Page 20 of Knot Now Knot Ever

“I agree. I was just wondering why they didn’t give any notice, but we’re just the worker bees. What do we know?” I commented, with a little more sarcasm in my tone than I meant to come across. Thankfully, the woman chuckled and confirmed someone would meet with me after they came back from lunch.

Thrilled with my progress, I bounced out of my chair, grabbed my purse and phone, and headed out to get some lunch. Eli was standing next to Emily, looking at something on her screen.

“Now click here, see how this says note?” Eli asked, pointing. “Whatever you enter here is what will be put on the little card sent with the gift basket.”

“Really?” Emily gasped, amazed by the feature. “So I don’t need to worry about sending a separate card to make sure my niece knows I was the one to send the basket?”

“Correct,” he confirmed, looking tenderly at the older lady.

“Now, I have to think of the right thing to say. She’s been trying to have a baby for some time. Oh, I’m just so thrilled for her,” Emily chattered excitedly and smiled when she spotted me. “Miss Clark, did you hear the news? My niece, April, just found out she’s pregnant. I dare say she’s about your age, maybe a little older.”

“That’s wonderful news,” I said, returning her smile.

“What about you? Do you plan to have kids soon? They say it gets harder for women over thirty, and it certainly was for my dear April,” Emily shared, her brow wrinkling slightly in distress.

My stomach clenched as my mouth went dry, and panic washed over me being put on the spot in front of Eli. I clutched my phone to my chest and tried to answer, but nothing came out.

“Lyra, were you heading somewhere?” Eli cut in, keenly aware of my distress.

“Lunch,” I managed to say and awkwardly pointed toward the elevator.

Eli looked at his watch, seemingly surprised it was already that time. “So it is. Would you mind if I joined you?”

Shaking my head, I waited for Eli as he excused himself from helping Emily, then wrapped an arm around my shoulders, guiding me to the elevator. My gaze latched onto the elevator’s shiny metal doors, trying to talk myself off the ledge of a panic attack. Eli didn’t try to fill the silence. Instead, he held me against his side and used his thumb to stroke my arm, offering me what comfort he could. The doors opened, but instead of bringing us to the second floor, where the cafeteria was located, I looked out at the garage.

Without a word, Eli swept me along until we exited the garage and came out on the main street. “Where are we going?” I asked, my brain finally catching up to what was happening.

“Lunch,” Eli answered and kissed my head. “I don’t mind the cafeteria, but the food gets old when you’ve worked for the company for as long as I have. There’s a café about a block away that has excellent lunch choices.”

The walk was exactly what I needed to calm down before we were seated in a booth tucked away in the corner of a lovely-looking café. It was called the Slice of Life, and I would guess it was called that because of the delicious-looking pies I saw in the case.

“This place looks amazing,” I said, reading over the menu. “They have a little bit of everything you could ever want.”

Eli gave me a small smile, but it reached his eyes. “I don’t share this place with many people, fearing they will become so busy I won’t be able to enjoy it. The only thing I’d suggest you stay away from is the steak sandwich. Roy tends to go cheap, and the meat is a little too fatty.”

My brows went up at the casual way he talked about the chef. “Wow, first-name basis with the head cook… you really do like this place.”

A surprised bark of laughter came out of Eli, shocking him as much as it did me. The next moment, I was clamping a hand over my mouth to keep from making a scene, but seeing him so stunned by his reaction just hit me funny. Eli looked down as if a little embarrassed, but that only made me find him even more handsome than I already did.

“When I found this place, it wasn’t long after losing my father and stepping into his role at the company. Things didn’t transition smoothly, and I found everyone in the building felt more comfortable when I didn’t eat in the cafeteria. I needed some place close by if I needed to hurry back but where I wouldn’t be noticed. SoL, as Roy calls this place, wasn’t doing well which meant it was quiet, and I got fast service,” Eli shared as he reached out to grasp my hand and laced our fingers together.

After a moment, he continued his story, “When I met Roy, he’d just recovered from a car accident that left him with a broken arm and leg, forcing him to find someone else to do the cooking. That hadn’t gone well. His wife isn’t a businesswoman. She’s a baker. Although she tried her best when Roy returned to work, the place had gone to shambles. I guess you could say we both met when we needed each other. Roy needed capital to do some much-needed renovations and upgrades. Then they planned to do a relaunch, letting people know he was back. Meanwhile, I wanted a safe place to come and not have the weight of the company on my shoulders while I was still grieving my father. We both got what we needed and became friends along the way.”

Hearing Eli as he talked about losing his father tugged at my grief. “I’m sorry about your father. It’s hard to lose a parent. I can’t even imagine dealing with taking over a company on top of everything your family must have gone through.”

His thumb stroked over the back of my hand as he studied me. “It was incredibly hard, but I was fortunate to have the rest of my family to lean on. From what I’ve gathered, you had to face all that alone, didn’t you?”

Dropping my gaze, I tucked my hair behind my ear and nodded. “All of my parents have passed, and my mother never had any other children. I believe there might be extended family somewhere, but the courts couldn’t find anyone who would take me in.”

“No one?” Eli asked, a growl of anger in those two simple words.

“I think they found one of my father’s parents, but due to the sensitive nature of my grandfather’s health, they couldn’t take care of me,” I explained. “It ended up working out fine since I decided to go to boarding school. I didn’t need to worry about money with what my family left me, and I technically still own the company my fathers started, but I’m not involved in its business. Once I graduated, I moved from boarding school to college and got my degrees.”

When Eli didn’t say a word, I glanced up and saw such sadness in his gaze that it worried me. Had I upset him? Did I share too much too soon? Either way, I was sure I’d ruined lunch by telling him about my sad, pathetic life as an orphan. Oh God, what if he thinks I said all that to make him pity me and guilt him into feeling like he had to accept me as his Omega?

I tried to pull my hand back as I reached to get my purse. “Lyra, what are you doing?” Eli questioned, tightening his grip on me.

Pausing, I glanced at him. “Well, I was going to head back to the office so you can eat in peace. You come here to relax and have time for yourself, and I shouldn’t intrude on that. Also, forget what I said about growing up. You were being sweet, sharing something with me, and I dumped all that mess in your lap without even realizing it. If you’ll excuse me, I have to run over to the Ethean consulate and get a new form for a delayed shipment.”