Before I could decide for sure, Davide spoke, breaking the trance I’d fallen into. “Well, hello there, handsome. I wasn’t sure if you were going to come in tonight or not.”
Elijah came to a halt next to us. The navy color of his shirt made his blue eyes pop and there was stubble on his face which brought my attention to his sharp jawline. I swallowed hard when his gaze met mine.
“Hey,” he said, his eyes flicking from mine to Davide. “You said any time before closing would work.”
“I know, but the place closes in half an hour.”
Elijah shrugged, tucking his hands into the pockets of his jeans, drawing my gaze downward. The denim was loose around his hips but tight on his thighs. And I could see the bulge behind his zipper. A montage of images from our night together flashed through my mind in a moment.
“Hey, Grier,” he said.
I blinked and lifted my gaze to his to find him smirking at me as though he knew exactly what I’d been thinking about.
“Hi, Eli.”
Damn. I hadn’t meant to call him that. Just like that Sunday morning in the hotel room, it had slipped out without any premeditation on my part.
His irritating smirk grew. “Still calling me that, huh?”
Davide cleared his throat, preventing me from saying something I might regret. And keeping Elijah from revealing more about what happened between us the night of Lucy’s wedding. Well, I assumed that might happen. We hadn’t discussed if our night together was going to be a secret, but I really didn’t want to end up explaining this to Davide. Especially tonight when we’d be going out to dinner so I couldn’t escape.
“Come on back to my office, and we’ll get the paperwork signed.” Davide glanced at me. “Grier, you should come, too. We’re going to be selling some of Lawson’s pieces in the gallery, and since you’re going to be working with me now, you need to know how to do all of this.”
Pieces? He was an artist? How did I not know this? Oh, yeah, we’d both used our mouths for everything but conversation the night of Chris and Lucy’s wedding. We’d had a few conversations before that night, but I didn’t remember him ever mentioning what he did for a living which was strange. Jobs were usually the first thing people discussed in casual conversation because it was considered a relatively safe topic.
Elijah turned to look at me. “You’re working here now?”
Inwardly, I cursed, but I managed to force myself to smile. “Yes, I’m starting next week.”
He nodded, his gaze never leaving mine.
“Are y’all coming or what?” Davide asked.
I jumped at his question and tore my eyes away from Elijah. He was much slower to turn, but he followed Davide into his office.
What I should have done was made my excuses and left the gallery because the next half hour was akin to torture. Davide had me stand next to Elijah as they went over the paperwork, commission, and number of pieces the gallery would display. There was no way I would remember any of it. My thoughts kept drifting back to the night of Lucy’s wedding. With every brush of his arm against mine, the scent of his cologne, and the heat of his body, I would flash back to that night. The way his hands would grip me, the thrust of his hips, and how I’d felt surrounded and commanded.
“Well, I think that’s it,” Davide said, gathering up the papers. “When will you have the pieces delivered?” he asked Elijah.
“I’ll bring them by next week.”
“You?” Davide asked.
“Yes, me.” Elijah chuckled at the surprised expression on my friend’s face. “Who did you think would do it?”
“Your assistant? A service?”
“I don’t have an assistant, and I don’t trust any service to take care of my work. I’ll have the pieces here by Thursday. I’ll call you when I know which day.”
“Sounds good,” Davide said, grinning at him. “Hey, if you’re not busy, Grier and I are going out for dinner and drinks to celebrate her new position here. You should come with us.”
My heart stopped in my chest. I fully expected him to say no, but, once again, Elijah surprised me.
His eyes flicking between my friend-slash-new boss and me, he answered, “I’d love to.”
Oh, shit.
Dinner and drinks went exactly as I expected when I heard Elijah’s answer—awkwardly.
