Grayson Pierce and Eloise Caldwell novel Chapter 55

Chapter 55

Eloise just smiled, saying nothing.

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Since they were already talking about family, Grayson decided to give Eloise a rundown of everyone in his family.

“Well, there’s Grandma, Dad, Aunt Christina’s crew, and then there’s Uncle Tripp,” he said.

Eloise pressed her lips together. Grayson hadn’t mentioned his mom. Five years ago, when they were still together, he’d mentioned that his parents were divorced.

When Eloise didn’t say anything, Grayson pulled out his phone to take a look. He saw the family group chat was flooded with unread messages. He’d set the group to mute, so he hadn’t gotten any notifications.

Feeling curious, he opened the chat. Christina had tag him several times, so he went through all the messages. from the start.

Then Grayson looked up at Galen, who was hiding behind the bar, shooting him a cold look.

Galen covered his face with his hand, as if that could magically make him invisible. He texted Joslyn privately: [Oh no. Grayson’s pissed and glaring at me.]

Joslyn sent back a sympathetic emoji.

Grayson didn’t reply to the group chat, and when Leo sent over a bunch of voice messages, he just ignored them all. No way was he letting anyone interrupt his lunch with Eloise.

When the food came, they quietly dug in. Grayson kept serving Eloise food.

Eloise didn’t really react. If he put something on her plate, she just ate it. She knew that even if she refused, he wouldn’t stop. They had a meeting later that afternoon, so they had to eat fast.

Once they finished eating, Galen eagerly walked them to the door. “Hey, gorgeous, come back again soon. You don’t even need Grayson to tag along. Bring your family or friends, your meal’s on me.”

‘As if I’d actually comp the meal. Free food? Dream on,’ Galen thought to himself. He was running a small business, so he’d just put it all on Grayson’s bill.

After all, his restaurant pretty much survived thanks to Grayson’s patronage. Grayson’s spending alone accounted for 80% of his annual sales target.

Grayson thought Galen had said the right thing and shot him an approving look.

Finally, Galen managed to please his stoic cousin. He chuckled with satisfaction.

Eloise said politely, “Thanks.”

*****

18:11 Thu, Apr 9

Chapter 55

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Back at the VirtuFusion Group’s underground garage, Grayson walked a few steps before realizing Eloise wasn’t following.

Turning, he caught sight of Eloise lagging behind, her steps slow and reluctant. So he stopped and waited for

her.

“Eloise, are you moving at turtle speed?” Grayson said.

Eloise gave him a sideways glance. “Just go ahead. I’ll catch the next elevator.”

Grayson fixed his gaze on her. He used to worry Eloise would stick to him, but now she was dodging him like the plague, scared someone might think there was something going on between them.

Grayson gritted his teeth, feeling a wave of frustration. “No need to bother. I’ll take my private elevator. You can take the other one,” he said, his tone icy.

Eloise just stared at him, lost for words. She’d forgotten that someone as high and mighty as Grayson had his own exclusive elevator.

Eloise pressed her lips together. “That’s even better.” Then she made her way over and hit the elevator button.

While she was still waiting, Grayson was already riding his private elevator and reached the 22nd floor in no time.

Once inside, Eloise pressed 16, since her meeting was on that floor.

Beckett was already in the meeting room. Eloise took a seat behind him, feeling a little self-conscious.

When Beckett had asked where she was earlier, she’d hesitated, even considering making something up.

Lying was always awkward, anyway. Still, she didn’t see any reason to explain her situation with Grayson to her boss. It was her own business.

“Mr. Hayes, you said you had a question for me earlier. What was it?” Eloise asked.

Beckett stared at her for a moment. He didn’t actually have a question. He just wanted an excuse to have lunch with Eloise. But Grayson had totally messed up his plan.

Meeting Eloise’s clear gaze, Beckett said, “It’s already sorted.”

Eloise nodded, “Good. Did you eat yet, Mr. Hayes?”

“No,” he said.

Eloise was about to offer to go downstairs and grab him something quick, but then she checked the time.

“The meeting is about to start, Mr. Hayes, so I’m afraid I won’t have time to run out and get your lunch. The break room’s got a bunch of snacks. I’ll grab you something to hold you over,” she said.

Beckett didn’t refuse. “Thanks, Ms. Caldwell.”

18:11 Thu, Apr 9

Chapter 55

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Eloise didn’t waste any time and got up to head to the break room. Beckett was her boss, so making sure he was comfortable was just part of the gig.

The break room at VirtuFusion Group was stocked with all kinds of goodies. There were all sorts of juice, coffee, yogurt, pastries, and snacks.

Eloise grabbed some snacks and made a cup of coffee, then headed back to the meeting room. On her way, Eloise bumped into Grayson and Finn as they walked out of the elevator.

Grayson eyed her arms, which were loaded with snacks and coffee. “Still hungry?” he asked.

Eloise said, “Actually, it’s not for me. Mr. Hayes hasn’t had lunch yet, so I’m bringing these for him.”

Grayson’s face instantly turned stormy. “You’re using my stuff to impress another guy? Unbelievable.”

Eloise shot back, “Mr. Pierce, what do you even mean, ‘using your stuff to impress another guy’?

“First off, Mr. Hayes is my boss. Taking care of his meals is literally part of my job. I’m not trying to suck up to him. And even if I was, it’s not a big deal; he’s the one paying me, after all.

“Second, we’re here for a meeting at VirtuFusion Group. It’s totally normal for your company to provide snacks, right? Why are you being so stingy?

“I just grabbed some snacks and a cup of coffee, and you’re acting like I raided your pantry. Seriously, if anyone heard you, they’d never believe it.”

Grayson knew that Eloise was just doing her job. But that didn’t make it any easier. He couldn’t stand her treating another man well. He was burning with jealousy.

Too pissed to say anything, Grayson snatched the coffee out of Eloise’s hands and chugged it down in one gulp.

Eloise froze.

Finn thought with a mental sigh, ‘Man, only the boss could throw a tantrum like that and act like it’s totally normal.’

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