Page 85 of The CEO Enemy

“Hey, Jessie,” Rutherford says brightly.

“Not now, sorry.”

He puts on a fake smile. “Jessie, I’m still waiting for your final answer. You haven’t answered my calls.”

Join the waiting list, buddy.

“I’m not selling to you,” she says coldly. “That was and is my final answer.”

Just before she walks into her office, I step forward. “Baby, can I talk to you?”

She might as well have said “Don’t you fucking baby me” with the glance she shoots my way, as if I’m the less-preferred choice, perhaps even the more questionable one, but then realizes I’m her fiancé—so she forces a happy smile, nods, and steps past me.

“Have a nice day, Mr. Rutherford,” I tell him.

He gives me a curt nod before he steps to the trash can by the guest sofa and drops the bouquet inside. It lands with a rustling, heavy thud. Then he walks off, empty-handed.

So much for Jessie.

Blackwood: 2, Rutherford: Still Trying to Catch Up.

Looks like we’ve got ourselves a worthy comeback.

I close the door behind us, following her citrus scent.

“I brought you something from Providence,” I tell her. “You’ll never guess what it is.”

She ignores me.

I put the box of griddle cakes down on her desk and walk to the window where she’s standing, looking out. I don’t step closer than absolutely necessary.

“How the hell are you doing?” I ask.

“Great.”

All right. “Care to tell me why it feels like you’re about to bite my head off?”

Jess sighs heavily and turns to face me. I’m met with a smooth mask of indifference, which is actually frightening, because I’ve never known Jess to school her emotions, unless it’s Rutherford-related. She has always been open and honest, and I’m not used to this closed-off version of her. “You really don’t know?”

“I don’t,” I admit.

“Really?” she asks, an ironic smile playing on her lips. “You think I’m stupid?”

“No, I know how capable you are.”

“Is that so? Because it doesn’t seem that way.”

Am I missing something here? Her competence has never been called into question, at least not by me, and I don’t understand why she’s addressing me as if I’m unaware of what she’s bringing to this establishment and her team.

“This is coming from a place that I’ve tried to silence for too long.” Jess crosses her arms protectively over her chest. “When we first met, you came off as such a douche and I thought you had changed my opinion with your actions and sweet words. But it turns out my initial thoughts of you were correct.”

“What are you talking about? Where’s this coming from?”

“I heard you, Sean.”

“Heard what?”

“Last night. I heard you on the phone with your father. You know, in the conversation where he told you to ‘finish with me and be done with it.’”

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