They just hadn’t come across anyone questioning her and her father’s relationship.
Go figure. She finally decided she was going to be open about it and yet it wasn’t coming up.
It wasn’t like her to just tell someone to get it started. There’d be no reason for it.
“I listen and can follow directions well.”
She laughed and gave him another tight squeeze. “You can.”
The doorbell went off and she was all but jumping in place while Ethan went to answer it.
“Good morning,” she heard him say.
“I can’t wait to meet this girlfriend I’ve heard nothing about.”
Ethan came into the kitchen carrying two bags of food followed by a much smaller woman in shorts and a T-shirt, looking nothing like a chef.
“Nora Jones, this is Grace Harrington. Grace, my girlfriend, Nora. And you should know, she’s also my executive assistant and that is why you haven’t heard much about her. We are keeping it under wraps at the moment. Only my parents and brothers know.”
“Ahhh,” Grace said, coming forward to shake her hand. “Your secret is safe with me. If he hadn’t added the fact that you work for him, I’d never have known. Those things don’t make their way to the island. And we don’t care either. You wouldn’t be the first person in a relationship with their boss.”
“I haven’t told her of the others, but I should have.”
“Yes, you should have,” Nora said. “Who else is there?”
“Hunter Bond, who is Grace’s boss and first cousin, married an employee who worked at the front desk of The Retreat. He was the first.”
Damn. Okay. That was similar to her situation. Well, not really. Hunter’s wife didn’t workdirectlyfor him. But still, different worlds.
“Who else?”
“My first cousin Coy, his wife is another dentist he hired. Let’s see who else? You know about Eli and Bella. My other cousin Bode, his wife works for him now. They met when she worked for another company, but now they see each other nonstop. Duke Raymond, his wife worked for him as a hostess and server. That might be it, but there could be others.”
“But I’m the first who is at your beck and call,” she argued.
Grace laughed, causing Ethan to narrow his eyes. “I don’t know about that. I’d be lost without you and you know it.”
“Because you’re not as organized as me,” Nora said, lifting her chin.
He reached his arm out and snagged her, pulling her closer so that her body bumped into his. “I’m not. I need you in my life for a lot of reasons. And since I know Grace is on a timeline, what are you going to show us how to cook?”
“I thought we’d do stuffed French toast, triple berry muffins and a frittata. They are all fairly easy and quick to make, so we can get them done within an hour. Especially with three sets of hands,” Grace said. “And since I’ve never done a cooking class, this is more about us making them together, if that works?”
“Works for me,” Nora said. “I’ve made muffins before, but they never really come out right, so I use a box mix.”
“Ethan said you’ve baked so I threw this in as an additional thing to have. I know Janet has most of the ingredients in the house anyway, so I only grabbed berries for that.”
The three of them spread the ingredients out on the large island while Ethan grabbed all the pans and baking utensils that Grace told them they needed.
“I want to take notes, is that okay?” Nora asked.
“Actually,” Ethan said. “I’ve got one better. I’m going to record it.”
“I sent the recipes to Ethan this morning also,” Grace said. “This way you’ve got a record of it.”
“I knew you’d want to take notes and I’d rather you just experienced it and enjoyed it that way.”
This was the best date ever!
