Page 34 of Taming the CEO

"Hey," she said as I opened the door for her to come in. "I'm not staying long. Hubs is waiting for me. I just wanted to drop off some cookies." We shared a passion for baking.

"Thanks. How come you’re not at school?”

"Half day today. Kids are going on a camping trip."

I quirked a brow. "And you have cookies left over?"

She grinned. "I set some aside for you." Kissing my cheek, she put the small Tupperware container on the counter. "We need a girls’ evening sometime soon," she said, pressing her hands on her stomach before putting them on her hips.

"Sure, I'm super flexible."

She tilted her head. "No more meetings with Maddox Whitley? Rumor has it you had dinner with him last night. And beat his ass at darts.”

“Both are true.”

"And you forgot to give me one important detail."

I looked at her out of the corner of my eye and munched on a cookie. "And what's that?"

"That he's hot as hell."

I tried to school my features. I'd specifically left that out when I told her about my first dinner with him.

“It wasn't relevant to the conversation.”

"Aha," she exclaimed. "But you did notice, right?"

"Yeah." Which might be why I’d been a little bit tough on him. I didn’t want his charms to sway me, and Maddox Whitley was Hollywood hot.

"Oh good. For a while there, I'd thought you might need glasses or something." she laughed. "So, tell me about last night."

"You came to fish for gossip," I accused her.

"Well, I wouldn't have to if you would just tell me outright."

"We didn't plan last night," I said.

My God, what did she put in these cookies? I could never keep my mouth shut when I was eating them.

"He and his brother Leo came to grab dinner," I continued. "One thing led to another... and I ended up beating his ass at darts."

"And?"

"And that’s it."

"Hmmm... you don’t look as pissed as when you were talking about him before."

I cleared my throat after eating yet another cookie. "I might have misjudged him. He’s not an ass. Just..." I didn’t complete the sentence because I wasn’t sure how to describe Maddox.

"Hot? Stubborn? Full of himself? All of the above?" Miriam suggested.

Grinning, I nodded. "All that, yeah."

I’d had so much fun last night. I had to admit that Leo’s comments completely disarmed me. And then Maddox had been so different from the previous times we’d met that I didn’t know how to react. He’d been relaxed and fun—not at all pushy. I couldn’t help but think that was the real Maddox.

Also, my God... why did he have to be so hot?

Miriam narrowed her eyes, pointing at me. "You’re hiding something. I’m not going to press—"

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