Unbuttoning the CEO by Mia Sosa Read Free Book Online

want to get on a soapbox, but driving too fast has consequences for other people, too. But that isn’t the real problem, is it?”
    “No. I’m interested, but he’s holding back for some reason. And it’s not because of the usual suspects. No wife, no girlfriend. I asked.”
    “Gay?” Mimi asked.
    “I don’t think so. His kiss was way too hot. He was conflicted about something, but trust me, it wasn’t about his sexuality.”
    Mimi’s eyes rounded, and she grabbed Gracie’s forearm. “You kissed him?”
    Gracie’s ears warmed under Mimi’s shocked appraisal. “Yes. And I practically begged him to. It was so embarrassing. But I got over the embarrassment. Very quickly. Because it was hot. So incredibly hot. Like molten-lava hot.”
    “Okay, okay. I get it. It was hot.”
    Gracie dropped her head. “But then he backed away. And now I’m with you, sitting on the couch, where I’ll sit for another hour while the gallon of ice cream we ate makes its way through my body. Yuck.”
    Mimi smiled. “Maybe he’s just skittish about commitment. They usually are.”
    Gracie shrugged. “Maybe.”
    “Back to the kiss. What did he taste like? Mint? Burritos? What?”
    “What does it matter?” Gracie asked.
    “Just answer the question.”
    Gracie thought about it. “Um, minty, but more like citrus or something fruity.”
    “Like gum?”
    “Yes, probably.”
    “He planned on kissing you then.”
    Gracie stared at her friend. “You can tell that just by the smell of his breath?”
    “The point, my innocent, is that he took the time to freshen his breath. He was hoping it would happen.”
    Gracie pinched the bridge of her nose. “That is not the kind of high-level analysis I’ve come to expect from you, Mimi.”
    Mimi waved her comment away like a pesky fly. “Men don’t require high-level analysis. They eat, they sleep, they shit, they have sex. All the crap in between is meant to ensure women don’t confuse them with apes. He’s into you, but he doesn’t want you to find out something about him. It’s your job to figure out what he’s hiding.” Pointing to the laptop on Gracie’s desk, Mimi said, “That thing-a-ma-jig called the Internet might be helpful. You’re familiar with it, right?”
    Gracie whacked Mimi’s shoulder with the pillow she’d been smothering for the last minute. “I refuse to look him up. I’m not a stalker. Besides, I have his address and his social security number. What else do I need?”
    “May I remind you that a serial killer has an address and a social security number, too?”
    “Ah, but every serial killer doesn’t have a letter from his lawyer confirming that he has no record of anything other than speeding tickets, right?”
    “Not bad. But don’t jump in without getting to know him more.”
    Gracie understood Mimi’s concern, but since Gracie didn’t intend to explore a relationship with Nic, she set that concern aside. “Don’t worry. I don’t plan on pursuing him. Besides, I think you’re right. He’s probably skittish about commitment. Forget I said anything.”
    “I’m your best friend, Gracie. I don’t forget anything you say, except when you ask me to return something I’ve borrowed.”
    “Well, forget about this. My ass is still smarting from the last time a man bit me in the butt.”
    Mimi waggled her eyebrows. “Sounds kinky, my pet.”
    Gracie’s gaze flew to the ceiling. “Gutter brain. I’m talking about Neal.”
    Neal. Her biggest mistake. The man who slotted women into two categories: women you marry and women you have sex with. It was bad enough to learn he’d ruled out a future with her. That had battered her pride. But when she learned he was stringing along another woman, Gracie had wished him every nonlethal venereal disease known to man. Fast-forward one year, and surprise, surprise, she was pining for a man who had no interest in her. Would she ever learn?
    “Neal was a jerk,” Mimi said. “And he didn’t deserve you.