Page 93 of Loving the CEO

By the time we finished our conversation, I’d arrived home. I went straight into the shower. I'd already had one at Nick's gym, but I wanted to be super clean for my date. The plan was to have dinner beforehand and then enjoy the meteor shower.

At 7:00 p.m. on the dot, I texted Tory.

Leo: Are you ready?

She didn't reply. In fact, she didn’t even see the message. Maybe she was in the shower. I decided to head to her place instead of waiting for her text me back.

A few minutes later, I parked the car in the usual spot in front of her building. I felt so damn proud of my idea for tonight. It would make Tory happy.

I went up the staircase and knocked at the front door. There was no answer. I knocked again.

"Tory?" I called.

Fuck, what if something happened to her?

I rang the bell, and finally I heard footsteps hurrying toward me. She opened the door the next second. Her eyes were wide, and her hair was a complete mess, but an adorable mess. She was wearing a T-shirt that barely hid her pussy, and as luck would have it, half her ass was on display.

"Oh my God. I fell asleep after work. What time is it?"

I looked her up and down, taking a deep breath. "Seven fifteen."

She narrowed her eyes. "I don't think I heard you."

"That was a growl, but you can't blame me. Look at that bare ass. I'm surprised I haven't pinned you against the door yet." It wasn’t totally bare, but it would be shortly if I had my way.

She went deeper inside the apartment, and I closed the door.

"And you're about to rectify that right now, huh?" Even though her eyes were sleepy, she seemed alert. "Give me a few minutes so I can take a shower and be fully awake for when you plan to attack me."

"Tory," I said slowly.

"Ah, when you growl at me like that, I can't really resist you." She ran her hand through her hair. "Ugh,” she screeched. “I have a bird's nest and morning breath in the evening. Just sit on the couch and wait patiently while I take a shower, all right?"

Before I even had a chance to reply, she darted toward the bathroom.

This woman was something else. I fucking adored her. I couldn't believe she was part of my life again. That she was here in Boston.

That she wasmine.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Leo

I noticed that she had several long pieces of wood resting against the wall. When had she gotten those, and what did she plan to do with them? They looked like shelves. Why didn't she tell me anything about it?

I went over to the stack and saw an instruction leaflet on the end table next to it. She’d already mounted one, and by the looks of it, it was a botched job. I could do it so much better.

She'd left the tools, so I checked the clock. She always needed a long time to wash and fix her hair. We'd arrive at our picnic later than I’d planned, but I had enough time to do this.

I glanced over the instructions once and then set them aside. I'd always been very handy at putting things together. It was one of the reasons why I liked to flip houses from time to time. I certainly didn't need the money, but I enjoyed the manual labor.

The shelves were easy work, and within thirty minutes, I'd managed to put all of them up. I could hear the hair dryer from the bathroom, so I knew she wouldn't need much longer.

A few minutes later, she came out fully dressed and twirled around.

My heart went boom, boom, boom in my chest, threatening to burst through my rib cage.Wow.

"What do you think? Ready for whatever you have in mind for tonight?" Then her mouth formed anO. "You built my shelf.”

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