The CEO

by Shealy James

  He tugged me closer. “Hey. None of that. It’s only brunch, Eve. I’m not asking you to man the space shuttle.” He kissed my lips before turning and dragging me to his parents’ table.

  His sister lit up when she saw us approaching. She immediately stood and took Grant in a big hug and then followed suit with me. “It’s nice to see you again, Eve. We didn’t really get to speak at the lecture, but Dr. Clarke spoke very highly of you. I think it was the red velvet cupcakes you had there that did him in. Grant has some competition if you keep bringing Dr. Clarke’s favorite desserts.”

  I laughed and turned on the sorority charm. “Well, red velvet is a southern favorite. I wouldn’t have a reception any other way. It’s nice to officially meet you, Mrs. Pearce.”

  “Please, call me Daphne.”

  “Of course.”

  Grant had walked over and greeted his mother, who remained in her seat assessing me coolly. She had darker hair than Grant, probably because it was dyed, and it was shoulder length and sprayed perfectly into place. Her pink Chanel suit reeked of money. Grant’s dad was the older, greyer version of Grant. He even had the same peculiarly colored eyes.

  Grant came back around and held my hand as he introduced everyone politely. “Mom. Dad. This is Eve Bryant. She took Sabrina Atwell’s position working with Tara Tanner at the college. Eve, these are my parents, Harrison and Iris Mitchell, and you know Daphne of course.” He gestured for me to sit next to his father who greeted me warmly. He was the complete opposite of his wife.

  “Nice to meet you,” I said politely to both his father and mother. His mother gave me an almost smile that didn’t reach her eyes. In all honesty, I think she was growling at me, but I chose to ignore it. His father, on the other hand, was all smiles.

  Mr. Mitchell spoke as soon as I was seated. “Grant told us all about you last night, so we’re so glad you were available to join us for brunch. How are you liking Seattle so far?”

  “It’s been really great. I really enjoy my work at the college, and I’ve done a little exploring around the city when I’ve had time.”

  Daphne chimed in. “I imagine it is really different from Georgia. Wait until winter. You’ll want to run back to the South as fast as you can.”

  Grant frowned and squeezed my thigh where his hand was resting. “No, she won’t.” I felt my cheeks heat slightly at his possessiveness.

  Daphne laughed at his antics and patted his shoulder affectionately. “Calm down, big brother. I was only teasing.”

  “What made you move to Seattle, Eve?” his mother asked, breaking the pleasant atmosphere we had all been enjoying. This was the first thing she said to me, and based on her silent assessment, I wasn’t surprised at the lack of friendly greeting.

  I took a sip of the mimosa that Mr. Mitchell had ordered for everyone. “It was time for a change. Tara is an old friend, so when she offered me a job, I decided to take a chance.” That was the truth, and I wasn’t going to give that woman any more information. I could already tell she was looking for ammunition.

  “You just decided to up and leave your family on a whim?” she asked.

  “Mother,” Grant warned.

  “It’s fine,” I told Grant. I turned back to his mother. “My family and I made the decision together. We live by the philosophy that you only go around once, so they are always encouraging me to try new things.” I looked over at Grant, who was smiling affectionately at me.

  “That sounds exciting. From the time I graduated college I was trapped in my office working, and I fear my boy has followed my tragically boring footsteps. Maybe you can teach him how to enjoy life a little,” Mr. Mitchell said buoyantly.

  Brunch continued on like that for the next hour and a half. Mr. Mitchell—or Harrison as he told me to call him—Daphne, Grant, and I chatted jovially, while Mrs. Mitchell observed with a stone cold expression on her face. She barely touched her food and traded her mimosa for one Bloody Mary after another. Grant had to escort her out of the restaurant while Daphne and Harrison hugged me and told me how glad they were to have met me. By the time I was back in Grant’s car, I was exhausted. He climbed in the driver’s seat and started the car. “That wasn’t so bad, now was it?”

  I simply snorted in response.

