Page 23 of The CEO I Hate

I glanced over my shoulder. The mutt was still following us. Tongue out, tail wagging, zero shame. I stopped walking. So did he.

I looked at Mia.

“Do you want to explain…this?” I gestured at the dog like it was a crime scene.

She blinked at me, then looked at the dog. Then back at me.

“I don’t know,” she said. “He was just wandering around by the back lot. Looked a little lost…” She gave me a side-eye.

I frowned and made a firm shooing gesture. The dog stared me down, stretched like he had all the time in the world, and padded over. Slow, deliberate, tail wagging. Not a damn care in the world.

Then he sat directly on my foot.

“He likes you,” Mia said, smug.

I stepped back, carefully dislodging my new accessory, and turned toward the hallway. “Come on,” I said. “We’re already behind, and I have zero time to play animal shelter.”

Mia threw the dog a poorly concealedsee-what-I’m-dealing-withlook and followed after me.

“You should?—”

“Of course I should, and of course I will,” I cut in, already regretting every life choice that brought me to this moment. Behind us, the steadypat pat patof claws on tile continued.

“I’ll ask TJ to look into it and figure out whose dog this is.” I fired TJ a quick text as we turned a corner and a series of rooms appeared. “See, this is the hallway you want.” I pointed to a plaque on the wall that read Writer’s Alley.

I noticed her grip on her bag tighten, her knuckles going white. Her eyes blazed like she was resisting the urge to whack me with said bag. If I didn’t feel the need to keep my distance for safety’s sake, I might have given into the temptation to lean closer. Damn, she was gorgeous when she was hot and bothered.

“You know,” I said, lowering my voice. “If looks could kill, I’d be a chalk outline right now.”

“Don’t tempt me,” she muttered through gritted teeth. As we reached the door forEnd in Fire, she sucked in a deep breath and her shoulders dropped. Just like that, she transformed, her anger replaced by a smile so dazzling it could have powered the entire lot. She breezed through the door, her voice apologetic.

“Hey, everyone. So sorry I’m late!”

I moved to follow, only to feel a thump against my leg.

The dog.

Still here, apparently. I frowned, made a halfhearted shooing gesture, and closed the door. Carefully. Right on its snotty little nose.

There. Problem solved.

“Girl! Where have you been?” Jerome crowed. “Kait’s over here thinking worst-case scenarios. Do you want to know how many ways she came up with you dying?”

Mia laughed a charming little laugh as she made her way around the table to the empty seat. “This place is a maze. I totally got turned around.”

“Tell me about it,” Paula said. “My first week here, I spent every morning showing up to the wrong studio lot.”

I shot her a glare across the room. She was supposed to show solidarity withme,not with Mia. What the hell, Paula?

Mia slid into her chair and pulled out a stack of notes without a single glance back at me. It was as if I’d vanished into thin air. I walked across the room to my own chair. As I passed behind her, I whispered, “Nice job, Gretel. Looks like you found your seat.”

She didn’t look up or flinch, but I noticed the way her fingers curled into fists. The victory was small, but I’d take it. I sat down, pulling out my phone and bringing up my emails. It had taken so long to finally get started that I was going to have to multitask. I scanned through them quickly, then fired off an email to Carl with a list of things to do.

Did you get flowers to Cruz for his engagement?

Yes,Carl wrote back about thirty seconds later.He thanked you and said he’ll be back at the end of the week.

I grumbled. I would have liked him back sooner.Get one of the PAs to start preparing the agenda for next Monday’s meeting.