Page 32 of Flirting with the CEO

The nerve of him!

I pushed my chair back, getting up and turning to look out the window at the city. The view usually grounded me. It was the quickest way for me to get out of my head, out of my thoughts. Not right now, though.

He'd attempted to build a business again. Had he really not learned anything from the mess he made at Whitley Industries? We were doing well now, but no thanks to him. In fact, we were doing welldespitehim. He'd left these companies in shambles, and it had taken a lot of effort over the years to bring them back on track and turning a healthy profit.

He'd all but destroyed our legacy, and now he wanted money? This was the most insane thing I’d ever heard. I'd never help him, not in a million years, and my brothers had better not either. We didn't want to open that door for him to be in our lives.

I turned my back to the window, glancing at my desk. There were a ton of things I wanted to get through today. I wanted to get back to my finance team, and I had to pull myself together. I sat down, staring at my computer screen, and immediately realized it was no use. I needed to get my mind off this and get in the ring.

Heading out of the office, I stopped by Darla’s desk.

"Hey, Colton, we need to change your calendar a bit," she started.

"We'll talk about it later," I said. “I’m heading out.”

"Oh. Oh, right." She frowned, looking at the calendar. "But you’ve still got a few meetings today.”

"Cancel tem. I'm going to the boxing ring."

She just nodded. Everyone knew if I canceled a meeting to go to the ring, then shit had hit the fan. They also knew I wasn't to be bothered with phone calls when I was boxing. Darla was a champ for keeping everyone at bay. "All right, consider everything canceled."

"Great. I appreciate that."

***

Zoey

It was six o’clockby the time I finalized everything for the electronic signature. If I got Colton’s actual signature before seven o'clock, I could even wrap it up today. Grabbing my iPad, I hurried to his office, but he wasn't there.

Strange.I checked his calendar. He didn't have any meetings scheduled.

I texted him quickly.

Zoey: Hey, where are you? I just need two minutes to get your signature, and then I can finalize the digital signature process.

I waited for a few minutes before checking the phone again. Not only hadn't he answered, but he hadn't even seen it.

Damn it. I really wanted to make this happen today.

I decided to ask his assistant where he was. She had her own office right next to his, and I knocked at the open door. Darla was in her fifties with a straight bob. Her hair was jet-black, and the style looked great on her.

"Hey, Darla."

She looked up and smiled. "Zoey, how can I help you?"

"Do you know where Colton is? I desperately need his signature."

"He's gone training. He won’t be back today. Can I help you? I was about to leave as well."

Crap.I bit the inside of my cheek, and Darla went back to her laptop.

I moved closer to her desk. "Any chance you can tell me where he's training?"

She glanced up at me. "Trust me, you don’t want to get on his bad side. That's the only place where he completely disconnects from work.”

“I want to finalize it today, but I can’t do that without his signature.” I was finally making headway with Colton. I didn’t want to risk him closing up completely and not giving me the time of day. “So, you know, what comes first, the chicken or the egg? Why don't we do this? You tell me where to go, and I promise I won't tell him that you gave me the address."

"Girl, I'm not worried about myself. Everyone knows where he's training. He just doesn't like to be bothered there."

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