Page 85 of Loving the CEO

"This is wonderful. I want to put it together right away."

"Let's do it."

"Really?" she asked. “You want to help?”

"Hell yes. What my lady wants, my lady gets."

Chapter Twenty

Tory

On Friday evening, Meredith and Natalie arrived at seven. They were each carrying a box.

"Hey, you didn't have to bring anything," I said as I welcomed them inside. "I’ve got food and drinks covered.”

"These are housewarming gifts."

My jaw went slack. "What? Oh my God. I hope I didn’t imply—”

"Not at all. You didn't think we would show up empty-handed, right?"

"I'm happy you're here at all," I confessed. The gifts were in Amazon boxes. I was dying to know what they were. “Go ahead and make yourselves comfortable. Do you mind if I peek inside?”

"Of course not," Natalie said.

I looked inside the bigger box and gasped. It was a coffee maker.

"I've had this on my wish list!” I exclaimed.

Natalie smiled as she and Meredith exchanged a quick glance. "Happy I bought something you like. Besides, Leo said you're a coffee lover."

"Oh, I am. And he's brought me coffee every day this week," I started, then stopped because Meredith and Natalie were looking at each other again in a rather knowing way. "Anyway, I'm glad to have my own coffee machine now."

The second box contained another item from my wish list—the waffle maker.

"Thanks so much. I’ve wanted one of these forever. Do you two want anything to drink?" I asked them just as the doorbell rang again.

"That will be the rest of the girls. They came in one car," Natalie said.

When I opened the door, Penny, Zoey, Diane, and Cami were standing in a group, all carrying boxes.

Oh, these girls!I never in a million years thought they'd come with gifts.

"Hi, everyone. Welcome. I was just about to make drinks.”

"We're all ready for that," Penny exclaimed. "Where can we put the gifts?"

"Here on the counter. Do you mind if I open them?”

"Of course not. I always say gifts should be opened right away instead of waiting until all the guests leave," Zoey said.

I smiled. "I quite agree."

Since all the girls were here, it became a bit obvious that my place was too tiny to have such a big party. But at least they could all sit down.

As I opened the rest of the gifts, my niggling suspicion turned out to be true. I’d gotten a flowerpot with an integrated water system, some TheraBands so I could do my Pilates, a set of towels, and another set of mugs—all of which were on my Amazon wish list.

The girls were looking at me eagerly.

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