was intense annoyance and dislike.

I didn't move until I saw him close the gate behind him, and then I went back inside the house. I was in a foul mood for the rest of the afternoon. I wasn't even sure why; giving him that crappy laptop was cathartic in a way, but still, the annoyance of talking to Chuck persisted.

Needing to get my mind off it, I decided to put something together for dinner. While I cooked, I called Mom, as I hadn't checked on her in a while.

"Hey, honey," she answered right away. "What are you doing?"

"I’m whipping up a casserole," I replied, putting her on speakerphone while I moved about the kitchen.

"Ah, I'm starting to salivate through the phone."

"Anytime you want me to come cook for you, just say so. I'm loaded right now."

Obviously I wasn't loaded, but things were going well. As soon as she gave me the green light to visit her, I would splurge.

"No, don't you worry about me. We can FaceTime."

I sighed. Yeah, that was my mom to a T; she didn't want me to spend a dollar on her even though I’d gladly do it.

We talked a bit more about everything, and then she was ready to go.

"All right, honey. Get back to cooking."

"Sure, Mom. Love you."

"Love you too."

After hanging up, I noticed I had a message from Gabe.

Gabe: Got the final date from the team. The house will be ready in one month.

I couldn't postpone my search for an apartment much longer. I was going to start later today—right now, I wanted to finish the dish.

My casserole came out exquisite. I'd added some Parmesan on top as well. That wasn't part of the recipe, but honestly, Parmesan was life. No other cheese topped it, in my opinion.

At six thirty, I heard the door open and smiled. Gabe was home. God, I was going to miss having dinner with him every evening. We should probably talk at some point about how we were going to handle things if we didn't live together anymore, but today had been hard enough already. I didn’t want to tackle that too.

Gabe stepped into the kitchen and immediately came over to me. He turned me around and kissed me hard. I melted against him, returning the kiss with fervor. This was pure bliss.

He pulled back and cupped my face with both hands, pressing his thumbs on my lower lip.

"Tough day?" I asked.

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