Page 11 of Thankful for My CEO

It couldn’t hurt to let him say his piece, could it?

I stepped aside and motioned for him to come in.

He did and I shut the door. Instantly, the storm was muffled, and everything seemed eerily quiet. I started putting my things down, almost struggling to find my bed in the near darkness.

“May I explain myself?” he said, breaking the silence.

I nodded, then realized he might not be able to see me clearly enough to know I had. “Yeah. Okay.”

“I don’t think of you as someone disposable,” he began. “In fact, I can’t seem to stop thinking of you. I haven’t been able to get you out of my head since I saw you walk past the pool yesterday.”

I had no idea. He’d really felt the same way about me since the moment we met?

“I didn’t realize it was you, my connection at Earthbloom, of course, until you introduced yourself. I knew better than to say anything. But I didn’t know we would end up here -that we would -”

He ran a hand through his hair. My eyes were adjusting to the darkness of the room and I could see the genuine anguish on his face. It did nothing to stem the tears that were still welling up in my eyes.

“I don’t want a one-night stand. Or whatever you think of me,” he said. “That’s not me.”

The way he said it, I believed him. I wanted to.

“That’s not what I’m looking for. It never has been. I want todateyou, Lena.” Swallowing, I stared at a spot on the wall just beyond his face. I couldn’t bear to look into his eyes while he said these things.

“You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. You’re clearly so intelligent and you’re passionate about what you do. I want to know you. I want to do it right. Not like this.”

I blinked at him. Was I dreaming?

“Let me take you out when this is all over. I’ll buy you dinner and we can have a proper introduction. Can we start over, Lena?”

The way he kept saying my name with a catch in his voice… It almost made me want to say yes.

“I can’t,” I said, my voice flat. I sat down on the bed.

After the way he had just bared himself to me, I knew I owed him more of an explanation.

“I can’t date an angel investor. I could lose my job. And…” The real reason I was holding myself back spilled from my lips. “Don’t you think… Don’t you think we’re just too different? I mean, you came here to see your latest million dollar purchase. I basically came here to beg you for money.”

I could tell he didn’t know how to respond to that.

“You say you want to know me, but what if there’s not much to know? I don’t own a chain of high end resorts. I mean, I like volunteering with animals on the weekends and… and having coffee dates with my friends. Don’t you think you’d be ready to move on within a week?”

It was true. We lived in different worlds.

“I’m so sorry,” I said, finally looking into his eyes. “I really am, but I can’t see how it would work.”

I felt completed defeated and exhausted. I needed to be alone and he could probably see it on my face.

“I see.” He turned to leave, then paused. “Everything I’ve said still holds true,” he added. “But I… I understand. I’ll leave you now.”

“This never happened,” I said, almost desperately.

“This never happened,” he agreed, and then he left.

His dark caramel scent lingered for a long time after.

Chapter 6

The power coming back on woke me up.

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