Page 110 of Flirting with the CEO

I stared at him. She’d talked to my brother about this?

"What the fuck?" Spencer asked. " I know you think highly of him, but that dude's got no right to do that."

"I do," I said, "and I told him that he's completely off base. But I think Zoey might believe that I think she's distracting me."

Jake shrugged. "Well, I mean, sheisdistracting you, dude, but that's for the best. That's exactly what you need. Someone to actually show you that there's more to life than work. Something that completely escaped you before."

"Like you weren't the same," Cade said, turning to him. “I like having my brother back.”

Everyone gave a resounding "Hell yeah."

Jake shook his head. "I never denied that.”

"But I didn't. I mean, I assured her that's not the case." I glanced around for a clock. "What time is it? I need to go over to her place."

Then I realized that I’d promised to call last night, and I hadn’t.Shit.

"That sounds like a smart strategy. Strike while the iron is hot and all that," Gabe said.

"You've got to revise your strategy. No woman wants to hear that you’re striking while the iron's hot," Spencer retaliated.

"I wasn't telling him to tellherthat."

For so long, I'd carried this need to prove that I gave everything my best. Work was all I knew, all that mattered to me. Somewhere deep down, with every new medicine I brought onto the market, I was closer to saving someone... the way I couldn't do for Mother.

But meeting Zoey changed that fundamentally. I didn't need work or breakthroughs to feel fulfilled. I needed to be with her, and I needed her to know it.

"All right," I said, standing up, "we'll catch up another time. I need to go see Zoey."

Leo and Nick looked at Maddox and said, "Yep, you were right. Gran is going to have a field day with this."

Maddox waved his hand. “We’re toast. Colton’s a done deal."

And I was. Deep in my bones, I knew I wouldn't need anyone except Zoey for the rest of my life. And it was high time I made sure she didn’t doubt that.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

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