Page 24 of Followed By the CEO

Hayden shifts his weight from one foot to the other. “Out of curiosity, this guy has a key to your apartment?”

Dog business arranged, I stuff my phone back into my bag. “Yes. He looks after my dog while I’m traveling and he lets him out to potty when I have a late gig.”

“I don’t like it.”

I fold my arms over my chest. “You don’t like anyone to interact with me who’s not you.”

He laughs. “Now you’re catching on.”

I stare at his kind eyes and his handsome square jaw. Certain parts of me flutter spontaneously as I recall all the kissing and touching—and more—earlier today.

“One drink.”

He holds up his hands. “That’s all I ask.”

Why do I have the feeling that Hayden will be asking for way more than that?

Hayden pulls my chair out for me at Sandy’s, my favorite neighborhood bar with outdoor seating. I’m not a jazz fan, but I like that it’s never too crowded.

Hayden orders a summer shandy and I order a rosé.

“Do you not have better things to do than follow a comedian around town? Like, run your company?”

He shrugs. “I’m the boss. I’ve set everything up to run itself. I do what I want.”

“Congratulations. Corporate bosses are the reason I went into stand-up comedy full-time. Yet another reason we shouldn’t be together.”

“And this corporate boss thinks you work too hard,” he says.

“Says the man who’s not the boss of me.”

Hayden laughs at this. “You’re funny.”

“Hence why I earn the big bucks at the Laugh Lodge,” I say as the waiter serves us our drinks.

My date lifts his glass of citrus-scented beer and makes a toast.

“To working less.”

We clink glasses.

“We’re supposed to make eye contact when we do that,” he says.

“Who made up that rule?” I say.

“Normal people.”

“There are none of those at this table, sir.”

“Fair enough. It’s hard to maintain normalcy when all I think about is us.”

That came out of nowhere. And when the heat in his eyes arcs electricity me down to my core, I’m not prepared for it.

I awkwardly clear my throat and take a sip of wine. And then another one. And then I drink it all down in the next gulp.

“You seem flustered,” he says.

Flustered? Just out of my mind with confusion over my feelings.

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