Page 4 of The CEO

“What? I won’t sit and shoot the shit with you and now I don’t get a hug?” Ty joked before pulling me into a back thumping embrace. “Don’t be a stranger, King.”

“I won’t.” Or I’d try not to be. It was too easy to let work take over my life. I worked sixty to eighty hours a week lately. The only thing I did for myself was hit the gym each day and spend time with my dogs, but I knew I needed more. What that more was, I wasn’t sure of yet.

CHAPTER THREE

pria

I double fistedmy coffee cups as I stepped onto the elevator. It had been a long week, and I wasn’t even close to finished going through all the employee files of Titan Investments. I had not so lovingly started calling them the “G” files. I hadn’t seen the light of day since I started working here and I hoped that wasn’t going to continue after I decided the fate of who got to keep their job and who didn’t. While I didn’t relish the task of deciding the future of so many people, I did love my new office with its amazing city view and the money. I was already fantasizing about all the hot new outfits I was going to buy for work. Outfits I had a feeling my new boss would greatly appreciate.

I leaned back against the wall as the doors started to close only for them suddenly to open again. In walked Kingston Avery in another ten-thousand-dollar suit looking like a god. He looked as if he’d gotten a full ten hours’ sleep when I knew that wasn’t possible. Every night when I left, his light was still on and today was the first day I’d made it to work before him. It wasn’t fair for a man to look so insanely good. It was as if the gods themselves had molded him to perfection. I hated wheremy thoughts went when I was in proximity to him. I had a loving fiancé at home to remember, yet every time I was around my new boss, I forgot all about him.Haider doesn’t look like Kingston Avery. No one looked like Kingston, and there wasn’t a Kingston for everyone. Some of us had to settle for ordinary men instead in lieu of males who looked like Greek gods.

He nodded when he caught me in the corner half awake and stood on the opposite side. His large frame seemed to take up most of the space. Being closed in with him, I could smell his aftershave, cologne, or whatever it was, and it was intoxicating. I was sure women smelled it as he passed by and followed him around like lost puppy dogs. You didn’t even need to see his face or body; he smelled that good. There were probably a dozen of them standing at the front of the building now wondering how they got there. In that instant, I wanted to catch a cold or develop allergies so I wouldn’t be lured in by his scent. It could only lead to trouble.

Kingston cleared his throat and when I looked over at him, one brow was arched devilishly. “How’s the new job treating you, Ms. Wang?”

“I… It’s coming along. I feel like I missed something. A?—”

“I asked you twice how the job was going. Was I wrong in appointing you as the director of Avery Capital Holdings HR?”

“No, not at all, Mr. Avery. I just haven’t had my coffee yet.” I held up the two cups. “I’m useless without my morning coffee.”

“And here I thought you were bringing one of them for me.”

His chuckle was gravelly and smooth all at the same time making me hate him all the more. I looked down at my two cups trying to decide whether or not to give one to him when his large warm hand, touched my arm. Sparks ignited and traveled from where he touched me all the way up to the nape of my neck.

“I’m only joking, Ms. Wang. I guess I don’t have a sense of humor in the morning without my coffee, but don’t worry,I don’t plan to steal one of yours. I was going to make one in the employee lounge. Did you know there’s a Keurig and a cappuccino machine in there?”

I didn’t, otherwise, I would have saved the trip and avoided then line at Starbucks.

“No, sir. I didn’t.” I couldn’t help but notice how his green eyes lit up when I called him sir. Did Kingston Avery like his women to call him sir in bed?

Stop thinking about him in bed, Pria! Remember, Haider?

He smiled showing his perfectly straight white teeth. “Do you see something you like Ms. Wang?”

“Just fantasizing about drinking my coffee once I get to my desk.”

“That must be some damn good coffee you’ve got there.” He grinned as if he knew damn well I wasn’t thinking about my coffee.

He really was a cocky asshole.

“Does the elevator seem to be going slow this morning?” I felt heat rise up my body, all the way up to the tips of my ears. I desperately wanted him not to notice, but from the gleam in his eyes, he’d caught it.

“Really? I hadn’t noticed. I’ve been enjoying my time with you this morning.” He smirked. “I’ll have my assistant call down to maintenance to have them check it out.”

“Good.” I nodded and instantly felt stupid. Why did he get me all out of sorts whenever he was near? He was probably thinking he should have kept Wanda as the head of his HR department instead of me.

All day,as I read through the last fourth of the Titan Investments employee files, I couldn’t stop thinking about my ride in the elevator that morning with Kingston Avery. From his mega-watt smile to his intoxicating scent, I wanted to be stuck in that slow elevator again with him instead of trying to decide if someone deserved to keep their job or not. Ninety percent of the employees at Titan had nothing in their files to warrant their impending unemployment. They were great employees, many of whom had never even taken a sick day until Elias Titan’s death, which was surprising. Then there were the last ten percent that I wasn’t sure how they’d managed to keep their jobs. When I worked at Titan Investments Human Resources, it wasn’t my job to oversee them, but now that I’d read through their files, they’d all be looking for new employment as well as the director of HR with Kingston’s takeover.

I was a little nervous that once Kingston saw that I’d fired Ben Raider, the now unemployed head of Human Resources at Titan, he’d want me back over there. I didn’t want to have to show my face after deciding the fate of so many of my previous coworkers. Over at Titan I didn’t have a nice office with a view, nor did I have the amazing coffee I sought out in the early afternoon after Kingston had mentioned it. I hoped that he saw how hard of a worker I’d been since he’d hired me and would keep me around.

Haider: What time are you going to be home tonight? I’m going to make you dinner since you’ve been working so hard.

At least someone noticed.

Pria: Is an hour good?

Quickly I cleaned up my desk so I could get home and enjoy dinner with my sweet fiancé. I didn’t realize until I was on the train home to Brooklyn that Haider had never texted me back. Maybe an hour wasn’t enough time for what he had planned for dinner and he was busy trying to get it ready in time. It didn’t matter to me. It was the thought that counted, and I was happy I didn’t have to pick anything up once I got off the train. I’d help him if I wasn’t a disaster in the kitchen. Everything I touched turned into a burnt crisp or a soggy mess.

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