The CEO's Romantic Wager

Chapter Seven: A Holiday Miracle

The next morning, Ajax Creed arrived at the office in his usual fashion.

The approaching holiday season had tried to put a damp on his routine streak, but today, the CEO was having none of it.

His sleek black sports car pulled into the underground parking lot, and he stepped out with a confident, sexy precision, looking smart and elegant as hell in a Giorgio Armani light blue suit, leather briefcase in one hand, phone in the other.

It was another day of meetings, negotiations, and tackling high-stake deals, and Ajax was already late for a few of them, but he’d rather sit in traffic in his own car than endure another round of flash mob choreography and Mariah Carey blasting his head off, and since he had done exactly that, his mood was perfect, like nothing at all could ruin the lovely day he had ahead of him.

Ajax got out of his car, adjusted his cufflinks, and locked up, and then he strode confidently to the private elevator that awaited to take him straight to his office on the top floor, getting right in.

The trip up to the top floor was quite a slow one, and yet it gave the CEO enough time to relax and enjoy the final moments of quiet before the hustle and bustle of the day hit him.

But when the elevator doors opened, his normal routine ground to a screeching halt.

A Christmas tree.

And no, this wasn’t just any Christmas tree, this one was massive, adorned with twinkling lights, colorful ornaments, and a star so large and so bright that it threatened to blind him.

And where was it?

It stood proudly to the right of his office door, basking in the morning sunlight streaming through the windows.

Fucking Jayla Beckett.

For a moment, Ajax just stared, his brain struggling to process the scene before him.

His gaze swept over to her desk only to find it suspiciously empty.

Fuck, what else had she done?

The CEO’s heart pounded as panic set in. He hurried to his office, his polished black shoes clicking against the floor.

Ajax threw open the door, and a wave of relief immediately washed over him when he found the room exactly as he'd left it—minimalist, pristine, and devoid of anything remotely festive.

That window spray she had mentioned had thankfully not found the time to grace his beautiful ceiling-to-ground windows after all.

But now he was curious.

Jayla might not have touched his office, but something just told him she wasn’t going to leave the other corners of the huge building spared from this atrocity, and so he quickly got in the elevator, and punched a button.

When the door opened up on the middle floor, Ajax thought he’d have a stroke at the way his heart stopped in his chest.

Red and green streamers,

Twinkling fairy lights,

That cheery music that made his ears want to bleed…

HELL, THERE WAS EVEN A f*****g INFLATABLE SNOWMAN!

His serious-looking corporation had practically been turned into a holiday jungle of sorts and one woman was responsible for all of it.

Ajax’s gaze swept across the office, taking in the faces of his employees, how they all seemed to be frozen in place in fear, like f*****g deer caught in headlights.

Only one person still had the guts to look bright and cheery even in the face of his pissed-off demeanor.

“Surprise!” The woman who was starting to become the bane of his existence’s cheerful voice rang out as she popped up from behind a cubicle, grinning ear to ear.

Ajax’s jaw clenched, his icy gaze sweeping the room one last time as he struggled to reign his anger in. “Ms. Beckett, my office. Now.” He strode off hurriedly, knowing that she would soon follow.

The looks on the faces of Jayla Beckett’s colleagues were seriously hilarious.

They seemed completely mortified for her, and Jayla couldn’t, for the love of her, understand why, when she hadn’t even flinched at the scowl on her boss’s face.

She turned to her mates with a dramatic flourish, channeling her inner Cameron Diaz as though she were some lead actress in a holiday production.

“Well, folks, it’s been real,” she began grimly, her tone sad and theatrical at first. “I’ve truly enjoyed my time here at Creed Holdings. You’ve all been fantastic, and I’ll never forget the memories we’ve made—especially this last one, which I’m certain will go down in office history. But alas, it seems my time here has come to an abrupt end.”

