Page 69 of The Billionaire and the Maid

“Ignore Gus. Congrats, you two,” David says.

“About time,” Lorenzo adds.

We both start laughing, our turned-up lips still pressed together. “Is this how it’s always going to be?” Chase asks against my mouth.

“I’m afraid so,” I reply as we pull away and glance at our friends and family.

I look back up at him. “How did I get so lucky?”

“I’m the lucky one, princess,” he replies as he pulls me back to him for another smoldering kiss. I can hear the whistles from Gus, but I no longer care. The whole world disappears as Chase makes me the center of his universe. And for the first time all week, I’m excited, excited to start the year with the man I love.

CHAPTERTWENTY-FIVE

Chase

“Stop pacing,” Ella says. “You’re making me nervous.”

I stop and stare at her. She looks so good that for a moment I contemplate finding an empty office around here so I can take that exquisite pink dress off her and then spend the next few minutes losing myself inside her.

“You got this,” she says, her voice steady and calming. I nod. But I feel like my stomach is doing jumping jacks.

I’ve been practicing for four days for this presentation. Ward must have listened to me at least two dozen times. Ella hasn’t heard me speak of anything but my new shoe line idea since the day after we finally crawled out of my beach house. I had taken her there after our dinner date at Max’s restaurant, and we hadn’t left my bed except for bodily necessities for a full twenty-four hours. We barely registered the New Year, but we had fireworks of our own.

Now, I’m wishing I’d practiced more during that time. I look Ella up and down. Nah, those twenty-four hours were worth it. I grin at her, and she grins back.

Ward walks up with a bottle of champagne.

“What are you doing?” I ask.

“Pregaming. Obviously,” he says as he pops it open and pours us each a glass.

“Ward, I have to give a presentation any minute now,” I say. “I can’t be intoxicated.”

“You need to calm down. Take a few sips,” Ward says as he urges me to take a glass.

I humor him and take two sips, handing it back. I don’t want to admit that it tastes amazing. Damn him.

“Ward, I got this,” Ella says as she steps between us and wraps her arms around my neck. “Hi there,” she whispers.

“Hi,” I reply as I press my forehead to hers and close my eyes, breathing in her scent. I feel myself relax. I want to laugh. This entire time I was against serious relationships and here my girlfriend just needs to hug me, and I relax and feel ready for the biggest meeting of my career.

“Your idea is brilliant. It’s just what the company needs. We’ve been working on your graphics for the last few days, and everything looks amazing. If you can use even a fraction of the passion you’ve shown me for this idea while you’re in there”—she motions to the boardroom door—“then every one of those people will see just how amazing you are and how perfect this will be for the company.”

“How do you do it?” I ask as I press a quick kiss to her lips. I feel her smile against my lips, and she pulls back a fraction of an inch.

“Do what?”

I shake my head, unsure of how to even explain this. I open my mouth to try but then the boardroom door opens. Ella steps back as I turn to face my father.

“The board is ready for you,” he says as he looks from Ella to me. Since Ella and Ward helped me with this presentation, I invited them to take a seat in the back of the conference room. It’s not my first time pitching an idea to the board, but it is the first time I’ve pitched my very own idea, an idea that could change our entire company. And right now, they are about to vote to officially make me the CEO.

My father asks me to take a seat along the wall and I comply.

“The next item on our agenda is choosing the next CEO of Marino Shoes. Is there a motion?” my father asks.

An older man named Jim Terrance speaks. “I nominate Chase Marino. And I’ll make a motion to hold a vote to elect Chase Marino as the Chief Executive Officer of Marino Shoes.”

“Any discussion on the motion?”

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