The CEO

by Shealy James

  I saw Nolan and Tara laughing and having a good time dancing, and that thought made me smile. Of all of us, it seemed they were having the most fun. I tapped Grant’s shoulder, and he excused himself to turn to me. “I need to use the restroom. I’ll be right back,” I told him.

  “You want me to go with you?”

  “No. Finish your conversation. I’ll be back in a few.”

  He stood when I did because Grant’s manners were impeccable. After he gave me a chaste kiss, I headed to the luxury bathrooms. I fixed my makeup and started back to the table but didn’t make it far before Iris stopped me. I immediately looked for help, but of course Grant’s back was conveniently turned to me.

  “Eve. I would like to introduce you to some of Grant’s friends.” I stepped over and plastered on a smile. It helped I was a little drunk, but I still grabbed another glass of champagne from a passing waiter as I approached Iris and the cast of Gossip Girl ten years later. “Eve, these lovely ladies went to school with Grant. This is Victoria Templeton, Penelope Allen, and the wonderful Miss Katherine Peters.” Ah. Kitty, I presume. Game on, Iris.

  Kitty had bright blonde hair pinned up into a sleek side chignon. Her red dress made her look like a siren, dangerous and threatening, but even I couldn’t deny she was gorgeous. I hated her immediately, but I slapped on a smile and did my Georgia girl thing. “Nice to meet you. I haven’t heard much about Grant’s friends from school, but it’s great to meet some of them.” Iris thought she had me judging by the way her eyes widened at my friendly greeting. Silly old coot.

  Katherine smiled sweetly, too sweetly. “I’m not surprised. Grant didn’t tell me he had a girlfriend when we had lunch last weekend. He isn’t really into sharing personal information sometimes.” Lunch?

  “Hmm…I guess not.” Nolan caught my eye and waved at me from the dance floor. Tonight, he was my favorite for sure. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m being summoned.”

  I walked right past Grant and joined Nolan on the dance floor. “What was that all about?” he asked when I arrived.

  “Introductions.”

  He nodded and then started leading me in some semblance of a swing dance that was more fun than impressive. Once Tara was back, I left her with her dance partner and wandered back to Grant. I ran my fingers across his shoulders before I took my seat next to him. He excused himself from his conversation again and turned back to me. “Did you have fun dancing with Nolan?”

  “Yeah,” I said simply.

  He leaned over and wrapped his arm around the back of my chair. “I thought you were going to the restroom.”

  “I did, and your mother stopped me on the way back to introduce me to some of your friends from school. Nolan called me over while Tara was in the restroom.”

  “I see. Do I have my girl back then?”

  “She’s been waiting all night for you.”

  He leaned over so his lips were against my ear. “I’m sorry about dinner. I should have warned you that Mitch would talk my ear off. I promise I’ll make it up to you…in the limo on the way home, perhaps?”

  I kept my head close to his and whispered. “How about you start paying your debt by dancing with me?”

  “Nothing would make me happier. Well, nothing that we can do here at the party.” He winked before giving me a sweet kiss. He stood and held out his hand. “Dance with me, gorgeous.”

  “I would love to dance with you, sir.” I took his hand, and he escorted me to the dance floor.

  We danced near Tara and Nolan, and Maddox and Rachel joined us shortly after. I caught Maddox eyeing Nolan every now and then, and a part of me felt bad for him. Anyone who knew what was going on could tell he was really struggling, but I hated that Nolan had to pay for Maddox’s choices.

  “Where are you, Eve?” Grant asked, bringing my attention back to him.

  “I was just thinking about Maddox and Nolan.”

  “Not our business, babe. Maddox’s dad is difficult and his only living family member. Nolan understands.”

  “Still sad.” I shrugged.

  “Yeah. I’d be going crazy if I couldn’t be dancing with you, or if you came here with someone else. Do you know how many men have been watching you tonight? I can’t imagine not being able to touch you or hold you or kiss you all night.”

  “You just want to claim me, caveman.”

  “Damn right.”

  I laughed. “Don’t worry. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be here.”

