Page 29 of Accidental Attraction

“Now, on a less serious note, let’s go get something to eat. I’m starving!” Smiling, I nodded and walked alongside her.

***

“There you two are!” a familiar female voice yelled.

“Damn it,” Julie muttered, coming to a stop and turning around.

For the last hour and a half, we had been able to hide from Lilly. We got a quick bite to eat at Panera Bread, and we were even able to go to Victoria’s Secret before Lilly found us. I’d never been inside one before, but with Julie being a Victoria’s Angel, we were immediately welcomed in and given free reign of everything. Let’s just say it was embarrassing having your fiancé’s sister picking out lingerie, as well as bras and panties. I had at least three bags full of stuff, and I was going to make sure to hide the lingerie deep in my closet.

“Where did the two of you run off to?” Lilly’s loud voice was coming closer. The few people around us turned to look at her weirdly, but she paid them no attention. “I was worried that you were kidnapped or something!” She came to a stop in front of us, her eyes narrowed.

“Sorry, Mom, I was hungry, as was Jenna, so we left,” Julie interjected, thankfully. I didn’t want to answer.

“You could have at least told me you were leaving!” She pointed a finger at us.

“Sorry, but did you at least pick out some flowers?” Julie changed the subject.

“I did. I put them on hold so we can go back there with Liam. You two can pick out which ones you like the best,” Lilly replied.

“Oh, uh, thank you,” I said.

“Since I found you two, should we go dress shopping now?” Lilly asked.

“You’re not hungry?” Julie asked.

“When I couldn’t find you, I ate by myself.” Lilly waved it off. “Let’s go wedding dress shopping. The owner of the boutique is waiting for us,” was all she said before turning and walking off, clearly expecting us to follow.

***

Liam

“Mr. Stanford, your meeting is at three-thirty, which is in five minutes,” my assistant said, walking into my office.

“Thank you, Willa,” I said, finishing up a text I was sending to Blake. I had gotten off the phone with Jenna just a few minutes ago, and I couldn’t help but worry for her today. My mother could be a lot to handle, especially when it came to planning a wedding. Julie would be fine, but if she wanted answers from someone, she would get them.

I’d felt weird ever since my date with Jenna on Saturday. I couldn’t put my finger on why, but I just did. I had a great time playing laser tag with her, and then, when we were in the bouncy house, all I had wanted to do was kiss her. She looked so cute, jumping around with her blonde hair flying around her face. She looked happy, and I was glad I could get her mind off her mother. I wanted to see her smile and hear her laugh all day every day.

After hearing the story behind her mother leaving her, all I wanted to do was march right up to Karen Brotherson and demand to know why she would do such a thing. How could anyone leave Jenna? Shaking my head, I forced myself to not think about that anymore. It was starting to drive me crazy.

I gathered my phone and stood, straightening my tie and suit before leaving my office and heading to the conference room. Because I missed half a day last week and didn’t answer my phone over the weekend, I was still trying to catch up on all the work. Being CEO was hard, and since I was the son of the founder of the company, I had more work to do because everyone expected me to be just like my father.

I wasn’t complaining, though. This was what I wanted. I wanted to run this company as well as my father and to make him proud. I technically was already running the place, but once I married Jenna, my father would officially give me the reins. Of course that didn’t mean that he wouldn’t pop up and do things around the office or that he wouldn’t know every single thing that happened around here.

Ever since I got hurt playing football in college, the dream of being a professional player flew out the window, and I focused on taking over the company. Seeing my father be successful in building a company from the bottom up and still be a great father really made me want to do him justice by taking over his responsibilities. It had been five years since my so-called “dream” of being a professional football player, and now I could not help but laugh at that ludicrous idea. I couldn’t see myself doing anything other than running this business. In my football days, I had been young and stuck on an idea, not really thinking of the future.

As I sat there listening to the department heads talking about our hotels and companies, I tried to keep my mind off of Jenna. Since the day I met her, she hadn’t left my mind. She had always been on the back burner, but now she was front and center. I did really feel bad for behaving like such an ass when I first met her, and I couldn’t have been happier when she told me she forgave me. For some reason I didn’t want Jenna mad at me. At first the idea of living with an unknown girl was something I didn’t want. That was why I put Jenna in the guest room, which was the furthest from my room. But now, after living with her, I had found myself liking our situation. I liked that she knew how to cook and that we cooked together every night. I liked that she didn’t mind staying home at night and on the weekends instead of going out and spending money or partying.

I didn’t hear a word that was said throughout the meeting, and when I came to, everyone was starting to get up, gathering their things.

“Good job, everyone,” I said, standing up and buttoning my jacket and quickly leaving the room. I mentally scolded myself for not listening at the meeting. I really needed to stop thinking about Jenna so much. You like her more than you want to admit, said the annoying voice in my head. Shut up, I replied, heading back to my office.

Shutting my office door behind me, I went to my desk and sighed. I looked out my window and took in the view. All I really wanted to do right now was go home and be with Jenna. I wanted to hear what her afternoon was like. I even wanted to tell her about mine, which I had never wanted to do in my life. The ping of my phone had me reaching for it. Glancing down, I felt a smile appear on my face and my heart flutter a little when I saw Jenna’s name appear. All her text said was that she was home, but it was enough to make me hurry and text back and for my heart rate to speed up.

Maybe I did like Jenna more than I thought.

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