Page 28 of Small Town CEO Grump

“You don’t look so bad yourself,” I replied, hoping to lighten the moment a bit. I felt the intense attraction between us, and I knew there was nothing that either of us could do about it.

Ryan chuckled. “Thanks,” he said.

Ryan greeted Shanna while I said hello to Kevin.

We started to walk out of the lobby when Ryan turned to Kevin with a sly grin. “Hey,” he said, a mischievous glint in his eye. “You better give your fiance one last smooch before we go. Once we walk out those doors people will be watching, and we need to sell it that she’s my date.”

Kevin laughed. “Well, if you say so,” he said, pulling Shanna into his arms.

I laughed and looked at Ryan. “Do you think we can pull this off?” I asked.

“We have to,” Ryan answered.

Kevin came and stood by my side. “I can do it,” he said.

Shanna put her arm through Ryan’s. “So can I," she added.”

“Well then, let’s go,” Ryan announced, and the four of us walked out of the hotel and climbed into the waiting limo.

***

“This evening is going so well,” Ryan said. “I won’t tell Addie, but you would never even know she wasn’t here.”

I smiled. “Well, that’s a testament to how well she had it organized,” I said.

It was nearly 9:00, and I had to agree with Ryan that everything was going so smoothly. There had been several members of the press there to take photos and do interviews while everyone was arriving. The food was delicious, the band was very good, and everyone at the event seemed to be having a great time.

Ryan looked down at his phone. “I keep getting alerts about this event!” He said. “People are posting about it so often on social media that I think my phone is going to explode.”

“That’s awesome,” I said. “That means it is the place to be.”

Ryan chuckled. “And apparently everyone believes that Shanna is my girlfriend. Or at least that’s what all of the headlines seem to indicate.”

I shook my head and laughed. “Yeah, I noticed that all of the reporters seemed to be particularly interested in asking you about her.”

“Yep. Honestly, it can get really annoying. But thank you so much for thinking of Shanna. It was the absolutely perfect solution,” Ryan said.

“I am glad it could work out,” I answered.

At that moment a colleague called to Ryan, and he indicated he would be right there. He turned back to me with a gentle smile on his face.

“I should go,” he said. “If I stay talking with you too much longer people are going to start asking questions. Thank you again for everything, and I am really looking forward to breakfast tomorrow.”

I couldn’t help it smile. I could sense people from the office watching us, and I knew that people were wondering what was going on. I knew that Shanna had helped take suspicion off of us a little bit, but I also knew that we were being watched so closely.

“I’m looking forward to breakfast, too,” I said. “I will see you later.”

I went to find Kevin as Ryan walked across the room to find his friend.

The rest of the evening went by in a blur, and before I knew it, the last of the guests were leaving.

Bobby walked across the room to me, a big smile on his face. I smiled as he approached and realized that I hadn’t seen much of him during the night. He had been so busy taking care of all of the details, and I had been so busy working on my responsibilities that our paths had not crossed.

“Well,” he said, “We did it!”

“Thank you so much, Bobby,” I said, shaking his hand. “It was a truly wonderful night.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it. I enjoyed working with you as well, and I hope that we’ll get to work together again in the future.”

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