  He pulled me closer to him, so close that if my middle school teachers were there, they would have been sticking a yardstick in between us to separate us. “If you weren’t here, I wouldn’t either. I want to be wherever you are.”

  His bright green eyes were shining down at me, with something akin to…love? God, I hoped so. “You know I feel the same way.” His kiss this time was a prelude, and I felt it in my core and everywhere else.

  “My, my Grant. What happened to no PDA with your arrangements?” A woman’s snide voice broke our perfect moment.

  He pulled away and turned both of us toward her. “Virginia,” he greeted apprehensively.

  She stepped over and gave him a kiss on the cheek, but he held on tightly to me. “Oh, Grant. Why so cold? I’ve missed you.”

  Grant was obviously uncomfortable, but he couldn’t even imagine how awkward I felt. The girl didn’t even have the decency to come on to him in private. “Virginia, this is my girlfriend, Eve.”

  “Girlfriend? Since when do you have girlfriends?” she asked with a surprised laugh.

  “Since Eve.” He turned to dance with me again. “Have a nice night, Virginia. Tell my mother I said to keep it up.” Thank you, Grant. Point for Eve. One to one, Iris. One to one.

  We danced for a couple of songs before heading over to the bar to join Tara, Nolan, and Maddox, who was now missing a date. “Where’s Rachel?” I asked when we were standing in our little pack.

  “She’s hanging out with the bitch brigade of Brantley High,” Maddox said with a mindless shrug.

  “Rachel went to high school with you guys?” That was news to me.

  “No. She wishes. She went to public school.” Not public school! How dare she? “Only Pen and Kitty went to school with us. Victoria went to college with them, and Rachel is their project.”

  “I see.”

  “Here you go, baby.” Grant handed me a bottle of water before his lips found my cheek. He was really the most affectionate man I had ever met. I wouldn’t need to pee on his leg to mark my territory, because he was always too busy marking his.

  “Thank you.”

  “Of course. You need to make it a little while longer before the fireworks show here.”

  “Can’t wait. I love fireworks,” I said as he wrapped me in his arms.

  “Then you’ll love Iris’s show.” Kitty. I turned my head to find Kitty and her pretty little friends standing next to our group. Sure enough, Rachel had also joined Maddox, who was standing close to Nolan. “Grant, it’s nice to see you as always,” she said too sweetly again. Maybe that was her ‘I’m about to be a bitch’ tone. “Iris introduced me to Eve earlier this evening. Why didn’t you tell me you had a girlfriend? I would have loved to hear all about it last weekend at your parents’ house.” Rawr!

  “I don’t share my personal business with my mother’s minions, Kitty. You should know that by now.” I looked up at Grant’s brownish-colored eyes. My man was not a happy camper. I was pulled so tightly against his chest that air wouldn’t be able to come between our bodies right then.

  “You should know by now that your relationships meant to piss off your mother only cause problems for everyone. Isn’t it time you grew up and stopped screwing around? When you decide to become the man you are supposed to be, you know where I’ll be.” She turned to walk away.

  “Don’t hold your breath, Kitty,” Maddox muttered.

  She turned and glared at him. “What did you say, Maddox?”

  “I said ‘don’t hold your brea
th.’ Grant isn’t coming for you anytime soon, so you might want to move on, princess.” Thank you, Maddox. Point two for Eve.

  “Really, Maddox? Maybe I should hold my breath for you. Oh wait, you would rather sleep with—”

  “Katherine, that’s enough!” Grant roared and moved me out of his way to get in her face. “You will not behave this way here. You will only embarrass yourself. Take your friends, and step away. I am not now, nor have I ever been interested in what you have to offer. You will not insult Eve or Maddox like that again.”

  She opened her mouth to speak, but the emcee interrupted her. “Fireworks will begin in five minutes. Mr. and Mrs. Harrison Mitchell are grateful you chose to spend your holiday with them and hope you enjoyed your evening. Now, please follow the path to the viewing area.”