Try as she did, she couldn’t stop the wide grin that was forcing its way onto her face. “Should I not survive the wrath of Mr. Creed, please remember me fondly as the one who tried to bring a little joy to this soulless corporation, and always remember, to carry on my legacy!”

The staff burst into laughter despite their earlier apprehension, and some even clapped and whistled as Jayla gave an exaggerated bow and marched toward the elevator with her chin held high, like a warrior heading into battle.

When she reached Ajax’s office, she found him standing behind his desk, arms crossed, his expression unreadable.

There was no point in denying it, a tiny terrified shudder shot through her, one that she tried her best to ignore as she went right to the point.

“Before you say anything, Mr. Creed,” she began, holding up a hand, “I’d like to remind you that you agreed to this.”

“I agreed to some holiday spirit, Ms. Beckett,” Ajax replied, his voice cool and controlled. “Not for you to turn my company into Santa’s workshop.”

Jayla tried her best to look repentant, but she just couldn’t shake off that grin of amusement. “Well. It looks like a few things got lost in translation then.” She hit him with the words.

Ajax exhaled sharply, pinching the bridge of his nose. “You’re lucky that I’m not firing you right on the spot.”

He wasn’t?

You see, despite all the jokes, Jayla had really thought she was done for. She had seen the murderous look in his eyes when he had asked her to come to his office.

The CEO gestured for her to take a seat opposite him, and Jayla mentally prepared herself for an earful, but instead of continuing his tirade, her boss completely surprised her.

He sat down too and leaned back in his chair, his lips curving into a faint smirk. “I didn’t do so badly though, did I?” he asked, his tone laced with amusement.

Jayla blinked in rapid succession, completely caught off guard.

“Wait—you’re not mad?”

“Oh, I am furious, Ms. Beckett” he replied, though the twinkle in his eye suggested otherwise. “But despite all of it, I kept my end of the initial bargain. So now, we’re officially in business, you and I.”

Before she could respond, he opened a drawer and pulled out an envelope, sliding it across the desk toward her.

“Your first p*****t,” he said simply. “It’s half of what we had agreed upon. I’ll pay the rest up if we manage to put on a convincing enough show for my parents when we go see them on Christmas Eve.”

Jayla stared at the lump sum in front of her, her mind racing.

Now that she was actually thinking about it, it seemed her little rebellion had been in the hopes that he’d call everything off, but it looked like that wasn’t happening anytime soon…

Meaning she was going to have to play the part of his fake girlfriend.

God.

What were people going to think?

The rumor mills were going to start churning like crazy… with people making insane assertions like she was sleeping her way to the top, among other nonsense, and while Jayla liked to pretend not to be affected by public opinion, she was only human after all.

“There’s one condition though,” Her boss added, interrupting her thoughts. “Dinner. Tonight. We need to be seen together a lot more from now onwards if we want people to start believing this... arrangement.”

Jayla frowned. “Don’t you think it’s a little soon, Mr. Creed?”

“No,” he replied without missing a beat.

“Fine,” Jayla relented, “Where and at what time?”

“You leave everything to me; I’ll take care of it.” He said smoothly, taking charge, “What dress size do you wear?”

Jayla raised an eyebrow. “A size 10. Why?”

“You’ll find out soon enough,” he replied, his tone cryptic as he relaxed in his seat.

Jayla stood up, a small laugh bubbling from her lips even as she prepared to leave his presence. “You don’t even know where I live, Mr. Creed. How will you work everything out?”

Ajax’s smirk deepened. “Clearly, you underestimate me, Ms. Beckett.” He shook his head, “Be ready by seven. You’re dismissed.”

As Jayla walked out of her boss’s office, she still couldn’t believe that her boss was smiling with her, or that she still had a job for that matter, for she had been so certain that this was the end.

Instead, she was having dinner with the man who was going to become her pretend boyfriend.

And for some reason Jayla couldn’t explain, she actually was looking forward to hanging out with him tonight.