Page 14 of Handling the CEO

Sienna’s face is now red as she finally realizes how outmatched she is.

“Fine—be like that, Jon! You’ll regret this later. You could have had all of me!” The blonde huffs and tries to storm out, but the people are packed tightly as she has to battle her way out in defeat, making the whole escape quite anticlimactic. Unfortunately, as soon as she is out of sight, Dahlia moves away from me, and I immediately feel the loss, but I manage to put my hands in my pockets.

“A bit of variety?” I ask in a low voice.

“Well, I think the words you are looking for are ‘why, thank you DJ for saving me from my future child bride. I really appreciate avoiding my destiny of listening to Korean boy bands and hearing about the latest TikTok videos or something along those lines.” She crosses her arms and raises an eyebrow at me.

“Thanks,” I say through my teeth, but deep down I am in awe of her quick thinking and admire the fact that she came to help me. Just as I am about to tell her that, my ill-timed companion crashes our conversation.

“Hello, hello. Who do we have here—that was an epic takedown! Heard the whole thing! Should have recorded it really! I am Nathan, this idiot's better looking best friend... and you—gorgeous warrior princess, you are?” He almost bats his eyelashes as he turns on his 1000-watt smile. With his fitted navy shirt, rolled cuffs and strong build, I am about to send him packing, far, far away from her.

She looks at me and deadpans, “DJ, I work with the idiot.” And towards my mate—she is fucking smiling at him! “Very not interested, Nathan. But love the warrior princess line though, solid 7 out of 10!”

Nate giggles like a teenager before saying, “Ah, my heart is broken forever! I was about to drag this bonehead to a club... Do you want to join us? I would like to hear how to increase my score with you!”

I mumble something along the lines of “There will be no scoring tonight,” but DJ answers with an eye roll.

“Yeah, I think I will just be heading out. Nothing good will come out of me going clubbing. Have a good evening, guys!” she closes the conversation curtly and then darts towards the door.

“We’ll walk you to your taxi!” I intervene and grab Nathan by the arm to catch DJ before she goes out into a dark car park at night dressed in that outfit. Her necklace moves with her back as she waves through the crowd, her ass looking fantastic in that leather skirt. I have to elbow my friend as I spot him checking her out, which makes him grin.

As we approach the exit, Nate pushes me forward. “You go—I think I forgot... something at our table.” He winks at me and mouths a ‘go get her’ which gains him a middle finger from me, and an ‘asshole’ mouthed back.

Fucking asshole, leaving me like that.

I get out the door into the carpark looking for the maddening woman. However, I immediately lose my train of thought as DJ is a few yards away and is pushing a guy off her.

“Back off!” she shouts and bats his arm away, as an older man dressed in jeans and a black shirt shoves a phone close to her face.

I get there instantly and drag her behind me, though she squirms trying to get to him herself. I growl at the dude, prepared to put him down if necessary. “You better move several steps back NOW!”

“Jeez, it’s Jon McMaster, the actual CEO! It’s just my night!” The guy is absolutely giddy, which makes me glance at Dahlia, who seems to be fuming, holding on to my shirt but ready to deck the man. “Kev Greer from the ‘Observer’,” he continues. “Do you have a comment for the press on why you hired a convicted felon in your IT department?”

DJ

Ijusthadtoget out of there. Intervening was a mistake. Touching him was an even bigger one. Of course, I spotted them in the corner by the window as I sat down at my table to wait for my date.

Tall, broad-shouldered, dressed in black jeans and a black shirt, sleeves rolled up and his stupidly expensive watch on display with his sculpted forearms and sexy tattoos. A mane of light brown hair attracting every singleton in the bar like a cliché moth to the flame. My date—whose name I do not recall—was a nice pediatrician who got me a nice rose and tried to make nice conversation. Though him probably picking the busiest place in town was not the best idea. I struggled to forget about Jon as I attempted to explain my job, but frankly, nothing else was in my mind than the Man in the corner. So, I told him I didn’t want to waste his time and left for the bar to get another drink when I heard the obnoxious screech of his ex-girlfriend’s voice.

Somehow, seeing plastic-is-fantastic Barbie throwing herself at him, I thought to myself to go and ‘save’ him, as he was ridiculously trying to hold her off, akin to a bear fighting a monkey.

Then he put his massive arm around me and held me when I burst into laughter at his childish ex’s antics, and all years of being a strong independent ‘can stand on my own two feet and I don’t need a man’ bullshit went out the window. All I wanted was to not step out of his embrace, surrounded by that manly scent which I appreciate even more after seeing him in the hangar yesterday. But that is why I had to move when the ankle biter left with her tail between her legs. Luckily, his cheesy friend also provided some respite so I could escape.

Pushing my body as fast as I can towards the taxi stand trying to avoid them, and all of a sudden, a phone is in my face and a short guy is talking a million words a minute.

“Dahlia Jara! I work for the Observer! How did you get a job with McAv aviation with your criminal record? Does your employer know you are a violent offender?”

I only manage an angry ‘back off!’ and a push, when a giant shadow appears between me and the reporter I was about to pummel and thrusts me backward, in a clear protective move which I am not used to, but makes something flutter inside me.

“Jeez, it’s Jon McMaster, the actual CEO! It’s just my night!” The guy is delighted, and I am bordering on actually becoming a violent offender. “Kev Greer from the ‘Observer’,” he introduces himself. “Do you have a comment for the press on why you hired a convicted felon in your IT department?”

I can feel Jon stiffening in front of me as I clutch his shirt harder and want to say something to explain the total bullshit the guy is spurring. Then, suddenly, he yanks the man’s phone from his hand, lifts it high as the reporter tries to take it back but does not have the reach of my caveman. He goes into the apps deleting whatever was recorded, and he throws the guy’s phone a few feet toward an alley.

Jon thunders a “No comment,” then takes my hand in his massive one and starts dragging me after him. All I can do is follow him, leaving the reporter scrambling to find his device.

As I try to keep up with his long strides through the carpark, he abruptly stops in front of a large SUV, opens the passenger door and picks me up like I weigh nothing and almost throws me inside, closing the door. As he goes around to the driver’s side, gets in, then takes a lengthy breath and runs his hands through his hair.

“Jon, it’s not what you think. He was lying,” I begin, as he deserves an explanation, but I get a ‘shh’. He pulls out his own phone and starts a call, looking straight out the windscreen.

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