  Grant took my hand and led me to the path. He patted Maddox’s back to lead him away from Kitty and her loyal subjects. Maddox looked over at him once we were a few steps away and gave a grateful head nod.

  Grant just nodded his head in response and kept walking with his buddy. In the viewing area, our little crew of Tara, Nolan, Maddox, Grant, and myself huddled close together. Grant stood behind me and wrapped me tightly in my arms. “I’m sorry about all of that.” He spoke quietly so only I could hear.

  I turned in his arms and my hands wrapped around the back of his neck into his hair. “It’s fine. You handled it well. I do have one question, though.”

  “What’s that, beautiful?”

  “Did you really have lunch with her last weekend when we were fighting?”

  He kissed my lips quickly then explained. “No. I went to the office for my meeting. My mother must have put her up to it, because she tried to bring me lunch from my favorite deli. I let her leave the food but sent her away. Then she was at my parents’ house when I arrived there to speak to my dad.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “We’d had a rough day. I didn’t want to add anything to it. It seemed unimportant since I didn’t say more than five words to her. You know she doesn’t matter, right?” No, I didn’t know she didn’t matter. I wasn’t so sure Iris was going to let Kitty not matter. This problem wasn’t going away. Instead of worrying, though, I kissed my man with everything I had.

  The fireworks started, and I moved away to watch the show. I didn’t make it far from him. He wrapped his arms around my shoulders so they rested just above my breasts. I felt safe and secure tucked against him, but I wasn’t the only one looking for comfort. I watched as Maddox’s hand searched blindly for Nolan’s. When they connected, Nolan looked down for a moment then back up to his partner. I watched as Maddox turned and mouthed an “I’m sorry” to Nolan, and Nolan responded with an “I love you.” Maddox repeated the phrase, and they turned back to watch the fireworks display hand-in-hand.

  I looked up to watch it as well, after I wiped the tear from my eye. Grant leaned down and kissed my cheek. “See, I told you everything would be okay.” He nodded toward his best friend and his partner. “Don’t worry, baby. I’ll make sure of it.”

  It would have been easy to believe him, but I knew all too well there were some things that were out of his control. He may have been the master of his universe, but there was some darkness in mine he couldn’t stop no matter how powerful he was. Running away was only a temporary solution. Eventually I would have to put on my big girl panties and go back to Georgia. That thought was displeasing, so I swept it under the lumpy rug where I kept my problems and focused on the very handsome man holding me safe in his arms.

  Chapter 17

  After the extensive fireworks display, the emcee wished everyone good night. People started trickling away in small groups or couples. Our little group seemed reluctant to let the moment go. We all just kind of stood there together, hanging on to it, but unfortunately, it wasn’t long before Nolan had to let go of Maddox’s hand and Grant had to go say goodbye to his parents and sister.

  Grant squeezed my hips and said, “I’m going to go tell my family bye. You stay here with Maddox.”

  “I’ll come with you,” I offered.

  With a kiss to my forehead he said, “No, baby, I don’t want my mother to ruin your night. Mad, keep an eye on her, and keep the wolves at bay.” By wolves, I wondered if he meant he-wolves or she-wolves like Kitty.

  Maddox wrapped an arm around my shoulder. “Sure thing, boss.”

  With a look of warning toward Maddox and a smile and kiss for me, Grant disappeared into the crowd. With Nolan and Tara gone, it was just me and Maddox left standing there. This was the first time I had been alone with Grant’s best friend. To break the silence between us, he asked if I had a good time as he walked me back up the path away from the crowd to wait on Grant.

  “Yeah, aside from the usual mama drama, it was a fun party,” I told him truthfully.

  He turned to me. “Look, I owe you an apology. I haven’t been very nice to you because I’m always suspicious when Grant has a new girl. He was protective of you when I first met you, so I knew you were more than just one of his absurd arrangements.”

  “I really care about Grant.”

  “I know that now, but you have to understand a lot of girls want to marry into the Mitchell family or want him to buy them expensive things. He just isn’t into it. Not only does he loathe the fact that people covet the Mitchell lifestyle, but he also couldn’t care less about the things his parents care about. He isn’t like Iris and Harrison, or even Daphne and Grace.”