  Chapter 10

  The drive back from the restaurant was quiet. As I stared out the window, I wondered what I was getting into with Grant. I may have played brunch like meeting the family was as normal as drinking sweet tea on Sunday, when in reality I wanted to run from the room and avoid the man who had me captivated by his charm. I mean, really, who in the world introduces someone to his parents after one week? Ridiculous.

  “Are you not talking to me now?” He was amused. I was not.

  “Why should I? You probably won’t listen anyway.” I was sulking like a hormonal teenager. Very mature, Eve.

  “That isn’t true. I hear everything you say. However, I may not always agree with you.” I grunted a response again. “They seemed to love you just as I predicted, so I don’t know what has you fired up, but you better get over it. I’m taking you to do something fun.”

  “Do I need to prepare to greet the president this time?” I replied sarcastically.

  “Very funny, my grumpy little peach.” He grabbed my hand and kissed my knuckles. “I think you’ll like where I’m taking you. Maybe you can get out some of your frustration. If not, I can think of some other ways of handling that.” He wiggled his eyebrows, and I rolled my eyes in response.

  “Your mother hates me,” I finally said after a few more minutes of silence. “Parents always love me, but your mother looked at me like I spilled red wine on her wedding dress before the pictures.”

  “My mother hates everyone, but honestly, I think you impressed her. She kept her mouth shut for most of brunch. She’s usually far more unpleasant.”

  “That makes me feel better,” I lied.

  “Does it?” he asked surprised.

  “No,” I sighed.

  “Don’t worry, baby. She’ll come around in no time. Although I don’t think it will help that my dad will spend the next week raving about how gorgeous you are.” He parked and leaned over to kiss me. “Don’t worry about my mother. Come on. We’re here.”

  Perplexed, I sat up to look out the window as he walked around the car to open the door for me. “You brought me to a golf club?”

  “I figured we could hit a few balls out at the driving range. You can let your frustration out on those balls.” He smirked at the mention of balls. Beneath the polished exterior, Grant was still just a boy.

  “I don’t know about that. I’ve never hit a ball beyond what is required in miniature golf.”

  “Come on then. Teaching you will be fun.” I wasn’t sure about that, but I was unenthusiastically willing to give it the old college try.

  He showed me how to drive a ball, and I watched how his agile body moved. When it was my turn to try, the ball didn’t go nearly as far as his did, but at least I hit it. “That was good for a first try,” Grant praised before coming behind me to show me how to hold my club and help guide my swing. Now I understood better as to why he had brought me here. He was well aware of what he did to me when he was this close. I stopped listening to what he was saying. All I could focus on was his hard body against my back and his arms around me. “You aren’t listening, are you, Eve?” he whispered in my ear and then kissed that spot right below my earlobe.

  “Nope. I stopped right when I felt,” I wiggled my bum against him, “this against me. What were you saying?” I asked playfully. It was time to take full advantage of his good mood.

  He smacked my rear and growled, “Behave.” He started telling me his instructions a second time. I really tried to listen. I swear. He guided me through hitting the ball before letting me try again on my own. This time the ball went a lot farther.

  “Yay,” I cheered and jumped into his arms while he laughed and held me tightly against him.

  “That was perfect
, baby. Here.” He put another ball on the tee. “Try it again. Remember to keep your eye on the ball.”

  I was just about to swing again when a man’s voice called out Grant’s name. I looked up to see a tall, blond-haired man about Grant’s age wearing a hot-pink polo shirt tucked tightly into dark blue chinos. Apparently Grant knew him because he was smiling wide as the man approached.

  “Maddox. Hey man. How are you?” Grant said when the man made his way to us. They man-hugged and patted each other roughly on the back.

  “Doing well. How about you? I heard you made an appearance at the dinner last night. That was nice of you. Was it a Mitchell family photo-op?”

  “Something like that.” Grant pulled me closer. “Eve, this is Maddox. We grew up together. I beat him up in first grade, and we’ve been friends ever since.”

