Mr. CEO, You Look Strangely Familiar

”How about you treat us to a meal?”

For Herman Hawthorne, that was a piece of cake. ”Not a problem. Call them and tell them to wait at the hotel.”

Upon hearing this, Jasmine Walsh smiled. ”Okay, I’ll call them right now.”

Crouching in the back, Zoe Ellsworth was a little surprised. ’They’re going out to eat? Am I supposed to just wait in the car? Or should I go home first? She was torn.’

Sure enough, a few minutes later, the car pulled into a hotel parking lot. The two in the front got out, leaving her all alone in the vehicle.

Zoe waited for a full hour, nearly falling asleep before they finally returned.

Herman Hawthorne was pretty drunk. By the time he got into the car, he was barely coherent.

”Boss, you’ve been drinking. Let me drive.”

Herman Hawthorne nodded and moved to the passenger seat. Jasmine Walsh got behind the wheel and started driving toward his home.

Zoe peeked toward the front and saw that Herman had actually fallen asleep.

A sense of foreboding washed over her. ’Is this woman planning to take advantage of him while he’s asleep? To do... *that* to him!’

With that thought, Zoe decided to act when the time was right.

’If she hadn’t seen this, it would be one thing. But now that she had, she couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.’

About twenty minutes later, the car came to a stop in front of an apartment building in the Riverbend District.

Jasmine didn’t get out right away. Instead, she turned to look at Herman.

He looked so captivating as he slept.

She reached out to touch his face.

’Just as I thought,’ Zoe, who was holding her breath in the back, gritted her teeth. ’This woman is up to no good.’

She quietly undid her shoelaces and tied them together. Then, she grabbed a jacket from the back seat and threw it over Jasmine’s head.

Caught completely off guard, Jasmine struggled violently as the jacket was thrown over her. But Zoe had already used her shoelaces to tie it shut, and she lunged forward to forcibly drag Jasmine out of the car.

After dragging her out, Zoe scrambled into the driver’s seat, started the engine, and stomped on the gas, speeding away.

Jasmine tore the jacket off her head and jumped to her feet, screaming at the departing car, ”Hey! Who are you!?”

Zoe glanced in the rearview mirror as she quickly turned the wheel.

She drove straight to the parking lot of a five-star hotel.

She finally came to a stop, panting. ”Damn it! I could barely breathe!”

She turned to look at Herman beside her.

Leaning in for a closer look, she realized he wasn’t just sleeping normally.

She called out, ”Herman? Wake up?”

He didn’t react at all.

An idea sparked in Zoe’s mind. She said playfully, ”Herman, if you don’t wake up now, I’m going to have my way with you!”

Just then, he slowly opened his eyes.

His eyes, however, were glazed over as he stared at her, motionless.

Zoe’s eyes widened. She stared at him, their faces only a few centimeters apart.

”Herman? Do you recognize me?”

His voice was raspy. ”Yeah... Where are we?”

”Your subordinate was about to take advantage of you. Luckily, I was there and got you out of there. We’re at a five-star hotel. Do you want to go home, or just get a room here for the night?”

”Here is fine.”

He pushed the door open to get out.

Zoe quickly got out as well and handed him the keys. ”The car keys.”

He walked straight ahead without a backward glance.

He got a room and walked straight to the elevator. Zoe followed him in and tucked the keys into his suit pocket. ”I put the car keys in your pocket.”

When the elevator stopped on the fifth floor, Herman strode out. Zoe stayed inside. ”I’ll be heading back now.”

But before she could finish, he grabbed her and pulled her out of the elevator.

Zoe’s heart hammered against her ribs. She cried out, ”Herman!”

He wrapped an arm around her and chuckled. ”Didn’t you say you were going to have your way with me? I’m giving you the chance tonight.”

With that, he quickly punched in the code for the presidential suite. After a few BEEPS, the door unlocked, and they both went inside.

Zoe was usually bold, but when it came down to it, she chickened out.

”Come on.”

He sat on the edge of the bed, watching her with a calm, expectant look.

”Herman, you-you’re drunk. Do you even know who I am?”

He snorted. ”Zoe Ellsworth! You really think I’m that out of it?”

At his words, a wide grin spread across Zoe’s face.

She walked up to him. ”If I have my way with you, you’ll be my man. What about your girlfriend then?”

He reached out and playfully tapped her on the nose. ”And you believed that? I was lying to you.”

Zoe felt like her heart was going to leap out of her chest. It was thumping—THUMP, THUMP, THUMP—so joyfully, so clearly she could hear every beat.

”This isn’t a dream, is it?” she muttered. ’This feels too impossible.’

After muttering to herself, Zoe flipped off the lights. She took a step forward and, with a successful pounce, tackled him onto the bed.

In the darkness, her eyes glinted mischievously. ”Herman, are you asking me to be your girlfriend?”

”Yeah. Can I?” he asked, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he lay there.

Zoe was having trouble processing the sudden turn of events. ”Why? Didn’t you say before—”

”I’m just... tired. I simply want to get married.”

”My mom always said that if I could marry you, it wouldn’t matter if I finished school or not; she’d be off my case for good. Wouldn’t that kill two birds with one stone?”

”Don’t you think this is too fast?”

Zoe shook her head. ”I just think you’re being a bit of a cradle robber, Herman. If you don’t treat me well in the future, I’ll be getting the short end of the stick!”

He rolled over, burying his face in the crook of her neck. ”Do you really think I’d be bad to you? Zoe, your brother has been in love with Jean for years, and I’ve watched you grow up. I might not be able to give you a heart-stopping, passionate romance, but, Zoe... I will treat you well.” His hand moved to stroke her hair.

Zoe boldly planted a kiss on his cheek. ”Okay. I believe you’ll be good to me, Herman. I used to follow you around all the time when I was little, and you always protected me.”

So why, just two months later, did his attitude toward her do a complete one-eighty?

In the end, though, they didn’t do anything. They just lay there together.

”Then my brother is really lucking out,” Zoe laughed. ”You’ll have to call him ’Big Brother’ now.”

He held her close. ”That’s a small price to pay. I’ll call him whatever I have to. Zoe, are you really entrusting your happiness to me so rashly?”

She tilted her head up to look at him. ”Aren’t you also being rash by deciding to marry me? So, are we having a whirlwind wedding?”

”I think marrying you would be wonderful. Zoe, give me your left hand.”

Overjoyed, Zoe held out her left hand. A large ring slid perfectly onto her middle finger.

”Does it fit?” he asked.

But Zoe froze. She reached over with her other hand to feel it. The ring was clearly too big for her finger—so big it was about to slide right off. It obviously wasn’t meant for her.