Taming The CEO: An enemies-to-lovers romance (The Whitley Brothers)

Chapter Twenty-Two

Cami

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The second the three of us entered Jeannie”s house, I immediately felt overwhelmed. There were a lot of voices coming from what I assumed was the living room. When we joined the group, my eyes bulged. There were a lot of people. I knew there were many brothers, and that they almost all had a significant other, but I hadn”t realized this place would be so full.

Jeannie came up to us. ”Darling, it”s so good to see you again.” She hugged me right away. I was surprised but returned the hug.

”Let me introduce you to everyone,” she said when she pulled back.

”I already know Gabe and Leo,” I said.

”This is Jake and Natalie. Cade and Meredith.”

Cade was grinning. Actually, now that I was thinking about it, so was Jake. He was fighting it but was losing fast. Natalie frowned at him, shaking her head.

Meredith groaned. ”Oh, you guys.”

”What”s going on?” I asked.

Maddox replied instead of them. ”I told you they’d enjoy this a lot.”

”I always feel awfully proud when another one of us bites the dust,” Cade exclaimed.

”Cade! What sort of expression is that?” Jeannie asked.

Everyone burst out laughing.

”This is Spencer and Penny,” Jeannie continued.

”And this is Ben,” Penny said, kissing the toddler who Spencer was holding. “Nice to meet you, Cami. Don”t mind these two.”

”Don”t you act like you”re better than me,” Cade cut in.

”Well, no. Jake is usually better than you and me put together,” Spencer said, ”but clearly something”s gotten into him today. Not even he’s behaving. But at least you can count on Colton”—he pointed his thumb at the man standing next to him—”to behave.”

Colton shook my hand. ”Nice to meet you, Cami. I think today is going to be a bit much for you. Just take it as a very enthusiastic welcome into the midst of the Whitleys. This is my Zoey.”

”Nice to meet you, Zoey,” I said.

”And I”m Nick,” another guy added, coming from across the room. ”You’re probably feeling ambushed by now,” he said lazily.

”Not at all,” I confessed. ”A bit overwhelmed, but not ambushed.”

Nick looked crestfallen, then glanced at Maddox. ”All right. This is a good sign. If she can brave all of us Whitleys on such a short notice, this girl is made of steel.”

”Yes, she is,” Maddox said. He sounded so proud, and that warmed my heart.

He came to me, putting an arm around my shoulders. ”Right. Cami might not see it as an ambush, but I know damn well what it is.”

”I just wanted us all together,” Jeannie said.

”Where”s Granddad?”

”On the phone in his study with one of his fishing buddies. His friend broke his hip, and now Abe feels compelled to listen to how much he struggles every day.” She shook her head. ”I have all the sympathy in the world for him, but I don”t like that he”s bringing my Abe’s mood down.”

My heart fluttered. The way she said ”my Abe” was so sweet and romantic.

”I”m going to see what he”s doing,” she stated.

”Don”t bother, Gran,” Nick said jovially. ”I can go.”

”Young man, I am not that old. I can walk around my own house.”

He held his hands up. ”Damn, you”re testy. I would have thought that Cami being here would soften you up.”

Jeannie shook her head before walking out of the room at a brisk pace.

Once she left, Nick asked, ”Anyone know why she”s so cranky?”

”I heard that,” Jeannie”s voice resounded from the hallway.

”Crap,” Nick said in a lower voice.

”I think she”s just annoyed with Grandfather”s friend,” Cade said. Or was it Spencer? Oh yeah, it was Spencer, because he was the one with the toddler. He looked adorable on his dad”s arm. And his eyes were fixed on me.

”Well,” I said, rolling my shoulders, ”let”s make sure we keep her entertained. I can already tell that I”m the major distraction for the day.”

Maddox stared at me, clearly stunned. ”You catch on very fast.”

”That”s why we sort of encouraged this meeting,” Gabe said.

Maddox turned to him. ”That’s your excuse? You encouraged it? You ran your mouth, didn”t you?”

