Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
I managed to avoid Elijah for three days.
Davide made it easy. Under the guise of showing him the ropes, my boss, and newly appointed best of the best friend, kept Elijah out of the main area of the gallery where my desk was.
I basically saw him when we came into work in the morning and when it was time to leave in the afternoon. That Friday, however, my luck ran out.
I decided to take a half day off and to get a head start on my first Saturday off in weeks.
Since the gallery was open Saturdays and closed Sundays, I often worked six days a week since starting the job.
Davide gave me one Saturday a month off, and this weekend was my Saturday.
The fact that it gave me a chance to evade Elijah for two whole days… well, that was just a bonus.
As the clock approached one p.m., I headed back toward Davide’s office. As he had the other three days this week, he had taken Elijah back there as soon as he arrived and stayed inside with the door shut.
I knocked on the door, already braced to see Elijah.
“Come in!” Davide called.
I opened the door and stuck my head in. “If you’re still okay with me taking the rest of the day off, I’m going to go.”
“Of course. We’re pretty much done here for the day anyway.”
“Great. I’ll see you Monday.”
My eyes briefly met Elijah’s, but I backed out of the office and shut the door without saying anything to him.
I greeted him in the morning and said good-bye in the afternoon. I hadn’t needed to talk to him other than that. I knew that I was supposed to be training alongside him, but I was grateful I’d had this week to adjust to his presence.
Next week…next week I would be ready to act as though nothing had happened with Elijah. I just needed a couple more days to get my head screwed on straight.
I was probably lying to myself, but I didn’t care.
Denial was the only way I was going to get through the next few months.
Though I knew it was futile, I’d still updated my resume and started applying for jobs.
If I managed to get an interview, I would just explain that my new place of employment was bought out, and I couldn’t continue working there.
It wasn’t a complete lie. In fact, it was the truth.
I wasn’t sure I could continue working at the gallery once Davide was gone and Elijah was there full-time.
I forcefully shoved those thoughts from my mind and walked back to my desk to shut down my computer and retrieve my purse from the bottom drawer.
When I turned from the desk, I nearly ran face-first into Elijah’s chest. I squeaked and stutter stepped.
My toe caught on the leg of my chair, and I landed against him with a grunt.
Why in the heck was I always stumbling into this man? Was the universe trying to torture me?
His hands came up to grab me and keep me from falling to the floor.
My breasts were pressed to his upper abdomen and one of my thighs was between his.
A hot flush swept through me at the contact.
Unthinking, I tilted my head back to look at his face, which put our lips only a few inches apart.
I couldn’t look away as he gazed down at me, his blue eyes moving over my face.
His head moved, just a bit, as though he was about to kiss me. The slight shift broke the spell that had fallen over me. I stiffened and took a step back. His hands held onto my shoulders, as though he wanted to keep holding me before he let go.
“Sorry,” he murmured.
“It’s fine. I was just startled.” When he continued to stand in front of me, one hand resting on my desk, I cleared my throat. “Well, I’m just going to—”
“Can I take you to lunch?” he asked, interrupting me.
“Ummmm…” I looked away. “I’m not hungry.”
My stomach chose that moment to growl audibly. Shit.
He smiled slightly. “I think your stomach disagrees.”
“I’ll grab something on the way home,” I replied with a shrug.
“Grier, I really would like to talk to you. Please come to lunch with me.”
“You’re not going to drop this talk business, are you?”
Elijah shook his head.
“Fine. I’ll go to lunch with you, and we’ll talk. But, after this, it’s done. We’re co-workers and acquaintances. That’s it.”
“All right.”
At his agreement, I slipped my purse over my shoulder. “Okay, where are we going for lunch?”
“There’s a bistro on the next block. Would that be okay?”
I knew the place he was talking about. The lunch menu was delicious.
“Let’s go.”
We walked to the bistro in silence. It was a sunny, cool day. Though fall officially began in September, the temperatures in Texas didn’t cool off until November or December.
Now that it was nearly mid-November, it was finally beginning to feel like fall.
When the hostess at the bistro offered us outdoor seating, I immediately nodded.
I wanted to enjoy this weather while it lasted.
