Page 8 of The CEO

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to break down on you, but I promise I’m better now.” Her voice was slightly raspy from crying. This time when she tried to step back from me, I let her. My hands slid from her body and then fell to my sides.

“What happened? Did anyone give you a hard time today? An employee? Do I need to fire anyone?” I asked in rapid fire succession.

A small smile tipped her lips. “Nothing happened with an employee. I thought I was finally alone and could leave without anyone seeing me cry. I guess I was wrong.”

I wasn’t sure if I was relieved or not that it wasn’t an employee. If it wasn’t someone who worked at Avery then it had to be something personal and big. Pria didn’t seem like the type of person who cried easily or for no reason.

Nodding as if this all made sense, I tucked my hands in the pockets of my slacks and asked her quietly, “Why were you crying?”

Pressing her back against the wall, Pria looked down at her purple painted toes and wrapped her arms around herself as if she might fall apart again at any second. “Do you remember when you sent me home early yesterday?”

“Yes,” I answered hesitantly. I never let anyone leave early, but I knew she’d been working long hours since she started here. That’s why I couldn’t understand why she was breaking down.

“I appreciate it by the way.” Her tone said otherwise, but I let it go in the hopes Pria would tell me why she broke downon the elevator. “I left, picked up Italian, and went home. Color me surprised when I saw my fiancé’s bike parked out front.” She looked as if she was trying to chew gravel as she said “fiancé.” “I was excited to be able to spend some time with him, but when I walked inside…” Pria gasped back a sob. Her brown doe eyes met mine. “He was fucking some hussy on our kitchen table.”

Shocked, I leaned back against the opposite wall. I wasn’t sure if my mouth was agape or not. One hand fiddled with the keys in my pocket as I tried to figure out what to say.

Cocking her head to the side, she mocked me. “Cat got your tongue?”

“I didn’t know you were engaged, Ms. Wang.”

Hands flying to her hips, Pria glared at me. “That’s all you’ve got to say? If you had ever looked at my hands instead of my boobs, you would have seen the engagement ring.”

My eyes went to her left hand that was sans engagement ring. “Well, in my defense, you’ve got great boobs.”

“Oh please, I know what I’ve got.” Her hands cupped her breasts and pushed them up. My dick twitched at the sight. He didn’t care that the moment was inappropriate. “Give me something better than you’ve got great boobs.” Pria looked around the elevator in a huff. “Is this the longest elevator ride known to man?”

I hadn’t noticed, but we had been in the elevator for quite a while. “It does seem a little longer than normal.”

Flailing her hands around like she was swatting at a bug flying around her, Pria stomped to the wall with the buttons and hit the button for the ground floor. “We could… I could have been on my way to nowhere,” Pria uttered the last part on a cry. Her body started to sink to the ground, but I moved to grab her and sank to the floor with her in my lap.

“What do you mean you’ve got nowhere to go?” I asked into the top of her hair.

Situating herself on my lap, Pria got herself comfortable and snuggled into me. “I lived with my fiancé and now I’ve got to find someplace else to live.”

“Where did you stay last night?”

She hung her head even lower. “A hotel.”

I didn’t see the problem with staying in a hotel. In fact, I’d stayed in one for weeks before. I was going to spend the next week and a half in one, and I didn’t mind.

Noticing my hand on her knee, my index finger started to trace circles on her lightly pigmented skin. “It’s usually affordable to live in a hotel for weeks and the accommodations are quite nice. You don’t even have to make your bed if you don’t want to. I can suggest some hotels I like to stay at if that will help.”

Pria stood with her hands on her hips, and glared down at me. “Not everyone can afford to stay in a hotel for an undetermined amount of time, Mr. Cocky Suit, and there’s no way in hell I’m going to stay with my dad and my Lao Lao.”

Disregarding her comment about my cocky suit—not knowing what the hell it meant—I looked up at her and it took everything in me not to smirk at the pissed off look she was giving me. “What’s a Lao Lao?”

“She’s my grandmother and to say we don’t get along is the understatement of the year. I can’t go there.” She started to hyperventilate, shaking her head rapidly. “I’ve got nowhere to go. Nowhere. What am I going to do?”

Standing, I looked around the elevator for something to say and spotted a suitcase in the corner. Somehow, I missed it when I spotted Pria breaking down only moments after stepping onto the elevator. She really didn’t have any place to go.

Clearing my throat, I walked over and picked up my briefcase. “Do you like dogs?”

Pria did a double take. “Um… yeah, I like dogs. Who doesn’t?”

Plenty of people.

“I’ve got a proposition for you that will help you out with your problem and mine.” I wasn’t sure if what I was going to say was the right thing or not, but before I could stop myself, the words tumbled from my mouth. “Tomorrow, I’m headed out of town for a week and a half and I have three dogs who hate to be kenneled.” Hate didn’t even describe the amount of hell they put the last workers at the kennel through. “I need someone I can trust to take care of them.” They can be a bit… much.

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