Page 19 of Mr. Hotshot CEO

“I am not discussing my sex life with you.”

“Very well,” he says. “You don’t want a fling, and I can take no for an answer. But what about the rest of my offer? Two weeks—actually, let me amend that. Sixteen days of helping me learn to enjoy my life and be productively unproductive, and you will get five thousand dollars.”

“I’ll stay at your place?”

“Yes. But not in my bed.”

Did he really have to mention his bed?

“I have a guest room,” he says. “You can stay there. I promise to behave myself.”

It’s strange to hear this man talk about behaving himself around me. By some miracle, he seems to genuinely find me attractive. Hard to believe.

Stop it, Courtney.I shouldn’t think of myself as hideous. Really, I’m decent looking, and I can believe that men find me attractive. Just not men like Julian.

Julian, who has made this interesting offer.

I want to accept it. My gut tells me it’s safe to do so and that Ishoulddo so. In the past, I’ve gotten into more trouble for ignoring my instincts than for listening to them, so I do my best to trust my instincts now, even if they don’t always make sense.

I’ll be able to pay for Naomi to go to New York with me, as well as give her some extra cash. I’ll also have some company for the next two weeks.

I’m alone a lot of the time outside of work. Now, I’m an introvert and I do like being alone, but I yearn for a little more of a social life than what I have. When Friday afternoon rolls around and I have zero plans to socialize on the weekend, I start to feel twitchy. Being by myself can even be frightening at times, because when I’m alone for too long, my negative thoughts tend to spiral. It’s not good for my mental health.

But if I accept this offer, I’ll spend lots of time with Julian. Although knowing he wants to take me to bed and being unable to act on that will be a bit difficult, I’m sure I can manage.

True, I hadn’t spoken to him until today, and I haven’t even looked him up on Facebook, but in a way, I feel like I already know him. It’s partly because of his family’s reputation in the community, but it’s something more than that. I can’t explain it.

I hold out my hand. He shakes it. His hand is warm, his grip firm—but not uncomfortably so—and oh my God, this is the first time I’ve gotten aroused from a handshake. Ahandshake.

“You’ve got a deal,” I say, my voice trembling slightly.

Yeah, I can totally manage this.

Right?

Chapter 6