Page 34 of Followed By the CEO

She twists her lips, still eyeing me with skepticism. “And those laughs were genuine?”

This woman. “Mills, why do you think Stella wanted to hire you to do her company holiday party? Everyone raved about you.”

Mills turns and strides into the kitchen, where she opens the fridge and helps herself to a beer.

“Wow,” she says, shaking her head.

“Is that the only reason you’re here? To yell at me about the show?”

She takes a swig of the beer. “Yes.”

“Are you sure?” I ask, leaning on the marble island, watching her pace agitatedly while drinking my beer.

“Fine. No. Also because you were right about Peter. He’s a fuckin’ weirdo.”

“I told you he wanted to get into your panties,” I say.

“No!” Mills shouts. “He’s been trying to slowly, incrementally steal my dog!”

I give a time-out gesture. “Hold on. How does one steal a dog in increments?”

Mills takes another gulp of beer. “That’s not the point! The point is you were right about him, and I can’t believe it happened again!”

Wait, what? “What happened again?”

Her eyes are wide as she proceeds to beat herself up. “I once again failed to notice the bad signs about people. This is why I have so many good juicy stories in my comedy act. People blindside me because I don’t see the negative until it’s too late. I thought I was over it, but…”

I plant myself in her way and gently take hold of her shoulders. “Listen. For some people, it’s a skill you learn by healing. So it’s okay if it almost happens again, but you saw it. The fact is that you did see it before something bad happened. Other people are born with a crazy sixth sense.”

She blows out a tired laugh. “Like you?”

I lift one shoulder. “I come from a whole family of perceptive people. My mom and my sister are the same way.”

Confused, she shakes her head. “Okay? Congratulations, I guess.”

“I know this because after they saw your show last night they told me I needed to ask you out. And they didn’t even know that we made out.”

She stares at me, trying to decide whether to continue being upset with me or happy.

chapter

thirteen

Mills

“I feel so stupid.”

Hayden replies, “Don’t talk about my girl that way.”

He takes my hand in his and kisses the center of my palm.

“I should go. I don’t know why I came over here to yell at you. It was really nice what you did,” I say.

“But I should have checked with you first,” Hayden says, sliding his lips over to the tender spot between my thumb and forefinger.

“It was a nice surprise,” I rasp. “The nicest thing anyone had ever done for me.”

Hayden looks too good in those pajama bottoms and no shirt. He’s already caught me staring twice.

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