Page 126 of Loving the CEO

"I know. That's why I showed it to you. Although...," he began.

"Don't say it."

"We could bepartners."

I shook my head. "I love you, Leo, and I know you're offering because you also love me, but I want to do this on my own."

He kissed one corner of my mouth. "And I accept that. It would be hypocritical of me not to."

"How fast...?"

"Can it be yours?" He finished for me.

"Exactly."

I was too excited to fully form sentences, but my man could already finish them for me. That's how well he knew me.

"I think we can close in less than two weeks."

I jumped up and down with joy. Leo stepped back, giving me a wide berth. I grinned at him, clapping my hands.

"This is the best thing ever." I looked around wistfully. "I’d like to stay longer, but we should get going, right?"

"Yep. The celebration will be starting soon."

We were all gathering at Jeannie and Abe's house. We were celebrating Abe's birthday, and this was the first big family event that Jake and Natalie’s little munchkin was also attending. We'd taken turns visiting her parents after she was born, and now she was finally joining us too.

"You’re thinking about Halsey, aren't you?" he asked.

"I've missed her a bit. And I bought her some gifts."

Leo laughed. "Again? We were given specific instructions not to buy more toys."

"Yeah, about that. I don't plan to follow them. But let’s hurry."

"We can always come back later."

I didn't miss the twinkle in his eye.

"You've got dirty thoughts about this place, don't you?" I teased.

"So fucking dirty," he said.

A shiver went through me. I rose on my tiptoes, bringing my mouth to his ear. "That's fine because I've had some myself." Then I walked right past him.

I heard him growl when I was at the foot of the staircase. I looked over my shoulder. Even from this distance, I noticed that his eyes had gotten darker.

"Come on, sexy man. We don't want to be late."

But we were anyway.

As we walked up to the house, we noticed Nick parking as well. He opened his window and called, "Wait for me." Then he climbed out and grabbed something from the back seat

We stayed on the steps of the porch, and I burst out laughing when Nick headed our way. He was carrying a huge-ass box. By the pink colors on it, I knew it was a gift for Halsey.

"No one's going to pay attention to the no-gifts rule?" Leo asked as Nick approached.

Nick glanced at the small bag I was holding and grinned at me. "I don’t know about the rest, but I've never followed the rules, so I don't plan to start now."

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