Page 17 of Loving the CEO

Thirty minutes later, we were sitting at a small table. I was stuffing my face even though I'd also had beignets today, but I was suddenly extremely hungry.

"I don't want to sing our praises, but our cooking skills have vastly improved since college."

"You meanmyskills?" Leo said. "Yours were always good."

"I was trying to be nice," I confessed.

I ate faster than usual, only stopping after my plate was empty. "I'm so relaxed!" I put down my fork and leaned against the backrest, closing my eyes. "I feel at peace. Does that make me a bad person?"

"Fuck no," Leo exclaimed. His voice was so determined that I startled a little and opened my eyes. He was pinning me with his gaze.

"I'm not even sure how I'm going to face everything."

"Why should you?" he said. “He fucked things up.”

"I can't hide and leave Debbie to deal with everything."

Leo pulled his chair even closer to the table and leaned over. Was it the shots, or were his eyes even darker than usual? "I have a proposition for you."

"All right."

"You're still working for the online magazine, aren't you?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

"So, you can work from wherever?"

“Yes. The magazine headquarters is in New York, and I haven't set foot in the office since they hired me."

"Come to Boston with me," he said. I started to laugh, but Leo didn't. "I'm serious."

"And do what?"

"Take a time-out from everything."

I opened my mouth to protest but couldn't. The idea sounded appealing.

"That kind of feels like running away," I said after a few moments.

"You've just been dealt a very heavy blow, Tory. You deserve to take a step away from it all and find your footing. Am I wrong in believing that this would be easier for you if you weren't here?"

"Of course it would be easier. I wouldn’t be afraid of running into Walter or his family every time I left the house. Not to mention I haveto look for another place to live. I can’t live with Mom." I groaned. "I don't want to think of any specifics tonight."

"Then don't," Leo said. He moved his chair around the table so he was closer to me. "Just come to Boston for a while. You can sort out accommodations and everything else you need in New Orleans from there."

"Ha, but see, there's a flaw in the plan," I said, then promptly forgot my train of thought. Had I always been oblivious to how soulful his eyes were? Why was I fixating on that tonight? I blamed the alcohol. "I don't have a place to stay in Boston either."

"Yes, you do. I live in a huge-ass house. You're more than welcome to stay there for as long as you want."

"Leo, you haven't changed at all. You've always been very generous and kind. But this is crazy." Then why did it sound so appealing? For some reason, being so close to Leo made it hard to come up with cons.

The last few months with Walter had been strained—of course, now I know why. Did I suspect his infidelity? I really didn’t know. I’d been consumed with the wedding and put all my focus into it. But it was more than that. I’d been feeling distant from Walter for a while... and now I knew it was because we weren’t meant for each other. Maybe I really didn’t want to marry him either and was just too wrapped up in the wedding to admit it. Too cowardly to admit it to myself, much less to him.

"Just think about it." He put a palm on my upper thigh.

Oh yeah, it burned me good. And the heat was traveling to other regions of my body as well.

Holy shit, tonight is insane.I couldn't trust my own body, let alone my mind.

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