AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Her voice took on a high-pitched quality as she mimicked Eloise. “What? No! Of course not!” She laughed, then faced Eloise with her hand on her hip. “You totally do. You have a crush on the boss.”
“Seriously, I don’t. He used to date my sister.” Eloise realized her mistake the moment the words left her lips. She grimaced and looked away from her new friend. There would be no telling what might happen now. What if Hannah thought Shane only hired her because of his connection with the Callahan family?
Her cheeks flushed with warmth. There was no hiding her reaction to her own statement. She might as well hit this head-on. “They ended things amicably, but I can tell they’ve both been acting a little different—moody, maybe?”
“Do you think they still have a thing for each other?”
Eloise scrunched up her face as she considered this. Brielle hadn’t really been dating lately. She didn’t go out as often. It was as if she had lost her will to do so. Was it possible she still had feelings for Shane? “I don’t know,” she mumbled. “If they do, then they have no plans on doing anything about it. I can’t even say for certain how serious it was. I only ever saw him come over to the house once.”
Hannah started slicing some cucumbers. “That doesn’t sound like they were serious at all. Maybe something happened on their date.”
“No, they were definitely more serious than it seemed. I guess he didn’t tell her about his family.”
Neither one of them spoke for a few minutes, lost in their own thoughts. Then Hannah shrugged. “Oh well. I don’t even know why we’re talking about Shane when I want to know more about his cousin.” She winked, then laughed when Eloise made a face. “Come on. I don’t have anyone in my life right now. I need to live vicariously throughsomeone.”
Eloise joined in on her laughter. “If it makes you feel any better, I don’t think anything will come of it. Like I said, he was nice and all, but he didn’t seem super interested in me. I think he just felt bad he had my phone.”
“I don’t know,” her friend sang. “Sounds to me like he tried a little too hard to come up with any excuse to see you again.”
“You think so?”
“I know so. That’s what shy guys do.”
Eloise bit back a smile. It wouldn’t be the worst thing if Marc was interested. There was something about him that she was drawn to, though she couldn’t figure out what it was. If he planned on staying put, maybe she’d have an excuse to continue seeing him.
That evening went much like the first one. There wasn’t a lot of time for small talk due to Gabriel continuously barking orders at them. This kind of high-intensity work probably should have worn on her, but surprisingly she found she loved it.
“House salad!” someone called out.
“Got it!” she responded.
Gabriel stepped into her path. “No. Hannah can get it.” He nodded toward her. “I’m going to put you on the soups. Geoffrey has to leave early.”
Her eyes widened. “But aren’t the soups made to order?”
“Each soup goes off a base. Then all you have to do is add the fixings and additional spices. Do you think you can handle that?” Gabriel set his firm gaze on her.
She squirmed under his stare, then nodded. “I can do it, Chef.” Eloise wasn’t sure, but she thought she caught a look of approval flicker across his face. He patted her shoulder, then brushed past her.
Eloise spun to watch him leave then her eyes dragged across the room toward the stockpots that sat on the stovetop. She took a deep breath and then let it out slowly. She could do this. It was just like cooking supper at home.
* * *
She breezeddown the hall toward Shane’s office. Who knew that she could get such a high from being in front of a pot on a stove? Everything had gone perfectly, and it was all she could do to keep from smiling like a complete idiot.
Just before she reached his office door, her phone buzzed in her pocket. Eloise pulled it out and stared at a number she didn’t recognize. She glanced toward Shane’s office and then opened the message.
Unknown:Hey
Eloise frowned.She couldn’t think of anyone who might message her that she didn’t already know. She’d put Hannah’s number in her phone already. Before she could respond, they messaged again.
Unknown:It’s Marc. I wanted to see you again.
Her silly grinreturned and she stuck her phone in her pocket. She’d respond after her meeting with Shane. Eloise pushed through the door that had been left ajar, then stopped. Shane paced behind his desk, having not seen her yet. He spoke in a low, angry tone.
“I don’t care how you do it. Back outnow.” Shane stopped, his back to Eloise. “I’m not going to let you stay here. Visiting me is one thing. Setting up shop so you can torment—” He turned just enough that she caught his eye. His gaze darkened. “This isn’t up for discussion. You’ll back out and head home.” He broke eye contact and his voice lowered further. “I’ll do no such thing.” Shane’s jaw tightened and he spun around, muttering something she couldn’t hear.
He ripped the phone from his ear and chucked it across the room. It collided with a loveseat that sat against the wall. Without turning to face her, he muttered, “It’s not polite to eavesdrop.”