The fact that the patio was almost empty was a bonus.
That meant I wouldn’t have to worry about someone overhearing our conversation.
I didn’t need any witnesses to what promised to be an uncomfortable discussion.
After we sat down, our server came over with two small plates, a bowl of butter, and a basket of bread. He walked away after we ordered drinks, leaving me alone with Elijah for the first time since the night of Yancy’s rehearsal dinner.
I opened my mouth to ask him what he wanted to talk about but got distracted when he picked up a fluffy roll, split it with his butter knife, and began to spread a layer of butter on each side. Then, he surprised me by putting it on my bread plate before reaching for another.
“Uh, thank you,” I murmured.
I watched as he did the same thing for himself.
He’d shed his suit coat at some point in the morning and rolled up his sleeves.
I couldn’t stop watching the muscles of his forearms flex as he handled the roll.
My eyes wandered up his arms to his shoulders.
He looked…bigger than he had six weeks ago. Bulkier.
I flinched slightly when a glass of iced tea landed on the table in front of me with a thunk.
I thanked the server, reaching for one of the straws she’d placed on the table between us.
Thank goodness she’d shown up when she did because it was very likely Elijah would have looked up to find me staring at him like I wanted to eat him alive.
We each placed our order and were once again alone at the table. I couldn’t meet his gaze as I stuck the straw in my glass and took a sip.
“Davide speaks very highly of you,” Elijah stated.
I took one more sip, because my mouth was suddenly dry, and set the glass down. “He’s a great boss.”
“He’s much more organized than I realized. He keeps meticulous records.”
I nodded and picked up the roll for something to do with my hands and mouth. I didn’t want to eat, but my stomach was still rumbling.
Before I took a bite, he asked, “Do you like working at the gallery?”
“It’s the best job I’ve ever had,” I answered honestly before taking a bite of the roll.
I barely bit back a moan at the taste of slightly sweet, yeasty bread and thick, rich butter. Nothing I’d eaten in the last six weeks had tasted nearly as good.
“You worked in HR before, right?”
I nodded as I chewed and swallowed. “Since I graduated five years ago.”
“Did you like it?”
“It was okay. I liked the people I worked with and the other employees, but my boss was the type to fob his work off on me. It was getting worse every year I worked there. Since he was the head of a very small HR department, I didn’t have much recourse.
It wasn’t like I could file a complaint on my boss with my boss. ”
Elijah frowned. “What about his boss?”
“His boss was the owner of the company. When it first started, I didn’t know her very well, and she seemed like she was friends with my boss.
They would take their spouses and play golf together on the weekends or go have dinner as a group once a month or so.
I had too much student loan debt and not enough work experience.
I couldn’t risk retaliation or termination.
By the time I realized I could have talked to the owner, it was too late. I was just done with the job itself.”
“That sounds like a shitty situation all around.”
“It was,” I admitted. “I stuck it out for way too long.”
We ate our rolls in silence before we both reached for another. I handled buttering mine this time, shooting Elijah a sharp look when he tried to repeat his earlier behavior.
“I didn’t realize you worked for Marcus on a regular basis,” I said, breaking the quiet that had fallen over us.
“I don’t work for him exactly. We started the LLC together when we purchased some real estate as an investment.
As the years went by, we’ve added more properties and tossed around ideas for other businesses we could invest in.
Davide told me about his showing in New York and his concerns about how he wouldn’t be able to prepare in time.
He originally wanted to hire a new manager but worried that you would be upset with him.
I asked him if he ever considered selling, and he said he would for the right price but only if you remained on staff.
” Elijah shrugged. “I talked to Marcus, and he liked the idea of owning a gallery and expanded on it by saying he’d love to open up two or three more in different areas of the country. ”
I had no idea how to respond to that. Or how I felt about it.
Wait, yes, I did know how I felt. I was confused as hell.
“When did you talk about all of this with D?” I finally asked.
“About a month ago.”
What? I gave my head a minute shake. “Before or after Yancy’s rehearsal dinner?” I asked.
I didn’t know why I needed to know, but I did.
“After.”
I stared at him, at a complete loss. Why in the hell would he want to purchase the place I worked after the last time we saw each other? It made no sense.