Oops… My New CEO Saw Me in a Towel Chapter 05
I stood there, frozen. It had never occurred to me that this was how he saw us.
I looked at the girl in his arms, and it finally clicked – what
he’d been after all along. And he wasn’t getting it.
I turned and walked away.
“With that
He couldn’t let it go. He shouted after me uptight, frigid act of yours, who else is ever gonna want you? I went after you for fun – don’t flatter yourself.”
I didn’t look back. They say if a rabid dog bites you, you don’t bite back- you just get a bigger dog to scare it off.
Not that I was calling Harrison a dog, obviously.
But that came later. I knew a guy like that wasn’t worth my tears. That didn’t stop it from hurting,
God knew I had never treated him like some errand boy,
I’d been planning to bring him home to meet my parents
after finals, I was serious about us,
A crack split the sky, Thunder,
I looked up, Lightning tore across the horizon, and the
thunder rolled in louder each time.
My phone buzzed. Mia, of course. [It’s about to pour
spot grab me some of those spicy wings from that
downtown and bring them to the dorm?]
Fine. By the time I’d picked up the wings from the exact
place Mia had insisted on and started walking back to
campus, the sky opened up.
I couldn’t even find an awning to duck under. When your luck is bad, it commits.
I tried to run for it, but I wasn’t watching my step and planted my foot straight into a puddle the size of a crater.
The takeout went flying. So did I.
No one around, rain hammering down, thunder drowning
out everything – so I just sat there in the mud and sobbed.
Right in the middle of my breakdown, the rain over my
head just… stopped. A pair of leather shoes appeared in
front of me, water beading on the polished surface.
I looked up through the blur of tears. Wiped my eyes.
Blinked, Mia’s uncle?!
My dad raised me better than that, Mia’s uncle, Mia’s family – I wasn’t going to sit there like a feral cat without saying hello, So I opened my mouth, my voice still thick
from crying, “Mr. Sterling,”
He tilted the umbrella away. Rain slapped my upturned face.
Excuse me?!
This man was unbelievable. A beat passed. The umbrella came back.
“Have you cried enough?”
Just like that, every ounce of self-pity burned off. All I felt was the burning embarrassment of being caught
ugly-crying in a puddle by my best friend’s terrifyingly handsome uncle.
I scrambled to get up, but my legs had gone numb from
before my knees the freezing water. I made it halfway up buckled – and a hand caught me.
That was the first time I’d ever felt a grown man’s grip
not a college boy’s, a man’s. His grip was warm and steady, and something in my chest unlocked.
“Thank you, Mr. Sterling.” The words barely left my mouth before he went rigid. Something shifted behind his eyes gone before I could read it – and then his voice, edged
with frost, landed in my ear,
“Get in the car, I’ll drive you back.” A pause. “You talk too much,”
No wonder Mia was terrified of this man. He was impossible to read,
I climbed into the car after him, sheepish and dripping.
The warmth inside hit me all at once, and I shuddered
before I could stop it. A suit jacket landed on my shoulders
– warm, heavy, carrying a faint trace of tobacco.
“Mr. Sterling, that’s really not neces-” I sneezed.
Fine. I needed it.