“It’s the best job I’ve ever had,” I answered honestly before taking a bite of the roll.
I barely bit back a moan at the taste of slightly sweet, yeasty bread and thick, rich butter. Nothing I’d eaten in the last six weeks had tasted nearly as good.
“You worked in HR before, right?”
I nodded as I chewed and swallowed. “Since I graduated five years ago.”
“Did you like it?”
“It was okay. I liked the people I worked with and the other employees, but my boss was the type to fob his work off on me. It was getting worse every year I worked there. Since he was the head of a very small HR department, I didn’t have much recourse. It wasn’t like I could file a complaint on my boss with my boss.”
Elijah frowned. “What about his boss?”
“His boss was the owner of the company. When it first started, I didn’t know her very well, and she seemed like she was friends with my boss. They would take their spouses and play golf together on the weekends or go have dinner as a group once a month or so. I had too much student loan debt and not enough work experience. I couldn’t risk retaliation or termination. By the time I realized I could have talked to the owner, it was too late. I was just done with the job itself.”
“That sounds like a shitty situation all around.”
“It was,” I admitted. “I stuck it out for way too long.”
We ate our rolls in silence before we both reached for another. I handled buttering mine this time, shooting Elijah a sharp look when he tried to repeat his earlier behavior.
“I didn’t realize you worked for Marcus on a regular basis,” I said, breaking the quiet that had fallen over us.
“I don’t work for him exactly. We started the LLC together when we purchased some real estate as an investment. As the years went by, we’ve added more properties and tossed around ideas for other businesses we could invest in. Davide told me about his showing in New York and his concerns about how he wouldn’t be able to prepare in time. He originally wanted to hire a new manager but worried that you would be upset with him. I asked him if he ever considered selling, and he said he would for the right price but only if you remained on staff.” Elijah shrugged. “I talked to Marcus, and he liked the idea of owning a gallery and expanded on it by saying he’d love to open up two or three more in different areas of the country.”
I had no idea how to respond to that. Or how I felt about it.
Wait, yes, I did know how I felt. I was confused as hell.
“When did you talk about all of this with D?” I finally asked.
“About a month ago.”
What? I gave my head a minute shake. “Before or after Yancy’s rehearsal dinner?” I asked.
I didn’t know why I needed to know, but I did.
“After.”
I stared at him, at a complete loss. Why in the hell would he want to purchase the place I worked after the last time we saw each other? It made no sense.
Before I could find the words, or any words really, to ask him why, the server returned with our food. My brain was so busy with thoughts and feelings about what Elijah just told me that I ate on autopilot, barely tasting the food that I usually love so much.
“What about your art?” I asked after a few moments.
Elijah made sculptures out of wood, metal, and other materials. I would have expected them to be rough, almost industrial in nature, but they weren’t. They were often delicate and sensual. Some were almost whimsical, which completely at odds with the intensity of his personality.
“What about it?” he asked.
I suppressed the urge to scowl at him. He avoided the subject of his art with me from the beginning. That should have been the first red flag that he wasn’t invested in a relationship with me. What artist didn’t talk about their passion? It was an integral part of who they were. The fact that he wouldn’t even discuss it with me revealed how much he wanted to keep distance between us.
“How will you have time to create pieces for your own shows and sales?” I pressed.
He shrugged as he ate. “I’ve been working at night a lot.”
As I studied him, I realized that the dark circles beneath his eyes matched mine. But why would he be having trouble sleeping?
When my belly was full, I put down my fork and pushed my plate away. Elijah had finished his meal while I ate and sat watching me, one hand wrapped around his glass and the other resting in his lap.
