Page 19 of Flirting with the CEO

I stared at her. "Embarrassme? Right. You didn't hear everything, did you?"

"No, I left when she started berating you on why you're not dating."

"Then you missed the part where she suggested I date you."

I didn't know what possessed me to say that, but her face changed. She parted her lips. Her cheeks turned red. She brought her hand to her neck, rubbing her fingers on her bare skin, and swallowed hard. She was so expressive, it made me wonder if dating Zoey would indeed be a good thing.

"Oh my God, that's why you said you wanted to make it up to me. It made no sense to me." She laughed nervously. "Now it does."

She glanced at the stack of papers and then at the screen in front of me, where my inbox was open. Her blush intensified. "Where was I?"

Damn, she was cute.

Her voice was high-pitched. I was enjoying this immensely. Until now, she'd been the one who rattled me, but for the first time, I was able to do the same to her. And her reaction was delicious.

"I believe you were telling me my grandmother should embarrass me more often so you can get your way."

"Oh yeah," she murmured.

She looked from the screen to me. I was certain she was going to start talking about my email, but she seemed to be bursting at the seams with another question.

"Whatever it is, just say it," I said.

"Why would she even say that? I mean, why me?"

I laughed. "It's very hard to explain how Jeannie Whitley's mind works, but I think it boils down to the fact that she likes you."

"I like her too. She seems to be a very warm person."

"She is," I said. “I owe her everything. And Grandfather too. The two of them dealt with a lot."

"After your father left?" she asked. I felt cold. I never spoke about my father. "I'm sorry,” she murmured. “I just found out, and it’s still messing with my mind."

"You didn't know before you arrived here?"

"I truly didn't. I only read the recent history of the company, and it never occurred to me to look into the family. Anyway, I'm sorry for bringing up the topic. It's none of my business."

It wasn't. I could simply shut her down, but I didn't.

"Our grandparents are amazing people. And I indulge Grandmother a lot.”

“You're a good grandson," Zoey said in a soft voice. She glanced back at the computer. "Let's get started!"

She didn't push, didn't press, or ask anything further, and I appreciated that more than she could know.

We spent the next twenty-five minutes going through one hundred of my emails, and that was a good start. On every email, she made notes about the sender and the project.

At the same time, she walked me through all the papers.

Frankly, it was a miracle that she managed to do all that in twenty-five minutes, but for the first time since I found out she was going to spend some time with the company, I didn't think this was a total waste of time. I could see why this would be beneficial, and I couldn't deny it: I liked being in her presence. She was smart, witty, and definitely didn't shy away from going toe to toe with me.

"All right, Colton, I have a flag system set up in different colors. Over the next few weeks, I’ll monitor your inbox and sort it according to priorities in this folder right here." She pointed to the left of the screen. "How does that sound? That should shave some time off your workload while getting you to address the most important topics in a prompter manner."

I got another whiff of her perfume. Now I was obsessing over it. It was a honey smell combined with something more, but what was it? I didn't recognize it.

"That sounds good," I said.

"I also think there’s some potential in reducing the number of email responses. I mean, you come into the office anyway, and some of these things are more efficiently discussed in person."

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