Ruling the CEO

JENNY

“I’m sorry, Jen,” Ellis said for the hundredth time, but I would not forgive her so easily.

“No. I am not going to forgive you so easily,” I replied, fixing a stuffed cat and putting it in its rightful place. It was Monday, and Ellis and I were back to working at the toy store.

For the past couple of days, I had been giving Ellis the silent treatment—at least trying to—as revenge for sending me out with a stranger, who was not so much of a stranger anymore, maybe.

But I was mad at Ellis for doing this to me, and I would make sure she didn’t do anything like this in the future.

“I know what I did was wrong. But Kieran is a good man, and you deserve to go out with him and be happy. How long are you going to let Mitchell dictate and control your life?”

I threw my best friend a scathing look, which had her biting her lip. “I’m sorry.”

“I told you not to say his name out loud. You really don’t care about me, right?” I slammed a pink doll in its place, then winced as guilt stabbed at me.

I should not be taking my anger out on something that brought children joy.

“I’m sorry, Jenny, but I just want you to take control of your life. Those monsters do not rule you anymore. You are free, and you should live like you are free.

“I hate seeing the fear in your eyes. And when you came back from your date with Kieran, I noticed a change in you, a good change. You were happy,” Ellis stated.

“Yes, well, happiness does not last forever. I can’t let my guard down.

“Kieran might seem like a good man, but I can’t trust him right now. It was just one date. I’m sure he’s already forgotten about me,” I told her.

“I doubt it. You’re such an amazing woman, not someone you can forget easily,” she said.

Tears pricked my eyes at her words. I wished people would forget me easily. I wished Mitchell would forget me, so I could live my life in peace. Being remembered was not a good thing.

“I wish they did,” I mumbled.

“Oh, Jenny, don’t say that. You should forget them, they are not worth it,” Ellis replied, immediately enveloping me in a warm hug.

How could I forget them when my soul was scarred with their memories? How could I escape my past when it followed me like a shadow?

How could I erase their existence from my mind when their presence was all I knew?

“I want to forget them. I want to forget them with all my heart. Do you think I purposely want to remember those monsters? Do you think I enjoy living in fear, with the pain they inflicted upon me?” I said.

Ellis shook her head. “No, Jen, I know you can never forget what they did to you. And maybe your wounds will take a long time to heal.”

“They will never heal, Ellis. Never,” I murmured.

“Excuse me, am I interrupting something?” Ellis and I broke apart at hearing the familiar voice.

My eyes widened when I saw Kieran standing a few feet from us, a gorgeous smile on his face. He was wearing a charcoal-gray suit and looked like he was ready for a photoshoot.

“Hello, Kieran, how are you? Here to spoil your nephew and niece once again?” Ellis asked while I quickly wiped my face with my hands in case any of my tears escaped.

“Uh no, Ellis, not here to buy presents for my niece and nephew. I want to take Jenny out for lunch,” Kieran said.

“Oh, well, you can ask Jenny. I have to deal with the toys in the other section,” Ellis stated, before throwing me a grin and jogging away, leaving me alone with Kieran.

I lowered my gaze as Kieran strode over to me. Suddenly feeling shy, my breath lodged in my throat when Kieran placed his fingers under my chin and tilted my face to meet his eyes.

My heart increased its pace upon the physical contact, and it took everything in me not to move my face away.

“Ready to go?” he asked.

“Uh—I’m working,” I pointed out.

“No, you’re not. You’re on your break. Come on, I’ll drop you off after we eat.” Kieran held out his hand for me to take.

“Why do you not give me the option to say no?” I questioned, knowing he would not go until I gave him what he wanted.

Kieran shrugged. “I don’t give anybody the chance to say no. When I want something from someone, I make sure they give it to me. You are special to me, so a refusal from you is unacceptable for me.”

Special. I was special to Kieran.

“Oh” was all I said.

“So, if you have no more questions, shall we go? I am hungry,” Kieran stated.

