Page 50 of The CEO I Hate

There was something so charming about the way she engaged with the girls—talking about the story, listening to their own high school woes and boy troubles—and my chest ached a little for how badly I wanted to see Mia succeed.

I endured another selfie and sent a teen skipping off with her friends, gushing about my scowl. I looked over at Mia and saw her watchingme with a smile. Not a smirk, not a teasing smile. Just a…smile. Like she was proud of me.

And God help me, I smiled back.

The wave of attraction I felt surprised me, because along with the attraction was the realization of how much I actuallylikedbeing with her. I wasn’t even thinking about tearing her clothes off. I was just happy to see her like this: confident, radiant, surrounded by people who loved what she’d made.

And I liked knowing I hadn’t ruined it. That somehow, by sticking around and surviving the selfie apocalypse, I’d made her a little happier.

Fine.

I was also thinking about tearing her clothes off. But that wasn’t the main thought, and that…

That was new.

17

MIA

By the time the signing was done, I felt like I’d run a marathon. I’d talked to so many squealing teens and pre-teens that I was pretty sure I was going to have no voice at all tomorrow, but I was riding a high even bigger than the one I’d had upon landing the job onEnd in Fire.

The biggest surprise of all was that Liam had not only shown up but stuck around to play the part of broody Miles.

“You know, you probably made this experience extra special for a lot of them,” I said as Liam finally extricated himself from the last of the fangirls. He looked a little windswept, and I bit my lip, thinking abouthow nice it would be to run my fingers through his hair. “Also, well done with Ash.”

“You saw it?”

“I saw you tackle him.”

“I didn’t tackle him.” His scowl deepened.

“You body-snatched him.” I laughed.

“That dog is a menace.”

“In the best of ways, yes,” I said. “And he likes you.”

“So does the IRS. Doesn’t mean I have to return the affection. I still can’t believe somebody thought it was a good idea to bring that mutt here. He could’ve ruined the?—”

“Oh, please. Nothing happened,” I cut in. “Live a little. Relax. Like now…I saw you signing their merch with all their favorite lines. That wasn’t so bad, was it? I bet you’re a massive pushover for your niece. You couldn’t tell any of those girls no, and you don’t even know them.” I snorted. “Actually, you probably wouldn’t have signed some of the lines they gave you if you knew the context in the story.” There was a now-infamous oat milk scene based off our interaction at Beans & Brews he wouldn’t be too happy about.

“I know all about the oat milk,” he snarked. “I should get credit for sparking the whole café subplot that you milked—pun intended—for two whole updates.”

My eyes widened in surprise. “How do you know about that?”

He shrugged.

I knew he kept tabs on Miles to see what kind of horrors I’d subjected “him” to, but I assumed he wasn’t really following the rest of thestoryline. I dropped my hands to my hips, grinning. “You’re reading my webcomic. Like the entire thing.”

“Well, I obviously need context to keep on top of what you’re doing to Miles,” he grumbled, trying to play it off.

“Mm-hmm,” I said, crossing my arms, unable to hide my amusement.

“Which means I need to know what kind of scandals he’s going to be dragged into by the rest of your bad-influence characters.”

I laughed, gathering up the last of my things. “They are not bad influences!”

“You almost had Miles take the fall for that asshole Chris who tried to turn Melanie’s artwork in as his own for the final project.”