”Obviously, man. I”m not even sure how I do that. But when I talk to Gran, one thing leads to another, and before I know it—”

”He tells her anything that”s on his mind,” Colton added, and everyone started to laugh.

Meredith and Natalie kept looking at each other, clearly having a silent conversation.

God, I loved being here with this group. Since I didn”t have any siblings, I didn”t know what it was like to have such a bond with anyone besides my dad.

I considered Miriam my sister, but I wouldn”t mind if I was closer to these women. They seemed amazing.

As Jeannie came back, the guys attempted to tone down the laughter. An elderly gentleman followed her and came straight to me.

”Cami, I’m Abe Whitley.”

”Nice to meet you,” I replied as he shook my hand.

”All right, now that we’re all here, let’s set the table,” Jeannie said.

A flurry of activity followed her words. We all went to the kitchen, bringing plates as well as a ton of food.

And here I thought we were just coming by for coffee.

“Thank you for coming early and helping me set all this up,” Jeannie told Colton, Zoey, Jake, and Natalie. Cade and Meredith also nodded at her.

“No problem,” Zoey said. “Our pleasure.”

”What”s that?” Maddox asked once Jeannie went back to the kitchen.

Meredith smiled. ”Remember how your gran hated all our ideas to help her out? Catering? Ordering takeout?”

Maddox nodded before glancing at me. ”We were trying to protect Gran from herself. She likes to cook food for a hundred people whenever we come over, and it’s really too much for her.”

”She made all this?” I pointed at the table.

”That”s where we came in,” Natalie said.

”Since Grandmother seemed to hate any outside interference, when she asked us all here today, we offered to come by earlier and cook with her,” Jake said.

”I’d never have thought of that,” Maddox said. ”It”s brilliant.”

The way they helped out their grandparents was amazing, and it just lifted my heart.

“It was a lot of fun,” Zoey said as Jake kissed Natalie”s temple.

Once Jeannie came back, we all started filling our plates. The food was delicious. There was roast duck, salmon, black beans with mushrooms, rice, and potatoes.

I couldn”t comprehend how they”d managed to organize themselves in the span of a few hours, but I guessed there was strength in numbers. And there was no shortage of Whitleys.

I sat between Natalie and Diane. ”Do you have another group today?” I asked Diane.

”Yes, later in the evening. It’s a ghost tour of sorts.”

I smiled widely. ”Ah, I promised Dad I”d have dinner with him today, but I”ll join that one someday.”

”I think you”d like it. Even those who don”t usually sign up for the supernatural tours say they enjoy it. It”s even higher rated than my others.”

”I can vouch for that,” Natalie said. ”I”ve joined one of Diane’s ghost tours during the week, when Maddox was gracious enough to let me leave the office early.”

I widened my eyes at her. ”I didn’t know you work with Maddox.”

“I”m in charge of all the events we have going on. He”s a great boss.”

”Perfect. Natalie, please sing my praises,” Maddox commented from the other end of the table.

”Will you be involved in the hotel and distillery as well?” I asked her.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Gabe look up. I realized Maddox probably hadn”t shared my decision with him yet.

”I don”t know,” Natalie said.

Maddox interfered. ”Honestly, at that point, we”re going to be rethinking the organizational structure. It”ll be at least a year and a half down the road. No sense in making plans now.”

Gabe looked between me and Maddox. ”I have to ask, is there any news?”

I smiled at him. ”I”ve decided to go ahead with the sale.”

Gabe rose from his chair, going over to Maddox and putting a hand on his shoulder. ”Brother, I take everything back.”

Maddox turned in his seat and glowered at Gabe. ”Thank you for that retroactive vote of confidence.” Then he glanced at me. ”He wasn”t a fan of my meeting with you. Thought it would mess everything up.”

”Well, you did make everything worse in the beginning,” I agreed.

The entire table started to laugh, Maddox and I included.

