Page 48 of The CEO

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

kingston

Pria smiledup at me as we broke apart, but it didn’t meet her eyes. It had only been two weeks since everyone at Avery Capital Holdings heard rumors about us and then we came out. If coming out was stepping off the elevator holding hands and me giving her a light kiss as we went our separate ways.

I’d filled out the paperwork stating we were a couple and so had Pria, so I wasn’t sure what was happening with her. Every time I asked her how her day was she said it was fine, but I knew it was anything but. Whitmore had come to my office and informed me of the rumors about Pria and me. None of them were good and to make matters worse, my secretary continued to flirt with me every chance she got. Pria and I had been having lunch in my office every day (with no sex, much to my disappointment) and I had a feeling she’d caught Sandy flirting with me one of the days when she brought in our lunch. Pria hadn’t mentioned it, but it did seem to make her pull away more.

The only good thing that had happened was my secretary had started to do more of the work she should have been doing from the moment she started working here. Little did she know,nothing she could do would put her in my good graces. She would be fired, it was only a matter of when.

Not only was Pria dealing with the bullshit at the office, but she’d been helping her new friend, Adele, with the event that was coming up at the end of the week. Even as busy as she was, Pria had been going to bed early and sleeping in every morning. It left us little time outside of the workplace and we barely saw each other at work, to begin with. That’s why I had started having lunch with her every day in my office.

I wasn’t sure if she was depressed about work, if she was pulling away because she was planning on ending things with me, or if it was something else. Whatever it was, I was afraid I was losing her when I’d only just gotten her.

Pria

The momentI stepped into the fundraiser, Adele grabbed me by my arm and dragged me into the corner. Her green eyes scrutinized my down-turned face. “Are things still not better at work?” I’d told her everything hoping for advice from an outside source. Things had gotten somewhat better, but there were still people whispering and snickering as I walked by. I couldn’t tell King about it. His solution was for me to fire anyone who made me uncomfortable and I couldn’t do that. It wasn’t all bad. There were a few who said King was tolerable now that I’d come into his life and thanked me for it.

“Today I didn’t even notice.” Tears stung my eyes and I bit my bottom lip. “My grandmother is in the hospital. Sadly, wehaven’t gotten along since I left to go to college and now, I don’t know if I’ll ever get the chance to talk to her.”

Adele’s mouth open and closed. She gave me a side hug. “I’m so sorry.”

“Thank you. I just want to talk to her and try and get her approval even though I know no matter how hard I try I’ll never get it.”

“Why not?” she asked softly.

“My family is very traditional, especially my Lao Lao.” At her confused face, I explained. “That’s what I call my grandmother. She thought I should get married and stay home instead of going to college and working. I’ve been avoiding her since I found my ex-fiancé fucking someone on our kitchen table and moved out.”

“I’m so sorry, Pria. I didn’t know. I would have understood if you wanted to skip out on tonight.”

“This is a nice distraction from everything going on in my life. When I’ve helped you, I forget about my problems and that’s a nice change.”

“While it might be nice to run away from your problems for a little while, what are you going to do? Have you talked to your boyfriend? What does he have to say?”

“Nothing because I haven’t talked to him. While he’s sweet to me, he can be a real asshole and his solution at work is to fire anyone who even looks at me wrong. I’ve been keeping it to myself and being a pretty bad girlfriend. I’ve decided, though, that I’m not going to let them get to me. I love my job and I can’t imagine not seeing King every day. Ever since we came out, he’s cleared his lunch schedule so we can have lunch with each other.”

“He sounds like a good guy.”

“Surprisingly, he is. At first, I thought he was a cocky asshole.”

Adele stifled a giggle. “They do seem to make a bad first, second, and third impression, and then they surprise us. By the way, where is he? I thought he was going to be your date. I was hoping to meet him so I could thank him for his generous contribution.”

“He should be here soon. He had something come up and I wanted to stop by the hospital to see if there was any change in my grandmother, so we came separately. I want to thank you for being a good friend these last couple of weeks and talking me down from the ledge.”

“You don’t have to thank me. In fact, I should be the one thanking you for helping me with everything. I’m not sure the night would be a success without your organization skills and the money you brought in from Avery Capital Holdings. That money is going to go a long way to our cause.”

I was surprised when King and I were at dinner with Ty and his girlfriend, Sadie, and Ty had said the company he works for would match the amount King was donating.

A tall and very handsome man with thick brown hair pulled Adele to his chest. “There you are. You’re a hard woman to find.” I was shocked to hear a British accent. Adele hadn’t mentioned it in all the times we talked.

She swatted at his hand that rested on her stomach. “Stop. You knew exactly where to find me.” She looked over her shoulder at him and her eyes glittered with happiness. “Charlie, I want you to meet my friend, Pria. She’s the one I told you about, who has been helping me with tonight.”

He smiled at me and a set of dimples popped out. I nearly swooned on the spot. I’d never met anyone with dimples and now I knew their true effect on women. Adele was one lucky lady. Disentangling one hand, he held it out for me to shake. “It’s nice to meet you, Pria.”

“It’s nice to meet you too.”

Adele’s eyes lit up as she looked over my shoulder. “There’s a blond god walking this way with his eyes set on you. Is it your boss?” A knowing smirk grew on her face.

I turned to see King striding toward me with an air of confidence that only he could make look natural. He was decked out in a form fitting tuxedo that had my jaw hitting the floor. When he noticed me taking him in, a cocky smile spread across his face.

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