Page 55 of Dear Grumpy Boss

“What did you get her?”

“A little gold camel, a pink Pashmina, and some sand art. Nothing big, but you know Elise. Those kinds of things make her squeal. It’s fun giving her presents. She always has these cute, over-the-top reactions.”

It had been years since I’d openly given Elise anything, but I hadn’t forgotten. Her face always turned bright pink and the dimple in her cheek popped when she beamed. There were hugs. So many hugs, and usually kisses on the cheeks.

I understood why Elliot hadn’t wanted to ruin the moment.

Luca approached the table with an entourage surrounding him. Three women, the one with the auburn hair hanging off his shoulder.

He introduced us. “Elliot and Weston, this is Celeste, Mara, and Sarah. I begged them to join us for a drink. I basically had to promise my firstborn to get them to agree.”

Mara, the brunette, took a seat beside me. Sarah, a blonde, sat beside Elliot, who admittedly took a vague interest. He didn’t seem annoyed by the intruders.

Everyone paired off, so I was forced to make small talk withMara, a twenty-three-year-old who worked in marketing. She had a lot to say on that topic. So much, she didn’t notice I’d completely tuned her out, going over my weekly schedule in my mind.

“What do you do?” she asked breathlessly, as though she just ran a mile in her heels.

“I’m a garbage man,” I deadpanned.

She blinked, her long, thick lashes casting weird shadows on her face. “Oh, really? Luca said—”

Tuning her out, I scanned the bar and landed on a big, redheaded lumberjack-looking fellow. Standing close to him was Elise Levy. He bent toward her, listening to her speak.

She had on snug jeans and a top that dipped low, revealing the upper swells of her creamy tits. There was not a chance this asshole wasn’t trying to see what was beneath her top.

I smirked to myself. I knew exactly what was under there, and it was fucking glorious.

My smirk fell away when he brushed her hair back from her face and she leaned into him.

“Is that my sister?” Elliot ground out.

I turned back to the group. Everyone had stopped talking. Elliot was watching Elise and her lumberjack through narrowed, pissed-off eyes.

“Oooh.” Luca covered his laugh with his hand. “Little Elise is on a da-ate.”

Elliot whipped around toward him. “Why don’t you sound surprised?”

Luca grinned wider. “Because your sister is a beautiful, grown woman and this isn’t her first date with that gentleman.”

Elliot’s irritation at being out of the loop landed on me. “Did you know about this? Who is he?”

I turned my hands over, forcing myself not to clench them. “That’s Thomas. They met a week ago. You should go check on them.”

He shot to his feet before I even finished my sentence and strolled over to his sister with a false air of casualness. He was going to make a mess of things. He always did with guys she dated. Elliot had never liked any of them. And it wasn’t some weird, incestuous thing. He wanted the best for her and had never once thought her boyfriends had qualified as that.

There was no part of me that wanted to watch this. Elliot and Elise were going to end up pissed at each other and he’d most likely push her further into the lumberjack’s arms. It’s what had happened when he’d disapproved of her last boyfriend.

We’d lost her for three years and were only now getting her back.

The girl beside me—god, I’d already forgotten her name—pressed her hand to my inner thigh. “You were kidding about being a garbage man, weren’t you?”

I picked up her hand, holding it for a beat. “Why would I joke about that kind of thing?”

She curled her fingers around mine and let out a laugh that didn’t come close to sounding real. “You’re funny. Luca said you’re funny, and you are.”

I slipped my hand from hers and excused myself to the restroom. As soon as Elliot was finished with his intimidation tactics, I would be saying my goodbyes and heading out. I was getting too old and impatient to hang out with random, vapid women on a Sunday evening when I had no intention of taking them to bed.

Leaning against the wall in the bathroom hall, I replied to an email from Renata about my and Elise’s trip to California at the end of the week. I had just hit send when someone rounded the corner.

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