“W-where are we going?” I inquired. I hoped he didn’t take me to an expensive restaurant, I wouldn’t be able to afford the food there.

“You’ll know soon. Let’s go, I already made reservations,” he responded, taking my hand in his and walking out of the store.

“You’re really confident to make reservations even before I said yes,” I told him.

“I already told you, a refusal from you is unacceptable for me. So, yes, I did make reservations earlier because I knew I would make you have lunch with me.”

I didn’t have anything to say to that, so I remained silent and allowed Kieran to lead me toward a sleek, white car. A man dressed in a chauffeur’s uniform stood there waiting for us.

When we reached the car, the man gave me a nod of acknowledgment before opening the passenger side door for Kieran and me. Once we were in the car, the chauffeur shut the door and sat in the driver’s seat.

“You have a chauffeur,” I commented.

“You seem surprised,” Kieran replied as the driver peeled out onto the road.

“No, it’s just that you didn’t have a driver on Friday,” I said.

“Yeah, Bernard usually picks me up after work. Friday night I came to pick you up by myself since I got off work early,” Kieran responded, smiling at me.

I nodded and turned to look out the window, my eyes darting left and right in search of Mitchell and my stepfather. I wished they would never find me. I wished they would forget me, forever.

“So how was your weekend?” I jerked back to the present, my heart pounding a heavy staccato.

“Weekend was good, thank you,” I replied.

“Did you visit your mum? How is she? I was going to visit you until I remembered that little fact,” Kieran inquired.

She is dead.

“Yes, I visited her. She is good, thank you.” I flashed him an uncertain smile.

“How about you and I go visit her next Sunday? It will be great, don’t you think?” he suggested.

This was too fast. He was going too fast. We went out on our first date just two days ago, and he already wanted to meet my mum. What was up with this man?

“Uh, that’s a nice idea; perhaps we can wait a few more weeks—get to know each other some more,” I replied.

“Of course, I will give you all the time you need.” Kieran threw me an easy smile before he wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

The sudden touch had panic flooding my system, and I jerked away as if he’d electrocuted me.

Kieran frowned as his arm fell from where it was resting on my shoulders. A strange emotion flickered in his brown eyes, but it was gone before I could decipher it.

“I’m sorry, that was rude of me,” I apologized.

“You don’t like to be touched,” Kieran observed, causing my cheeks to heat up.

“I-it’s nothing. I-I just…” What could I tell him?

That my stepbrother and stepfather tortured me for their own sick amusements, and now I couldn’t handle being touched by a man?

He would think I was a basket case and would tell me to visit a doctor. Kieran would freak out and would tell the chauffeur to drop me off right here.

“It’s all right. Some women are not comfortable with men touching them. We just went out on one date, it will take time for you to get used to me,” Kieran said, his voice soft as if soothing a baby.

“Y-yes,” I murmured.

“It’s okay. I will not touch you unless you want me to,” he replied.

“Y-you can h-hold my hand,” I responded. That was my limit. If he touched me anywhere else, it would become difficult for me to breathe.

Kieran didn’t waste a second. He captured my hand in his and intertwined our fingers. He gave my hand a soft squeeze, followed by a reassuring smile, and I knew that he would not hurt me.

I didn’t know how I knew or why that notion settled in my mind, but something in my heart told me that Kieran would not hurt me, at least, not like Mitchell did.

“Sir, we’re here,” the chauffeur said, before stepping out and opening the door for Kieran and me.

Once we got out, my jaw dropped when I saw that we were standing in front of London’s most expensive restaurant. Drats! This was not good.

“Shall we?” Kieran said, before walking to the entrance of the restaurant.

Cursing my bad luck, I followed after him.

The interior of the restaurant was dripping with crystals and luxury. Fine linen covered the tables, which had beautiful centerpieces that were the epitome of wealth.

The maître d’ acknowledged Kieran with a nod, then showed us to our table.

He handed us our menus before taking his leave, leaving me wondering what on Earth I could afford in such an expensive restaurant.

“So, what would you like to eat?” Kieran questioned, while flipping through his own menu.

