Page 89 of Matchmaking the CEO

"Don't be mean. This is a great party."

"It is. And you promised that once things are settled, you're going to sit beside me at the table."

She bit her lower lip. “I’ve already danced with you.”

"Natalie!" My voice was dangerously low.

She pointed at me. "Go sit at the table and chat with your brothers and half brothers."

I narrowed my eyes at her. "I'll make you a deal. You join me, and I'll be civil to them."

"I have a lot of things to do, to check on. I can't exactly take off. I'm running the party."

"You wouldn't be taking off. Besides, you need a break every now and then. You've been on your feet the entire time.”

“Again, just two hours.”

“Woman, why are you so stubborn?"

"That's how I am."

I looked at her expectantly. The truth was I wanted her to be by my side. The family knew about her, of course, but it would be different if she sat with us at the table, if she got to know them.

"I'll come for a snack, and then I'll get back to work."

"We have a deal." I was very proud of myself.

She tapped on her iPad and then glanced around. "I think everything is going according to plan right now. I can grab something to eat and join you at the table." She put the iPad on the small table next to the buffet where she’d set up her office of sorts.

"You can take the iPad to the table," I suggested. "That way you don't have to run back and forth."

"If I take it with me, I'll spend every moment with my nose buried in it instead of actually talking to everyone. Trust me, it's better this way."

"Okay."

She took a plate and loaded it up with chicken and pasta. As we walked back to the table, I put a hand on her waist. Whenever Natalie was around, I couldn't help touching her.

Grandmother beamed at us as we sat down at the table. She was in a great mood today. She’d loved the present my brothers and I got for her—a photography course with one of the most renowned photographers in the country. We’d also set her up with enough equipment that she’d never have to buy anything else.

"Natalie, darling, I have to say, you two make such a great couple."

Natalie blushed.

"I'm so happy I followed my hunch and hired you."

"What?" I asked.

Natalie straightened up, and Grandmother gave me a mischievous smile.

Grandfather cleared his throat. "Jeannie, you don't have to tell them everything."

"Oh, why not? It's all a bit of fun." Grandmother looked around the table. "Well, no one here is giving me great-grandkids, so I had to take matters into my own hands.”

I could practically see the colors of my brothers’ faces changing, and that went for my half brothers as well. Maddox, Nick, and Leo were sitting between Gabe and Grandfather. I’d made polite chitchat with them until now, but we hadn't really discussed anything worth remembering or mentioning.

I supposed this was Grandmother's way of breaking the ice, and damn, it worked.

"What now, Gran?" Maddox said.

---