Oops… My New CEO Saw Me in a Towel Chapter 01

Oops… My New CEO Saw Me in a Towel Chapter 01

Fresh out of the shower, I wrapped a towel around myself and headed to Mia Sterling’s room with a few bras fanned over my arm like a deck of cards.

“Which one works best under the red dress?”

She didn’t answer. The silence stretched a beat too long.

Then a voice came through her phone — deep, male, and entirely too amused.

“Go with the black one.”

…

My interview at Apex Innovations was tomorrow. Earlier that afternoon, I’d dragged Mia to the mall for one reason — I needed the perfect red dress.

Red was my lucky color. SATs, thesis defense, the night I kicked my scumbag ex to the curb — red dress every time.

Over dinner, Mia got a call. Whatever she heard drained the color from her face — not even the limited-edition bag she’d scored that afternoon could cheer her up.

“My uncle’s in town.” She looked like someone had canceled her birthday. “I’m crashing at the apartment tonight.”

“…”

My appetite vanished. The word uncle hit, and his silhouette cut straight through my mind — tall, sharp, completely uninvited.

Mia didn’t notice. She bit into a celery stick like it owed her money, talking through a full mouth. “Stella, you’re so lucky you don’t have an overbearing uncle breathing down your neck.”

Yeah. I had nothing for that one.

Guilt pricked the back of my neck. I slid every last wing from the takeout box onto her plate.

“Stella, you’re literally the best.” She fake-sniffled. “Honestly, if my uncle wasn’t completely sworn off women, I’d have set you two up years ago. Could’ve saved you so much heartbreak.”

“…”

Sworn off women? Oh, Mia. You could not have been more wrong about your uncle.

A highlight reel I could never tell her about flashed behind my eyes.

I kept my face neutral. “Your uncle? Nah.” I waved a hand. “Way too old for me. I like ’em young.”

Mia nodded, dead serious. “Fair point.”

I exhaled. Topic closed.

Our place was a two-bedroom, one room apiece. Having her own bedroom was non-negotiable — Mia’s rule, after the third time I kicked her clean off the mattress in my sleep.

She’d suggested we share the apartment, and I’d said yes because splitting rent was the only way I could afford the place. Most nights, I had the place to myself.

The second we walked in, Mia made a beeline for her room and face-planted onto the bed.

“I’m going to hop in the shower. By the way — does that red dress seem kind of sheer to you? I’ll try it on after, and you can tell me which bra works best underneath.”

“Got it.”

…

A little while later, I was back in a towel, bras draped over my arm, heading for Mia’s room.

“Okay, which one looks best under the dress?”

She didn’t answer. I looked up, and a voice that was definitely not Mia’s drifted across the room — low, male, and amused.

“Go with the black one.”

“…”

A phone sat propped in the center of Mia’s bed — camera angled directly at me. Me, in nothing but a towel, holding a fistful of bras.

I screamed.

“What? What’s wrong?” Mia stood in the doorway with a half-demolished bag of spicy buffalo wings, blinking at me. Then her eyes landed on the phone. “Oh, crap.” She lunged for the bed and killed the video call.

“Okay, so — I got hungry, and Uncle Harrison FaceTimed me, and I just picked up without thinking, and then you—” She winced. “Thank God you weren’t fully naked.”

“…”

I stared at her. This absolute menace. I was going to kill her.