Page 9 of Thankful for My CEO

I took his glass and mine and refilled them. I handed him his and placed mine on the side table on the other side of the couch.

I took my laptop with me as a buffer and sat as far as possible from Kit, at the opposite end of the couch. We typed and scrolled in silence for a long time, sipping our wine, when he looked up from his own laptop.

“You know,” he said. “We have the time. I know you prepared a slide deck for our meeting today even though I have all the information I need. Would you like to share it now? I’d love to learn more about Earthbloom.”

I got the sense he was bored as hell, and maybe trying to smooth over how dismissive of my work he had acted this morning. Two birds with one stone.

“Sure,” I agreed, honestly grateful at the chance to do my job. I felt like I hadn’t done much of it since I got here. I pulled up the slides for the second time this morning. Kit moved closer to me on the couch. I talked through the slides, maybe with a less polish than I had planned, but it felt good to get to go through what I had prepared.

“Any questions?” I finished.

Just as he opened his mouth to respond, the screen on my laptop turned black. “Dead,” I said, stating the obvious, and I set it on the side table next to my empty glass of wine.

Instead of returning to his side of the couch, Kit stayed where he was, just a foot away. His cologne mixed with the darkly sweet scent of the wine was going to my head.

Why the hell was he looking at me like that?

Not staring, but not looking away, either. Like he expected something from me.

My heart beat faster. The sound of the rain and hail melted away, replaced by the rushing of blood in my ears.

And then he leaned in and his lips were against mine.

As if it were the most natural thing in the world, I let my eyes shut.

He kissed me, so softly, tentatively, it drove me crazy. I pushed against him, urging him on, and he moved a hand to brush against my neck and finally settle to cradle my cheek.

His other hand held my waist, then moved to caress the curves of my hips, and then upward again against the thin fabric of my pajama top. I turned toward him and his palm brushed against my hard nipple, sending an electric jolt through me.

No. Lena. You can’t do this.

I pulled away, breathing hard. Kit looked at me questioningly. I could see the need in his gaze. It had been so long since someone had looked at me that way…

The voice in my heard grew louder. I thought about work, how to explain what had happened to Jeff without coming across as a slut and having rumors spread about me for the rest of my career.

I stood up from the couch, grabbing my wine glass and bringing it to the sink to fill it with some cold water. I drank it, facing away from Kit.

What the hell was I supposed to do now?

“Lena,” I heard him say, my first name sounding so odd from his lips. “I thought you wanted to…”

I gripped the stem of the wineglass harder.

Kit had no idea what it was like to be a woman in the startup world. He’d inherited his fortune. When he walked into a room of rich and powerful people, he had the privilege of fitting in seamlessly. He didn’t have to worry about the consequences of a single action fucking up the career he’d worked so hard to build…

I took a deep breath.

I had no choice. I had to put an end to this. Now.

Chapter 5

“I’m sorry if I gave you that kind of impression,” I said, coolly. “I’m not that kind of woman.”

“I didn’t think -”

“I know you must not be used to not getting what you want,” I continued, the words coming faster and with more venom. “But I’m not some kind of object here to keep you warm and entertained while we wait for the power to come back on.”

He shifted his watch around on his wrist, eyes downcast.

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