Page 3 of Enchanting the CEO

"I've got to give it to you and Jake. You were quite convincing," she huffed.

Grandmother always insisted on cooking. I chose my battles, and although I could convince her of many things, giving up cooking was not one of them. My older brothers were so much better at it. I had a hunch that their better halves had a lot to do with it as well. For some reason, Grandmother was more receptive to their suggestions than to ours. But a win was a win. I didn't care how we achieved it. At their ages, we needed to cater to our grandparents, not vice versa.

As we sat down at the table, Grandmother said, "Gabe, darling, I have a bridge session with some friends on Saturday. Do you mind driving me there?"

I stopped putting mashed potatoes on my plate, contemplating her odd request.

"Isn't Cal available?" Jake asked, unsuccessfully suppressing laughter. Cal was Jake’s driver, but he ran errands for the whole family.

Natalie grinned. “Oh, Jeannie.”

Meredith was smiling too. “I’m not surprised.”

Grandmother looked sternly at Jake. I was obviously missing something.

"I can take you. I don't mind," I said.

She looked at me triumphantly. "Excellent."

"Oh, dude, come on," Cade said. "She wants to introduce you to some of her friends' granddaughters."

"Cade," Grandmother admonished. "Did you have to give me away?"

I started to laugh. "Grandmother, please stop trying to matchmake me. It's not going to happen."

"It will. I simply haven't introduced you to enough young women."

"Right. Because that’s the problem," Jake said. "Meeting women.”

I must have been exhausted—that was why I didn’t see through the ruse. For the past few months, she'd made up reasons for me to drive her to several meetings with her friends, and without fail, she'd always introduce me to a woman. I'd been polite about it all, of course, but I had no intention of settling down, and I hated that Grandmother was going through all of this for nothing.

"But you didn't even take any of them on a date," she added.

“Jeannie, leave the boy alone. Let’s change the subject,” Grandfather said. "How is the construction on your new home progressing?"

"Slow, but it's going to be faster now that I'm living in the area. I can go there every day," I replied.

Jake rolled his eyes. "Why would you want to oversee construction? It's a nightmare."

I shrugged. "I know, but it's going to be my house. I don't mind putting in the effort."

"You didn't have to literally move in across the street, though," Cade added.

“Yes, I did,” I replied.

I might be laid-back, but when I cared about something, I wanted to oversee it personally. That was why I’d rented a house in the same neighborhood. It was a huge villa, and I'd been surprised that it had been available at all. Then I found out that it was two separate units. Unfortunately, the current occupant of the upstairs one was a nightmare.

"Are things going better with the neighbor?" Natalie asked, as if reading my thoughts. My sister-in-law was very good at reading people.

"No," I said. "But I’m going to take care of that."

"Have you offered to pay rent for the whole house?" Jake asked.

"Yes, of course. That was one of the first things I did. But the owner insists that she prefers having two tenants, so if one of them leaves, she still has an income."

"That is a fair point," Meredith said.

Maybe, but the entrance to the attic rental was through the main house. So really, it wasn't a separate unit at all. I didn't have a neighbor, I had a roommate, and it was fucking annoying. But it was the only house available in that area, so I'd taken it anyway. I’d solve the problem of my annoying roommate too. But one thing at a time.

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