Page 11

“Nope.”
“It sounds important.”
“Some things are more important.” He gives me a meaningful look that sets off a hundred butterflies in my stomach.
Enough of this.
Cody and I are mortal enemies. Unfortunately, my body has the wrong memo and seems to think he’s the best thing since sliced bread. Rather than continue to let him stir me up, it’s better to retreat.
I limp forward and stab the button to the nearest floor. I’ll take my chances with the stairs.
Cody arches a brow. “That’s not the lobby.”
“That’s not your concern.”
“Ris.”
“Don’t call me that,” I spit. My eyes are sharp. So is my voice. “Let’s pretend we didn’t meet each other today.”
The doors slide apart and I’m shocked by the beefy bodyguards crowding outside it. They glance at Cody, assessing him before giving me suspicious looks.
My eyebrows fly up.Cody travels with bodyguards now? How rich is he?
It doesn’t matter. I muscle my way through the men, glad when Cody doesn’t follow.
Laura’s in the lobby when I limp there. She’s holding a coffee and a pair of beach slippers in each hand. I nearly burst into tears when I see those slippers.
“Thank you.” I choke, accepting them from her.
She scrunches her nose. “Are you okay?”
“Fine. Let’s just get out of here.”
“Change your shoes first,” she says, dragging me to a chair in the lobby. I want to run as far away from Cody as possible, but Laura is adamant. While I ease out of my flats, she sits beside me and grins. “Did you see him?”
“See who?”
“The new owner of the company. I heard the receptionists talking about him. Apparently, he’s very rich and very scary. They say every company he touches dies like he’s some kind of billionaire Grim Reaper. His name is Carlton or Holton or… ”
“Bolton,” I breathe.
My broken heels clop to the ground as the truth hits me square between the eyes.
The new owner everyone is buzzing about…
The CEO that Winifred kicked our charity to the curb for…
It’s Cody.
2
CHERRY BOMBS
CODY
SeeingClarissa outside the elevator stopped me in my tracks, but I have a feeling she would have caught my attention even if we didn’t have history.
Every inch of her is crafted to have a man’s pulse spiking.