Page 126 of From Rivals to I Do

Aside from being her boss, she doesn’t seem to care about who I am, and I love that. I can feel myself letting my guard down when I’m around her, and

that’s such a rare occurrence for me. But, truthfully, I enjoy being around her, which is odd for me.

She even opened up to me about her experience with acting, and I respect her so much for it. It’s a tough industry, and accepting that your dreams might

not come true must be very difficult. But I think she is wrong. She mentioned not standing out, and that is far from the truth.

When I return to my penthouse, I sit down on the couch for a few minutes, flipping through the channels to find something to watch. I take a deep breath

and stare at a painting hanging over the TV stand. It’s a natural landscape with plenty of greens and a warm sunset shining through. I didn’t paint it, and I don’t think I could ever have that level of skill. But after talking to Rayne, I feel inspired.

I dig out my paints and a canvas from the hallway closet and start mixing colors. When the first brush stroke hits the blank white, my mind is completely

transfixed on what’s in front of me. Blues and greens mix with a soft peach color, and my hands follow some invisible outline as they bring my vision to life.

Everything else around me fades away. It’s just me, the canvas, and the brushes. My mind is blank and completely serene for the first time in ages. I’m not

worried about the business, relationships, or lack of tabloids – anything.

I pull away from the canvas after some time and look over what I’ve created. The painting is a pair of eyes. A woman’s eyes. Bright blue with specks of

green inside of them, there’s happiness inside of them that is magnetizing. I recognize the eyes immediately.

They’re Rayne’s eyes.

I set my brushes down and sit across from the painting. For the first time, I’m actually proud of what I’ve made. Of course, the eyes in the painting are

nowhere near as beautiful and vibrant as Rayne’s actual eyes, but I feel like I’ve done a pretty good job capturing them. I could stare at them all night.

I have to catch myself as my mind wanders. I’m her boss. Even if I do think she’s attractive and fun to be around, nothing can ever happen between us. It

would be extremely inappropriate, and the last thing I want is to have a scandal hovering over me like every other CEO.

I can see the headlines now: “Kapino Homes playboy CEO has a secret love affair with his assistant.” I can’t let something like that happen, not now when

my father trusts me to run the business in his steed.

I take a deep breath and exhale as I take one last look at her eyes before I pack up the canvas and put it back in my hall closet.

Chapter eleven

Chapter Eleven

My alarm rings an hour earlier than normal. Yesterday was kind of a disaster, but I planned to make it up to Leonard today. Or at least I hope I can. I’d go in, find

the manual, and prove to him that I can do my job without issues. He told me it was fine during the car ride home last night, but there was no way I could keep

this job if I couldn’t get my things together.

Unfortunately, my clothes still haven’t arrived, so dressing professionally wasn’t much of an option with my wardrobe. However, my mom has a decent

selection of clothes I can always steal from. So I sneak into her room and raid her closet, pulling out a lovely black pencil skirt and a black floral blouse with a

tie collar.

Before I leave, I walk into Charlee’s room and kiss her forehead. She stirs a bit and quietly groans before rolling away from me.

My train ride into Manhattan goes smoothly, and I arrive at the office about forty-five minutes early. As soon as I get in, I start the coffee pot and get to

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