  Maddox scoffed at the story. “Whatever, asshole. You’re the one who had to get stitches.” He turned to me and grabbed my hand. “Eve, it is a pleasure to meet such a beauty. Grant usually doesn’t stray from his mother’s harem, but I can tell you are not one of Iris’s girls.” He kissed my knuckles.

  Grant pulled my hand away and pulled me back against his chest where he wrapped an arm tightly around my waist. “Back off, Mad.”

  “Your mother know about this?” Maddox flicked a finger back and forth between the two of us.

  “Of course,” Grant confirmed and rubbed his fingers over my hipbones. Why would it matter if his mother knew who he was dating? It wasn’t like he was a teenager for goodness’ sake.

  “Apologies. I had no idea.”

  “Yeah, she met her at brunch today,” Grant told him proudly and gripped me tighter against him. I looked up at him, confused by the conversation. He smiled down at me reassuringly and kissed the tip of my nose.

  “Kitty’s going to shit when she finds out. I might call her just so I can hear her reaction. Better yet, let her see you two together. I think she might actually show us the ugly side of her. She’ll finally crack.” Maddox laughed then turned serious when he noticed neither of us were laughing with him. He cleared his throat and added, “Good luck, bro.” At that, Grant tensed up behind me. I looked between them confused. Kitty? Who was Kitty, and why would she “shit” when she found out about me and Grant? And who named their child Kitty? Of course, I grew up with someone named Lesley Wesley, so I shouldn’t be surprised.

  “Maddox,” Grant’s tone brought my attention back to the present. It was a warning, and his eyes were a dark color. Something told me my gut was right. “So, what are you doing here?” he asked like nothing had happened, which only made me wonder more.

  “Drinks with dear old Dad. One Sunday a month I’m required to appear for drinks, or I get stuck at a family dinner with my new ‘mom.’” He shivered with revulsion then looked at me to explain. “This is wife number six for my dad. He keeps getting older, and they stay the same age. This one is particularly awful about the stepmom role even though she’s only a few years older than me.”

  I smiled at him sympathetically. “I’m sorry to hear that. I bet that makes family dinners awkward. Do you have siblings?”

  “Not other than my brother from another mother, right here. Hey! That’s an idea. Why don’t you come to dinner next time, Grant? Shannon will love you.” Maddox wiggled his eyebrows at Grant.

  “Enough, Maddox. Quit talking about your dad’s wife like that before he limits your access to your trust fund.”

  “Yeah right. Then who would do all of his bidding? I need to run, but let’s do lunch this week. I have a prototype on the specs you sent over last month.”

  “Sounds good, man. Call Rachel. She’ll get you in when I’m free. Probably Tuesday or Wednesday.”

  Maddox smiled wide. “Oh, I’ll call Rachel all right. Maybe I’ll take her to lunch instead of meeting with you. She’s way more fun than you. Although you might be the prettier one.”

  “Goodbye, Maddox.”

  “Bye, Grant. Bye, Eve. It was nice to meet you. I’m sure I’ll see you again soon.” I waved, and he turned and walked away.

  Grant tried to jump back into my golfing lessons, and I stood behind him still reeling from Maddox’s little visit. After a moment of explaining how to properly swing, he realized I wasn’t paying any attention to him and turned to look at me. “Come on, babe. Try it. You’re getting good.”

  “How about you explain what that was all about?” My feet remained frozen in their place as Grant and I stared at each other in a standoff.

  “Explain what? Maddox’s crazy. He was just talking out of his ass. Now come over here and try again.”

  “Grant.”

  “Eve,” he mocked as we entered the mature part of our afternoon.

  I stepped over to the bench and sat down with my legs and arms crossed. I knew next to nothing about this man. He said he wasn’t married, but for some strange reason his mother needed to know who he was dating, and there was also the issue of Kitty, who was not a cat. There was no way I was letting him keep up this charade. “You go ahead and finish hitting. When you’re done, you can drive me home.” He didn’t take his eyes off of me. “Go ahead,” I waved him on.

  He ran his hands through his perfect hair, a sign of impending doom if you asked me, but I didn’t care. It was two days into this “relationship” that he insisted upon, and he was already hiding something.