Instead of responding, I opened my menu and quickly scanned its contents. My heart plummeted when I saw that there was no column listing the price of the items.

Bloody hell!

What would I do now? Should I just order soup?

“Well?” Kieran prompted.

“Uh, I will just have soup. I’m not really hungry,” I answered, flipping the menu shut and placing it on the table.

“Not hungry? Strawberry, you may have a lot of secrets, but you cannot lie to me,” he stated.

“I’m not lying about anything,” I argued.

“Oh, so you’re not lying about ordering soup because you’re not hungry?” Kieran arched an eyebrow, giving me a look that said I better not lie to him.

I sighed. “Okay, I’m sorry for lying to you.”

“Good. Now tell me what you would like to eat,” Kieran ordered.

“Nothing.” I shrugged.

“Excuse me?”

“Nothing, Kieran. I am not ordering anything,” I told him.

“And why not?” he queried.

All right, it was time to be honest with him. It was time to crush my ego and tell him the truth.

“I can’t afford the food here. So yeah, I’m not ordering anything. I’ll just tell the waiter to get me a glass of water.”

Kieran sighed audibly before closing his menu and leveling me with his intense gaze. “Why do you keep doing this?”

“Keep doing what?” I asked.

“This. Treating me like a stranger.”

“That’s because you are a stranger,” I answered, instantly regretting it when I saw hurt flash in Kieran’s eyes.

“But you’re not a stranger to me,” Kieran replied.

“What does it matter? You should eat, then we’ll go,” I stated.

Just then the waiter returned, his finger resting on the tablet, ready to take our orders. Kieran quickly gave his order, the waiter nodded as his finger swiped over his tablet before he turned to me.

“The lady will have the same as me,” Kieran told the waiter, who nodded before saying that our food would be there shortly, then walked away.

“What the hell? I told you I cannot afford to eat here,” I hissed at Kieran.

“You can afford it as long as you are with me,” he stated.

“Uh, no, I cannot. You are a man, not my bank account,” I argued.

“I won’t let you spend a penny while you are with me, keep that in mind,” he said.

I shook my head. “That is not going to happen. If you spend money on me, then I will do the same.”

“Excuse me? What do you mean by that?” Kieran questioned.

“It’s simple really. If you spend money on me right now by paying for my lunch, then I’ll pay for your meal the next time we’re out,” I answered.

“Oh? Well, in that case, I accept,” he stated.

I blinked a couple of times. “You do?” I thought he would put up a fight; it made me suspicious how he just accepted so quickly.

Kieran shrugged. “Of course. You can pay the bill for our next date.”

“Date? This is a date?” Nobody told me it was a date.

“Of course it is. What were you thinking, that it was just a lunch between friends?” Kieran asked.

“Yes!” Why couldn’t he be clear with me?

“Well sorry, Strawberry, but I enjoyed our date on Friday, and I want you to be my girlfriend, so yes, this is a date,” he answered.

“You want me to be your girlfriend? You didn’t ask me any such thing,” I argued.

“Why would I ask you when there is a strong chance that you will say no? I am going to take you out on as many dates as it takes until you agree to be my girlfriend,” he said.

I narrowed my eyes. “That is not going to happen.”

“Of course it will. Because you owe me a date. You said it yourself,” Kieran replied, amusement lighting up his eyes.

I wanted to be angry with him, but the mirth glittering in those brown irises prevented me from doing so. I only ever saw hatred and fury in the eyes of the men that ruled my life for so long.

So seeing this new emotion made me…happy for some reason. Kieran did not get angry. There was no hatred in his eyes for me.

“Our next date will be the last,” I said.

Kieran chuckled. “We’ll see, Strawberry. But for now, let’s enjoy our date right now.”

The waiter placed the first course in front of me. I looked at Kieran as he winked at me before cutting into his shrimp, and I wondered if I was walking into a trap.

Kieran was powerful and clever; I would have to be careful around him, otherwise I would be trapped once again.

And I could not go through that a second time.