Once we all calmed down, Abe cleared his throat. “Now, this is some big news. We should celebrate. I’m going to bring out one of our finest bottles of champagne.”

Ten minutes later, we were all clinking glasses. The joy in the air was palpable, and I was glad to be contributing to it.

After the meal was over and everything was cleaned up, everyone took a seat either in one of the armchairs or on the couches, but not for long. It was obvious that both Jeannie and Abe were spent. I was eyeing Ben intently, hoping to catch his attention. Actually, I was hoping to hold him for a bit, but I didn’t want to ask. I’d barely met Spencer and Penny and wasn’t sure if they’d want to hand over their child to a complete stranger.

But then Ben started fussing, and the two of them said it was time for them to go so he could take his afternoon nap at home. Slowly, the entire group dispersed.

We left just after Zoey and Colton.

As we reached the car, I said, “I could take some notes from you all. I”m not nearly as skilled when it comes to dealing with Dad. Whenever I try to take things off his plate, he always catches on.”

Maddox looked at me intently, brushing my cheek with the back of his hand. ”I think you”ve done a lot just by taking over the management of the park after your mom passed away.”

I bit the inside of my cheek. ”It”s sort of what you guys have done, too, right? Each taking over a branch of Whitley Industries.”

He narrowed his eyes, staring off in the distance and tilting his head. ”Sort of. The situation was different. In your case, it was a necessity. You didn’t have another choice—it was your dad’s livelihood. But for us, it was a choice. If we didn”t take over, Granddad could have sold it in parts. He would have made a lot of bank. The business might not have been profitable, but it was huge. Anyone with any sort of business sense would have seen its potential. Jake actually wasn”t even part of Whitley Industries in the beginning.”

”What changed his mind?” I asked.

Maddox trailed his fingers over my cheek. I liked him touching my face. It was soothing. Though it quickly turned sexy when he brushed his thumb over my lip. “He only came after Granddad got sick. Jake took over Whitley Advertising from him.” He focused his gaze on my lips. ”Are you sure you have to head back to Essex?”

My heart fluttered in my chest. He wants to spend another evening with me? It was tempting, but I’d promised Dad. ”Yeah. Dad”s looking forward to our dinner.”

Maddox nodded. ”Okay. Then I”ll drive you back to the restaurant to get your car.”

”Thanks.”

***

We arrived at the restaurant far too soon. My car was still in the exact same spot where I”d parked the night before. For some reason, I had an irrational fear that it would be towed away. The sign did say it was only for guests, after all.

”Oh, thank goodness it”s still here,” I said.

”Of course. I spoke to the restaurant owner last night and told them we”d get it today.”

I wasn”t used to anyone thinking two steps ahead before I did. I was the one usually trying to foresee the problems and solve them before they even appeared.

”Thank you,” I said.

When Maddox parked, he immediately jumped out of the car. To my surprise, he walked over to the driver”s door of my car. After I unlocked it, he opened it, and I blushed for some unexplainable reason. Then he opened the back door of his car, grabbing the Macy’s bag where I’d stuffed last night’s outfit.

”Thank you for staying the night and the whole day.”

”You did make a great case,” I teased, taking the bag from him.

”And for putting up with my family.”

”Are you kidding? That was so much fun. I’m just not used to being around big groups. I mean, Miriam and I are joined at the hip, but other than that, I’ve always been a loner.”

He leaned forward, biting at my earlobe and then moving his lips down my neck.

“Maddox, what are you doing?”

“Making my case again to get you to stay another night.”

He was now going farther down my neck. I even felt the tip of his tongue on my skin.

I straightened up, putting a hand on his chest. I closed my eyes and then blinked them open. ”Now, don”t take it personally. Your seduction skills are amazing, but I did promise my dad,” I said regretfully.

He groaned and actually took a step back. ”All right, then. Get in before I change my mind and carry you away.”

Oh, I loved, loved, loved the sound of that. But instead, I got in my car, wondering when I’d see him again.