Page 29 of Enchanting the CEO

One hour later, Antoinette said, "Oh, I believe we’re up."

"Yes, we are. Do you want to meet weekly?"

"I don’t think that’s going to be enough. I really want to be able to converse in English more often. Do you have time twice a week?"

Did I have time? Goodness, I did. "Yes, of course," I said, trying to keep it together and not burst out in a happy dance.

"Good. Then I'll book through the website."

"Great. See you, Antoinette."

"Wait, are you sure you don't want me to do any homework?"

I shook my head. "No, not yet. I think that would definitely take the fun out of it. And I honestly don't think you need it."

"All right, then. See you later this week."

"Yes," I said before closing my laptop.

I looked around, sighing. I had yet to buy my twinkle lights and drapes. The plan was to make this place cozy, make it mine. I was warming up to it. All the cracks just meant the house was old and had character.

Then I remembered I was going to meet Gabe downstairs. Grabbing the phone, I checked my messages and completely deflated when I realized he hadn't written anything back. What exactly was I expecting? That he'd want to throw a party together? Maybe he just wanted to go through some rules regarding cohabitating.

I went downstairs, shoving the phone into my back pocket. The staircase creaked under every step, but I liked it. It wasn't creepy, just old. I wondered who lived here before and what their stories were. Why did they move out?

A strange smell snapped me out of my thoughts. Someone was cooking, but Gabe told me he wasn't any good at that. I sniffed the air. It smelled like burned food.

I jumped down the last four steps, nearly breaking my ankle because I skidded on the floor, then went into the living room. The door to the kitchen was open. Wafts of black smoke were coming out of it.

"For fuck's sake," Gabe exclaimed.

His voice had come from inside, so I hurried that way, trying to ignore my pulse going up.

The smoke was even darker in there, and I wondered how the detector hadn't gone off. I looked up at the ceiling and saw Gabe had removed it. He'd also opened the window.

"Can I help?" I asked.

He looked in my direction. "Great. You weren't supposed to see this part."

I grinned. "What's this?"

"I wanted to return the favor for dinner," he said, pointing to the scorched pan in the sink.

"That's probably going to need about a year or two to soften up," I remarked.

"If it's salvageable at all."

"It is. I've saved a few pans after Celia tried to cook.”

I stepped past him, making sure not to accidentally touch him, and inspected the pan. It looked absolutely dreadful. Had he fried peas? There was no way to tell.

Gabe moved close enough for me to feel the heat of his body.

I straightened up, carefully turning, and took stock of him. He'd rolled up his sleeves and was wearing an apron. Fuck me, the only way he'd be sexier was if he took off his clothes and went commando.

You never know. Maybe I'll have the chance to spy on him naked while I live here.

Great, we’d been in the same room for almost two minutes, and my thoughts were already spinning out of control.

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