  “He seems to respect his dad,” I argued.

  “He does, and that’s why Grant eventually took his seat at the round table, but don’t be fooled. Harrison cares about the money and their reputation as much as Iris. He’s more private, though, and can be duplicitous.”

  “All right. So, why are you telling me this?”

  “I’ve been with my share of women—”

  I interrupted him. “What?”

  He nodded. “Yeah, I tried and tried to please my dad, but I have never once felt anything more than friendly toward a woman. When Nolan came along, it was like my life made sense. Nolan is my first partner, so to speak. Of course I was attracted to guys all along, but I wasn’t willing to admit it to anyone, not even Grant, until Nolan and I started dating.”

  “I bet he already knew. He’s your best friend.”

  “He did. Even though I have done some pretty raunchy things with women with Grant in the room, he said he always suspected. Grant never judged me, though. It was just the way it was with him. Anyway, this isn’t my sob story. My point is that Grant was the same way.”

  “Oh, I’m one hundred percent sure Grant isn’t gay.”

  He tapped me on the forehead. “Not gay, Eve. He never felt anything real for a woman until you. You’re his Nolan.”

  “You think?”

  “I know.”

  I smiled widely. “That’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

  He held up a finger, letting me know his point was still to come. “Here’s the thing. If you aren’t in it for the long haul, you need to let him be. Iris is going to come in between you every chance she gets, and like I said before—don’t underestimate Harrison. I don’t want Grant hurt because you have your own shit to deal with, you know what I mean?” He means my divorce. My fucking divorce.

  “Sure.” I managed to agree, frightened by what he was implying. Then I turned and saw Grant walking toward us. Seeing him so confident and handsome, I knew he was made for me. Tonight he wore the navy blue suit with the red tie that I had bought him. His jacket was off and back at the table, but damn if he didn’t look hot in that vest. His sleeves were rolled up a little, revealing his strong arms. His hair had been perfectly combed when he walked away from us because I kept my hands to myself all night, but after one conversation with his parents, it stuck out in all directions. That made me smile. When he caught sight of me watching him, he locked gazes with me and smiled widely. I returned the smile knowing all the while I was in this
for the long haul. I had accidentally fallen in love with this man.

  I turned and hugged Maddox. “I’m in this,” I said without a shred of doubt. I pulled away and looked up into his blue eyes. “You’re a good friend, Maddox. I understand that and was never offended that you didn’t welcome me with open arms. If you ever decide you want to tell your dad about Nolan, you know we’re all here for you. You don’t just have Grant.”

  “Thank you, Eve. That means a lot to me.” He wrapped an arm around me once more just as Grant came up behind me.

  “You trying to steal my girl, Maddox?” Grant asked as he pulled me away from Maddox.

  Maddox wiggled his eyebrows, and we both laughed when Grant glared at him.

  “She’s all yours, Grant. I have my own to hurry home to tonight.”

  “Yes, I better get this lady home before she turns into a pumpkin,” Grant said and started to lead both us out of the party.

  “I think you mixed that story up. Cinderella doesn’t turn into a pumpkin,” I said. “She goes back to being a servant.”

  “Hmm, perhaps we can test your servitude when we get home then, Cinderella.”

  “Get a room, you two,” Maddox interjected playfully.

  When we made it to the car, Grant offered Maddox a ride home while I silently begged him to decline. Thankfully, he did, leaving Grant and me alone in the back of the limo. Once the door was closed and the privacy screen was blocking the driver from our view, Grant pulled me into his lap.

  “Did you have fun?” he asked as I nuzzled my head into his neck.

  “Mmhmm,” I responded.

  “Are you drunk, babe?”

  I shook my head. “No. The water helped, and I stopped drinking over an hour ago. I’m just tired now.”

  “You looked amazing tonight. It’s like every time I see you, you knock my socks off.” He kept rubbing one hand up and down my back while the other held my legs tightly to him.