Page 81 of Enchanting the CEO

"Sure, come in.”

“Are you okay?"

I nodded.

"I've heard you haven't been at the office all week. Did she give you her bug or something?" She looked worried.

"No, nothing like that," I said. "Sometimes I prefer to work from home after a trip."

"I'll go straight upstairs. I don't want to keep you."

"She isn't upstairs."

Celia cocked a brow. "Right. She did tell me she's using the kitchen."

My mind raced. I saw no possible way out of this. Diane was down here wearing a robe. It wouldn't take a genius to put two and two together.

"I'm here," Diane said. She sounded uncertain as she stepped out of the kitchen.

Celia jerked her head back, then looked from her sister to me.

"How are you feeling?" she asked Diane. From her tone of voice, I knew what she actually wanted to ask was "What the hell is going on?"

"I’ll leave the two of you to talk." I glanced at Diane. "Unless you want me to stay?"

Diane closed her eyes, took a deep breath, then opened them and looked straight at her sister. "Celia... this isn't how I wanted you to find out, but Gabe and I are dating."

Celia frowned and didn't speak right away. I suspected she was trying to rein herself in because I was her boss.

"How long has this been going on?" she asked Diane.

"Not long. The night before Gabe left for Texas."

"So you lied when I asked you how things are going with Gabe?" Celia said.

"I didn't want to tell you like that. Ideally, I wanted to take you out for coffee or something."

"How would that be any better?" she clipped.

"Celia," I said in a measured tone, "I know you care about your sister and only want what’s best for her, but I won't accept that tone of voice."

"Excuse me for not reacting better, I just... Never mind." She put the bag she'd been holding on the coffee table and said, "I brought you some food. Figured you might need company, but I don’t want to be in the way."

"Celia, come on," Diane said. "I know you’re upset."

"I’m upset that you kept this from me. I mean, I’m happy for you because Gabe is a good guy. But he’s also my boss, and things could get awkward." She sighed heavily. "Sorry, I don’t want to be a Debbie Downer. I just need to process this. We’ll talk later, okay?”

“Sure.”

Celia marched back to the door. Diane made to go after her but then stopped.

Once her sister was out of the house, she dropped her head in her palms. “This isn't how I wanted her to find out.”

I moved to stand in front of her, touching the side of her head and kissing her forehead. "She'll come around."

"I don’t know. She doesn’t like it when I keep things from her.”

"I'll talk to her."

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