  He dropped the club on the ground and came to stand right in front of me. “Baby, Rachel is my assistant. He was joking about her.”

  I looked up at him, waiting for him to explain the rest. I didn’t care about Rachel. I wanted to know what had him all riled up after Maddox mentioned Kitty. I wasn’t going to ask and make myself look like a jealous harpy though. I wasn’t jealous. It wasn’t about that. I wanted to know whatever it was he was hiding. If he didn’t want to share, we didn’t have to do this. I couldn’t be in a relationship with someone I didn’t trust. What I could do was get over someone I had only known for a few days, even if that man was Grant Mitchell, and even if I was sure I had strong feelings for said man.

  He was waiting for me to talk, and I was sure this standoff could go on for hours. Finally I asked what I wanted to know. “What are you hiding?”

  “What are you talking about? I’m not hiding anything,” he groaned.

  “Give me a break. I felt you tense when Maddox brought up your mother and Kitty, and if looks could kill, your mother would be in prison for manslaughter from the looks she was giving me this morning. It’s fine if you don’t want to tell me, but don’t string me along.” I stood and pulled my purse onto my arm. “Maybe you should just take me home. This wasn’t a good idea,” I said as I gestured between us, indicating we weren’t a good idea.

  He cursed under his breath before he went over and grabbed his club and the bucket of balls. He gave the bucket to a dad teaching his son how to golf before coming back to me. He grabbed my hand and led me to the car. It was a good thing I was wearing flats because I would have had a difficult time keeping up with his pace in heels.

  He let me into the passenger seat and closed the door behind him. That was when I realized he was ending it. Grant was taking me home so he wouldn’t have to tell me whatever it was he was hiding. Five minutes ago I felt so strong and sure of myself, but now I felt the tears stinging my eyes. I was not going to let them fall. I blinked rapidly to prevent Grant from seeing the stupid tears building up.

  Grant climbed in the car and closed the door, but he didn’t start the engine. He also didn’t look at me. Staring straight ahead he asked, “Why do you keep doing that?” He gripped the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles turned white. “Why do you keep fucking telling me it’s over?”

  “Because it is over if I can’t trust you.” My words were barely audible.

  He turned in his seat to face me. “You can trust me.”

  “Then tell me whatever it is you’re avoiding,” I challenge him.

  “Damn it, Eve. I can’t right now. I promise you
I’ll tell you everything when I’m ready, but please just let it go for now. We had a great weekend, and Maddox has ruined it with his bullshit. Don’t let him ruin it, Eve.”

  “Maddox isn’t ruining anything, so don’t blame your friend for acting like he usually does around you. Just take me home, Grant.”

  “Eve.”

  “Grant,” I mocked like he had done earlier.

  He exhaled noisily and then started the car. We drove silently through Seattle back to my apartment. As soon as he parked the car, I hopped out to escape the tension that built up over the half hour drive. He jumped out after me and shouted my name, but I kept walking.

  “Eve, wait!” He easily caught up to me when I was waiting on the elevator. Stupid me. I should have taken the stairs. “Please.”

  “Grant, just go,” I said, tired of all the fighting already. Been there, done that.

  He was standing right behind me. “I’m not leaving. I’m going to come upstairs with you, and we’re going to talk. I didn’t want to tell you this today right after meeting my mother, but I’ll tell you whatever you want to know if it means this isn’t over,” he said quietly.

  I nodded. When the elevator doors opened, he followed me in and pushed the button for my floor. The elevator dinged, and he led me to my apartment where I opened the door for us. I grabbed us each a bottle of water from my fridge and signaled for him to sit on my couch. I sat down on the farthest end from him and waited.

  His hair was a wreck, and he looked worried. “Well,” I said.

  “My mother didn’t like you because of me. I’ve never introduced them to a girl because there has never been anyone to introduce. I have only seriously dated one girl, and that was back in college. She wanted to stay on the east coast, and I had to come home to work for my dad.”