Page 83 of Enchanting the CEO

"It's just that for so long we thought of her as the antagonist. It was unfair. If Helen hadn’t been in Dad’s life, he would have found someone else. It was just the way he was. I'm going to talk to Maddox and the rest. Not sure what I'll tell them yet, but I’ll lead with an apology.”

"Holy shit. You really are hard on yourself. Nothing I say will change your mind, will it?"

I smiled at her. "You can try."

"Hm, want to give me a hint?" She moved her shoulders playfully.

"Only after you tell me what you have in mind."

"That's not fair. It means I have to come up with some ideas in the first place."

"Yeah, but they're usually great," I assured her. "Then again, I think I'll like whatever you come up with."

Diane straddled me. She seemed to feel that I needed her closer. I liked this woman more with every passing second.

"Now that is proof of trust," she murmured.

"You have my trust completely."

Personal relationships and trust weren't something that even belonged in the same sentence in my experience. Not unless said relationship was with my family. But things were shifting faster than I realized, and I was looking forward to whatever came next.

Chapter Twenty

Diane

Tuesday was a big day. First, I wanted to talk to my sister, so I woke up early, baked muffins, and headed straight to her apartment. I also took muffins for the afternoon, when I was going to have a conversation with my boss. I'd told Celia yesterday that I was dropping by this morning because I didn't want to arrive at a bad moment, so she was expecting me.

She opened the door the second I knocked. I held the bag of muffins up and gave her a huge grin. She smiled, but it was a bit uneasy.

"Come in."

"You slept in," I said.

She nodded. "I did. Don't know what's gotten into me. What did you bring? Smells like muffins."

"You're right," I replied as I put four on a plate.

We sat down in the kitchen, and she stared at the bag. "How many more do you have in there?"

"A few, but they're not all for you. I'm going to talk to my boss today."

"How come?"

"Let's go over that later," I said, biting the inside of my cheek. "Look, I know you said you need some time to process, but I'm on pins and needles. We need to talk about Gabe."

Celia sighed. "I'm sorry I gave you two such a hard time. It wasn't my place to say anything, or to react in any way. You’re adults, and what you do doesn't concern me."

She sounded as if she'd rehearsed this.

"You're disappointed in me, aren't you?" I asked. My stomach twisted.

"No, I could never be disappointed in you." She reached over the table, grabbing my hand and squeezing it lightly. "I'm just worried about you, that's all. I know Gabe is a good person. I just don't know if he's, you know, a good partner or if he'll break your heart."

I shook my head vehemently. "There's no risk of that. Believe me, I don't have any fantasies of this going anywhere, and besides, with everything that happened with Chuck, I'm in no hurry to be in a committed relationship. So... are we good?"

Celia nodded. Her smile was a bit tight, and I knew she was still feeling uneasy about it, but I was happy that at least she didn't seem to be upset anymore.

"Now, what's that with George?"

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